The REAL Reason Russia Owns Kaliningrad
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The story of how Russia got to owning Kaliningrad. Starting 800 years ago.
00:00 - 00:30 Intro
00:30 - 01:18 Teutonic Knights?
01:18 - 01:51 Current situation
01:51 - 03:22 Dr. Knight
03:22 - 05:12 Prussians and Pagans
05:12 - 08:32 Northern Crusades
08:32 - 11:11 The Rise of the Hohenzollern, or the return of the Prussians
11:11 - 14:15 What about the Russians?
Sources:
I got most of my information from:
Adam Zamoyski: Poland: A History
www.amazon.com/Poland-History...
Also a great read on anything Christian:
Tom Holland - Dominion
The two videos I talk about
• Why Does Russia Own Th...
• Why does Russia Own Ka...
Hi there, my name is Jochem Boodt. I make the show The Present Past, where I show how the present has been influenced by the past. History, but connected to the present and fun!
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The true reason why Kaliningrad is Russian is only one: the Red Army recaptured it from Hitler's Third Reich, and Russia has held onto it ever since because it wants to and can.
And Stalin really wanted to have at least some of the lands that belonged to Reich before.
"because it wants to and can" and because the Western powers (the British and the Americans) silently agreed to this state of things right after WWII + they desired Germany to be weaker. Would you agree?
@@mykhayloklen5194 If they didn't agree, what could they do? Nothing.
@@anabona4764 The Western powers could have tried. And then, who knows? At that time, the Western powers & the SU had mutual influence upon each other. Example? They dissuaded the SU from "liberating" Finland.
@@mykhayloklen5194 No, I wouldn't. The Potsdam Conference was unfinished, and NEVER ceded the region to Russia as an exclave - none of the other powers would have agreed on that. Kaliningrad was in the Soviet sphere of influence, but NEVER ceded to Russia.
They have no legal claim to it
I like how you give credit to other videos, shows how involved in the topic you are and how genuine you are. Really good TH-camr here guys
Jesus Christ is the only hope in this world no other gods will lead you to heaven
There is no security or hope with out Jesus Christ in this world come and repent of all sins today
Today is the day of salvation come to the loving savior Today repent and do not go to hell
Come to Jesus Christ today
Jesus Christ is only way to heaven
Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void
Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today
Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today
Holy Spirit Can give you peace guidance and purpose and the Lord will
John 3:16-21
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Mark 1.15
15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Hebrews 11:6
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Jesus
Russian owns Kaliningrad for another reason: access to the North Sea. That's why during the Cold War, this part of the Soviet Union became highly militarized with a major naval base and (I believe) even silos for Soviet intermediate-range ballistic missiles.
Right. Since St.Petersburg freezes in winter, they need this place as a non-freezing port.
And I thought you were going to say The Potsdam Conference.
There were likely nuclear weapons there, as there were in Lithuania.
Murmansk is non-freezing port
@@user-ic7im5uj4b Murmansk may not freeze up in winter, but it's totally useless as an access to Baltics and Europe. Look at the map, FFS.
The Soviet Union could use ports of Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia to access the Baltic
Love the on site reporting, really does help the story telling process
And I got a work trip out of it :)
Agreed, it's what sets great creators apart. Imagine if Tom Scott just talked over stock footage and had experts Zoom in
Then you will love the Channel youtube.com/@HistoryHustle - He does this all the time
Jesus Christ is the only hope in this world no other gods will lead you to heaven
There is no security or hope with out Jesus Christ in this world come and repent of all sins today
Today is the day of salvation come to the loving savior Today repent and do not go to hell
Come to Jesus Christ today
Jesus Christ is only way to heaven
Repent and follow him today seek his heart Jesus Christ can fill the emptiness he can fill the void
Heaven and hell is real cone to the loving savior today
Today is the day of salvation tomorrow might be to late come to the loving savior today
Holy Spirit Can give you peace guidance and purpose and the Lord will
John 3:16-21
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
Mark 1.15
15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Hebrews 11:6
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Jesus
Why is Gibraltar British?
Timeline of Kaliningrad
The history of the city may be divided into four periods: the Old Prussian settlement known as Twangste before 1255; the Polish city of Królewiec from 1454 to 1455 and then fief of Poland from 1456 to 1657; the German city of Königsberg from 1657 to 1945; and the Russian city of Kaliningrad from 1945 to present.
Historical affiliations
Old Prussians (until 1255)
Teutonic Order 1255-1466
Kingdom of Poland 1454-1455
Kingdom of Poland / Teutonic Order (fief of Poland) 1466-1525
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth / Duchy of Prussia (fief of Poland) 1525-1656
Sweden 1656-1657
Duchy of Prussia 1657-1701
Kingdom of Prussia 1701-1758
Russian Empire 1758-1762
Kingdom of Prussia 1762-1918
German Empire 1871-1918
Weimar Germany 1918-1933
Nazi Germany 1933-1945
Russian SFSR (as part of the Soviet Union) 1945-1991
Russian Federation 1991-present
Interestingly, the Polish government just changed the official polish name of Kaliningrad to Królewiec, which is what it was called before the russians owned it.
but it’s original name was Königsberg
@@Helper_Bot1233 Which is "Królewiec", when translated to polish.
@@jplichta Ok.
@@Helper_Bot1233 *Kunnegsgarbs
Konigsberg will not be Russia for long
Actually, the Prussians were not Exterminated, their language survived until the 18th Century. In fact, many modern Germans who was expelled from Prussia still have the Old Prussian Ancestry. If you look at the history of German East Settlement (Ostsiedlung) many regions before German settlement were sparsely populated. Plus, many Germans intermarried with the natives. Some still have Polish and Slavic Sounding Surnames.
I know this because I have lots of Prussian Friends.
It is true that not ALL Old Prussians were exterminated but your comment sounds like a whitewash. A Teutonic chronicler Peter of Duisburg in his Chronicon terrae Prussiae writes how Teutonic Knights slaughtered Old Prussians and all the primary source contains derogatory views of the Teutons towards the Old Prussians, viewing them as being lower than dogs.
Indeed, similar story with East Germany. Actually East Germans are genetically closer to Polish than to West Germans. Their ancestors were Slavs who intermarried with Germans and gradually adopted German language and culture.
Thank you for this video! I am Latvian myself, and no one bats an eye for the 700 years of hardship, slavery and cultural genocide that were forced upon us by the Teutonic Order, Germans and Russians. Had Lithuanians not fought for their access to the sea, Latvians and Estonians would had the same fate as Prussians. By not allowing the Germans to pass through to Livonia via land, only allowing sea travel, Lithuanians indirectly saved us. The Baltic languages (Latvian, Lithuanian and Prussian) are quite similar and I can understand a few words of Prussian, so it's really scary to think that we could have had the same fate. And no one outside of the Baltics mourn for the innocent nation that got decimated. No one cares for the surviving nations. Again - thank you for bringing this topic up and bringing it up the way you did!
our ancestors should've helped Prussians earlier... but they had some beef with them for some reason that I dont remember anymore..
What is Prussian? Could you describe it?
