Brandenburg-Prussia

Brandenburg-Prussia was an early modern realm of the Brandenburgian House of Hohenzollern, existing between 1618 and 1701. Formed through the intermarriage of the Hohenzollern branches ruling the Electorate of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia, it also incorporated the Rhenish principalities of Cleves, Mark, and Ravensberg. The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) devastated the region, but Brandenburg gained territories like Minden, Halberstadt, and Farther Pomerania through the Peace of Westphalia. Subsequent treaties freed the Duchy of Prussia from Polish vassalage and expanded its Pomeranian holdings. The establishment of a standing army in 1653 and military victories laid the foundation for Prussia's rise in European politics.