Post by Prussia on May 19, 2014 18:36:28 GMT -5
Gott Mit Uns
Nation: First off, Prussia as we know it has gone through many names:
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary of Jerusalem/ Ordo domus Sanctæ Mariæ Theutonicorum Hierosolymitanorum/ Orden der Brüder vom Deutschen Haus St. Mariens in Jerusalem: known today as the Teutonic Order
Royal Prussia/ Prussia Regalis/ Königlich Preußen/ Prusy Królewskie
The Duchy of Prussia/ Herzogtum Preußen/ Prusy Książęce
The Kingdom of Prussia/ Königreich Preußen
Free State of Prussia/ Freistaat Preußen
The German Democratic Republic (GDR)/ Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR)
Name: Gilbert Beilschmidt
Gender: Male
Appearance Age: 24
Actual Age:
From the Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary of Jerusalem or the Teutonic Order: 740 (going from the end of the Prussian Uprising against the Order when the Old Prussians were finally subjugated entirely.)
From Royal Prussia: 575
From Ducal Prussia: 489
From Brandenburg-Prussia: 396
From the Kingdom of Prussia: 313
From The Free State of Prussia: 96
From the German Democratic Republic: 64
Appearance
Hair Color: Platinum blonde, almost to the degree of it being a near white color. This is due to lack of pigmentation in hair, skin, eyes, etc. caused by albinism.
Eye Color: Very, very light blue, but due to his albinism and lack of real pigment in his eyes, most of the time the light or cameras, etc. will make his eyes pink or red in color.
Height: 179 cm, or 5’10”
Weight: 176 pounds
Appearance:
Gilbert Beilschmidt is an interesting man, both in a personal sense, and in an aesthetic sense. For instance, he stands tall, peaking at about 5’10”, but never slouches as he was taught to stand tall and straight as a child in a knight’s world. However, he is built far different from Ludwig; he does not have the broad shoulders of the German, and his waist is much smaller. And while Gilbert does have muscle, it is sinewy on him, and not nearly as large and defined as Ludwig’s is. Overall, he has a lanky, somewhat gangly looking build with some muscle, but nothing too bulky. He likes to think he’s ripped and perhaps you can argue that the sinewy muscle he has is enough to be called “ripped” but he really isn’t.
Another major part of his appearance is underneath his clothes. Gilbert happens to be somewhat riddled with scars; any nation that says they are not is either lucky or lying. Almost all have come from battle of course, save for a few from riding or training accidents. They mostly cover his chest and back, though a few of these scars cover his arms as well. Part of him wishes to actually get tattoos to cover them up, but the thought of also hiding proof that he was strong enough to last is something that upsets him. For now, he remains permanently ink free, though that he believes may be subject to change.
Gilbert is certainly one that can be picked out of a crowd, simply because of his appearance. This is mainly due to his genetic trait of albinism, which causes him to be exceptionally pale of both skin and hair, along with affecting the pigmentation of the eyes, due to a lack of overall pigmentation throughout the body. This in turn, makes Gilbert a sore thumb when in a crowd. What is also affected by the albinism is eyesight. Gilbert’s eyesight is poor, and oftentimes, he wears contacts to see better. However, sometimes he just chooses to wear his glasses instead, but these are rare occasions, or for a reason such as he’s out of contacts, he’s too lazy to put the contacts in, etc.
To describe the dresswear of the Prussian is difficult, since it just constantly changes. For instance, there’s the typical military uniform that he wears- that is the current one of course. However, he does have civilian clothes as well, which he often times wears more. When doing work that does not involve anything military but does deal with nation work, he tends to dress more business formal; “As long as I got my suit and tie,” as he would say in the apparent mortal words of Justin Timberlake. This means a rather sharply dressed Prussian in a nice suit, a well suited tie that may just match his eyes, tailored pants that seem to fit perfectly, and some rather nice shoes.
If he were to go out for a normal day in town, Gilbert tends to follow a style of clothing that lies in between the lands of Hot Topic and Etsy. Band t-shirts and jeans with a studded belt could be on him one day, and yet the next he could be wearing weird shirts with cats on them, one of those weird baggy cardigans, and skinny jeans with converse. Despite calling his wardrobe “eclectic”, there are basically times that Gilbert is a straight up hipster. Or a lazy bum in pajamas or sweats. Or some hardcore motherfucker. Take your pick.
Defining Features: It is certainly sad to say, but the most defining feature of Gilbert is his albinism. This not only causes him to be extremely pale in skin tone, but also have extremely pale colored hair (a platinum blond that is close to being the tone of white), and eyes that often times seem red or pink in color when in certain light. Also note that albinism does cause Gilbert to have poor eyesight.
Who Am I?
Personality:
Perhaps the most defining feature of Gilbert, is the fact that he is a hard worker no matter what. Often times, in his home (yes his own home, not some silly basement in his little brother’s home), you can him tinkering, whether it’s electronics, or carpentry, etc. But that does not mean he’s not just doing his own work, but he does work when it comes to business as well. You can find him often helping Ludwig out with the large masses of paperwork, just to give his little brother a bit of a break. Also, it is interesting to say, but any work that Gilbert does, is so that he is kept focused, and not bored. Therefore, Gilbert honestly likes to work, and finds laziness to be rather boring, leading to nothing productive which bothers him.
Gilbert is also quite intelligent, despite at times sometimes making some dumb mistakes or acting a little less sharp than he is. In fact, it would be rather stupid to say he’s not intelligent given his intelligence pertaining to anything war related, or politics. But that’s not all he knows— Gilbert is also well versed in literature, history, art, music, and all sorts of other things due to his time he’s been alive, and while a lot of that is demanded of those who are personified nations, the Prussian has also went out of his way to learn these things and others more in depth. He’s also a pretty good master at DIY around the house for example, and has taught himself to be tech savvy more than others.
He’s somewhat religious, following the Lutheran faith. That belief has also helped him to hold on through many things. Despite all the hardships he has dealt with through the last century, Gilbert has kept strong mostly by keeping a little faith in God, that He will be able to help the albino through his trials and tribulations. This faith he gained when he was little, though it has changed over time to be far more liberal than his concept of faith used to be. Gilbert also attends service every week, unless sick or something prevents him from going. Even so, if he misses he somewhat feels guilty, and tries to make it up by extra prayer in the evening. Just in case, of course.
Likes:
Dislikes:
Fears:
Fun Facts:
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Your History
Oh boy, be prepared for some writing folks. I apologize in advance that my history is not in bullet points, but those bother me when it comes to writing out history.
The Invasion and formation of the Teutonic Order and the Teutonic State: 1230-1525
Of course, we all know that the Teutonic Order simply invaded the land of the Old Prussians. Of course this old land was tough, filled with pagans that were willing to fight against conversion to Catholicism. For instance, a small order was formed by Konrad of Masovia to combat the Old Prussians and bring them into the light of Christianity. However, they failed, and only by the prodding of the Pope did the Teutonic Order actually step in to fight, albeit unsuccessfully. There were a fair few Crusades against the Old Prussians because of it.
However, the Teutonic Order did not make their mark on Prussian land yet. Their headquarters were in Transylvania after all, and that was quite some distance from the Baltic coast, though this would soon change. After being kicked out of Transylvania in 1225 by the Hungarian ruler Andrew II, the order swiftly made their move to settle in the Baltic lands. This eventually led to an announcement made by Emperor Frederick II of the Holy Roman Empire that Prussian lands, along with Livonia and Sambia were under Imperial rule, and a papal legate was appointed to represent these lands. Two Bulls were issued, a Golden one in 1226 and a Papal one in 1234, in which stated that the Teutonic Order had control over Prussia. Despite causing another Prussian Crusade, cities were founded in the making, such as Königsburg by the order. It did not take time for the Order to “German-ize” these lands and make German culture predominant.
You might as well insert the innumerable battles fought by the Teutonic Order, which gained prominence throughout the time period here. One of the most notable would be the Battle of Grunwald. There would be something else very important to occur as well. From the original Northern March raised the Margrave of Brandenburg, which had only recently come to power thanks the Hohenzollern house taking power. The extend part of the New March in 1402, a piece of land, to the Teutonic Order to control, until it was taken back by treaties in 1455.
