In 1850, after a dispute over Hesse, Prussia was humiliated and forced to back down by Austria ( supported by Russia ) in the so-called Punctation of Olmütz ; a plan for the unification of Germany under Prussian leadership, proposed by Prussia's Prime Minister Radowitz, was also abandoned.

As Minister of War 1859 – 1873 Roon, along with Otto von Bismarck and Helmuth von Moltke, was a dominating figure in Prussia's government during the key decade of the 1860s, when a series of successful wars against Denmark, Austria and France led to German unification under Prussia's leadership.

Count Karl-Wilhelm Finck von Finckenstein, First Minister ( or prime minister ) for Frederick the Great, believed that any Austrian acquisition in Bavaria would shift the balance of power in the Holy Roman Empire, diminishing Prussia's influence.

Bismarck sought to extend Hohenzollern hegemony throughout the German states ; to do so meant unification of the German states and the elimination of Prussia's rival, Austria, from the subsequent empire.

In 1851, Frederick William IV appointed Bismarck as Prussia's envoy to the Diet of the German Confederation in Frankfurt.

Bismarck was also horrified by Prussia's isolation during the Crimean War of the mid-1850s ( in which Austria sided with Britain and France against Russia ; Prussia was almost not invited to the peace talks in Paris ).

Soon the Regent replaced Bismarck as envoy in Frankfurt and made him Prussia's ambassador to the Russian Empire.

Bismarck had fought and succeeded in leaving out Austria, Prussia's long standing competitor, and Prussia became the largest and by far most influential state in the new German Empire.

With Prussia's victory over France in the Franco-Prussian War of 1871, the members of the Confederation were organised by Otto von Bismarck into the German Empire, with Wilhelm I as its Emperor.

Prussia's prime minister Bismarck suggested shelling Paris to ensure the city's quick surrender and render all French efforts to free the city pointless, but the German high command, headed by the king of Prussia, turned down the proposal on the insistence of General Leonhard Graf von Blumenthal, who was directing the siege, on the grounds that a bombardment would affect civilians, violate the rules of engagement, and turn the opinion of third parties against the Germans, without speeding up the final victory.

Initially known appropriately as the Achteck ( Octagon ), on 15 September 1814 it was renamed Leipziger Platz after the site of Prussia's final decisive defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Leipzig, 16 – 19 October 1813, which brought to an end the Wars of Liberation that had been going on since 1806.

In 1890, when Sophie announced her intention to leave her Evangelical faith for Greek Orthodoxy, Dona summoned her and told her that if she did so, not only would Wilhelm find it unacceptable, being the head of the Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces ; she would be barred from Germany and her soul would end up in Hell.

France mobilized, and on 19 July 1870 declared war on Prussia only, but the other German states quickly joined on Prussia's side.

The war was increasingly likely as France would not tolerate its gradual loss of status and geopolitical advantage due to Prussia's increasing influence in Germany.

The defeat of the French at Sedan had decided the war in Prussia's favour.

He had already written about Prussia's war against Denmark in Der schleswig-holsteinische Krieg im Jahre 1864 ( 1866 ) and the Austro-Prussian War in Der deutsche Krieg von 1866 ( 1869 ).

However, the defeat at Sedan and the capture of Napoleon III sealed the doom of France and thus decided the outcome of the war in Prussia's favor.

His most serious difficulty was the condemnation of Prussia's king Frederick William III, who feared that the revolt would drag a weakened and unprepared Prussia into another disastrous war against Napoleon.

Although the war went on for another seven months, the decisive defeat suffered by the Prussian army resulted in Prussia's effective elimination from the anti-French coalition up until the liberation war of 1813.

Since 1848 the Austrians had been allied with the Russian Empire ; after the Berlin government refused Austrian demands at the Warsaw Conference of October 28, 1850, the souring relations degenerated further on Prussia's November 5 announcement that it was mobilising its army and preparing for war, in response to troops of the German Confederation advancing into the Electorate of Hesse.

His action was made the object of violent attacks in the Austrian Lower House ( 28 – 30 January 1864 ), and when the war was victoriously concluded and Prussia's designs on the duchies had become evident, public opinion turned more and more against him, demanding that Austria should support the Duke of Augustenburg even at the risk of war.

" Even if the commercial and industrial element is weak, it must be strong enough ( or soon become strong enough ) to become worthy of co-optation, and the French Revolution terrified enough perceptive elements of Prussia's Junkers for the state to be sufficiently accommodating.

This was made possible by the Duchy of Prussia's sovereign status outside the Holy Roman Empire, and approval by the Habsburg emperor and other European royals in the course of forming alliances for the War of the Spanish succession and the Great Northern War.

