Of the many tragedies that occurred during World War II, none was greater than the elimination of the state of Prussia. An outrageous claim one might say. What about the outright devastation of communities throughout the world, and the mass murder of millions of innocent civilians, like the six million Jews? The destruction and deaths of so many is a tragedy, but not as great a tragedy as the elimination of a people. In any event, when Berlin finally fell in 1945 the “Allies” (United Kingdom, Soviet Union, and United States of America) were determined to get their pound of flesh from the Germans. Justified or not, this was the intention of the conquering powers with the most outrageous being the Morgenthau Plan. On February 25, 1947, a day that should truly live in infamy, the allies committed one of the greatest sins against the German people, Europe, and humanity overall, by eliminating Prussia. These three non-Continental powers eliminated a state which had existed since the 13th century and throughout history had proven to be one of the most enlightened and tolerant states of Europe.
Firstly, a defense must be made for the German Volk. I was raised with many untruths about the German involvement in World War 2, but the greatest lie told to me was that Hitler had majority support from the German people. One does not need the support of the majority to steal the executive position in a national government; Castro and Stalin are excellent examples of that. The truth of the matter is that the Nazis never had the support of 50% of Germany during the era of the Weimar Republic. Giles MacDonogh, who wrote After the Reich: The Brutal History of the Allied Occupation puts it perfectly:
" It is true that some of the old men and a lot of the women had voted for Hitler, but it should be recalled once again that he never achieved more than 37.4 percent of the vote in a free election, and in the last one he was down to 33.1 percent. That meant that, even at his most popular, 62.6 percent of the German electorate were unmoved by his programme. Of course, at that point it did not propose the slaughter of the European Jews (he never made any public statement on the subject other than dark allusions that have become easier to read in retrospect); nor did it mention his desire to confront Soviet Russia and enslave the Slavs; nor did it hint that he would eventually bring the roof down on the German house and kill a large number of its inmates. It is possible that he might have secured more votes that way, but I think not. To make all Germans responsible for the relatively docile Hitler of 1933 is to apply the Allied weapon of collective guilt. Collective guilt makes them all responsible: women, old men, and children, even newborn babies-they were German and they could also be slaughtered or starved to death. Indeed, the Soviet propagandist Ilya Ehrenburg exhorted the Red Army not to save ‘the child in its mother’s womb.’"
The Prussian state was ethnically German, but like all German kingdoms was unique. The enlightened Prussian state took many years to evolve, but as early as the early 18th century, Prussia was one of the finest states in the world. The Zeitgeist of social evolution had ingredients which were completely unique to Prussia. Many factors came together to form the core of what became the Prussian state: its Hohenzollern kings, lack of natural resources, strong work ethic of its subjects, and dedication to order. Prussia would produce an incorruptible civil service, a tolerant attitude to religious minorities, a law code (from 1794) admired and imitated throughout the German states, a literacy rate unequalled in Europe (in the nineteenth century) and a bureaucracy of exemplary efficiency. The Prussian state was remarkable for the vibrancy of the Prussian enlightenment and also the capacity of the Prussian state to transform and reconstitute itself in times of crisis. As a counterpart to the political servility emphasized by the special-path paradigm, they stressed notable episodes of insubordination, most recent the role played by Prussian officers in the plot to assassinate Hitler in July 1944. The Prussia in which they existed was not without flaws, but it had little in common with the racial state created by the Nazis.
What justification did the conquering allies have in destroying this marvelous and efficient state? The reasoning at the time was that the Prussian generals were behind the German war machine which brought such destruction to Europe. Like all half-truths, there is more fiction than truth with this reasoning. The Prussian generals for centuries would always defer to the ruling authority; there never was a military dictatorship in Prussia. This was appropriate in 1848, when the Prussian generals did nothing until the King told them what to do, but was completely inappropriate in the 1930’s and 1940’s when it was obvious that Hitler was a madman and leading Germany, as well as Prussia, to ruin. They did not “plan” the war against Europe but simply followed orders as any soldier is trained to do. This reasoning doesn’t completely excuse their behavior, but the creator of the idea of a broad German, or Nazi Empire, was Hitler, an Austrian whose mother country exists to this day. The quote below comes from MacDonogh's book which describes how misconstrued Adenauer's (and the Allies) attitude was toward Prussia
"The mayor (Adenauer) wanted to readjust the balance, above all by concluding a sort of concordat with the French. Prussia had only a marginal role in the Holy Roman Empire, and Adenauer now chose to make his vision of Charlemagne’s Europe into the foundation stone for Germany’s future. Prussia had become a monster to him – he attributed to it all the vices of the Nazis, despite the fact that Prussia (which had amounted to two-thirds of pre-war Germany) was notably under-represented in Nazi Germany, and that most of the leaders of the movement came from the Catholic south and west. One of the most pungent – Joseph Goebbels – was a man from his beloved Rhineland. Adenauer was singing a tune that appealed to the Countrol Council: they too were keen to make Prussia the black sheep that had led Germany astray. It was a convenient argument anyway, because much of the Prussian heartland had been lost to Poland and Russia at Potsdam. Adenauer could clearly put it on with a trowel if he had to – but he didn’t have to. On 25 February 1947, the Control Council issued its Law No. 46: ‘The Prussian State which from early days has been a bearer of militarism and reaction in Germany has de facto ceased to exist.’"