@@dmitryfadeev5181What description do you need? It was a Baltic language. Fragments survive. It has a wikipedia page. I vaguely remember seeing something about a revival movement. Not sure if it was among Lithuanians, Poles or possibly even Russians from within the territory itself.
@@davidos444 do you know how it could be possibly sounds?
@@dmitryfadeev5181 Probably quite similar to Lithuanian and Latvian. I think the sound of it has been reconstructed but I’m not very knowledgeable on the subject.
I'm from Kaliningrad. This was a great video on the history of my region. You did miss that Elizabeth* 1 conquered Konigsberg during the 7 years war and made plans to incorporate it into the Russian Empire. Hope you can visit the city and other small towns in the Oblast one day and encounter the merging of two cultures.
*Elizabeth not Catherine the Great
Sorry to say, but it's a sad merging. The central part of Koeningberg is rebuilt in the soviet style, the old castles are in ruins. Not to mention place names / toponyms changed to be unrecognizable for anyone interested in the past.
@@arunassl876 Is that much different than Istanbul from Constantinople? The city looks very Turkish nowadays. What about Strasbourg, Lviv, or Trieste? Cities all around the world change hands throughout history.
There are old German things that are restored but I have no desire to rename our Victory Square back to Adolf Hitler Platz. If The merger of Kaliningrad is sad to you, then I would also suggest that Memel and Danzig were included in this conversation about German irredentism.
Артём, задача таких видеоматериалов, а их будет появляться всё больше и больше оправдать притязания Польши на наш регион, поэтому собственно объяснение почему всё таки регион стал российским заняло всего лишь 1 минуту. Про пребывание Кёнигсберга в составе РИ не было сказано ровным счётом ничего. Зато очень хорошо рассказано про польский подтекст истории Восточной Пруссии.
@@user-hn8yv3zf5e нужно наоборот объяснять людям, что восточная Пруссия была поделена между РСФСР, Литвой и Польшей, при этом Польше отошли 2/3 прусских земель. И если Польша хочет вернуться к довоенным границам, то им самим придётся возвращать все аннексированные немецкие земли.
@@Nerub33 ,
mozhem ved civilizovano provesti referendumy na etich teritorijach byvshei Prusiji. Zhyteli Maloj Litvy budet protyv vstuplenija v ES?
Wow! It is soooo cool, that you've made this video, Jochem! I was born in the Kaliningrad region, but haven't been there for a long time. It was so emotional to watch you walking around... And I enjoyed for the story as always, thank you!
Wow thanks for sharing!
2:10 The fact you say Christian fundamentalists instead of just "Christians" says a lot about you use nuance in your explanations, something TH-cam could use a lot more. It's so important regarding these topics and I don't know any other channel that does it like this. Your vid on the bombs in Japan was also a good example of how you put things in perspective. Keep on going like this man! So refreshing this.
Good point!
Also...Lithuania had an option have Kaliningrad's territories, when we got back Klaipėda's region. But due to big russian population, it was decided not to take it (I might be wrong), because it would've been dangerous to have a big precentage of russian people living in Lithuania post-soviet union collapse. Again, sources are needed for these, so if anyone has these soruces please comment bellow.
Lithuania dodged a bullet there see whats happening in ukraine
Yes, after Russia ethnically cleansed Königsburg after 1945 of the people who had lived there for over a millennium, and colonized it with ethnic Russians.
@@geodkyt Dude, better learn history of that region.
Lithuanian communists decided that long before Lithuanian independence was even a real prospect
They had enough wisdom to know that getting that large territory in relation to now enlarged Lithuania (USSR expanded Lithuanian territory) would be more trouble than good.
@@kostam.1113 USSR just returned Vilnius to Lithuania, which was unjustly taken by Poland at the time. So I wouldn't call that expansion, because this post makes it sounds like USSR gave extra teritories that were not historicly Lithuanian.
great topic and very interesting in todays political climate. would love to see a video about the Lithuanian-polish commonwealth as well and understand the development of eastern-central Europe over the last century. keep up the good work!
10:50 interestingly enough, that actually kind of happened. There are tons of places in the US named after Native American tribes, Native American individuals, or named using their languages. That includes over half of the states (Kansas, Massachusetts, Texas, the Dakotas, Illinois, Connecticut, etc, etc.) and cities all across the country. Obviously, the Native American population has shrunk by something like 95% since European contact, so much like the Old Prussians, plenty of the tribes that places are named after are totally gone.
Also I laughed out loud at your graphic because I'd put money on there being more plainly white Americans claiming Cherokee ancestry than there are actual Cherokee.
Elizabeth Warren downvoted your comment.
@@evanburrows1697 LOL!
Missed opportunity to put Elizabeth Warren in there
США страна убийц .
The reason Brandenburg was renamed to Prussia is because they couldnt be called kings inside the HRE. So they called themselves "kings in prussia", when prussia became a kingdom. In other words, inside the HRE they were dukes, outside they had the freedom to call themselves kings. Only after becoming powerful enough, did they call themselves "kings of prussia", not just "in" prussia. So their whole realm was renamed like this.
Great subject matter! And great presentation and editing
Love how you contributed to the other videos
Great video, make them longer they are so good
Can't wait for the next video!
You can watch it right now on Nebula!
The case of prussia taking on the names seems on one hand kind of weird but on the other hand not that uncommon from what I've seen for places to take on the name of the tribe that inhabited it; Friesland tracking it's name back to the frisii that used to inhabit the general area, Burgundy from the germanic tribe that once inhabited retained that name on subsequent kingdoms after the first one as well as the Duchy it became later despite the people being more so French/Arpitan
(Note I'm no expert, and if anyone is more familiar and wants to correct me, feel free)
There's also Belgium from the Belgae.
I did not know that, thanks for sharing!
All Frieslanders (West-, East and North) have legal status and protection. Westfrisians have turned (vocal) aggressiv towards me when I called them Dutch.
All the American states taking their names from the Indian tribes that once lived there, for instance. (until those pesky people were "removed", one way or the other)
Одни убийцы .
I am Canadian, and I went to school with a kid from Latvia, and he just moved back there in 2019. Well were good friends and got into all sorts of trouble together lol, all the drinking and what not lol.
Thank you for making such an excellent video! I was in Gdansk last year and asked myself the very same question you answered in this video as I stood on the beach looking out at Russia. As the two videos you referred to were rather disappointing in explaining the larger historical context, I longed for a better one.
Having studied both history and political science, I cannot praise your channel's approach and perspective enough. Especially when compared to other visually appealing but unreflective creators such as Jonny Harris. Kudos for not compromising on nuance!
I have been following your channel since the beginning and I hope you continue to reach a growing audience, keep up the fantastic work! Cheers from Berlin
Glad you liked it Joshua :)
It's not entirely true that the Baltic Old Prussians were exterminated. Many of them were in fact assimilated and mixed with German settlers, to the point where many Germans today descend from those old tribes.
I don't know who is writing your scripts, but they are very funny and very well-delivered. Editing is also excellent.
Kaīls ankstainai, kāigi eraināi ēit?
