Province of East Prussia
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The Province of East Prussia (German: Provinz Ostpreußen [ˈʔostʰˌpʰrɔɪ̯sn] ) was a province of Prussia from 1773-1829 and 1878-1945. Composed of the historical region East Prussia, the province's capital was Königsberg (Kaliningrad).
East Prussia was formed in 1773 out of the territory of the former Duchy of Prussia; neighboring West Prussia was formed out of the former Polish Royal Prussia. East and West Prussia were first united in a personal union in 1824, and then merged in a real union in 1829 to form the Province of Prussia. The united province was then split into separate East and West Prussian provinces in 1878.
East Prussia initially consisted of the Regierungsbezirke, or government regions, of Königsberg and Gumbinnen. In 1905 Regierungsbezirk Allenstein was created out of the southern districts of the two older regions.
As a result of World War I, the Hohenzollern monarchy of the Kingdom of Prussia was abolished in 1918, and the kingdom became the Free State of Prussia.
After Treaty of Versailles East Prussia was separated from Germany as an exclave; the Memelland was also separated from the province. Because most of West Prussia became part of the Second Polish Republic as the Polish Corridor, the formerly West Prussian Marienwerder region became part of East Prussia (as Regierungsbezirk Westpreußen).
After the 1939 Invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany opening World War II, the borders of East Prussia were revised. Regierungsbezirk Westpreußen became part of Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia, while Regierungsbezirk Zichenau was added to East Prussia. Originally part of the Zichenau region, the Sudauen district in Sudovia was later transferred to the Gumbinnen region.
Following Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II in 1945, East Prussia was partitioned between Poland and the Soviet Union according to the Potsdam Conference. Southern East Prussia was placed under Polish administration, while northern East Prussia was divided between the Soviet republics of Russia (the Kaliningrad Oblast) and Lithuania (the constituent counties of the Klaipėda Region). The city of Königsberg was renamed Kaliningrad in 1946. The German population of the province largely evacuated during the war, but several hundreds of thousands died during the years 1944–46 and the remainder were subsequently expelled.
[edit] External links
- East Prussia FAQ
- Historical borders of East Prussia (German)
- Provinz Ostpreußen (German)
- German Empire: Province of East Prussia (German)
- Ostpreußen.net (German)
- Ostpreußen Info - East Prussia Information (German)
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