Why Prussia No Longer Exists

The ENTIRE history of Prussia in 18 minutes — from the Teutonic Knights to the law that erased it in 1947. Prussia was named after a people who weren’t German, built out of pieces that didn’t touch — and in 1947 it was erased by a single piece of paper. This is the story of how the map of Prussia was drawn, redrawn and finally wiped away, from the Teutonic Knights to Kaliningrad. From the Battle of Grunwald and the first Duke of Prussia to Frederick the Great, Napoleon, Bismarck and the Polish Corridor: 700 years of borders, animated on parchment maps. 🔔 New animated history every week. Subscribe:    / @pastlapse   CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro: the law that erased Prussia 0:38 1. The people who gave Prussia its name (1226–1466) 2:24 2. A knight becomes a duke (1525) 3:29 3. Pieces that don’t touch (1618–1688) 4:45 4. The king who crowned himself (1701) 6:11 5. An army with a country (1713–1740) 7:27 6. Frederick the Great takes Silesia (1740–1763) 8:58 7. Carving up Poland (1772–1795) 10:20 8. Napoleon cuts it in half (1806–1815) 11:41 9. Closing the gap (1834–1871) 13:37 10. The shrinking (1918–1933) 15:06 11. Erased (1945–1947) 16:15 12. The map today HOW THIS VIDEO WAS MADE All maps and animations are our own. Historical borders: OpenHistoricalMap (public domain, CC0) — “Map data courtesy of the OpenHistoricalMap project” — cross-checked against William R. Shepherd, Historical Atlas (1911/1923 editions, public domain, via the Perry-Castañeda Library, University of Texas). Coastlines, rivers and relief: Natural Earth (public domain). Original music composed for Pastlapse with Suno (Pro plan, commercial licence). Narration: AI text-to-speech voice generated with MiniMax Audio (paid plan with commercial use). Sound effects: YouTube Audio Library. KEY SOURCES (full list in the pinned comment) • Britannica, East Prussia: https://www.britannica.com/place/East-Prussia • Britannica, Old Prussian language: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Old-Pruss... • Britannica, Grunwald: https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of... • Britannica, Treaty of Toruń: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Treaty-of... • Britannica, Albert: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alber... • Britannica, Frederick I: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Frede... • Britannica, Silesian Wars: https://www.britannica.com/event/Silesian-... • Britannica, Congress of Vienna: https://www.britannica.com/event/Congress-... • Britannica, Zollverein: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zollverein • Britannica, Königgrätz: https://www.britannica.com/event/Battle-of... • Britannica, William I: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Willi... • Britannica, Polish Corridor: https://www.britannica.com/place/Polish-Co... • Avalon, Potsdam: https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/d... • Britannica, Kaliningrad: https://www.britannica.com/place/Kaliningrad • FRUS 1947: https://history.state.gov/historicaldocume... • 1000dokumente / BSB: https://www.1000dokumente.de/Dokumente/Ges... • Britannica, Seven Years' War: https://www.britannica.com/event/Seven-Yea... • Otto-von-Bismarck-Stiftung, on the 1862 speech: https://www.bismarck-stiftung.de/2023/09/1... • Office of the Historian, Potsdam Conference: https://history.state.gov/milestones/1937-... • Christopher Clark, Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947 (2006) Pastlapse · Centuries in minutes. #history #prussia #animatedhistory