Castle Hohenzollern, Germany
"She weeps, but takes just the same." - Frederick the Great, on Maria Theresa's participation in the partition of Poland
I've always had a fascination for German history. After all, it was the Germans who started the two world wars that happened in the last century. Yet, as recent as 150 years ago, there was no such entity as Germany. In those days, Germany was a collection of fragmented states ruled by petty German princes, with the most powerful being Prussia and Austria. Ask someone today if they know what "Prussia" is, and chances are that you will get blank stares. What kind of country would have a name that is formed by adding a letter to another country's name? Still, if you can get over the name, Prussia actually does have a very fascinating history.
The Hohenzollerns were previously the rulers of a small strip of land known as Brandenburg. Brandenburg's rise began after the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), when good diplomacy gave it a large helping of land. Over the years, she managed to acquire even more territory, including Eastern Prussia (a successor state of the Teutonic Order). It also helped that she was ruled by a succession of able leaders, the most famous of whom is Frederick the Great, who ruled from 1740-1786. Towards the end of the 17th century, she became a kingdom and Prussia came into existence (which isn't really different from before, except that the Elector of Brandenburg could now call himself King of Prussia and derive the imagined privileges of being a king). From one of the small petty states in the Holy Roman Empire, it gradually found itself in a position where it could compete with Austria (once the most powerful German state) for supremacy in the empire. Do not be fooled by Austria's present size. Although it has been reduced to minor power status today, in those days before World War I, it was a major power in Europe. In 1871, Prussia became the leader of the newly unified German nation under the able guidance of her Chancellor Otto von Bismarck.
The Hohenzollerns, the kings of Prussia soon became the Kaisers of the new German nation, and less than half a century later, World War I started. A pity that the Central Powers lost the war (not that I side with them), and Kaiser Wilhelm II was soon forced to abdicate. This was followed by the Treaty of Versailles and the rest of it is history. If you have any interest at all in the fate of the Hohenzollerns, you can check it out at the web page of the Prussian royal family. Check out the breathtaking Castle of Hohenzollern. Now, if only I had a house like that!! The part about the history of the Prussian kings is in German though, so unless you can read German, you can just forget about it. :P
Of all the kings in Prussian history, my favourite has got to be King Frederick II (reigned from 1740-1786), otherwise known as Frederick the Great. Speaking of sheer cunning and wit, he was second to none in his time. Taking advantage of the newly crowned Austrian Archduchess Maria Theresa's distraction during the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-1748), the seizure of Silesia from Austria was an act most Machiavellian in nature that served to immediately double the size of Prussia. The Seven Years War (1755-1763) that followed were extremely dark days for him, as he was invaded from all sides by Austria, France and Russia (Maria Theresa was clearly quite unhappy over the loss of Silesia). Frederick was said to be on the verge of suicide in those desperate days. However, thanks to his persistence, superior tactics and some luck (upon the death of Czarina Elizabeth, Peter III of Russia, an ardent admirer of Frederick, brought Russia out of the war), he was able to survive the war without any loss of territory. He was an "enlightened despot", and under his reign, Prussian infrastructure and industrial output advanced significantly. Prussia was firmly on the path to German supremacy.
