East Prussia
In the 13th century, Duke Konrad I of Masovia invited the Teutonic Knights to conquer the native Old Prussians. These crusading orders established a monastic state to administer the conquered lands along the southeastern Baltic Coast. Local place names in both North and South were gradually Germanized over time. The Knights expanded their territory into Polish Pomerania and western Lithuania, which brought them into conflict with the Kingdom of Poland. This conflict culminated in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410 where united armies of Poland and Lithuania defeated the Teutonic Order. In 1440, an anti-Teutonic Prussian Confederation was founded by various cities and nobles. King Casimir IV of Poland signed the act of incorporation for the entire region into the Kingdom of Poland in 1454 upon the Confederation's request. The Second Peace of Thorn in 1466 formalized the defeat and restored Pomerelia to Poland as Royal Prussia. The remainder of historic Prussia became a fiefdom held by the Teutonic Knights under the Polish crown.
King Frederick the Great annexed neighboring Royal Prussia during the First Partition of Poland in 1772. This action connected his Prussian lands with Farther Pomeranian territories and cut the remainder of Poland off from the Baltic coast. An administrative decree dated the 31st of January 1772 designated former Ducal Prussia together with Warmia as the Province of East Prussia. Several districts including Eylau, Marienwerder, Riesenburg, and Schönberg were transferred to West Prussia. Frederick II confirmed the final division on the 31st of January 1773 when newly annexed lands became the Province of West Prussia. Between 1829 and 1878, the province was joined with West Prussia to form the Province of Prussia. Napoleon occupied Berlin after defeating the Royal Prussian Army at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt in 1806. French troops delayed their pursuit in the Battle of Eylau on the 9th of February 1807 by an East Prussian contingent under General Anton Wilhelm von L'Estocq. The War of the Fourth Coalition ended with Napoleon's victory at the Battle of Friedland on the 14th of June 1807.
East Prussia became a theater of war when the Russian Empire invaded upon Germany's entry into World War I. The Imperial German Army had been directed towards the Western Front according to the Schlieffen Plan leaving little resistance initially. Despite early success capturing towns like Rastenburg and Gumbinnen, the Russians were decisively defeated in the Battle of Tannenberg in 1914. A second defeat occurred during the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes in 1915 forcing the Russians to retreat. After the first invasion most civilian populations fled westward while several thousand remaining civilians were deported to Russia. Treatment of civilians by both armies remained mostly disciplined despite some incidents. Seventy-four civilians were killed by Russian troops in the Abschwangen massacre on the 29th of August 1914. The region required rebuilding due to damage caused by the war efforts. Most of its inhabitants became refugees in bitterly cold weather during later conflicts.
The Treaty of Versailles granted West Prussia to Poland making East Prussia an exclave separated from mainland Germany. The so-called Polish Corridor physically isolated the province from the rest of Weimar Germany. The Klaipėda Region was detached and annexed by Lithuania in 1923 without giving inhabitants a choice by ballot. Because most of West Prussia became part of the Second Polish Republic as the Polish Corridor, the Marienwerder region joined East Prussia administratively. The Seedienst Ostpreußen Sea Service was established to provide independent transport service to the isolated province. On the 11th of July 1920 an East Prussian plebiscite determined if areas should join Poland or remain within Germany under Allied supervision. Ninety-six point seven percent of people voted to remain within Germany with ninety-seven point eight nine percent voting yes in the specific district. Opposition politicians faced persecution while newspapers were banned after Adolf Hitler rose to power. Erich Koch headed the East Prussian Nazi party from 1928 and led the district from 1932.
Erich Koch implemented policies that included mass-scale industrialization plans which provoked conflict with Richard Walther Darré. Darré wanted to enforce his vision of an agricultural East Prussia while Koch arrested those who challenged his plans. In 1938 Nazis changed about one-third of place names eliminating Germanizing Old Prussian Polish or Lithuanian names. More than 1,500 places were ordered to be renamed by the 16th of July 1938 following a decree issued by Gauleiter Erich Koch. Many who would not cooperate with rulers were sent to concentration camps held prisoner until death or liberation. The East Prussian Jewish Congregation declined from about 9,000 in 1933 to 3,000 in 1939 as most fled from Nazi rule. During World War II Polish ethnic minorities including Catholic Warmians and Lutheran Masurians were persecuted by the government. Jews remaining in East Prussia in 1942 were shipped to concentration camps including Theresienstadt Kaiserwald and camps in Minsk. Deportations began on the 24th of June 1942 and continued throughout the war.
In 1944 the medieval city of Königsberg was almost completely destroyed by two RAF Bomber Command raids. The first raid occurred on the night of the 26th of August 1944 while the second happened three nights later overnight on the 30th of August 1944. Winston Churchill had erroneously believed it to be a modernized heavily defended fortress and ordered its destruction. Gauleiter Erich Koch delayed evacuation of German civilians until the Eastern Front approached the border in 1944. Systematic misinformation via Endsieg Nazi propaganda caused many fleeing civilians to be overtaken by retreating Wehrmacht units. Reports of Soviet atrocities in the Nemmersdorf massacre spread fear among civilians during October 1944. Thousands lost their lives during sinkings of ships like Wilhelm Gustloff Goya and General von Steuben by Soviet submarines. Königsberg surrendered on the 9th of April 1945 following a desperate four-day battle. An estimated 300,000 died from bombing raids battles mistreatment hunger cold or disease.
Following Nazi Germany's defeat 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 parts were divided between Russia and Lithuania. The city of Königsberg was renamed Kaliningrad in 1946 to honor Mikhail Kalinin. Most of the German population left during evacuation at end of war but several hundreds of thousands died between 1944 and 1946. During summer 1945 an estimated number of 800,000 Germans lived in East Prussia before being expelled. Between the 24th of August and the 26th of October 1948 twenty-one transports with total 42,094 Germans left the Oblast. In July 1946 one hundred fourteen thousand seventy German citizens and forty-one thousand twenty-nine Soviet citizens were registered. Ethnic Russians Belarusians and Ukrainians were settled in the northern part after expulsion of German population. Over eighty percent of 1950 inhabitants were new to region while less than twenty percent had resided there back in 1939.
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Common questions
When was East Prussia established as a province?
An administrative decree dated the 31st of January 1772 designated former Ducal Prussia together with Warmia as the Province of East Prussia. King Frederick the Great annexed neighboring Royal Prussia during the First Partition of Poland in 1772 to connect his lands with Farther Pomeranian territories.
Who founded the Teutonic state that became East Prussia?
Duke Konrad I of Masovia invited the Teutonic Knights to conquer the native Old Prussians in the 13th century. These crusading orders established a monastic state to administer the conquered lands along the southeastern Baltic Coast.
What happened to East Prussia after World War II ended?
Following Nazi Germany's defeat, 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 parts were divided between Russia and Lithuania.
How many civilians died during the destruction of Königsberg?
An estimated 300,000 people died from bombing raids battles mistreatment hunger cold or disease during the war. The medieval city of Königsberg was almost completely destroyed by two RAF Bomber Command raids on the night of the 26th of August 1944 and overnight on the 30th of August 1944.
When did Erich Koch implement mass-scale industrialization plans in East Prussia?
Erich Koch headed the East Prussian Nazi party from 1928 and led the district from 1932. He implemented policies that included mass-scale industrialization plans which provoked conflict with Richard Walther Darré who wanted to enforce his vision of an agricultural East Prussia.