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( Prussia)
Prussia (German Preußen (help·info); Latin Borussia, Prutenia; Latvian Prusija; Lithuanian Prusija; Polish Prusy; Old Prussian Prusa) was, most recently, a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. This state had for centuries substantial influence on German and European history. The last capital of the state of Prussia was Berlin. The name Prussia derives from the Old Prussians, a Baltic people related to the Lithuanians and Latvians. In the 13th century, "Old Prussia" was conquered by the Teutonic Knights. Their monastic state was Germanized following the Ostsiedlung. The union of Brandenburg and Prussia (Brandenburg-Prussia) in 1618 led to the proclamation of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701. Prussia attained its greatest importance in the 18th and 19th centuries. During the 18th century, it became a great European power under the reign of Frederick the Great (1740–86). During the 19th century, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck pursued a policy of uniting the German principalities into a "Lesser Germany" which would exclude the Austrian Empire. The Kingdom of Prussia dominated northern Germany politically, economically, and in terms of population, and was the core of the unified North German Confederation formed in 1867, which became part of the German Empire or Deutsches Reich in 1871.
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