I'm part of the Prussian revival movement and this video is relatively on point.
Prussia mostly became a Teutonic fiefdom because of the enormous debts Mazovian Poland had accrued in trying to fight Prussians, wasting entire foreign armies until finally succeeding in the final major campaign that ended in 1274. For the participation the Teutonic order had been promised land - that's what they got. What followed was the run of the mill colonialist gentrification mixed with some genocide here and there.
We are obviously trying to bring the restored Prussian language (nawaprūsiskan) into public view again. There is a sizable cultural scene and there has been a new high priest (kriwwi) for a while now.
We know that the colonial damage can not be fully undone and sovereignty restored. So we try to at least cement the Prussian culture as best as we can for future generations.
In a first step to give nawaprūsai an identity back we are currently working on an honorary passport written in the Prussian language.
Ultimately our goal is to give people an opportunity who are living in our lands today to integrate into the Prussian ethnos if they choose to, or at least provide an avenue to be in touch with the past
Yet still even in your video are few important omissions and some errors (mostly maps):
1. Poles tried to convert Prussians peacefully, but Prussians did not like peaceful mercenaries and just killed them.
2. Prussians were performing raids into Polish territory hampering the growth of the northeastern Poland, so the border region was quite unstable.
3. In 1138 Poland fractured into multiple duchies, where there was one senior prince, but after sometime the system collapsed, so there were multiple tries but different more ambitious princes to unite Poland again.
4. Konrad I of Masovia was one of them, but to have any legitimacy he need to control Lesser Poland (south to him), but he was under constant threads from north, due to Prussian raids. So he invited the Teutons, not to conquer and Christianize Prussians, but for protecting the border region, so he could focus on uniting Poland (he ultimately failed and just earn opinion of a tyrant). Of course he acknowledge that they could take some land into control from Prussians, but he did not suspect rapid expansion of Teutonic Order.
5. At first the Teutons protecting the north was beneficial to Poland, but quickly Teutonic Order started to bite the hand that fed them and became openly hostile to Poland.
6. At the beginning of the 14th century Brandenburg sensing the weakness of Polish states attacked and conquered Pomerania. Ladislaus I the Short was to weak to defend his own territory and asked Teutons to help with expelling the Brandenburgians. Teutons were all happy to help, but after winning with Brandenburg they realize that if they take this land (completely Christian, no pagans there) for themselves then Ladislaus I the Short will not be able to do nothing about it. And they started their rule in Pomerania with... slaughtering 10,000 Christians from Gdańsk, because it would be nicer if such strategically placed city would be inhabited by Germans, not Poles.
7. The only think Poles could do were to take Teutons to Papal court or Imperial court... which usually heavily favoured Teutons, regardless what they did.
8. Even somewhat united Poland was to weak to stop Teutonic incursions, so Poles came up with idea: let's marry our king Jadwiga (she was a woman, but in Poland queen-regnant is still called a king) to that guy from Lithuania, who already is looking to convert to Christianity due to constant wars from Teutons.
9. Because Poles adhered to the principle that you should not convert pagans by murdering everybody who had any doubts about becoming Christian it was excuse for Teutons to conquer more, because "Lithuania is not a real Catholic country if Poles let pagans just lived there, gross"
10. Polish-Lithuanian alliance/union eventually was able to crush Teutonic murderhobos, but let a Teutonic rump state survive as vassal Ducal Prussia, which was mistake, because Brandenburgians (who later called themselves Prussians) took heavy inspiration from the Teutonic ideas of murdering everybody into submission.
Really nice video , another intresting fact , this city was also the home of one of the famous german philosopher Immanuel Kant, in fact he lived and died in this city and never left it.
It has taken this long to get a clear explanation of roughly what happened to cause Kaliningrad. What a surprise. Thank you. Very interesting and well presented video.
Another amazing video, love ya stuff 😍
Wow dude talk about a coincidence I just saw on the news like 10 minutes ago Poland is considering not recognizing the name that Russia has for this territory anymore
It’s actually already done. The Polish Language Council decided that from now on the only name officially recognised in Polish is Królewiec, the name under which it was known for some 800 years (or its variants in the shape of Královec or Königsberg), rather than Kaliningrad, named after a Soviet dignitary, and well, criminal, who signed the decree to mass murder 22 000 Polish officers at Katyń. And as each country can name stuff the way they want in their language, that’s what they did yesterday.
Poland sold the land. It has no claim over it.
@@j.k.1239 no they didn't.
@@j.k.1239 But claim does not impact that you can call foreign places as you want. would you call Berlin Hitlerburg if AdF decides to rename it as such?
I’m from Israel so obviously the Crusaders are very interesting for me. You are an amazing channel and really show information in a really easy and fun way to understand. You deserve so much more subscribers and I wish you a lot of success in the future.
Мало вас белые люди потрошили в концлагерях ?
Except he completely twisted information about crusades with his leftoid propaganda. Jerusalem was invaded and occupied by Muslims. Who later tried to go deeper into Europe (what is now modern Turkey and Greece). That's when Byzantine emperor asked Pope for help. So after defeating muslims crusaders went deeper to also get Jerusalem back.
Great video! Super entertaining and informative... love it ❤
It is very interesting to watch your videos. I hope you will make a video about the Crusades in Russia and the battle on Lake Ladonezh, when the Crusaders just drowned.
Loved it!😍 And that AOE reference was just 👌
I like this park of Hevelianum. The whole hill is very nice, including some really abandoned areas right next to the city centre.
Great stuff!
love the AOE II reference
Great job😊
There’s still a very small trace of German ancestry in Kaliningrad but only like 0.4/.4%
Actually the Prussian Tribe wasn't completely destroyed. Im German and i have met people with Old Prussian last names.
This video for sure is more insightful than two mentioned videos
Great Research!!!
Well done!
Excellent survey of the history of Königsberg/Królewiec (aka "Kaliningrad"). I had just spent some time yesterday arguing with people who claimed that "Kaliningrad has always been Russian". If the argument had happened today, I would have directed them to this video.
However, there are two points that I think you probably should have mentioned in your survey:
1.) The Old Prussians were a Baltic tribe, so they were neither Germanic nor Slavic, they were related to the Lithuanians and Latvians. That is why their fate was so compelling for the Lithuanians who saw that they needed to find an ally and join Christendom lest they suffer the same fate (which eventually led to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). BTW, the Old Prussian language went extinct in the 18th century.
2.) There were about 140,000 Germans left in what would become the Kaliningrad oblast when the war ended. Starvation reduced their numbers, historians estimate that tens of thousands died of starvation and disease. Over the period between 1947 and 1951 *_all_* the remaining Germans were transported to East Germany (102,407 by Soviet documents). The area was then entirely repopulated by Soviet citizens, mostly Russians.