Things were not entirely peaceful however. Heavy taxation all due to war reparations and the need to gather more weapons for yet another attack on Poland angered the Prussians, who quickly came together to form the Prussian Confederation as a union to fight against the Teutonic Order. The Confederation worked diligently to have Poland on their side, especially since the Holy Roman Emperor declared the confederacy to be illegal. This quickly caused the Thirteen Weeks’ War, which ended with the loss for the Teutonic Order, and the lands of Prussia were split into two divisions; Royal Prussia, and Ducal Prussia.
The time of the Order had drawn to a close.
Royal Prussia: 1466-1772
After much arguing between the Teutonic Order and the Polish kingdom, and many major battles fought, the western part of the Teutonic Prussia was ceded to Poland due to defeat. This was quickly added to the Polish Crowns dominion and in turn, became Royal Prussia.
Despite the sound of the name, Royal Prussia was pretty lucky. While they had to follow the King’s orders, they were governed a council that represented them to the Polish monarchy, had their own armies, currency and pretty much had an autonomous rule within their nation governed them. Nonetheless this council was made up of lords and those with wealth within Royal Prussia, rather than have Poles do the job instead. This sort of treatment for Prussia lasted until the Union of Lublin in 1569, where Royal Prussia became an entire part of Poland. Prussian electors even were put into the Polish parliament. This lasted until the partitions of Poland in 1772 when the Kingdom of Prussia takes most of the land of Royal Prussia to form the true Prussian state, in which became entirely whole by 1793.
Duchy of Prussia: 1525-1618
Of course, things were different in the other half of the Prussian lands. The Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach could see how the land was being torn apart due to the arguments over Catholicism and the newly formed Lutheran church. Many of the common people converted to Luther’s religion, preferring the bible in the vernacular instead of in Latin. However, on April 10, 1525, Albert relinquished his title as Grand Master and converted to Protestantism, and became Duke of Prussia, forming the Duchy of Prussia thanks to his uncle, King Sigismund of Poland. Luther also helped push for the state religion to be Lutheranism and worked with the king and duke to form the deal.
Certainly this displeased the rest of the Teutonic Order, and a split in the order occurred. Some converted to Lutheranism and married into Prussian nobility. Others refused conversion and returned to the Holy Roman Empire to remain Catholic, where in turn, a new Grand Master thanks to the Holy Roman Emperor continued to stake claim to Prussian lands.
Albert lived until 1568, and left his son Albert Frederick in charge of the Duchy. This was bad, as Albert Frederick was not entirely the best at politics, and due to this and mental issues, a co-enfeoffment was written in 1569, and later backed by the Treaty of Warsaw in 1611, allowed for his son-in-law John Sigismund (who happened to be of the Hohenzollern Branch) to take power when he passed away in 1619. His son George William, who officially unified Brandenburg and Prussia into one nation, succeeded him.
Brandenburg-Prussia: 1608-1701
George William was the first to be faced with the issue of the Thirty Years’ War, when troops from Gustavus Adolfus’ army took much of the land of Brandenburg-Prussia and sat themselves right outside of Berlin. Compelled to remain safe, he sided with the Protestants in the war, allowing the Swedes to pass through his land (after all the Catholics were attacking his land as well), and even gave them a couple fortresses to use. However, even when Friedrich William (The Great Elector or “Der Große Kufürst” in German) came to power in 1640, Prussia was in a state of decline. Due to war, cities, towns, and villages were in ruin, people dead, and there was certainly a loss of wealth in the nation. And despite the land that Brandenburg-Prussia gained by the end of the war (a few only given thanks to France to keep Habsburg Austria in check), Brandenburg-Prussia was still not a major power in the world. However, Frederich William realized that a strong army was necessary, and procured the funds to build up a good army, which was made up to about 30,000 men by 1688. Frederich William did this so to gain international prestige.
In 1688, Friedrich III of Brandenburg-Prussia took the throne. Before his father’s death, the Great Elector had struck an alliance with Habsburg Austria, in which Silesia was given to the Austrians in return for Schwiebus, and had also regained full sovereignty away from the Kingdom of Poland-Lithuania. Friedrich III also promised to continue this alliance and stay on side with the Austrians, who also helped him gain stature in Austrian court life.
Kingdom of Prussia: 1701-1772
After helping to fight in the War of the Spanish Succession, The Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I of Habsburg Austria, granted the right to Friedrich III to call himself the King in Prussia. This was granted since Leopold I felt that since Prussia was never once part of the empire, along with the Hohenzollerns ruling the entire nation, it was only fair to grant them a Kingdom. This is important due to the fact that only Kingdoms were within the Holy Roman Empire or at least recognized as such if they were in the empire. Friedrich III crowned himself and his wife on January 18, 1701 as Friedrich I of Prussia, along with the change of arms to the highly recognizable black and white flag with the black eagle on it. Even then, it took the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 for the Kingdom of Prussia to be recognized. Friedrich I passed away in 1713 and was succeeded by his son Friedrich William I.
A couple of other things occurred in the early rule of Friedrich William I. He took the ruling upper class, known as Junkers, and incorporated them into the military, along with putting a mandatory service into effect in 1717. He also bore a son, Friedrich II, who would later become king in 1740 and known as one of the greatest Kings in the history of Prussia. However, his relationship with his son was terrible. He forced his son to become a good soldier, even having him train a small regiment of children into cadets. Often times, Frederich, or “Fritz” was beaten and abused, and his younger brother was preferred over him. Fritz preferred more enlightened humanistic things, such as music, and found French culture more interesting, often preferring to speak in French rather than in German. Eventually, a plot was formed between Fritz and and Hans Hermann von Katte to escape from Prussian and go to England. They were eventually caught, Friedrich put into prison, and was forced by his father to watch the execution of his beloved friend from his cell. Eventually he was freed and forced to study once more. He also intended of marrying, and originally was going to offer a proposal of marriage to Maria Theresa of Austria, though he was advised against it and in turn married Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Bevern, in 1733.
Friedrich's father Friedrich William died in 1740, and so Fritz took the throne, becoming Friedrich II of Prussia. Little Ol’ Fritzy was rather envious of the Habsburgs and wanted to bring together all of Prussia, including Ducal Prussia. So, he sets his eyes on Silesia, which was Prussian land earlier before it was given up to the Habsburgs, and after not agreeing to the Pragmatic Sanction in 1713 which stated that when the Austrian king Charles VI died, his daughter Maria Theresa would be allowed to rule the kingdom. With this, he invaded Silesia on December 16, 1740. This began the War of the Austrian Succession, which would last between 1740-48. Here, France, Spain, and Bavaria sided against England, Austria, and eventually troops from Hungary as well. However, after fighting for eight years, the war ended with the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which maintained that Maria Theresa was the rightful heir of Austria. However, Silesia was rightfully Prussia’s.
This didn’t stop Maria Theresa from trying to get it back. After dropping her alliance with Great Britain, Maria Theresa instead switched her alliances to France, a devastating loss to Prussia, who then quickly seized on making an alliance with Great Britain. Friedrich, growing worried about being attacked, in turn invaded Saxony, starting the Seven Years’ War, lasting from 1756-1763. This war spanned about three continents; The Americas, Europe, and Asia. However, peace came in the form of the Treaty of Paris and the Treaty of Hubertusburg in 1763, which stated that the war on the American continents and in Europe came to an end. With the Treaty of Hubertusburg, which was signed by Prussia and Austria, kept the resolve that Prussia was the clear owner of Silesia. With this said and done, this marked the end of the Silesian Wars, but the beginning of a form of world war.
The first partition of Poland occurred thanks to an agreement by Austria, Prussia, and Russia in February of 1772, to invade Poland and take parts of it for themselves. This is how the Kingdom of Prussia obtained Royal Prussia, and the lands that lay in between it and the Kingdom. For now, Prussia was united Kingdom. Friedrich the Great died in 1786, and his nephew, Friedrich William II continued the partitionings. Desperate to retain some land and fight off the invaders again if necessary, Poland formed the First Polish Republic, which in turn quickly deteriorated, causing them to turn to Prussia and form an alliance in 1790. Apparently alliances with Poland never meant anything to Prussia, as Russia waged a small war on tiny Poland, defeated them, and once again Prussia stepped in to help itself to more land with the Russians, gaining a new territory of South Prussia. Yet, it took a third partition to finally kill off Poland, this time Austria once again getting involved. On October 24, 1795, a treaty was signed to destroy any form of independent Polish state, and the country was dissolved. Prussia gained a New East Prussia territory, along with New Silesia.
