Junkers

(noun)

The members of the landed nobility in Prussia. They owned great estates that were maintained and worked by peasants with few rights. They were an important factor in Prussian and, after 1871, German military, political and diplomatic leadership.

Related Terms

Examples of Junkers in the following topics:

  • Prussia Under Frederick the Great

    • In his modernization of military and administration, he relied on the class of Junkers, or the Prussian land-owning nobility.
    • Frederick's attempts to protect the peasantry from the cruel treatment and oppression by the landlords as well as to lower their labor obligations never really succeeded because of the economic, political, and military influence the Junkers exercised.
    • Being the bulwark of the ruling House of Hohenzollern, the Junkers controlled the Prussian army, leading in political influence and social status, and owning immense estates, especially in the north-eastern half of Germany.
    • Analyze Frederick the Great's domestic reforms and his relationship with the Junker class