In fact, if one analyzes the origins of the racial attitude of the Nazi party, they are beset with all types of Austrian, not Prussian philosophies. These philosophies of supposed German superiority to its neighbors was emphasized by the then minority Austrian Germans who shared a common Hapsburg Emperor with Hungarians, Serbians, Croatians, and Poles, to name a few. The main point is not to debate what German land should have been made “German-free,” (none should have). Rather, the point of this website is to show that the United Kingdom and USA made glaring errors in their post-war dealings with Stalin and acted immorally in forcing millions of Prussians to leave their ancestral homes of Pomerania, Silesia, and Eastern Prussia. The mistake is even more profound when one sees how, as a result of their actions, the Soviet Union, the worst totalitarian empire in history, was to benefit so handsomely.
So what is left of Prussia? Most of Prussian land went to Poland, which, as a result of this charity, is geographically larger than Germany but, as always, smaller economically. Nothing should be done however to regain the stolen land from Poland. Let the Poles choke on their ill-gotten gains. Fortunately, there is still land which is Prussian and not in Polish hands. In an astonishingly stupid move, the conquering allied powers gave a piece of Prussia to Russia so that Russia would have a permanent base within continental Europe! By allowing the Communist Russians this base, one has to wonder if FDR had Communist sympathies. It is hard to find any actions of his which lessened the power of Stalin…
In any case, the land that remains is called the Kaliningrad Oblast. On a map you will see that it is the northern part of what was Eastern Prussia. The Russian occupation of this land is ridiculous. This is even more pertinent when one realizes that the Soviet Union is no more. Furthermore, it is a grave threat to European stability to have Russian territory so deep in Europe. The German people (esepcially those Germans with Prussian blood) must come together and demand that this land be given back to Germany. There are just over 400,000 non-Germans living in this land, with the clear majority being Russian. Russia has plenty of land for these people, whose occupation of Prussia should have ended in 1992. Lastly, the Russians have caused so much damage and war in their history, especially in the 20th century. Their atrocious and bestial behavior after the war concluded was perhaps at least on par with the Nazis, if not worse. Contemporary historians have yet to talk about the “German Holocaust” but the facts are there and will emerge over time.
As a sign of goodwill and some form of contrition, evacuating their people from this stolen land and giving it back to its rightful German residents would simply be the right thing to do. The Russians have destroyed all the beauty that was Prussia for so many centuries but I’m sure there could be some financial settlement to pay the Russians for the decaying infrastructure that currently exists there.
This website hopes to demonstrate that Prussia ultimately was a source of good in the world and its eradication was a mistake which must be reversed. Prussia is a vital part of German history and for this great state to be so wantonly destroyed is both immoral and foolish. The German people must stop relying on British, American, and Russian support and look within themselves for stability. Practically speaking, Germany already is one of the densest countries in the world. A Prussian state within the German government would give the Germans more room to live. Yes, Hitler gave a similar argument to defend his invasions of Czechoslovakia and Poland, but this time it is different. Prussia was German for over 7 centuries, the land is OURS. In addition, like all of the confiscated lands of Prussia, Kaliningrad is underdeveloped. When Prussia is re-established with Germans, a rock of financial and democratic stability will reappear in Eastern Europe. Culturally, every German owes a debt to Prussia for its ability to unify the German people and create a democratic monarchy, albeit a far from perfect one. Germany cannot bring Prussia back from the dead alone. We will need support from the other European major powers and this should not be difficult. The German people were never hell-bent on world domination before Hitler, the actions of Hitler’s Reich were an aberration as an example of German behavior. Since the war, Germany has created an efficient form of democratic federal government and has been determined to be at peace with its neighbors.
The resurgence of Prussia will only benefit Europe and the world. Prussians, do not forget who you are! The “German” nation in its current form is one which was imposed upon us by foreign, imperialistic powers. It is not organic and we should have very little spiritual attachment to it. Our greatest mistake as Prussians was for us to focus on ethnic titles which provided us with little strength, but great weakness. Before 1871, we were Westphalians, Pomeranians, Brandenburgers, Silesians, and so on. After 1871, we thought that by uniting under a common flag and calling ourselves “Germans” we would be able to be as “powerful” as other unified people like the French or Spanish. But where did this national charter get us? Our grandfathers were butchered and our grandmothers raped. There is no future for us as a German Nation. We are intrinsically a Volk, but we will never exist as a unified one. It is our true identity as Prussians which made us the great people we are. As the Socialist states of Europe slowly decay and become obsolete, our time is ripe. We must come together as Prussians and claim our only ancestral home from the Russians. We will never get back Pomerania, Silesia, Posen, or even Southern Prussia. However, Northern Prussia is rightfully ours. Unite together and revive our fallen land.