A couple of peripheral points that I'll make, just because I'm on a roll:
- My favorite, because it is just so ironic: In the 16th c. the majority of the Polish nobility, like the majority of residents of Königsberg, had converted to Protestantism (esp. Lutheranism). Meanwhile the Pope continued to actively support the Catholic Teutonic military order as a bastion of Catholicism in an ever more Protestant Poland. In 1521, in order to eliminate this problem (as advised by Martin Luther) the Poles got Albert, the nephew of the Polish King and Grand-master of the Teutonic order to resign from the order, convert to Lutheranism, and to expel the order from Prussia, thus eliminating the order from Poland. In exchange Königsberg was then separated from the Polish crown, and became a vassal state. This was formalized in 1525, by the treaty of Kraków, by which Albert became the first duke of the "Duchy of Prussia", the world's first protestant state, which established his family, the Hohenzollerns, as its hereditary rulers. Later, after the disastrous invasion of Poland by the Protestant Swedes (known as "the Deluge"), because of both real and suspected collaboration by some local Protestants, there was a backlash against Protestantism and most of the Polish nobility eventually converted back to Catholicism. From that point on, what had been a very dynamic connection between Königsberg and the Commonwealth, began to diverge, not for ethnic, but for religious reasons. In 1525 Königsberg's population included 25% Polish Lutherans (Catholics and Calvinists were not counted). That number would begin to dwindle, both by conversions and migrations. In the end Prussia become an independent kingdom in 1701.
- Before WWII, East Prussia's largest minorities were Jews, Poles and Lithuanians, there were still virtually no Russians.
- When Stalin's ally and loyal Stalinist Kalinin died in 1946, Stalin named three cities after him, so, yes, they had three "Kaliningrads"! In the 1990's all of them, except for Königsberg, were renamed (one by Gorbachev and one by Yeltsin).
- On my father's side, my background is from Old Prussians who left Prussia for Kraków sometime in or before the 14th c. From my great-grandfather down to myself, we were all formally Calvinists (baptism records further back seem to have been lost).
- When someone says "Ukraine has always been Russian", it is important to recognize that that statement is similarly bizarre. Since the founding of Kievan Rus', all parts of Ukraine have spent at least a couple of centuries longer not being under Russian control than they ever spent under such control. Some parts, namely the two western provinces of Galicia and Volhynia, had never had any connection to Russia until after WWII, when, like Königsberg, they were absorbed into the Soviet Union, becoming part of the Ukrainian SSR. At that time most Poles who lived there were expelled to Poland, but no Russians moved in at that time.
Are you part of our groups? I'm sure you'd be interested in the nawaprūsiskan movement :)
Before 1721, there was no Russia,--it was called Muscovy! Muscovy started conquering neighbouring lands and expanded into what are now Belarus' and Ukraine (Rus').
@@grandrivermarina3764 that is very true but the people in the lands of Muscovy continued to call themselves russky even though they were not part of it. After winning independence from the Mongols the term Rossiya gained momentum and was later adopted by Moscov. Subsequently everything that was conquered was forced in as well or was genocided to fit.
It's truly pathetic how in Russia this "broken spirit" mentality has spread into all areas of society and life, this underlying feeling of inadequacy and depression that must be fought with conquest and vodka.
Great informations! It shows you how religious matters were much more important than ethnic differences for most of history in that place.
It also reminds me of the Masurians in Southern East Prussia, who in spite of speaking a dialect of Polish, overwhelmingly voted to stay part of Germany after WW1 because they were Lutheran, in contrast to Catholic Poles.
@@grandrivermarina3764 You are spouting completely schit. There was no Muscovy. There was the Grand Dutchy of Moscow, which was one of the break-away regions of Rus. Moscow ended up the strongest of all the principalities and reunited all the Rus lands. The son of the founder of Moscow was the Prince of Kiev. Ukraine has always been a geographical region of Russia and people who lived there were Russian. Rossiya (Russia in Russian) means Rus in Greek. Quick reinventing history.
Good job mate
As my History teacher in high school used to say: “the Teutons were Christianising pagans by fire and sword sending them straight to the kingdom of heaven”
Edit: capital letters instilled by autocomplete on my iPhone. What a chuckle of history.
I would love to hear more stories from you about the Baltic people. We are so diverse: from vikings to mercenaries, from great land warriors to colonisers. There’s so many stories of my homeland yet unknown to the rest of the world. Great video anyway, thank you 💪🐗
Одни убийцы .
@@user-gy7qe6mp7d I don't speak polish, sorry
@@user-gy7qe6mp7d he was asking not about ruzzians.
During the Seven Years' War, on January 11, 1758, Russian troops entered Konigsberg. Residents of the city swore allegiance to the Empress Elizabeth. Until August 23, 1762, the city belonged to Russia, was the center of the established general government of East Prussia.
According to the Brittanica on Ukraine:-
In 988 Volodymyr adopted Christianity as the religion of his realm and had the inhabitants of Kyiv baptized.
Kyivan (Kievan) Rus
The formation of the Kyivan state that began in the mid-9th century, the role of the Varangians (Vikings) in this process, and the name Rus by which this state came to be known are all matters of controversy among historians.
It is clear, however, that this formation was connected with developments in international trade and the new prominence of the Dnieper route from the Baltic to Byzantium, on which Kyiv was strategically sited.
Trade along this route was controlled by Varangian merchant-warriors, and from their ranks came the progenitors of the Kyivan princes, who were, however, soon Slavicized.
In the early chronicles the Varangians were also called Rus, and this corporate name became a territorial designation for the Kyivan region-the basic territory of the Rus; later, by extension, it was applied to the entire territory ruled by members of the Kyivan dynasty.
By the end of the 10th century, the Kyivan domain covered a vast area from the edge of the open steppe in Ukraine as far north as Lake Ladoga and the upper Volga basin.
Like other medieval states, it did not develop central political institutions but remained a loose aggregation of principalities ruling what was a dynastic clan enterprise.
Kyiv reached its apogee in the reigns of Volodymyr the Great (Vladimir I) and his son Yaroslav I (the Wise).
In 988 Volodymyr adopted Christianity as the religion of his realm and had the inhabitants of Kyiv baptized.
Rus entered the orbit of Byzantine (later, Orthodox) Christianity and culture.
A church hierarchy was established, headed (at least since 1037) by the metropolitan of Kyiv, who was usually appointed by the patriarch of Constantinople.
With the new religion came new forms of architecture, art, and music, a written language (Old Church Slavonic), and the beginnings of a literary culture.
All these were vigorously promoted by Yaroslav, who also promulgated a code of laws, the first in Slavdom.
Although Byzantium and the steppe remained his main preoccupations in external policy, Yaroslav maintained friendly relations with European rulers, with whom he established marital alliances for his progeny.
Following Yaroslav’s death, Kyiv entered a long period of decline, only briefly stemmed in the 12th century under Volodymyr II Monomakh (Vladimir II Monomakh).
Shifts in trade routes undermined Kyiv’s economic importance, while warfare with the Polovtsians in the steppe sapped its wealth and energies.
Succession struggles and princely rivalries eroded Kyiv’s political hegemony.
The ascendancy of new centres and the clustering of principalities around them reflected regional cleavages-historical, economic, and tribal ethnic-that had persisted even in the period of Kyiv’s predominance.
These differences were accentuated by the Mongol-Tatar invasions that began in the 1220s and culminated in the devastating sack of Kyiv in 1240.
