Early Modern States of Central Europe: Map & History

The first Habsburg who can be reliably traced was Radbot of Klettgau, who was born in the late 10th century; the family name originated with Habsburg Castle, in present-day Switzerland, which was built by Radbot. After 1279, the Habsburgs came to rule in the Duchy of Austria, which was part of the elective Kingdom of Germany within the Holy Roman Empire. King Rudolf I of Germany of the Habsburg family assigned the Duchy of Austria to his sons at the Diet of Augsburg (1282), thus establishing the "Austrian hereditary lands". From that moment, the Habsburg dynasty was also known as the House of Austria. Between 1438 and 1806, with few exceptions, the Habsburg Archduke of Austria was elected as Holy Roman Emperor.

From Wikipedia: Habsburg monarchy · Origins and expansion (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Margraviate of Brandenburg had been the seat of the main branch of the Hohenzollerns, who were prince-electors in the Holy Roman Empire, since 1415. In 1525, by the Treaty of Krakow, the Duchy of Prussia was created through partial secularization of the State of the Teutonic Order. It was a vassal of the Kingdom of Poland and was governed by Duke Albert of Prussia, a member of a cadet branch of the House of Hohenzollern. On behalf of her mother Elisabeth of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollern, Anna Marie of Brunswick-Lüneburg became Albert's second wife in 1550, and bore him his successor Albert Frederick. In 1563, the Brandenburgian branch of the Hohenzollern was granted the right of succession by the Polish crown. Albert Frederick became duke of Prussia after Albert's death in 1568. His mother died in the same year, and thereafter he showed signs of mental disorder.

From Wikipedia: Brandenburg–Prussia · Establishment under John Sigismund (1618) (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In the mid-16th century, the margraves of Brandenburg had become highly dependent on the estates (counts, lords, knights and towns, no prelates due to the Protestant Reformation in 1538). The margraviate's liabilities and tax income, as well as the margrave's finances, were controlled by the Kreditwerk, an institution not controlled by the elector, and the Großer Ausschuß ("Great Committee") of the estates. This was due to concessions made by Joachim II in 1541 in turn for financial aid by the estates; however, the Kreditwerk went bankrupt between 1618 and 1625. The margraves further had to yield the veto of the estates in all issues concerning the "better or worse of the country", in all legal commitments, and in all issues concerning pawn or sale of the elector's real property.

From Wikipedia: Brandenburg–Prussia · Administration (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In 1672, the Franco-Dutch War broke out, with Brandenburg–Prussia involved as an ally of the Dutch Republic. This alliance was based on a treaty of 1669, and resulted in French occupation of Brandenburg–Prussian Cleves. In June 1673, Frederick William abandoned the Dutch alliance and concluded a subsidy treaty with France, who in return withdrew from Cleves. When the Holy Roman Empire declared war on France, a so-called Reichskrieg, Brandenburg–Prussia again changed sides and joined the imperial forces. France pressured her ally Sweden to relieve her by attacking Brandenburg–Prussia from the north. Charles XI of Sweden, dependent on French subsidies, reluctantly occupied the Brandenburgian Uckermark in 1674, starting the German theater of the Scanian War (Brandenburg–Swedish War).

From Wikipedia: Brandenburg–Prussia · "The Great Elector", Frederick William, 1640–1688: Dutch and Scanian Wars (CC BY-SA 4.0)

After the Treaty of Vasvár was signed in 1664, loyalty felt by Hungarians towards the Habsburg dynasty was in decline. The Hungarian nobility was dissatisfied by Emperor Leopold I's refusal to capitalize on the victory at the Battle of Saint Gotthard to liberate more of the Hungarian lands from the Ottomans, and the subsequent Imperial administration of Hungary was seen as acting against interests of the Hungarian estates. In 1671 a rebellion was successfully thwarted. However, a year later Mihály Teleki led a more successful rebellion. In 1673 the Emperor appointed Johann Caspar von Ampringen, the Teutonic Grandmaster as governor of Royal Hungary, precipitating a harsh crackdown on disloyal nobles and Protestants which further increased the resentment of the Hungarian nobility against the Habsburgs.

From Wikipedia: Principality of Upper Hungary · Background (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Hohenzollerns were made rulers of the Margraviate of Brandenburg in 1518. In 1529, the Hohenzollerns secured the reversion of the Duchy of Pomerania after a series of conflicts, and acquired its eastern part following the Peace of Westphalia.

From Wikipedia: Kingdom of Prussia · History: Background and establishment (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Kingdom of Prussia was an absolute monarchy until the Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, after which Prussia became a constitutional monarchy and Adolf Heinrich von Arnim-Boitzenburg was appointed as Prussia's first Minister President. Following Prussia's first constitution, a two-house parliament was formed, called the Landtag. The lower house, or Prussian House of Representatives, was elected by all males over the age of 25 using the Prussian three-class franchise introduced in the Constitution of 1850, which assured dominance by the more well-to-do elements of the population. The upper house, which was later renamed the Prussian House of Lords, was appointed by the king. He retained full executive authority and ministers were responsible only to him.

From Wikipedia: Kingdom of Prussia · State: Politics (CC BY-SA 4.0)

During the half-century that followed the Congress of Vienna, a conflict of ideals took place within the German Confederation between the formation of a single German nation and the conservation of the current collection of smaller German states and kingdoms. The main debate centered around whether Prussia or the Austrian Empire should be the leading member of any unified Germany. Those advocating for Prussian leadership contended that Austria had far too many non-German interests to work for the greater good of Germany. They argued that Prussia, as by far the most powerful state with a majority of German speakers, was best suited to lead the new nation.

From Wikipedia: Kingdom of Prussia · History: 1848–1871: German wars of unification (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Bismarck's new empire was the most powerful state on the Continent. Prussia's dominance over the new empire was almost as absolute as it was with the North German Confederation. It included two-thirds of the empire's territory and three-fifths of its population. The imperial crown was a hereditary office of the House of Hohenzollern. Prussia also had a large plurality of seats in the Bundesrat, with 17 votes out of 58 (17 out of 61 after 1911); no other state had more than six votes. As before, it could effectively control the proceedings with the support of its allies in the secondary states. As mentioned above, Bismarck served as foreign minister of Prussia for almost his entire career, and in that role instructed the Prussian deputies to the Bundesrat.

From Wikipedia: Kingdom of Prussia · History: 1871–1918: Peak and fall (CC BY-SA 4.0)