@RusA #9857679 First of all, you have to remember that before 1871, there was no such thing as the nation of Germany - the area was divided up into a bunch of German-speaking states and principalities of various sizes, of which Prussia was the largest. It started as more or less where East Germany used to be, along with part of what is now western Poland; eventually it annexed other states to cover most of what's now northern Germany. After Bismarck's creation of the nation of Germany, it continued to be a major regional power.
And yes, Prussia and Austria supplied princesses to many of the crowed heads of Europe. Bismarck was a Prussian leader whose great accomplishment was welding all the little Germanies into one nation called "Germany". So Prussia = Bismarck is not a big stretch.
Germany between the World Wars
The state of Prussia was abolished after WW II, and its territory was divided up into eight or nine contemporary states. We still talk about a certain kind of German as a "Prussian", meaning he's strict, humorless, domineering, and acts like he's a military commander and everyone else is his soldier.
My German ancestors were actually from Frankfurt am Main, which is in Hesse, dark pink on the map above, and was never part of Prussia.
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@RusA #9857679 First of all, you have to remember that before 1871, there was no such thing as the nation of Germany - the area was divided up into a bunch of German-speaking states and principalities of various sizes, of which Prussia was the largest. It started as more or less where East Germany used to be, along with part of what is now western Poland; eventually it annexed other states to cover most of what's now northern Germany. After Bismarck's creation of the nation of Germany, it continued to be a major regional power.
And yes, Prussia and Austria supplied princesses to many of the crowed heads of Europe.
Germany between the World Wars
The state of Prussia was abolished after WW II, and its territory was divided up into eight or nine contemporary states. We still talk about a certain kind of German as a "Prussian", meaning he's strict, humorless, domineering, and acts like he's a military commander and everyone else is his soldier.
My German ancestors were actually from Frankfurt am Main, which is in Hesse, dark pink on the map above, and was never part of Prussia.