Kingdom of Prussia: Through the 19th and 20th Century
Of course, with the rise of the French Revolution in 1789, European nations grew terrified, especially after the execution of the king of France and his wife. In retaliation, Austria, Prussia, Great Britain, Naples, and Sardinia formed the First Coalition to retaliate against the First French Republic, which surprisingly defeated the Coalition. In turn, Austria admitted defeat to General Napoleon Bonaparte with the Treaty of Campo Formio. The Second Coalition was not successful either, but Prussia did not participate, nor did it participate in the Third Coalition. Despite that, there was fear of the rising power of Napoleonic France, which caused Prussia to make an alliance with Saxony, Russia, Sweden, and Great Britain as the Fourth Coalition. This was a loss however, and Prussia lost one half of its territory as the Duchy of Warsaw was formed from it at the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807. Once again with the Fifth Coalition, Prussia did not participate, though that was a bust too. Finally, in 1812, the Sixth Coalition was formed with Austria, Prussia, Great Britain, Spain, Russia, Portugal, Sweden, and other states fighting against the French. France currently had control of most of continental Europe, but Napoleon was finally defeated and exiled to Elba in 1814. Peace came to Europe once more. Or did it?
Due to the Napoleonic Wars, Austria came to host the Congress of Vienna from 1814-1815. This year of diplomacy was rather interesting; certainly one that was filled with lavish parties, fine dinners, politics, and of course, sex. Prussia at this time was one of the four major powers, and was represented by Prince Karl August von Hardenberg, who was the current Chancellor, along with scholar Wilhelm von Humboldt. The king of the time, Friedrich Wilhelm III, was also in Vienna, but did not actively participate, and rather worked from the sidelines. Out of the Congress of Vienna, Prussia gained a fair bit of Saxony into its kingdom, along with parts of the Duchy of Warsaw, and the Danes gave over Swedish Pomerania to the Prussians. Westphalia and parts of the Rhineland were also gained, but much of what Prussia had partitioned from Poland was given away to Russia. Finally, out of the original 300 states that were part of the Holy Roman Empire, 39 emerged and together formed the German Confederation, in which the Austrian Emperor had control of. Parts of Prussia were included in this confederation.
There isn’t too much that happened before the whole ordeal of the German question. Friedrich Wilhelm III made some reforms and such, such as bringing the Calvinist and Lutheran churches together to form the United Evangelical Church of Prussia by 1817. This later caused a schism between the united Lutherans and Old Lutherans in 1830, which remained a permanent schism. By 1839, children who worked in Prussian lands could only work a 51 hour work week by decree. In 1840, Friedrich Wilhelm III passed away, and Friedrich Wilhelm IV succeeded. Finally, came 1848, a year that was certainly busy. Due to the heavy revolution throughout the year, the lands of Hohenzollern Sigmaringen and Hohenzollern Hechingen, which were ruled by another branch of the Hohenzollern family, were annexed and added to the Kingdom of Prussia. Finally, due to the revolutions of 1848, Friedrich Wilhelm IV was offered the crown of the German confederation, but denied it due to the fact that unifying Germany may get rid of Prussia.
Of course, there were two little factors outside of Prussia that would help to change this stance of no unified Germany; Denmark’s actions to cause the Schleswig Wars, and Austria. Denmark’s provocative actions towards Prussia over Schleswig and Holstein ignited war between the two nations in 1848 until 1851. This first war of Schleswig and it was a decisive Danish victory. And with the death of Friedrich Wilhelm IV in 1861 and the rise of Otto von Bismarck to the position of Prime Minister of Prussia in 1862, things were going to take a turn for the better. Mostly for Prussia that is.
Bismarck pushed for German Unification, seeing it as something that was inevitable for the German states, including Prussia. This led to war with Austria against the Danes once more in the Second Schleswig War, which was a major victory for both Prussia and Austria 1864. In the agreement, Schleswig went to Prussia, while Holstein went to Austria. With this however, the Prussian government felt that Holstein should be part of Prussia’s territory as well, leading to the Seven Weeks’ War, or the Austro-Prussian War in 1866. Prussia and its allies of the unified Kingdom of Italy, along with some northern German states fought bulked up as Prussia went up against Austria and its allies of southern German states. It ended with much German territory gained for Prussia, including Holstein, but Prussia (despite the urge of Wilhelm) did not invade Austria.
From this small war, tensions boiled, and Bismarck made his move after the North German Confederation was formed in 1867. Due to the Seven Weeks’ War, the German Confederation that was set up by Napoleon fell apart, and the major question if true German unification needed to occur or not rose. This led to the German Question: Who was included in German Unification and who led this newly formed nation? Prussia’s Bismarck spoke for Kleiner Deutschlösung, or Lesser Germany, meaning the new German nation was filled only with ethnic German speakers. This meant that Austria’s empire was not included in this, leaving Prussia to be the one that was supposed to lead. After a resounding defeat for the Austrians, in the chancellery and the outmaneuvering the French in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, on January 18, 1871, the German Empire was formed with the Prussian Wilhelm becoming the first Kaiser.
Believe it or not, despite Prussia being a part of the German Empire, and its King as the Kaiser, Prussia somewhat remained separate as an entity from the actual empire. However, there was strict control of the empire and almost complete Prussian dominance with the politics of the empire. Economics took a turn for the better in the empire as well, as more and more cities became heavily industrialized and generated more income for the nation. There was even the Congress of Berlin in 1885, which helped finish up dividing out Africa and other lands to main european empires. Everything seemed to be perfect...until Wilhelm I died in 1888, and was replaced by his sickly son Friedrich III. Far more democratic and liberal, he and his wife Victoria (daughter of Queen Victoria of England) worked hard to try and change the empire, until Friedrich's death only ninety-nine days after his father’s death, from throat cancer.
Friedrich Wilhelm II, son of Friedrich III, was then crowned Kaiser. Generally he’s the one everyone thinks of when it comes to World War I; the militaristic one, well taught by Bismarck to focus solely on the upper class and the military of the German empire. He certainly strengthened the army and bulked up the navy, which was great considering how Wilhelm threw Germany into the Great War as an ally of Austria-Hungary, and Italy at the time. Most of the lines in France, Belgium, and Germany were German soldiers, fighting the French, British, and Americans on the “Western Front”. They also fought a war on the Eastern Front against the Russians, and eventually with their allies the Ottoman Turks, when Italy switched sides. With heavy pressure from the advancing allied forces, and the central powers falling apart, the Kaiser abdicated, and on November 9, 1918, Germany was declared a republic. They later signed the Armistice on November 11. The German Empire had fallen, and as punishment, Germany had to pay reparations to France, Great Britain, and the United States. The military strength could only be one thousand men strong, and a navy or an air force was out of the question. Prussia was taken from a kingdom, and forced into a free state as much of its territory was given to the newly reformed Poland.
Free State of Prussia 1918-1947
Despite being broken down into a lowly state, Prussia retained some power and much land. While East Prussia was lost to Poland and other states, West Prussia developed into the Free State, making up ⅝ of German land during the Weimar Republic. They had their own Government, and were basically (in a sense) a republic at the time, despite the fact that they were part of Weimar Germany. Prussia was this way until the Prussian Coup in 1933, in which the current government of Prussia was ousted, and in an attempt to reclaim his control, Otto Braun lost control to the Nazi Party, which seized complete control of the Prussian government. This was the beginning of the real end of Prussia. Herman Göring was given control of Prussia at this time, and strict following of Nazi policies ensued. However in 1935, Prussia was dismantled into what were called Reichsgaue, which were subdivisions of land to be better controlled by the Nazi party. In a sense, this was the real dissolution of Prussia, as not one single section was entitled as Prussia, despite the name of the Free State of Prussia still existing. It would be 1947, after World War II when Otto Braun came to the Allies, begging for Prussia to be reinstated into Germany, to which the allies disagreed and declared the abolishment of Prussia.
