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Junkers (pronounced YOON-kers) were the landed aristocracy of Prussia and Eastern Germany.
"Junker" in German did orginally mean "young lord", and is understood as country squire. The title also appears in Dutch (Jonkheer). As part of the nobility, many Junker families have particles such as " von" or " zu" before their family names, indicating their belonging to the nobility. In the middle ages, a Junker was simply a lesser noble, often poor and politically insignificant. Martin Luther was given the cover name "Junker Jörg" while he lived in Wartburg Castle in 1521. A good number of poor Junkers took up careers as soldiers and mercenaries. Over the centuries, they rose from disreputable captains of mercenary cutthroats to influential commanders and landowners in the 19th century. The rest of the article refers to these "modern" Junkers.
Being the bulwark of the Hohenzollern Empire, the Junkers controlled the military, leading in political influence and social status, and owning immense EstateAn Estate is the grounds and often farmland and woods surrounding a very large property, such as a country house or mansion. It may refer to just the grounds or to the property and all other cottages and villages in the same ownership as the mansion itsels. Their political influence extended from the German Empire of 1871 to 1918 through the Weimar RepublicThe period of German history from 1919 to 1933 is known as the Weimar Republic (in German Weimarer Republik ). It is named after the city of Weimar, where a national assembly convened to produce a new constitution after Germany's defeat in World War I. of 1919-1933. It was said that Prussia ruled Germany, the Junkers ruled Prussia, and through it the Empire itself.
They dominated all the higher civil offices and officer corps of the Army and Navy. Supporting monarchismFor the Christian heresy of believing in God as one person instead of a Trinity, see Monarchianism. Monarchism is the advocacy of the establishment or preservation of a monarchy. Since the mid- 19th century, monarchist movements have rarely defended monar and military traditions, they were often reactionaryA reactionary (sometimes: reactionist is someone who seeks to restore conditions to those of a previous era. The political attitude of a reactionary is reaction reactionism (sometimes: reactionaryism . Reaction is always presented against something that i and protectionist; they were often anti- liberalIn terms of politics, the word liberal (or Liberal can refer to: an adherent of the ideology of liberalism or something in accordance to this ideology. Note: the words "liberal" or "liberalism" can be different in various countries and can be related to t, siding with the conservative monarchist forces during the Revolution of 1848. Their political interests were served by the German Conservative Party in the ReichstagThe term Reichstag (in English: Imperial Diet) is a composition of German Reich (Empire) and tag (which does not mean "day" here, but is a derivate of the verb tagen which means assembling for debate). The Latin term, a direct translation, was curia imper and the extraparliamentary Agrarian League. This political class held tremendous power over the industrial classes and the government. When Chancellor Caprivi reduced the protective duties on imports of grain, these landed magnates demanded and obtained his dismissal; and in 1902, they brought about a restoration of such duties on foodstuffs as would keep prices of their own products at a high level.
The German statesman Otto von BismarckAlternate meanings: See Bismarck (disambiguation . Prince Otto von Bismarck Duke of Lauenburg ( April 1, 1815 July 30, 1898) was one of the most prominent leaders of the 19th century; as Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Prussia ( 1862 1890) he unified Ger was a noted Junker, as were president Paul von Hindenburg and Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt.
The Beer Hall Putsch of 1923, staged by Hitler and General Ludendorff (a member of an impoverished Junker family) was foiled by commander von Lossow (another Junker) of the local Reichswehr, and the Bavarian Prime Minister Gustav von Kahr . Von Kahr was later murdered in the Reichsmordwoche (the Blood Purge) of June 30, 1934. This series of events, as well as a few others, led Hitler to dislike Junkers in general. However, Hitler mostly ignored the Junkers during his time in power, taking no action against them and no action in their favour.
After the war, during the Bodenreform (soil reform) in Soviet-occupied Germany, including the puppet state German Democratic Republic, all private property exceeding a certain area (i.e. all the land that used to belong to the Junkers) was seized and given to collectives of farmers. Now, after the German liberation, the Junkers are trying to get their former estates back.