Free State of Prussia

The Free State of Prussia (German: Freistaat Preußen) was a German state formed after the abolition of the Kingdom of Prussia in the aftermath of the First World War. It was the major state of the German Reich during the time of the Weimar Republic, comprising almost ⁵⁄₈ (62.5%) of its territory and population.Free state is another German term for republic that was coined in contrast to the Latin word, which was associated with the enemy France in the minds of many Germans of that time.

The democratic Free State of Prussia was rendered incapacitated when it was taken over by the Preußenschlag (Prussian coup) of 1932–1933 and Otto Braun was forced from office. His government went to court over this ouster, but in 1933 the Nazi regime seized control of the Prussian government.

From 1933, the Free State was deprived of parliamentary democracy and ruled exclusively under the leadership of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazi Party). Initially, Prussia was administered by high-ranking Nazi Hermann Göring who was appointed Minister-President of Prussia. In 1935, the Free State's territory was dismantled into regional Gaue, some of which incorporated both Prussian and non-Prussian territory, thus effectively ending Prussia as a single territorial unit of Germany. Although the Free State of Prussia continued to exist in name under the premiership of Hermann Göring throughout the Nazi era, by 1935 the Prussian government had been effectively absorbed by the government of the German Reich and Göring's position as Minister-President had been relegated to a titular role in comparison to his more prominent duties in the government of the Third Reich.

Free state

Free state may refer to:

Places

Politics

Slave and free states

In the history of the United States of America, a slave state was a U.S. state in which the practice of slavery was legal at a particular point of time, and a free state was one in which slavery was prohibited or being legally phased out at that point of time. Slavery was a divisive issue and was one of the primary causes of the American Civil War. The Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1865, abolished slavery throughout the United States, and the distinction ended.

Early history

Slavery was legal and practiced in each of the Thirteen Colonies. Organized political and social movements to end slavery began in the mid-18th century. The sentiments of the American Revolution and the equality evoked by the Declaration of Independence rallied many black Americans toward the revolutionary cause and their own hopes of emancipation. Others joined the British army, encouraged by British promises of freedom in exchange for military service. Free black men also fought in the Revolution on both sides (see Black Patriot and Black Loyalist).

Free state (government)

Free state is a term occasionally used in the official titles of some states.

In principle the title asserts and emphasises the freedom of the state in question, but what this actually means varies greatly in different contexts:

Overview

Republican England

English Parliament, in the act forming the Commonwealth of England of 1649 to 1660, declared that "England is confirmed to be a Commonwealth and Free State and shall from henceforth be Governed as a Commonwealth and Free State." The Commonwealth had a republican constitution.