German Democratic Republic 1949-1990
Due to the invading forces in World War II, Germany was split in four parts, or zones, depending on where the troops had stopped after complete victory was obtained. The North West was given to Great Britain, The South West to France, South East to the United States, and most of the North West was given to the Soviet Union. After World War II, The Soviet Union put up what Winston Churchill called the “Iron Curtain”, meaning they were shutting out anyone who was Socialist or Communist at all. Eastern Germany was included in this, becoming the Deutsche Demokratische Republik, or the German Democratic Republic. In 1948, German Communist leaders were given more and more power for administration within the zone, despite the GDR not actually forming until October 7, 1949. Despite this, Soviet forces remained throughout the country until the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Stasi was also formed, which was like their secret police, to enforce the ideals of communism and punish or get rid of those who did not.
Most people are most familiar with the Berlin Wall being built and torn down, and how it was a symbol of the struggle for freedom from the East to the richer West Germany. However, the Berlin Wall was built to keep in the people, but also keep the capitalists out. Too many people were emigrating from the East to the richer West since the East German economy was terrible. While it was the richest in the Soviet Bloc, it was nothing compared to Western Capitalist Germany. Therefore the wall was built on August 13, 1961. It did not officially come down until November 9, 1989, when the order was given that people could cross the border freely and after the peaceful revolution in East Germany. This did not mark the end of GDR however, as that did not end until 1990.
Sample Post
Day 10.315
Diary,
It has been a long time here in the East. I have seen people come and go, buildings rise, and buildings fall. While I can see as many plays, hear as many pieces of music performed, watch television, or read books and newspapers, it does not feel the same. Often times I find myself, after coming home from a long day of work, eating some mundane meal and then going to sleep. My dreams are still filled with the typical experiences: blood, gore, death, destruction. What do you expect after all? I am a war mongering nation.
Ivan makes sure I am busy at the very least, and I’ve come to start realizing he’s always had me under surveillance. I’m sure my house is bugged, and everything I write and leave out, is thoroughly looked through. I have nothing to hide though. Just an old man of Europe, with barely anything to claim as my own.
Diary, this existence has become boring. I feel as though if something does not happen, that I will be driven to near insanity.
-Gilbert Beilschmidt, November 8. 1989
His writing desk was old; something he had held onto since the 1800’s, despite everything Germany had gone through in the past 100 years. He still wrote with a fountain pen, finding his still old style cursive just as illegible to write with than with ballpoint pens. Gilbert sighed, staring down at the most recent journal entry for a mere moment, until he stood up from the desk and walked off to bed. Yet another restless night ahead.
The sun had just started to rise as Gilbert’s alarm went off, causing him to groan somewhat in agony, somewhat in grogginess as the typical grind of the day began. Breakfast, shower, work, home, dinner, bed, repeat. It was...boring really. Today...today needed to change. Work was work; it was acceptable enough for him to do, as it was just often times reading reports and signing off on things, or stamping papers, but no...today would be different when he got off work. When he got off work, Gilbert decided, he would go to church. Maybe sit there, and ask what exactly God was planning for him in the end. Was it not enough punishment for his past with such a dull, repetitive life, or was there more to come? Was this whole DDR business really supposed to teach him a lesson or was this just a test for what was to come?
A groan, and some yawning helped the albino realize that philosophical thinking was just inappropriate for such an early morning such as this one.
The mood at his workplace was interesting; people bustling about with a little more fervor to their step than what was normal. After inquiring about this, a response from the woman who was his secretary explained about how people were talking about going west more and more, and, despite the snort she received from the albino, how it was becoming more and more possible, considering how Hungary had opened their borders. Wishful thinking, he passed it off as, simply choosing to return to focusing on his paperwork rather than toying with the thought of going west. Just because some things in the USSR were losing their touch didn’t mean the Germans were going to be let off as well.
The press conference...now that was what surprised him the most. Gilbert stood there, watching on as Günter Schabowski read off the note he was given. The checkpoints were going to be opened? Effective immediately? Surely this was just a dream; the albino man had not even thought of the true possibility of the breakdown of the Eastern German political system and possibly assimilation back into the rest of Germany. Now to be told that this was occurring, and effective immediately? He could not help but pinch himself to make sure this was real. It would certainly be a partial explanation as to why everything became so monotonous recently, and the need for change. If the people willed it after all, he felt the same.
Gathering his things quickly after work, and leaving the sorrowful state of a Trabi behind, did Gilbert honestly run from his home to the border of East Berlin and West. The gates were open, people were being let through, and he could hear the excitement from both sides as he waited to cross. Once those final steps came, walking into West Berlin and West Germany, did he smile, looking around until a familiar head of blond hair caught his attention. For once, did he feel truly happy, with a few tears falling from his eyes at the sight of the taller man running over to him. As soon as they were together, hugs were exchanged, and three simple words uttered from the blond:
The Player
Name: Call me Liz, or Zephyrus. While Zephyrus is preferred, I think I’m sorta more known already as Liz? So yup! Either or.
Age: Twenty!
Fun Fact:
I study German and History in college and live in theterrible beautiful state of Virginia.
Currently I am in the workings of getting stuff ready and flying off to Hamburg to study for a semester, possibly a year!
I am the biggest Sengoku Basara and Assassin’s Creed fan you may possibly find. But I play other stuff too.
Oh! I also love writing letters and receiving mail on my campus since my folks live twenty minutes away and I have no reason to get mail from them. So like…I’m all for being penpals with people.
Nation: First off, Prussia as we know it has gone through many names:
The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary of Jerusalem/ Ordo domus Sanctæ Mariæ Theutonicorum Hierosolymitanorum/ Orden der Brüder vom Deutschen Haus St. Mariens in Jerusalem: known today as the Teutonic Order
Royal Prussia/ Prussia Regalis/ Königlich Preußen/ Prusy Królewskie
The Duchy of Prussia/ Herzogtum Preußen/ Prusy Książęce
The Kingdom of Prussia/ Königreich Preußen
Free State of Prussia/ Freistaat Preußen
The German Democratic Republic (GDR)/ Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR)
Name: Gilbert Beilschmidt
Gender: Male
Appearance Age: 24
Actual Age:
From the Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary of Jerusalem or the Teutonic Order: 740 (going from the end of the Prussian Uprising against the Order when the Old Prussians were finally subjugated entirely.)
From Royal Prussia: 575
From Ducal Prussia: 489
From Brandenburg-Prussia: 396
From the Kingdom of Prussia: 313
From The Free State of Prussia: 96
From the German Democratic Republic: 64
Appearance
Hair Color: Platinum blonde, almost to the degree of it being a near white color. This is due to lack of pigmentation in hair, skin, eyes, etc. caused by albinism.
Eye Color: Very, very light blue, but due to his albinism and lack of real pigment in his eyes, most of the time the light or cameras, etc. will make his eyes pink or red in color.
Height: 179 cm, or 5’10”
Weight: 176 pounds
Appearance:
Gilbert Beilschmidt is an interesting man, both in a personal sense, and in an aesthetic sense. For instance, he stands tall, peaking at about 5’10”, but never slouches as he was taught to stand tall and straight as a child in a knight’s world. However, he is built far different from Ludwig; he does not have the broad shoulders of the German, and his waist is much smaller. And while Gilbert does have muscle, it is sinewy on him, and not nearly as large and defined as Ludwig’s is. Overall, he has a lanky, somewhat gangly looking build with some muscle, but nothing too bulky. He likes to think he’s ripped and perhaps you can argue that the sinewy muscle he has is enough to be called “ripped” but he really isn’t.
Another major part of his appearance is underneath his clothes. Gilbert happens to be somewhat riddled with scars; any nation that says they are not is either lucky or lying. Almost all have come from battle of course, save for a few from riding or training accidents. They mostly cover his chest and back, though a few of these scars cover his arms as well. Part of him wishes to actually get tattoos to cover them up, but the thought of also hiding proof that he was strong enough to last is something that upsets him. For now, he remains permanently ink free, though that he believes may be subject to change.
