Prussia (officially so named in 1807) begins…

Prussia (officially so named in 1807) begins to rise as a European military power.

Toward the end of the seventeenth century, Prussia had begun to develop as a state

In 1618 the Brandenburg lineage of the Hohenzollern Dynasty had acquired possession of the Duchy of Prussia.

Through a series of agreements, the Hohenzollerns increase their territory by acquiring a string of principalities in northern Germany.

Frederick William the Great Elector (1640-88) establishes absolute monarchical rule within this territory by making an alliance with the Junkers, the landed aristocracy comprising the officer corps of the Prussian army, who in turn are guaranteed the perpetuation of an agrarian economy based on serfdom.

Originally a small and insignificant state, Prussia requires a standing army for protection.

In order to maintain the army and to ensure growth of the state, Prussian rulers introduce centralized taxation and a bureaucratic system of civil officials.