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Kat_Baloo said:
Prussia was a country of tribes speaking Western Baltic languages closely related to Latvian and Lithuanian. They, along with their Baltic neighbors, were the last people in ヨーロッパ to remain pagan, and they successfully resisted the many attempts によって other peoples to Christianize them. Because of their devotion to their Native spiritual traditions, in the 13th Century the Pope issued an order for a Christian crusade to force the Prussians to adopt Christianity. To carry out this order, Germany's Teutonic Knights invaded Prussia, killed close to 50% of the population, enslaved many of the rest, and outlawed the Prussian language. Thousands of Prussians fled to Poland, Lithuania and farther east to Russia. Because the invading Germans reduced the Prussians to extreme poverty, they couldn't resist the diseases of the times: the Plague and a series of smallpox epidemics. もっと見る Prussians died, as a result.
The original territory of Prussia later was divided between Germany and Poland. The German portion became known as Eastern Prussia.
After World War II, Stalin claimed "Eastern Prussia" as war booty, and renamed it Kalinin District. He forced Germans and any surviving Prussians in the area to evacuate to Germany, and march west in the dead of winter. Many died on the way.
Fortunately for some remaining descendants of the indigenous Prussians, Lithuania was able to grab the easternmost piece of it, which historically had a large Lithuanian population. This is now the Klaipeda district of Lithuania.
Kalinin District is an important military territory for Russia, providing Russia with one of only a few ice-free ports that it has. The Russian navy has a large presence there.
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