Gilbert is certainly one that can be picked out of a crowd, simply because of his appearance. This is mainly due to his genetic trait of albinism, which causes him to be exceptionally pale of both skin and hair, along with affecting the pigmentation of the eyes, due to a lack of overall pigmentation throughout the body. This in turn, makes Gilbert a sore thumb when in a crowd. What is also affected by the albinism is eyesight. Gilbert’s eyesight is poor, and oftentimes, he wears contacts to see better. However, sometimes he just chooses to wear his glasses instead, but these are rare occasions, or for a reason such as he’s out of contacts, he’s too lazy to put the contacts in, etc.
To describe the dresswear of the Prussian is difficult, since it just constantly changes. For instance, there’s the typical military uniform that he wears- that is the current one of course. However, he does have civilian clothes as well, which he often times wears more. When doing work that does not involve anything military but does deal with nation work, he tends to dress more business formal; “As long as I got my suit and tie,” as he would say in the apparent mortal words of Justin Timberlake. This means a rather sharply dressed Prussian in a nice suit, a well suited tie that may just match his eyes, tailored pants that seem to fit perfectly, and some rather nice shoes.
If he were to go out for a normal day in town, Gilbert tends to follow a style of clothing that lies in between the lands of Hot Topic and Etsy. Band t-shirts and jeans with a studded belt could be on him one day, and yet the next he could be wearing weird shirts with cats on them, one of those weird baggy cardigans, and skinny jeans with converse. Despite calling his wardrobe “eclectic”, there are basically times that Gilbert is a straight up hipster. Or a lazy bum in pajamas or sweats. Or some hardcore motherfucker. Take your pick.
Defining Features: It is certainly sad to say, but the most defining feature of Gilbert is his albinism. This not only causes him to be extremely pale in skin tone, but also have extremely pale colored hair (a platinum blond that is close to being the tone of white), and eyes that often times seem red or pink in color when in certain light. Also note that albinism does cause Gilbert to have poor eyesight.
Who Am I?
Personality:
Perhaps the most defining feature of Gilbert, is the fact that he is a hard worker no matter what. Often times, in his home (yes his own home, not some silly basement in his little brother’s home), you can him tinkering, whether it’s electronics, or carpentry, etc. But that does not mean he’s not just doing his own work, but he does work when it comes to business as well. You can find him often helping Ludwig out with the large masses of paperwork, just to give his little brother a bit of a break. Also, it is interesting to say, but any work that Gilbert does, is so that he is kept focused, and not bored. Therefore, Gilbert honestly likes to work, and finds laziness to be rather boring, leading to nothing productive which bothers him.
Gilbert is also quite intelligent, despite at times sometimes making some dumb mistakes or acting a little less sharp than he is. In fact, it would be rather stupid to say he’s not intelligent given his intelligence pertaining to anything war related, or politics. But that’s not all he knows— Gilbert is also well versed in literature, history, art, music, and all sorts of other things due to his time he’s been alive, and while a lot of that is demanded of those who are personified nations, the Prussian has also went out of his way to learn these things and others more in depth. He’s also a pretty good master at DIY around the house for example, and has taught himself to be tech savvy more than others.
He’s somewhat religious, following the Lutheran faith. That belief has also helped him to hold on through many things. Despite all the hardships he has dealt with through the last century, Gilbert has kept strong mostly by keeping a little faith in God, that He will be able to help the albino through his trials and tribulations. This faith he gained when he was little, though it has changed over time to be far more liberal than his concept of faith used to be. Gilbert also attends service every week, unless sick or something prevents him from going. Even so, if he misses he somewhat feels guilty, and tries to make it up by extra prayer in the evening. Just in case, of course.
Likes:
- Video Games for sure. Some names would be Europa Universalis IV, Empire Total War (those last two are great because he can totally play as himself and take over all of Europe!), Assassin's Creed, Devil May Cry (look! White haired people like him!), Call of Duty, Gears of War, Pokémon, Prototype, and inFamous to name a few.
- German food and certainly drinks. Berliner Weisse all the way.
- Anything war related: history, strategy, weaponry; you name it, he loves it.
- Certainly cute things; this can be people, animals, or things.
- Music, of all genres, but often times he sticks to classical, pop, electric, or metal. Don't talk bands or composers with him or you will be there for hours.
- Playing instruments. Currently he can play flute, piano, and guitar.
- Swordplay. Enough said.
- War Reenacting. People marvel at how accurate his weaponry is and how his uniforms are absolutely perfect. ("Are those real bullet holes in your jacket?")
- Friedrich der Große. Affectionately called Old Fritz/ Alte Fritz.
- Architecture. Sanssouci and the Neuer Palais in Potsdam are some of his favorite buildings to look at and study, along with a lot of Italian, French, and dare he say it, but Austrian buildings as well
- Family of his, despite that they may not get along often.
- His friends, once again, same reason as his family.
- DIY: He finds projects around his house to fix, and loves to decorate
- Movies. He hates to admit it to anyone, but he has an obsession with Disney, war films, and documentaries.
glorious cocksChickens and Roosters. Thankfully, he knows that theme for decor is soooo old and should never be used in households ever again, or else his house would be covered in rooster and chicken stuff.
Dislikes:
- The cold. He finds himself always somewhat chilly at times, and really likes to
snugglestay warm whether it's blankets or anything. Currently he blames the fact that he has poor circulation for his constant feeling of being an icicle. - It's not that he hates women (some of them are damn good looking!) but he dislikes female genitalia. They're just so weird looking!
- Bavarians. They're just so rude to him.
- Cheaters, especially in video games. If you're camping and taking pot shots for fun, you deserve to be sniped.
Arthur's cooking- Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists. Basically get the fuck over it, or get the fuck out of the country.
- Screamo music. Some of it can be rather good, but most of the time he finds it far too uncomfortable to listen to.
- Heavy bass systems in cars, because dumbasses with those loud subwoofers are stupid and will be deaf in the next year. He prefers to also not be able to hear your music from the next car over.
Fears:
- Isolophobia- The fear of being isolated by people, being ignored, and basically not having someone to turn to.
- Thantophobia- The fear of dying and not existing any longer.
Fun Facts:
- Gilbert owns his own home, in Potsdam. It's a two story home, with two bedrooms, two baths, a nice kitchen, a living room he wants to convert into a movie theater, a study (affectionately called his "War room" due to all the weaponry and strategy guides and old history books in there), and a "man cave", which is basically his basement filled with video games, and a stocked mini bar. He's actually fixed the house up quite a bit on his own. Just because he has his own place doesn't mean he doesn't occasionally stay with his brother though, or with friends for fun.
- The first Iron Cross ever issued was awarded to him is his most prized possession. Currently it is on a chain around his neck.
- He's an amateur brewer and sometimes makes his own beer and wine for fun.
- Whenever he plays first person shooters, he picks to be a sniper in online games, and has fun shooting everyone. Gotta prove to be superior somehow, and he figures it’s only fair to make the whiny little babies who play and camp deserve it!
- He's actually highly religious. He prays a lot, and does a lot of charity work through the church. He's also pleased that the Lutheran Church welcomes homosexuals into their congregation, albeit they're split on blessing gay marriages.
- He's definitely a clean freak. Not super OCD about everything, but things need to be in Ordnung.
- He speaks more than just German and English. Gilbert can speak French, Polish, Lithuanian, and Russian fluently, and his Latin is somewhat alright (but not all that impressive). He can also speak Old Prussian, but he doesn't really do so unless he wants to keep his thoughts to himself when talking with others, or trying to woo someone (not that it’s the most romantic language).
Strengths:
- Military prowess: this extends to strategy, and the prior experiences he's had throughout his life.
- Intelligence: don't listen to Roderich when he calls Gilbert an idiot, because the albino is far beyond that.
- Strength: He's not super buff like Ludwig (*cough* Steroids *cough*), but he does maintain good physical health, and is rather strong.
- Hands on Skills: Going along with strength, Gilbert has a good time working with his hands. Mostly this applies to work around the house and such, but it can be applied to other aspects in life as well.
Weaknesses:
- Obnoxiousness: he just doesn't know when to stop at times, and it can hurt him by keeping others at bay from him.
