Prussia (region)

Lore & Background

The region of Prussia is located in Central Europe along the southeastern coast of the Baltic Sea. Its territory stretches from the delta of the Vistula River in the west to the far end of the Curonian Spit in the east, and extends inland as far as Masuria. This area is divided among modern Poland, Russia (as the Kaliningrad Oblast), and Lithuania. The region is also commonly referred to as Old Prussia. Its inhabitants during the Middle Ages were first called the Bruzi and later known as the Old Prussians, who from the year 997 onward repeatedly resisted conquest attempts by the Duchy of the Polans. The lands of the Old Prussians, along with those of the neighboring Curonians and Livonians, were politically unified in the 1230s under the State of the Teutonic Order. The later kingdom and state of Prussia, which existed from 1701 to 1947, took its name from this region. The Teutonic Knights later invaded and annexed the region of Pomerelia from Poland, expanding the meaning of the term Prussia in German usage to include areas west of the Vistula, even though those lands were never inhabited by Baltic Prussians but by Slavic Poles. After the area was reintegrated with Poland in 1466, the name Royal Prussia was used for the wider province, which included only a few actual Prussian historical territories, while the remaining Teutonic state became a Polish fief and was later secularised as Ducal Prussia.

Reader's Guide

The region’s Baltic Old Prussian inhabitants, first recorded as the Bruzi in the Bavarian Geographer, defended their territories against the Duchy of the Polans from 997 AD onward. Following the Teutonic Order’s conquest and political unification with neighboring Curonian and Livonian lands in the 1230s, the original Prussian territory became part of a monastic state. After the Order annexed Pomerelia west of the Vistula in 1308–1310, the German meaning of Prussia expanded to include areas never inhabited by Baltic Prussians but by Slavic Poles. The region was later reintegrated with Poland in 1466, with Royal Prussia encompassing both the original Prussian areas of Pomesania, Pogesania, and Warmia, and the Slavic Pomerelian lands. The rump Teutonic state became a Polish fief, secularized in 1525 as Lutheran Ducal Prussia. Brandenburg’s Electors secured the Duchy’s separation from Poland in 1660 during the Russo-Swedish Deluge, merging it with Brandenburg to form Brandenburg-Prussia, which became the Kingdom of Prussia. This kingdom later allied with Austria and Russia to invade and annex Royal Prussia, creating the Province of West Prussia from its bulk, while Warmia was assigned to East Prussia. Both provinces remained outside the German Confederation until the North German Confederation’s formation in 1866, after which they became targets of aggressive Germanization, anti-Catholic campaigns, and expropriations of Poles. The Treaty of Versailles awarded most of West Prussia to Poland, while East Prussia largely remained German following a plebiscite. After World War II, the region’s German-speaking inhabitants were expelled, and the area was divided among Poland, Russia’s Kaliningrad Oblast, and Lithuania, shaping enduring national identities and the memory of the Baltic Prussians.

Did You Know?

• Tacitus's Germania (98 AD) is the oldest known eyewitness account of the region and its inhabitants.
• The Old Prussians were first called Bruzi in the Bavarian Geographer's 8th-century map.
• The region was divided after the Treaty of Versailles, with most of West Prussia awarded to Poland.