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East Prussia right East Prussia (German: Ostpreußen; Polish: Prusy Wschodnie; Russian: Восточная Пруссия — Vostochnaya Prussiya) was a province of Kingdom of Prussia, situated on the territory of former Ducal Prussia. The northern part of East Prussia corresponds today to Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast (Königsberg); the southern parts form Poland's Warminsko-Mazurskie Voivodship. East Prussia enclosed the bulk of the ancient ancestral lands of the Baltic Prussians. East Prussia was located along the south-east corner of the Baltic Sea. Its capital was Königsberg (now Kaliningrad) Origins In 1772, after the First Partition of Poland, Warmia (a part of former province of Royal Prussia) was included into East Prussia. On January 31, 1773 King Friedrich II announced that the newly annexed lands were to be known as "Westpreußen" (West Prussia) and the old Duchy of Prussia were to be known as "Ostpreußen" (East Prussia). Prussia, the old name of the area, was already since 1701 when Elector Friedrich III crowned himself King in Prussia, beginning to shift as a name of the whole Kingdom reigned by King Friedrich I. German Empire Along with the rest of Prussia, East Prussia, became part of the German Empire at its creation in 1871. After World War I until World War II, East Prussia became an exclave of Germany, created as a result of the Treaty of Versailles, when parts of the province of West Prussia (former Royal Prussia) were ceded to Poland creating the so called Polish Corridor, roughly corresponding to today's Pomeranian Voivodship. In 1875 the ethnic make up of East Prussia was 73.48% German, 18.39% Polish, and 8.11% Lithuanian (according to "Slownik geograficzny Krolestwa Polskiego"). The population of the province in 1900 was 1,996,626 people, with a religious make up of 1,698,465 Protestants, 269,196 Roman Catholics, and 13,877 Jews. Population of the East Prussia in 1890 Population of East Prussia and its Provinces in 1890 Inhabitants non-German citizens* East Prussia 1,958,663 2,189 *The numbers for "non-German citizens" represent only people, who were not German citizens. From 1885 to 1890 Berlin had gained 20% inhabitants, Brandenburg and Rhineland gained 8,5%, Westphalia 10% , while East Prussia had lost 0,07 and West Prussia 0,86 %. Following Counties had large Polish populations, according to German census from 1900: Johannisburg (Provinz Ostpreußen) 70,2 % Ortelsburg (Provinz Ostpreußen) 74,5 % Lyck (Provinz Ostpreußen) 53,2 % Neidenburg (Provinz Ostpreußen) 69,3 % Sensburg (Provinz Ostpreußen) 50,5 % Lötzen (Provinz Ostpreußen) 38,1 % Oletzko County Oletzko (Provinz Ostpreußen) 33,5 % Osterode (Provinz Ostpreußen) 43,9 % Allenstein (Provinz Ostpreußen) 47,1 % Rössel (Provinz Ostpreußen) 14,0 % Weimar Republic The German Empire became a Republic in 1918, with the abdication of Emperor Wilhelm II. As a consequence of the lost World War I and according to the Versailles Treaty, a plebiscite was to be held in the southern parts of East Prussia in 1920 to decide whether these areas should belong to the re-established state of Poland or remain German. 96.7 % of the people voted for remaining within Germany. (Note: the choice on the ballot was in fact between "East Prussia" and "Poland" not "Germany" and "Poland" as is widely believed) Nazi reign Map of East Prussia in 1939 The Nazis altered about 1/3 of the toponymy of the area, to clean up all names of Polish or Lithuanian origin. Also, members of minorities with Polish roots (see Mazurs) who did not co-operate were brutally suppressed, with activists being sent to concentration camps. Parents stopped sharing their thoughts with their children, since children were encouraged to spy on their parents. WW2 During the World War II, the province was extended (see Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany). In 1939, East Prussia had 2.49 million inhabitants. Many were killed in the war, most of them young people conscripted to the German army and killed in action. The Red Army had entered the eastern-most tip of Prussia by August 29 1944. The brutal massacres and rapes of civilians committed by the Soviet troops spread panic in the province and caused many to flee in long treks. More than 2 million people were evacuated via the Baltic Sea. The remaining German population of East Prussia was, during the years after the war, expelled by the communist Soviet and Polish regimes. Many people were also deported as slave labourers to Eastern parts of the Soviet Union and lost their lives there. After the expulsion of the German population, Russians Belorussians and Ukrainians were settled in the northern part and Sambia and Polish expatriates from eastern parts of Poland taken over by the Soviet Union were settled in the southern part of East Prussia, now the Polish Warminsko-Mazurskie Voivodship. Further reading Publications in German B. Schumacher: Geschichte Ost- und Westpreussens, Wurzburg 1959 Buxa, Werner and Hans-Ulrich Stamm: Bilder aus Ostpreußen Dönhoff, Marion Gräfin v. :Namen die keiner mehr nennt - Ostpreußen, Menschen und Geschichte Dönhoff, Marion Gräfin v.: Kindheit in Ostpreussen Publications in Polish K. Piwarski, Dzieje Prus Wschodnich w czasach nowożytnych, Gdańsk 1946 Gerard Labuda (ed.), Historia Pomorza, vol. I–IV, Poznań 1969–2003 (also covers East Prussia) collective work, Szkice z dziejów Pomorza, vol. 1–3, Warszawa 1958–61 External links German Empire: Province of East Prussia See also Landsmannschaft Ostpreußen nds:Ostpreußen Most Popular Articles: Music    Musical Instruments    Guitar    Classical Music    History    Music Definition    Country Music    Rock Music    Pop Music    Hip Hop    Rap    DJ    Video Games    Casino Games    Poker    Blackjack    Casinos    Real Estate    Loan    Auction    eBay    Marketing    Search Engine Optimization    File Sharing    MP3    Music Industry    Kazaa    Internet    Supermodel    Fashion    Fashion Designers    Erotica    Modeling    Clothing    Boots    Shoes    Diamond Engagement Rings    Diamond    Rugs    Gospel Music    Affiliate    E-Commerce    Radio This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Prussia