- Anger issues: Sometimes he just goes a little too far in his anger and just won't let things go.
- Lack of a country: Currently, it's not as if he has any army or country to back him up. It's just him versus the world.
- Trust issues: After all, you'd have them too after being stabbed one too many times in the back.
Your History
Oh boy, be prepared for some writing folks. I apologize in advance that my history is not in bullet points, but those bother me when it comes to writing out history.
The Invasion and formation of the Teutonic Order and the Teutonic State: 1230-1525
Of course, we all know that the Teutonic Order simply invaded the land of the Old Prussians. Of course this old land was tough, filled with pagans that were willing to fight against conversion to Catholicism. For instance, a small order was formed by Konrad of Masovia to combat the Old Prussians and bring them into the light of Christianity. However, they failed, and only by the prodding of the Pope did the Teutonic Order actually step in to fight, albeit unsuccessfully. There were a fair few Crusades against the Old Prussians because of it.
However, the Teutonic Order did not make their mark on Prussian land yet. Their headquarters were in Transylvania after all, and that was quite some distance from the Baltic coast, though this would soon change. After being kicked out of Transylvania in 1225 by the Hungarian ruler Andrew II, the order swiftly made their move to settle in the Baltic lands. This eventually led to an announcement made by Emperor Frederick II of the Holy Roman Empire that Prussian lands, along with Livonia and Sambia were under Imperial rule, and a papal legate was appointed to represent these lands. Two Bulls were issued, a Golden one in 1226 and a Papal one in 1234, in which stated that the Teutonic Order had control over Prussia. Despite causing another Prussian Crusade, cities were founded in the making, such as Königsburg by the order. It did not take time for the Order to “German-ize” these lands and make German culture predominant.
You might as well insert the innumerable battles fought by the Teutonic Order, which gained prominence throughout the time period here. One of the most notable would be the Battle of Grunwald. There would be something else very important to occur as well. From the original Northern March raised the Margrave of Brandenburg, which had only recently come to power thanks the Hohenzollern house taking power. The extend part of the New March in 1402, a piece of land, to the Teutonic Order to control, until it was taken back by treaties in 1455.
Things were not entirely peaceful however. Heavy taxation all due to war reparations and the need to gather more weapons for yet another attack on Poland angered the Prussians, who quickly came together to form the Prussian Confederation as a union to fight against the Teutonic Order. The Confederation worked diligently to have Poland on their side, especially since the Holy Roman Emperor declared the confederacy to be illegal. This quickly caused the Thirteen Weeks’ War, which ended with the loss for the Teutonic Order, and the lands of Prussia were split into two divisions; Royal Prussia, and Ducal Prussia.
The time of the Order had drawn to a close.
Royal Prussia: 1466-1772
After much arguing between the Teutonic Order and the Polish kingdom, and many major battles fought, the western part of the Teutonic Prussia was ceded to Poland due to defeat. This was quickly added to the Polish Crowns dominion and in turn, became Royal Prussia.
Despite the sound of the name, Royal Prussia was pretty lucky. While they had to follow the King’s orders, they were governed a council that represented them to the Polish monarchy, had their own armies, currency and pretty much had an autonomous rule within their nation governed them. Nonetheless this council was made up of lords and those with wealth within Royal Prussia, rather than have Poles do the job instead. This sort of treatment for Prussia lasted until the Union of Lublin in 1569, where Royal Prussia became an entire part of Poland. Prussian electors even were put into the Polish parliament. This lasted until the partitions of Poland in 1772 when the Kingdom of Prussia takes most of the land of Royal Prussia to form the true Prussian state, in which became entirely whole by 1793.
Duchy of Prussia: 1525-1618
Of course, things were different in the other half of the Prussian lands. The Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, Albert of Brandenburg-Ansbach could see how the land was being torn apart due to the arguments over Catholicism and the newly formed Lutheran church. Many of the common people converted to Luther’s religion, preferring the bible in the vernacular instead of in Latin. However, on April 10, 1525, Albert relinquished his title as Grand Master and converted to Protestantism, and became Duke of Prussia, forming the Duchy of Prussia thanks to his uncle, King Sigismund of Poland. Luther also helped push for the state religion to be Lutheranism and worked with the king and duke to form the deal.
Certainly this displeased the rest of the Teutonic Order, and a split in the order occurred. Some converted to Lutheranism and married into Prussian nobility. Others refused conversion and returned to the Holy Roman Empire to remain Catholic, where in turn, a new Grand Master thanks to the Holy Roman Emperor continued to stake claim to Prussian lands.
Albert lived until 1568, and left his son Albert Frederick in charge of the Duchy. This was bad, as Albert Frederick was not entirely the best at politics, and due to this and mental issues, a co-enfeoffment was written in 1569, and later backed by the Treaty of Warsaw in 1611, allowed for his son-in-law John Sigismund (who happened to be of the Hohenzollern Branch) to take power when he passed away in 1619. His son George William, who officially unified Brandenburg and Prussia into one nation, succeeded him.
Brandenburg-Prussia: 1608-1701
George William was the first to be faced with the issue of the Thirty Years’ War, when troops from Gustavus Adolfus’ army took much of the land of Brandenburg-Prussia and sat themselves right outside of Berlin. Compelled to remain safe, he sided with the Protestants in the war, allowing the Swedes to pass through his land (after all the Catholics were attacking his land as well), and even gave them a couple fortresses to use. However, even when Friedrich William (The Great Elector or “Der Große Kufürst” in German) came to power in 1640, Prussia was in a state of decline. Due to war, cities, towns, and villages were in ruin, people dead, and there was certainly a loss of wealth in the nation. And despite the land that Brandenburg-Prussia gained by the end of the war (a few only given thanks to France to keep Habsburg Austria in check), Brandenburg-Prussia was still not a major power in the world. However, Frederich William realized that a strong army was necessary, and procured the funds to build up a good army, which was made up to about 30,000 men by 1688. Frederich William did this so to gain international prestige.
In 1688, Friedrich III of Brandenburg-Prussia took the throne. Before his father’s death, the Great Elector had struck an alliance with Habsburg Austria, in which Silesia was given to the Austrians in return for Schwiebus, and had also regained full sovereignty away from the Kingdom of Poland-Lithuania. Friedrich III also promised to continue this alliance and stay on side with the Austrians, who also helped him gain stature in Austrian court life.
Kingdom of Prussia: 1701-1772
After helping to fight in the War of the Spanish Succession, The Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I of Habsburg Austria, granted the right to Friedrich III to call himself the King in Prussia. This was granted since Leopold I felt that since Prussia was never once part of the empire, along with the Hohenzollerns ruling the entire nation, it was only fair to grant them a Kingdom. This is important due to the fact that only Kingdoms were within the Holy Roman Empire or at least recognized as such if they were in the empire. Friedrich III crowned himself and his wife on January 18, 1701 as Friedrich I of Prussia, along with the change of arms to the highly recognizable black and white flag with the black eagle on it. Even then, it took the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 for the Kingdom of Prussia to be recognized. Friedrich I passed away in 1713 and was succeeded by his son Friedrich William I.
A couple of other things occurred in the early rule of Friedrich William I. He took the ruling upper class, known as Junkers, and incorporated them into the military, along with putting a mandatory service into effect in 1717. He also bore a son, Friedrich II, who would later become king in 1740 and known as one of the greatest Kings in the history of Prussia. However, his relationship with his son was terrible. He forced his son to become a good soldier, even having him train a small regiment of children into cadets. Often times, Frederich, or “Fritz” was beaten and abused, and his younger brother was preferred over him. Fritz preferred more enlightened humanistic things, such as music, and found French culture more interesting, often preferring to speak in French rather than in German. Eventually, a plot was formed between Fritz and and Hans Hermann von Katte to escape from Prussian and go to England. They were eventually caught, Friedrich put into prison, and was forced by his father to watch the execution of his beloved friend from his cell. Eventually he was freed and forced to study once more. He also intended of marrying, and originally was going to offer a proposal of marriage to Maria Theresa of Austria, though he was advised against it and in turn married Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Bevern, in 1733.
