Free State of Prussia

Free State of Prussia Freistaat Preußen
State of Germany
1918–1947
Flag (1918–1933) Coat of arms (1918–1933)
The Free State of Prussia in 1925
Capital	Berlin
Area
• 1925[1]	292,695.36 km2 (113,010.31 sq mi)
Population
• 1925[1]	38,175,986
History
Government
• Type	Republic
• Motto	Gott mit uns "God with us"
Reichsstatthalter
• 1933–1935	Adolf Hitler
• 1935–1945	Hermann Göring
Minister-President
• 1918 (first)	Friedrich Ebert
• 1933–1945 (last)	Hermann Göring
Legislature	State Diet
• Upper Chamber	State Council
• Lower Chamber	House of Representatives
Historical era	Interwar/World War II
• German Revolution	9 November 1918
• Constitution adopted	30 November 1920
• Preußenschlag	20 July 1932
• Machtergreifung	30 January 1933
• Reichsstatthaltergesetz	30 January 1935
• Formally abolished	25 February 1947
Preceded by Succeeded by Kingdom of Prussia Allied-occupied Germany Polish People's Republic Soviet Union
Today part of	Germany Poland Russia Lithuania

The Free State of Prussia (German: Freistaat Preußen) was an internal territory of the former German Empire, established in 1918 per conventions of territorial simplification after the defeat of the First World War.

Regarded still as the dominant state of the newly-founded Weimar Republic, the Free State retained the capital of Berlin. Boasting a mostly pro-republican seating, it was regarded as the beacon of democracy in post-war Germany – even proving much more stable than the Weimar itself. For most of the republic's presidency, the Prussian ministries provided a candidate via the early forms of the modern-day Social Democratic Party (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands).

With a crisis unfolding in the 1932 elections that converted the Weimar into the German Reich, the Prussian coup d'etat instigated by Reichskanzler Franz von Papen at the request of the Reich's president Paul von Hindenburg sealed the fate of the Free State upon total failure, destroying an obstacle for the aspiring politician Adolf Hitler – whom had campaigns ongoing – to reach his role of leadership over the Reich. Papen's goal had been to establish a "new state" that would preserve the monarchy lost after the war, instead, he had weakened the Federalist constitution that kept the Weimar to some level of stability.

The Freistaat remained under the leadership of Hermann Goering from 1933 to 1945. Upon the defeat of Nazi Germany and surrender of commanding forces to both Soviet and Western Allies, the entity remained existent until its dissolution, recognized legally, took place on February 25th, 1947.

1. ↑ Beckmanns Welt-Lexikon und Welt-Atlas. Leipzig / Vienna: Verlagsanstalt Otto Beckmann. 1931.