The territory that largely coincides with modern Belarus, with Polotsk as the most important centre, was one such emerging region.
The land of Novgorod to its north was another.
In the northeast, Vladimir-Suzdal (and later Moscow) formed the core from which developed the future Russian state (see also Grand Principality of Moscow).
On Ukrainian territory, in the southwestern part of Rus, Galicia-Volhynia emerged as the leading principality.
Volodymyr (modern Volodymyr-Volynskyy) in Volhynia had been an important princely seat in Kyivan Rus, and Galicia, with its seat at Halych, on the Dniester River, became a principality in the 12th century.
In 1199 the two principalities were united by Prince Roman Mstyslavych to form a powerful and rich state that at times included the domains of Kyiv.
Galicia-Volhynia reached its highest eminence under Roman’s son Danylo (Daniel Romanovich).
New cities were founded, most importantly Lviv; trade-especially with Poland and Hungary, as well as Byzantium-brought considerable prosperity; and culture flourished, with marked new influences from the West.
In 1253 Danylo (in a bid for aid from the West) even accepted the royal crown from Pope Innocent IV and recognized him as head of the church, although nothing substantial came from this.
Danylo’s reign also witnessed the rise of boyar-magnate unrest, debilitating dynastic involvements with Poland and Hungary, and the Mongol invasion of 1240-41.
These marked the onset of Galicia-Volhynia’s decline, which continued until the extinction of Roman’s dynasty in 1340.
Another superb video. Slay!
Not a bad video. That said, it's a bit weird that he didn't mention Old Prussians being Baltic at least once. The Lithuanian role in this explanation is practically non-existant: there was no mention of the fact that some of these lands were part of the Kingdom of Lithuania (1251-74) and Lithuania laying claims over some of these lands until the Treaty of Melno. Also, Lithuania did receive an offer from Joseph Stalin to take Kaliningrad, but it was already fairly Russified following the expulsions and the masacre of 300,000 people, 130,000 of whom were Lithuanians (colonisation stated in October, 1944). They received this offer again from Michail Susnov, but it was rejected. I guess such details are hard to find and there was simply no time.
Always wanted to go there. Once I had plans, then the pandemic came. Two years not possible and now war. Hope the conflict ends soon and once I can visit the strange piece of Russia.
Great video! Could you do one on Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth?
Teutonic knights owned east Prussia for 600 years. The Imperial Russia owned Present Day Kaliningrad for about year from about 1775 to 1780. East Prussia owned Kaliningrad for a few centuries.
I hope after the war our neighbours from Kaliningrad will proclaim independence.
How do you imagine that? The area is not economically viable. It would have to enter into an alliance with another state. Germany, which has a historical and cultural relationship to this area, would be logical. This would also be economically interesting for the current residents of northern East Prussia. It would increase their prosperity and give them access to the entire EU. A win-win situation for Germany and the current residents of the Königsberg area.
Anthem of East Prussia
th-cam.com/video/rsaRsBkrfy0/w-d-xo.html
@@adifreitag8579 I imagine it as something similar to Singapore - a wealth City-State dealing with both the EU and Russia. Most profitable for them would be accession to EU and monetary union with Poland, because € doesn't pay for them. Only Baltic states as their neighbours have euro but there is only some 5 milions of them.
@@adifreitag8579 And one more thing, my German friend: I must disappoint you. We, out here in Poland will never let Kaliningrad to become a part of Germany again. We've got a problem with Prussia for litteraly 1060 years. This whole issue must finally end.
@@plrc4593
Then the Poles should return to where they originally came from: from the swamps in the vastness of Russia. If Russia and Germany agree on the belonging of the Koenigsberg region, then Poland will have nothing to report. After all, it's none of his business.
@@plrc4593
A monetary union with Poland? That would probably please the Polish nationalists. A monetary union as a precursor to a Polish annexation. I think the people there would choose Germany more than Poland. They are based on Immanuel Kant and not on Jarosław Kaczyński. They prefer German culture to primitive Polish nationalism. But the Poles have never considered the self-determination of other peoples. It was a mistake that we Germans agreed to Poland joining the EU and NATO.
I'm also not a fan of the euro. I'd rather have the Deutsche Mark back. But the euro is more stable and valuable than the Polish currency. Along with the US dollar, the euro is the reserve currency for many countries around the world. On the other hand, nobody wants the zloty.
Your videos are very good and they cover a history of which I only have a little knowledge. I'm American so my comment has a bias being of born just after the war. I tend to examine Konigsberg from a Russian point of view. Aside from my perspective, feel free to correct me.
Posted on another site where to topic was independence..
This is history with a selective bias... Whether it is accurate or just, Germany was blamed for two world wars. In 1941 Germany launched an “unprovoked” attack on Russia. Between 1942 and 1945. There was the battle of Leningrad, the battle of Moscow, the battle of Kiev, Smolensk, Kharkov and the battle of Stalingrad resulting famine and war dead of 27 million.
The invasion of Normandy would have been a tragic defeat had it not been for the Russia push to Berlin...
At the end of the war, the 4 victorious powers, UK, France, China and the US, presided over defeated a Germany and Japan, Each country had veto power so all had to accept any decree. Lets face it, Konigsberg was given to the Russians as spoils and the entire German population was expelled. This was the land of the death camps, or did you forget? Posen and Silesia went to Poland and the Germans were also expelled, not ethnically cleansed. Today that is a euphemism for murder.
The population of Kaliningrad is all Russian and yes, it is a naval base and of course the kids want to join the West but there is a war between NATO and Russia. But how many bases does the US have?
In 1990 the two Germanys re-united and the world celebrated. Russia had every right and reason to enact their veto, but they didn't. If you want to talk about independence there a number of states in the US contemplating going it alone.... Texas, California, Hawaii, Alaska and Maine...
We got our AOE2 reference! My man!
Finally haha
Actually North-eastern part of Prussia was let to rule by russians after the Potsdam confrence in 1945 for only 50 years - so if russians were honest , and we know they aren't , they had to give the area back to Germany in 1995.
Ага передать и еще преплатить денег за аккупацию....вы много хотите .... То ондай за это заплати. Нет граждане не отдадим и не заплатим . Хватит.
@@user-ff5tm8ip7w get out of Prussia,its already 30 years late, its not ruzzian. you stole enough.
i like that your style is similar to johny harris, but without his grimaces, mannerisms and pretentiousness✨🙌🏼
Excellent!
Caught this on nebula a few days ago. Great history summary that I wasn't as aware of. I've only heard a little about those teutonic knights then almost nothing from the time they conquered to WW2. Interesting how Prussia got it's name from the people that were originally conquered from that area.
Cool that you still take the time to share your thoughts here :)
@@ThePresentPast_ No comment section on nebula so I like to still come here on occasion and leave my thoughts. I'm very surprised how little discussed that part of the history is. I imagine because that history is not part of any country much like how I didn't much about the Byzantine Empire until it got popular on TH-cam in the past decade. Since the Ottomans were completely different culture than the Romans they replaced, they did not really continue the stories and teaching of Byzantine history. And since Byzantine Empire split from the catholic church 1000 years ago, western Europe history doesn't seem to discuss Byzantine much.
