Prussia was a historic state originating out of the
Duchy of Prussia and the
Margraviate of Brandenburg, and centered on the
region of Prussia. For centuries, the
House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organised and effective army. Prussia, with its capital in
Königsberg and from 1701 moved to
Berlin, shaped the
history of Germany. In 1871, German states united to create the
German Empire under Prussian leadership. In November 1918, the monarchies were abolished and the nobility lost its political power during the
German Revolution of 1918–19. The
Kingdom of Prussia was thus abolished in favour of a republic—the
Free State of Prussia, a
state of Germany from 1918 until 1933. From 1933, Prussia lost its independence as a result of the
Prussian coup, when the
Nazi regime was successfully establishing its "
Gleichschaltung" laws in pursuit of a
unitary state. With the end of the Nazi regime, the division of Germany into
allied-occupation zones and the separation of its territories east of the
Oder–Neisse line, which were incorporated into Poland and the Soviet Union, the State of Prussia ceased to exist de facto in 1945. Prussia existed
de jure until its formal liquidation by the
Allied Control Council Enactment No. 46 of 25 February 1947.