Following the defeats
Prussia
Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
suffered in the
30 Years' War,
Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg, set up the General War Commissariat (General-Kriegs-Kommissariat) to oversee the
army
An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...
, as well as to levy taxes necessary to support the army. It soon became a
bureaucratic
Bureaucracy ( ) is a system of organization where laws or regulatory authority are implemented by civil servants or non-elected officials (most of the time). Historically, a bureaucracy was a government administration managed by departments ...
machine for civil government as well. Frederick William used it to govern the state. Many members were
landed aristocracy known as
Junker
Junker (, , , , , , ka, იუნკერი, ) is a noble honorific, derived from Middle High German , meaning 'young nobleman'Duden; Meaning of Junker, in German/ref> or otherwise 'young lord' (derivation of and ). The term is traditionally ...
s, who served in the army as well. The commissariats helped to centralize power. It later was merged into
General Directory of War and Finance in 1723.
was its first head since 1646. During the reign of
Frederick William I,
Friedrich Wilhelm von Grumbkow became its head.
References
Prussian Army
Government of Prussia
17th-century establishments in Prussia
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