As an American, most non-US history I saw growing up in the 80's and 90's was Christian Europe (especially western), ancient Mediterranean (Greeks/Roman), some Islamic/Arab history, and Chinese or east Asia history. I even took ancient Greek and Roman history courses at my university and barely even discussed the Byzantines. While they did mention the Eastern Roman Empire continuing, they really gave e the impression that Rome really just stopped suddenly in 476 and the Byzantines that followed may not really be Roman and that they were not that influential or powerful.
@@Homer-OJ-Simpson bruh, that must have been so disappointing.
@@sasi5841 Yeah, I was hoping there would be comment sections in nebula. It also would have better comments and debates than YT where it's often dominated by groups with an agenda. Make a video about China and 10-20% of the comments will be the type that appeared to be getting money to post to support China. same with Russia, India, etc. And make a video about Trump, same thing.
@bubbachump I must've missed that bit re etymology of the term 'Prussia'; please clarify.
Lithuanians of the Kingdom. Karaliaučius is an important center of Lithuanian literature, culture, education and religion. Until the 13th century Autochthonous Prussian Sembas lived in Tvanksta in the 16th century. at the end, it is estimated, up to 20% of them and the Lithuanians of Minor Lithuania (Lithuanians); then the whites lived mostly in the suburbs in separate quarters (mostly the poor). 1365 Duke Butautas, who escaped from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, was baptized in Karaliaučius. After Grand Duke Vytautas retreated to the Teutonic Order's possessions for the second time and was in the city of Karaliaučius, 31 nobles from Žemaitsa came to him in 1390 and, recognizing Vytautas as their ruler, concluded a peace and trade agreement with the Order on behalf of the region.
During the reformation, young people from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Prussia and Lithuania Minor were gathered in the Kingdom of Lithuania with the efforts of the Prussian Duke Albrecht Brandenburg to promote the state evangelical Lutheran religion in Lithuanian and Prussian languages in writing and orally, and to develop literacy. Lithuanian intellectuals A. Kulvietis and S. Rapolionis, who came to the city from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, were one of the founders of the King's University, its first professors. The student M. Mažvydas prepared and published in Karaliaučius in 1547 the first book in the Lithuanian language, Catechism. 2 catechisms were published here in Prussian language (1545, 1561), the first printed history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania - M. Strijkovskis book (1582). The printing house of Karalaučius printed quite a lot of Lithuanian books.Since 1531, priest J. Tartilavičius (Tartyla) who came from Šilalė held Lithuanian services in the Old Town church. In the Steindamm church, sermons were delivered in Lithuanian by teachers of Lithuanian writing: 1550-87 - B. Vilentas, 1587-1602 - J. Bretkūnas, 1604-21 - L. Sengstockas (Zengštokas), 1621-29 - J. Rėza. M. L. Rėza was the chaplain of the crew of Karaliaučius in 1799-1816, from 1807 he was a university lecturer and for some time one of the leaders, in 1818-40 he was the leader of the Lithuanian language seminar of the University of Karaliaučius. F. Kuršaitis was a Lithuanian Evangelical Lutheran priest in the city in 1841-84, and the leader of the Lithuanian language seminar in 1841-83.
17th century at the beginning of the 18th century at the beginning, a Catholic mission operated in Karaliaučius - 1-2 Lithuanians or Jesuit priests who learned Lithuanian; they (e.g. 1651-65 J. Jaknavičius, 1665-70 P. Šrubauskis) delivered Lithuanian sermons. In 1657-65, the governor-general of the Prussian Duchy and the adviser of the ruler Friedrich Wilhelm was the Lithuanian prince Boguslav Radvila, who resided in Karaliaučius. A number of people of Lithuanian and Prussian origin lived in the city - until the 18th century. one or more Lithuanian elementary schools were operating at the end of Lithuanian services stopped completely (in Sakaimios church) in 1915, with the start of World War I. 1832-1915 Sinidaviami, a newspaper published in the kingdom, about the spread of the gospel among Jews and Gentiles, 1848-80 - Passenger.
Lithuanian writing, culture, and spiritual life have benefited many priests trained at the University of Karaliaučius and people from other professions working in Little Lithuania. D. Klein's first grammar of the Lithuanian language (1653), J. Šulc's first book of fiction in the Lithuanian language (1706), P. Ruigio's Lithuanian-German and German-Lithuanian language dictionary (1747), Lithuanian language research study (1747), were published in Karaliaučius. he and others prepared in Lithuanian the New Testament (1727), hymnals (1732), Bible (1735), his son P.F. Ruigi's Lithuanian grammar (1747), G. Ostermejer's works on Old Prussian and Lithuanian themes (1775, 1780), the history of Lithuanian hymnals ( 1793), M. L. Rėzas - about the preparation of the Bible in Lithuanian (1816), K. Donelaitis's poem Metai (1818) and 6 fables (1824), vol. Mr. a collection of Lithuanian folk songs prepared by him (with German translation; 1825).
Prussian studies, Lithuanian studies and Baltic studies in general deserve it, many poets, historians and other scientists who were born, studied or worked in Karaliaučius wrote on Lithuanian topics. The works of Lithuanian and Prussian studies were published by the Royal German Society of Krasnoyarsk (1741-1945 ?), a lot of material on this topic was collected by the scientific society Prussia (1844-1944), which had a museum Prussia with a library in the castle of Krasnoyarsk. Royal and university libraries from the 18th century. completed almost the entire collection of Lithuanian publications of Little Lithuania.
In Karaliaučius, the Ethnographic Museum of Teviškės, founded in 1909, also had a Lithuanian department. 19th century at the end of the year, only about 470 residents of the city registered in Lithuanian. Lithuanian sermons were preached to them from time to time. 20th century In the 1930s and 1940s, prominent linguists, historians, and scientists of other specialties of the Republic of Lithuania trained here.
There was no Genocide in Prussia - that is simple BS. Yes, there were battles and fights, and many people were killed. However, the majority of the old Prussians survived, and became subjects ot the new state of the German Order. These old Prussians mixed with the new German (and partly Polish!) settlers. This new population mix became culturally and linguistically German, before this population eventually identified also as part of the German nation in the late 18th and 19th century.
As a history nerd I already knew this, but it's really fun to reflesh my memory by watching this video!
Nice contribution. Other topics: Why is Hawaii part of the USA? Why is Haiti part of the USA? Why is Puerto Rico part of the USA?
Mexico similarly appropriated the identity of the Mexica after renouncing New Spain.
In 1945 Potsdam, Germany, known as a Potsdam Conference, was made a decision to transfer Kenigsberg from Germany to Soviet Union. This document was sigh by Stalin, Truman & Churchill. The World was changing. You brought Crusaders into your story & forgot about such an important document that actually answers your question
@@hamzahnurreez8420 Did you read my comment?