Friedrich's father Friedrich William died in 1740, and so Fritz took the throne, becoming Friedrich II of Prussia. Little Ol’ Fritzy was rather envious of the Habsburgs and wanted to bring together all of Prussia, including Ducal Prussia. So, he sets his eyes on Silesia, which was Prussian land earlier before it was given up to the Habsburgs, and after not agreeing to the Pragmatic Sanction in 1713 which stated that when the Austrian king Charles VI died, his daughter Maria Theresa would be allowed to rule the kingdom. With this, he invaded Silesia on December 16, 1740. This began the War of the Austrian Succession, which would last between 1740-48. Here, France, Spain, and Bavaria sided against England, Austria, and eventually troops from Hungary as well. However, after fighting for eight years, the war ended with the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which maintained that Maria Theresa was the rightful heir of Austria. However, Silesia was rightfully Prussia’s.
This didn’t stop Maria Theresa from trying to get it back. After dropping her alliance with Great Britain, Maria Theresa instead switched her alliances to France, a devastating loss to Prussia, who then quickly seized on making an alliance with Great Britain. Friedrich, growing worried about being attacked, in turn invaded Saxony, starting the Seven Years’ War, lasting from 1756-1763. This war spanned about three continents; The Americas, Europe, and Asia. However, peace came in the form of the Treaty of Paris and the Treaty of Hubertusburg in 1763, which stated that the war on the American continents and in Europe came to an end. With the Treaty of Hubertusburg, which was signed by Prussia and Austria, kept the resolve that Prussia was the clear owner of Silesia. With this said and done, this marked the end of the Silesian Wars, but the beginning of a form of world war.
The first partition of Poland occurred thanks to an agreement by Austria, Prussia, and Russia in February of 1772, to invade Poland and take parts of it for themselves. This is how the Kingdom of Prussia obtained Royal Prussia, and the lands that lay in between it and the Kingdom. For now, Prussia was united Kingdom. Friedrich the Great died in 1786, and his nephew, Friedrich William II continued the partitionings. Desperate to retain some land and fight off the invaders again if necessary, Poland formed the First Polish Republic, which in turn quickly deteriorated, causing them to turn to Prussia and form an alliance in 1790. Apparently alliances with Poland never meant anything to Prussia, as Russia waged a small war on tiny Poland, defeated them, and once again Prussia stepped in to help itself to more land with the Russians, gaining a new territory of South Prussia. Yet, it took a third partition to finally kill off Poland, this time Austria once again getting involved. On October 24, 1795, a treaty was signed to destroy any form of independent Polish state, and the country was dissolved. Prussia gained a New East Prussia territory, along with New Silesia.
Kingdom of Prussia: Through the 19th and 20th Century
Of course, with the rise of the French Revolution in 1789, European nations grew terrified, especially after the execution of the king of France and his wife. In retaliation, Austria, Prussia, Great Britain, Naples, and Sardinia formed the First Coalition to retaliate against the First French Republic, which surprisingly defeated the Coalition. In turn, Austria admitted defeat to General Napoleon Bonaparte with the Treaty of Campo Formio. The Second Coalition was not successful either, but Prussia did not participate, nor did it participate in the Third Coalition. Despite that, there was fear of the rising power of Napoleonic France, which caused Prussia to make an alliance with Saxony, Russia, Sweden, and Great Britain as the Fourth Coalition. This was a loss however, and Prussia lost one half of its territory as the Duchy of Warsaw was formed from it at the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807. Once again with the Fifth Coalition, Prussia did not participate, though that was a bust too. Finally, in 1812, the Sixth Coalition was formed with Austria, Prussia, Great Britain, Spain, Russia, Portugal, Sweden, and other states fighting against the French. France currently had control of most of continental Europe, but Napoleon was finally defeated and exiled to Elba in 1814. Peace came to Europe once more. Or did it?
Due to the Napoleonic Wars, Austria came to host the Congress of Vienna from 1814-1815. This year of diplomacy was rather interesting; certainly one that was filled with lavish parties, fine dinners, politics, and of course, sex. Prussia at this time was one of the four major powers, and was represented by Prince Karl August von Hardenberg, who was the current Chancellor, along with scholar Wilhelm von Humboldt. The king of the time, Friedrich Wilhelm III, was also in Vienna, but did not actively participate, and rather worked from the sidelines. Out of the Congress of Vienna, Prussia gained a fair bit of Saxony into its kingdom, along with parts of the Duchy of Warsaw, and the Danes gave over Swedish Pomerania to the Prussians. Westphalia and parts of the Rhineland were also gained, but much of what Prussia had partitioned from Poland was given away to Russia. Finally, out of the original 300 states that were part of the Holy Roman Empire, 39 emerged and together formed the German Confederation, in which the Austrian Emperor had control of. Parts of Prussia were included in this confederation.
There isn’t too much that happened before the whole ordeal of the German question. Friedrich Wilhelm III made some reforms and such, such as bringing the Calvinist and Lutheran churches together to form the United Evangelical Church of Prussia by 1817. This later caused a schism between the united Lutherans and Old Lutherans in 1830, which remained a permanent schism. By 1839, children who worked in Prussian lands could only work a 51 hour work week by decree. In 1840, Friedrich Wilhelm III passed away, and Friedrich Wilhelm IV succeeded. Finally, came 1848, a year that was certainly busy. Due to the heavy revolution throughout the year, the lands of Hohenzollern Sigmaringen and Hohenzollern Hechingen, which were ruled by another branch of the Hohenzollern family, were annexed and added to the Kingdom of Prussia. Finally, due to the revolutions of 1848, Friedrich Wilhelm IV was offered the crown of the German confederation, but denied it due to the fact that unifying Germany may get rid of Prussia.
Of course, there were two little factors outside of Prussia that would help to change this stance of no unified Germany; Denmark’s actions to cause the Schleswig Wars, and Austria. Denmark’s provocative actions towards Prussia over Schleswig and Holstein ignited war between the two nations in 1848 until 1851. This first war of Schleswig and it was a decisive Danish victory. And with the death of Friedrich Wilhelm IV in 1861 and the rise of Otto von Bismarck to the position of Prime Minister of Prussia in 1862, things were going to take a turn for the better. Mostly for Prussia that is.
Bismarck pushed for German Unification, seeing it as something that was inevitable for the German states, including Prussia. This led to war with Austria against the Danes once more in the Second Schleswig War, which was a major victory for both Prussia and Austria 1864. In the agreement, Schleswig went to Prussia, while Holstein went to Austria. With this however, the Prussian government felt that Holstein should be part of Prussia’s territory as well, leading to the Seven Weeks’ War, or the Austro-Prussian War in 1866. Prussia and its allies of the unified Kingdom of Italy, along with some northern German states fought bulked up as Prussia went up against Austria and its allies of southern German states. It ended with much German territory gained for Prussia, including Holstein, but Prussia (despite the urge of Wilhelm) did not invade Austria.
From this small war, tensions boiled, and Bismarck made his move after the North German Confederation was formed in 1867. Due to the Seven Weeks’ War, the German Confederation that was set up by Napoleon fell apart, and the major question if true German unification needed to occur or not rose. This led to the German Question: Who was included in German Unification and who led this newly formed nation? Prussia’s Bismarck spoke for Kleiner Deutschlösung, or Lesser Germany, meaning the new German nation was filled only with ethnic German speakers. This meant that Austria’s empire was not included in this, leaving Prussia to be the one that was supposed to lead. After a resounding defeat for the Austrians, in the chancellery and the outmaneuvering the French in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, on January 18, 1871, the German Empire was formed with the Prussian Wilhelm becoming the first Kaiser.
Believe it or not, despite Prussia being a part of the German Empire, and its King as the Kaiser, Prussia somewhat remained separate as an entity from the actual empire. However, there was strict control of the empire and almost complete Prussian dominance with the politics of the empire. Economics took a turn for the better in the empire as well, as more and more cities became heavily industrialized and generated more income for the nation. There was even the Congress of Berlin in 1885, which helped finish up dividing out Africa and other lands to main european empires. Everything seemed to be perfect...until Wilhelm I died in 1888, and was replaced by his sickly son Friedrich III. Far more democratic and liberal, he and his wife Victoria (daughter of Queen Victoria of England) worked hard to try and change the empire, until Friedrich's death only ninety-nine days after his father’s death, from throat cancer.
