Junker: Difference between revisions

In modern Prussian history, the term Junker became popularly used as a loosely defined [[synecdoche]] for the landed nobility (particularly of the east) that controlled almost all of the land and government, or by extension, the Prussian estate owners regardless of noble status. With the formation of the [[German Empire]] in 1871, the Junkers dominated the central German government and the Prussian military. A leading representative was Prince [[Otto von Bismarck]].<ref>Francis Ludwig Carsten, ''A history of the Prussian Junkers'' (1989).</ref> "The Junkers" of Prussia were often contrasted with the elites of the western and southern states in Germany, such as the city-republic of Hamburg (which had no nobility) or Catholic states like Bavaria, in which the "Junker class" of Prussia was often treated with contempt.