Good Video, thx for information. But I have to say, the biggest castle in the world is in Prague :)
No mention of when Prussia was taking by Russia between 1758 to 1761 during the reign of Elizabeth petrevona or when Russia liberated it from Napoleon in 1813 or when a significant amount of the western half of Prussia liberated by the Russian empire during ww1? Also the last Crusades in samogtia wasn't about "cosplaying has christian" they were still pagans
Russians libertated Prussia in ww1? What was there to be liberted, it was German all along
Great video, you're engaging and you are passionate about what you do. This is the problem, I seriously believe at least some of the other videos explaining Kalingrad are copy pasted from wikipedia and then a text to voice program is used to make it sound like it's a human talking. The worst thing is that some of these channels have a milion plus views/subscribers, for doing something anybody could do. I'm going off on a tangent but I do wonder how many rogue states such as DPRK pump out these nonsense top 10 text to voice channels as a way to make easy money! It's difficult to know what's real anymore especially as some AI voice software is near perfect.
Yes to all this!
@@ThePresentPast_ I'm glad you agree! Because I'm not some weird conspiracy theorist but as an historian myself I think critically about, perhaps too much sometimes, but these scam top 10 sites are becoming endemic on youtube. I'd love to know what countries they're based in, some of the videos are unwatchable yet have hundreds of thousands of views! Yet you're making ORIGINAL content and don't have no where near as much coverage. It's wrong.
I was wondering where the host was from, until I heard "togeder" (together). Dutch! 🙂
Love it!
11:44 I was hoping for some Oversimplified reference there. :D
Instead: Ohhh Nooo! :P
Your videos are fantastic -- just joined the Patreon :)
Thanks Sarah!
Prussian militarism is legendary, but, in its heyday, Brandenburg was called, "An army with a country attached."
In the following decades and centuries, the Teutonic Order, founded by the Teutonic Knights, encouraged the influx of German knights, but also peasants and citizens from all over the world, which increasingly displaced the Old Prussian language. The Prussians completely acculturated to the surrounding Germans, Poles and Lithuanians. The last speakers of the Prussian language are reported around 1700. Only parts of their language have been preserved in a few written fragments, place and family names, and in East Prussian Platt.
Nope only germans, it is similar to britian where anglo saxons displaced the celts in baltic, so prussia was german baltic mixed, no slavs.
Ernst Kalinowski fled from East Prussia to the Ruhrgebiet
His lastname is Polish
That's false genetic studies have proven significant integration between Brythonic Britons and Anglo-Saxons. @@thepretorian5292
In certain a dialect spoken here in the Netherlands the Germans are still called Pruisen. Only pronounced as Pruusen.
It’s already wierd that people from Netherlands are called Dutch. Wasn’t mainly used as slang after the “separation” from Germany?
All in all, a good video. Would be nice thou if you added that Teutons were ok attacking Novgorod because of "wrong" christianity.
This is a quality video well done but as a Macedonian so neutral I think you fail to mention enough that the vast majority of historical Prussia is today part of Poland it’s only a tiny area of it that was kept by Russia as a port essentially, historic polish land was taken from Poland and given to Ukraine around the Lviv area and Poland was compensated by getting most of Prussia and historic eastern Germany when l speak to polish people the seem to highlight the fact that western Ukraine is historically polish land but fail to mention the fact that they were compensated and given possibly better land with access to the Baltic Sea
Depends on what people you talk to. There are many descendants of those who lived in pre-war Eastern Poland, so they obviously have an interest in these lands. There are also nationalists who claim it as Polish because it used to be Polish, of course.
As someone born and raised in historical East Prussia, with no connection to places like Lviv and Vilnius, I don’t really care about those places.
And I think that our current borders are so much better. Wide access to the sea (compared to the pre-war situation), and yes, lands we got after the war were more industrialized than the east, problem was that they were bombed to the ground (most of the towns in my region were destroyed in 60-90 %), so to fully utilize what we got we had to rebuild it first.
All in all, we got a good deal out of it, but the loss of the people themselves was just to high. So many died, or were forced to leave. All could’ve been avoided if the war didn’t start. Just before the recent war I used to say “never again”, but things aren’t that certain now.
Ironic how Adolph and his cronies started the whole ordeal to regain lost lands only to result in the biggest land loss in German history.
Partially true, except for the fact that "the Western Ukraine is historically Polish land". In fact, it was conquered by Poland in the middle of 14th century; previously it was Galicia-Volyn kingdom, which had been formed after the split of Kyivan Rus. I know it, because I am an ethnic Ukrainian, and this is my homeland.
USSR kept the richer and most valuable part which had less Polish minority - more LIthuanians. Poland got the poorer, less valuable part with bigger Polish minority.
@@romko-romario Princess and boyars of Galicia-Volyn had some terrible choice - go with Mongols or try to fight them but submit to Lithuanians/Poles/Hungarians. Many of them kept language and faith until Poland lost the territory. Many got polonized with notable example of Jeremi Wiśniowiecki whose polonization and conversion to catholicism impacted Khmielnicky's uprising while his son became King of Poland. This is very similar to what happened in Silesia but there Poles were germanized. Both Wrocław anv Lviv are shared history - you cannot call them German/Polish/Ukrainian without missing big parts of their history. And with exception of some periods it was mostly peaceful coexistence.
Underrated content
"just look at this" then flashes 15 pics in 2 seconds. what did we see ?
12:15 Gotta' love the understatement.
Królewiec was actually founded 1255 by Přemysl Otakar II; teutonic knights "merely" reconquered it.
Where did you get this alternative history from? The town was founded by the Teutonic Knights in 1255 and was named Königsberg (king's mount) in honor of king Ottokar II of Bohemia..
@@henningbartels6245 Maybe you need to rely LESS on wikipedia. Otto's encyclopedic dictionary states (and has so for cca 100+ years), that Otakar II. led the campaign against prussian barbarians WITH Teutonic Knights, founded the city, and gave it to the Teutonic Knights Order as a form of payment for their services.
You say that at one time, Poland had a real possibility of annexing Prussia, but did not pursue it, perhaps because the settlers there were too German or too Protestant. Were they already Protestant at the time? As far as I know, Copernic e.g. was a Catholic clergyman in Frauenburg!
At this time Poland had a long-established religious freedom and peace (check the Warsaw Confederation of 1573 for details). This was not the case. Initially Poland accepted the deal with dividing the Teutonic state into two parts (the so-called Royal Prussia that was directly incorporated into Poland and the Princely Prussia that became the vassal of the Polish King) because it was a sure way to ensure peace after two centuries of wars and futile attempts to conquered back Pomerelia, the Vistula Delta and Gdańsk itself.
What was not mentioned in the video was that the last ruler of the Teutonic Order, Albrecht Hohenzollern was also a nephew of the Polish king Sigismund I the Old, as his sister Zofia Jagiellonka was Albrecht's mother. At the time Albrecht took over the Teutonic Order, the country was already heavily secularized and was losing further wars with Poland. The German Empire was also losing interest in supporting the Order, so instead of losing completely to Poland, Albrecht decided to secularize the country and become a vassal to Poland, and by that saving at least some of the power. Poland rolled with it, because it was at the height of its might at the time, so it took the easy way out of the Prussian conflict, because it could. It was also the reason why Sigismund's son, Sigismund II Augustus, extended the right to inherit the Duchy of Prussia to the Brandenburg Hohenzollerns in 1563 (initially only the descendants of Albrecht and his brothers were allowed). This was seen as a way of getting allies within the German Realm (a constant pain in the ass for Cracow) and a small concession.