Friedrich Wilhelm II, son of Friedrich III, was then crowned Kaiser. Generally he’s the one everyone thinks of when it comes to World War I; the militaristic one, well taught by Bismarck to focus solely on the upper class and the military of the German empire. He certainly strengthened the army and bulked up the navy, which was great considering how Wilhelm threw Germany into the Great War as an ally of Austria-Hungary, and Italy at the time. Most of the lines in France, Belgium, and Germany were German soldiers, fighting the French, British, and Americans on the “Western Front”. They also fought a war on the Eastern Front against the Russians, and eventually with their allies the Ottoman Turks, when Italy switched sides. With heavy pressure from the advancing allied forces, and the central powers falling apart, the Kaiser abdicated, and on November 9, 1918, Germany was declared a republic. They later signed the Armistice on November 11. The German Empire had fallen, and as punishment, Germany had to pay reparations to France, Great Britain, and the United States. The military strength could only be one thousand men strong, and a navy or an air force was out of the question. Prussia was taken from a kingdom, and forced into a free state as much of its territory was given to the newly reformed Poland.
Free State of Prussia 1918-1947
Despite being broken down into a lowly state, Prussia retained some power and much land. While East Prussia was lost to Poland and other states, West Prussia developed into the Free State, making up ⅝ of German land during the Weimar Republic. They had their own Government, and were basically (in a sense) a republic at the time, despite the fact that they were part of Weimar Germany. Prussia was this way until the Prussian Coup in 1933, in which the current government of Prussia was ousted, and in an attempt to reclaim his control, Otto Braun lost control to the Nazi Party, which seized complete control of the Prussian government. This was the beginning of the real end of Prussia. Herman Göring was given control of Prussia at this time, and strict following of Nazi policies ensued. However in 1935, Prussia was dismantled into what were called Reichsgaue, which were subdivisions of land to be better controlled by the Nazi party. In a sense, this was the real dissolution of Prussia, as not one single section was entitled as Prussia, despite the name of the Free State of Prussia still existing. It would be 1947, after World War II when Otto Braun came to the Allies, begging for Prussia to be reinstated into Germany, to which the allies disagreed and declared the abolishment of Prussia.
German Democratic Republic 1949-1990
Due to the invading forces in World War II, Germany was split in four parts, or zones, depending on where the troops had stopped after complete victory was obtained. The North West was given to Great Britain, The South West to France, South East to the United States, and most of the North West was given to the Soviet Union. After World War II, The Soviet Union put up what Winston Churchill called the “Iron Curtain”, meaning they were shutting out anyone who was Socialist or Communist at all. Eastern Germany was included in this, becoming the Deutsche Demokratische Republik, or the German Democratic Republic. In 1948, German Communist leaders were given more and more power for administration within the zone, despite the GDR not actually forming until October 7, 1949. Despite this, Soviet forces remained throughout the country until the fall of the Berlin Wall. The Stasi was also formed, which was like their secret police, to enforce the ideals of communism and punish or get rid of those who did not.
Most people are most familiar with the Berlin Wall being built and torn down, and how it was a symbol of the struggle for freedom from the East to the richer West Germany. However, the Berlin Wall was built to keep in the people, but also keep the capitalists out. Too many people were emigrating from the East to the richer West since the East German economy was terrible. While it was the richest in the Soviet Bloc, it was nothing compared to Western Capitalist Germany. Therefore the wall was built on August 13, 1961. It did not officially come down until November 9, 1989, when the order was given that people could cross the border freely and after the peaceful revolution in East Germany. This did not mark the end of GDR however, as that did not end until 1990.
Sample Post
Mauerfall
“Die Berliner Mauer fiel in der Nacht von Donnerstag, dem 9. November, auf Freitag, den 10. November 1989, nach über 28 Jahren ihrer Existenz.”
“Die Berliner Mauer fiel in der Nacht von Donnerstag, dem 9. November, auf Freitag, den 10. November 1989, nach über 28 Jahren ihrer Existenz.”
Day 10.315
Diary,
It has been a long time here in the East. I have seen people come and go, buildings rise, and buildings fall. While I can see as many plays, hear as many pieces of music performed, watch television, or read books and newspapers, it does not feel the same. Often times I find myself, after coming home from a long day of work, eating some mundane meal and then going to sleep. My dreams are still filled with the typical experiences: blood, gore, death, destruction. What do you expect after all? I am a war mongering nation.
Ivan makes sure I am busy at the very least, and I’ve come to start realizing he’s always had me under surveillance. I’m sure my house is bugged, and everything I write and leave out, is thoroughly looked through. I have nothing to hide though. Just an old man of Europe, with barely anything to claim as my own.
Diary, this existence has become boring. I feel as though if something does not happen, that I will be driven to near insanity.
-Gilbert Beilschmidt, November 8. 1989
His writing desk was old; something he had held onto since the 1800’s, despite everything Germany had gone through in the past 100 years. He still wrote with a fountain pen, finding his still old style cursive just as illegible to write with than with ballpoint pens. Gilbert sighed, staring down at the most recent journal entry for a mere moment, until he stood up from the desk and walked off to bed. Yet another restless night ahead.
The sun had just started to rise as Gilbert’s alarm went off, causing him to groan somewhat in agony, somewhat in grogginess as the typical grind of the day began. Breakfast, shower, work, home, dinner, bed, repeat. It was...boring really. Today...today needed to change. Work was work; it was acceptable enough for him to do, as it was just often times reading reports and signing off on things, or stamping papers, but no...today would be different when he got off work. When he got off work, Gilbert decided, he would go to church. Maybe sit there, and ask what exactly God was planning for him in the end. Was it not enough punishment for his past with such a dull, repetitive life, or was there more to come? Was this whole DDR business really supposed to teach him a lesson or was this just a test for what was to come?
A groan, and some yawning helped the albino realize that philosophical thinking was just inappropriate for such an early morning such as this one.
The mood at his workplace was interesting; people bustling about with a little more fervor to their step than what was normal. After inquiring about this, a response from the woman who was his secretary explained about how people were talking about going west more and more, and, despite the snort she received from the albino, how it was becoming more and more possible, considering how Hungary had opened their borders. Wishful thinking, he passed it off as, simply choosing to return to focusing on his paperwork rather than toying with the thought of going west. Just because some things in the USSR were losing their touch didn’t mean the Germans were going to be let off as well.
The press conference...now that was what surprised him the most. Gilbert stood there, watching on as Günter Schabowski read off the note he was given. The checkpoints were going to be opened? Effective immediately? Surely this was just a dream; the albino man had not even thought of the true possibility of the breakdown of the Eastern German political system and possibly assimilation back into the rest of Germany. Now to be told that this was occurring, and effective immediately? He could not help but pinch himself to make sure this was real. It would certainly be a partial explanation as to why everything became so monotonous recently, and the need for change. If the people willed it after all, he felt the same.
Gathering his things quickly after work, and leaving the sorrowful state of a Trabi behind, did Gilbert honestly run from his home to the border of East Berlin and West. The gates were open, people were being let through, and he could hear the excitement from both sides as he waited to cross. Once those final steps came, walking into West Berlin and West Germany, did he smile, looking around until a familiar head of blond hair caught his attention. For once, did he feel truly happy, with a few tears falling from his eyes at the sight of the taller man running over to him. As soon as they were together, hugs were exchanged, and three simple words uttered from the blond:
”Willkommen zu Hause.”
The Player
Name: Call me Liz, or Zephyrus. While Zephyrus is preferred, I think I’m sorta more known already as Liz? So yup! Either or.
Age: Twenty!
Fun Fact:
I study German and History in college and live in the
Currently I am in the workings of getting stuff ready and flying off to Hamburg to study for a semester, possibly a year!
I am the biggest Sengoku Basara and Assassin’s Creed fan you may possibly find. But I play other stuff too.
Oh! I also love writing letters and receiving mail on my campus since my folks live twenty minutes away and I have no reason to get mail from them. So like…I’m all for being penpals with people.