This monument, built to commemorate Prussia's victories, was relocated 1938 – 39 from its previous position in front of the Reichstag.

Opposed to Prussia's enforced alliance with Napoleon I, he left the Prussian army and served in the Russian army from 1812 to 1813 during the Russian Campaign, including the Battle of Borodino.

Born in the Duchy of Prussia's capital Königsberg, part of Brandenburg-Prussia, Goldbach was the son of a pastor.

Carl von Clausewitz, one of Prussia's officers, wrote On War, a work rooted solely in the world of the state.

As Dwyer ( 2005 ) points out, Prussia's " political and cultural influence had diminished considerably " by the 1890s.

Karl Heinrich Marx was born on 5 May 1818 at 664 Brückergasse in Trier, a town located in the Kingdom of Prussia's Province of the Lower Rhine.

The Imperial German Navy's rank and rating system combined that of Prussia's with the navies of other northern states, thus the resulting system became one of Europe's best.

He accepted his appointment as one of Prussia's representatives at the Erfurt Parliament, an assembly of German states that met to discuss plans for union, but only in order to oppose that body's proposals more effectively.

Prussia's victory over Austria increased tensions with France.

The German states saw France as the aggressor ; swept up by nationalism and patriotic zeal, they rallied to Prussia's side and provided troops.

Prussia's population greatly expanded in the 1860s and now was one-third Catholic.

After numerous other improvements, in 1791-3 this section was made into Prussia's first all-weather road.

This did not materialize as the South German states had come to Prussia's aid and were mobilizing their armies against France.

With the second partition of Poland in 1793, Łódź became part of the Kingdom of Prussia's province of South Prussia, and was known in German as Lodsch.

In 1772, as a result of the First Partition, instigated by Prussia's King Frederick II (" the Great "), Krasicki became a Prussian subject.

Krasicki was honored by Poland's King Stanisław August Poniatowski with the Order of the White Eagle and the Order of Saint Stanisław, as well as with a special 1780 medal featuring the Latin device, " Dignum laude virum Musa vetat mori " (" The Muse will not let perish, men who are deserving of glory "); and by Prussia's King Frederick the Great, with the Order of the Red Eagle.

Ordinary methods of diplomacy within the free world are inadequate, said the former Prime Minister.

Former British Prime Minister Attlee says Eisenhower was not a `` great soldier ''.

We had nearly decided that all the tales of Lao lethargy must be true, when we were invited to take a trip with the Prime Minister.

In Keng Kok, the City of Silkworms, the Prime Minister bought fried chickens and fried cicadas, and two notebooks for me.

The Prime Minister paid his respects to the Buddhist monks, strode rapidly among the houses, joked with the local soldiery, and made a speech.

This was expanded upon by Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, who established a Division of Anthropology within the Geological Survey in 1910.

The executive branch of the government was composed of the President, the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers.

Prime Minister Pedro Pires sent FARP soldiers to Angola where they served as the personal bodyguards of Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos.

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao visited Angola in June 2006, offering a US $ 9 billion loan for infrastructure improvements in return for petroleum.

After that case Poirot apparently came to the attention of the British secret service, and undertook cases for the British government, including foiling the attempted abduction of the Prime Minister.

* 1968 – Pierre Elliot Trudeau wins the Liberal Leadership Election, and becomes Prime Minister of Canada soon after.

* 1902 – Louis Beel, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands ( d. 1977 )

* 1924 – Raymond Barre, French politician, Prime Minister of France ( d. 2007 )

* 1803 – Albrecht von Roon, Prussian soldier and statesman, 10th Prime Minister of Prussia ( d. 1879 )

* 1908 – Bjarni Benediktsson, Icelandic politician, Prime Minister of Iceland ( d. 1970 )

* 1949 – António Guterres, Portuguese politician, Prime Minister of Portugal

* 1955 – Dimitra Liani, Greek air hostess, widow of Greek Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou

* 1959 – Stephen Harper, Canadian politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Canada

* 1918 – Jelle Zijlstra, Dutch politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands ( d. 2001 )

* 1928 – Péter Boross, Hungarian politician, Prime Minister of Hungary

* 1966 – Juhan Parts, Estonian politician, 14th Prime Minister of Estonia

* 1765 – Petros Mavromichalis, Greek general and politician, Prime Minister of Greece ( d. 1848 )

* 1916 – Dom Mintoff, Maltese politician and journalist, 8th Prime Minister of Malta ( d. 2012 )

* 1944 – Khaleda Zia, Bangladeshi politician, 9th Prime Minister of Bangladesh

* 1961 – John Key, New Zealand politician, 38th Prime Minister of New Zealand