As for the independence of Prussia, the story is a bit more complex. The line of Albrecht died out in 1618. Since then, the Brandenburg branch of Hohenzollern ruled in Königsberg, formally still as vassal of Poland in the Duchy of Prussia. After the Swedish invasion of Poland (known as Deluge in PL), it shortly became a Swedish vassal. In 1657 Poland agreed to the emancipation of the Duchy in exchange of it cutting ties with Sweden (which was necessary for Poland to win the war with Sweden). In 1701 the united Prussia became a kingdom.
Interestingly enough, the Brandenburger attempts were regularly met with resistance from the local population - now predominantly of German origin, after the original Prussians were driven to extinction. Despite being German and predominantly Lutheran, the Prussians rebelled several times, especially the cities, against Brandenburg. The burghers of Prussia feared the authoritarian absolutism of Brandenburg and preferred the much more decentralized and democratic (for the 17th/18th century standards) Polish system. However, they remained unsuccessful.
Actually Albert of Prussia was a nephew of Polish king and the king was a softy and loved his sister... so he granted his wish to become a duke instead of grand master...
Russian Konigsberg is extremely ironic as the city was the birthplace (and living place) for such giants of thought as Immanuel Kant.
The Soviets just wanted to wedge in further west - that's why they occupied Konigsberg and expelled all of the remaining German population.
You should also talk how Breslau and Stettin became Polish.
There was Kant's house in Kalingrad oblast. Due to lack of budget and passivity of local government it was in ruins a became a garbage spot. Nothing was done. So local historical activists found a solution - they painted with white spray "Kand Sucks" text on the house. Local news found out about it, made an article and in week the whole Russia read about this story. Surprisingly, oblast governor quickly found needed funds and house was restored and Kant museum was opened their.
The original russian name of Königsberg was Korolevec actually (before the World War I)
There are infinetly many reasons, 1 for example is the fact that I dont have godlike powers because if I did thats where Id set up my pet project kingdom where I could distance myself from the rest of the world to not obliterate it too much.
4:10 that map is slightly inaccurate, it doesnt highlight egypt (especially Alexandria). The areas in rome, thrace, macedonia, tunis, most of greater syria, nile delta, and sompe places in gaul and iberia weren't just places early christians lived. They were very important religious centers and christian strongholds. Rome, constantinople, antioch, jerusalem and Alexandria were as important to Christianity as mecca and medina is to islam, or as the ganges river is to Hinduism, or israel is to jews.
A good precis of the Prussian state and it's destruction after WW2, I would suggest that many Germans fled in front of the Soviet advance, but those who remained were expelled
Also, the Teutonic knights tried to conquer Novgorod Republic which was Christian Orthodox, but Novgorodians fought them off
@12:06 that's rather misleading. It's true that many Germans did flee westwards as the Soviet Army advanced but the majority remained in Prussia and also in western Poland and Bohemia. During the summer of 1945 after the war was over all these people - about 4 to 5 million in total - were expelled and turned into refugees who ended up mostly in West Germany. It's not a proud moment in European history but it does explain why Prussia has vanished from the map as about a million Russians were resettled in their place.
IT is a great może ment in european history because all those german colonizers finally were expelled from Polish lands.
Prussia was never Polish or Russian. The original Prussians were a Baltic people (like Lithuanians) not Slavic so Poles are no more the rightful inhabitants than the Germans were.
@@sarfcowst yes but prussians are gone. Plus southern prussia was inhabited by Poles.
@@filipnalewaja5609 and northern by Baltic peoples. So its 50/50 at best.
you forgot "northern poland" was also german like southern east prussia is the territory that is today bordering Kaliningrad. As was Danzig/Gdansk. The connecting area to Pommern/pomorania was at least heavily mixed until poland pushed out most germans in the interwar period.
I found gold but this only has 32k views
(After 2 weeks)
How about doing a video about the real reason America owns America and half off Mexico now that would be a good story and get a native American telling it
I'm Finnish, so this has never come in my mind to think. If the prussians we're pagan for so long, what about then about us the fins? I remember that the coastal area of Finland turned to chistianity first, but for how long the last areas of Finland practiced paganism, and what other tribes/ethnicities in Europe we're also pagan before switched religions to Christianity?
I ain't historian, so take it with a grain of salt. Finns got Christianized before Baltics by Swedish. Baltics (not just Balts, but Estonians, Livionians, etc too) were last pagans in Europe. And as he showed German Crusaders came and concered Old Prussians, then (only showed, didn't mention) Latvian side of Baltic tribes and Estonian tribes. Lithuan side of Baltic tribes made a kingdom and fought back tho. And they turned to Christianity, so that Crusaders leave them alone, except that just was a disguise. They steal practised Paganism. And others did that too really. Planty of people didn't became full on Christians even in Crusader lands. Planty of Balts, Finnic people and other groups in Europe has save some things from their Pagan ancestors. Like Sami people in Finalnd, Norway, Sweden. Like other Finnic Uralic people in Russia, like Mari. And even more in Siberia, south of Russia, Caucases, etc, and in other parts of Europe. At the end there are full on Christians, non-religios people and so on, but a lot of celebrations and stuff in these days has mix with Pagan and Christian stuff. And as mentioned Mari and probably Sami practice it way more than us more modernised Baltic and Finnish people.
"what other tribes/ethnicities in Europe" this part you need to research yourself. Watch video, read books, wikipedia, etc.
@@enemy1191 Thanks for your answer 🙌
Came by the sword, left by the sword!
Why are your videos so goddamn good, but you have so little subscribers, I just don't get it 😥😥
SK : Why does England owns Spanish Bospor , north Ireland or New Faudland isles ?
10:46 ... I mean, just look at some of the staate names:
Alabama, after the Albaamu tribe
Arkansas/Kansas, after the Quapaw tribe kka:ze (wierd spelling)
Illinois, after the Illiniwek tribe
Iowa, after the Iowa tribe
Missouri,after the Missouri tribe
2 Dakotas, after the Dakota tribe
Utah, after the Ute people
There are other states with native names but (as far as I could just find with a quick search) not explicit tribe names, like Connecticut or Wyoming. ... And then there is Indiana, land of the Indians outside India (they really doubled down on this geographical faux pa, did they?)...
As always, some great little-known facts! But I was disappointed by a number of historical blunders. I think it is a stretch to call the Hospitallers doctors ("hospital" was originally more a hotel, and they were really fighting monks). You also seem to confuse Protestants and Catholics - for example, Protestants reject the idea of eating the body and blood of Jesus.
Hi there. They really started out as doctors! Literally providing medical aid to travelers and others. Also in the 1200s (when they go to fight the Prussians) the reformation was 300 years away.
@@ThePresentPast_ At 3:48 you say "Protestants" and then say the old Prussians didn't believe in that religion.