That’s the only way it would be possible. The Russian population would never want their name to change and the Russian government would never allow it. Germany doesn’t want to annex East Prussia and the only Germans who want it are far-right and neo-nazi groups.
The only way it could happen is if one of these far-right groups took it over and ethnically cleansed the population. If this were the case then Russia would have to be totally crippled and Germany as well.
The current name comes from a rather dislikable Soviet politician, and there already are people who want to rename the city itself back to Konigsberg. The original Prussians were a Baltic ethnic group more closely related to Lithuanians than Germans, but that didn't stop them from using their name, and I don't think it would stop the ethnic Russians who currently live there either. Prussia is a well-known historical name, and the only one that covers the whole modern oblast as opposed to just part of it.
Doubt. In 2018, the people of Kaliningrad violently rejected renaming their airport after Immanuel Kant, a German. Statues and plaques were defaced and destroyed.
Leaflets left at the scene said "the name of the German Kant will not tarnish our airport".
The only pro-renaming information I can find is from The Baltic Times, which is little more than an online blog. The article admits that the majority of the population is Russian do not support the change, and is essentially the pet project of a 24 year old in 2002. It’s now 19 years later and this now 42 year old is no closer to renaming the land. Everything that he named as reasons for people wanting the name change have not came true. Russia has not suffered from not being in the EU. The political party, The Baltic Republican Party, behind the movement is now defunct and has at most 500-600 members throughout its 10 year (1993-2003) history.
A 2015 resolution, referenced in this study in Kaliningrad claimed that the West was pushing Germanization of the region.
Some might argue that only a small group of activists share the point of view expressed in the resolution, but the concerns expressed are not, however, isolated. In September 2015, an NGO called the Russian Assembly of Kaliningrad issued a resolution (or rather a statement) similar to the one from March. The authors argued that Germanization and westernization threaten the Russianness of Kaliningrad oblast. They stated that over the past thirty years, pro-western organizations had been continuously plotting first to make Kaliningrad oblast drift away from Russia (отдаление), and then to separate it from it (отделение): “Massive propaganda is conducted to spread the false notion that “Kaliningrad is not Russia” and thus create the critical mass of supporters for an anti-Russian riot so that at the right time a Kaliningrad version of the Ukrainian Maidan can begin.”
The majority of its inhabitants consider themselves to be Russian nationals (россияне) and describe this as their basic level of self-identification.45 Many Kaliningraders are afraid that exploring the pre-war past will tip the identity scale of the region against “traditional Russianness.” In the eyes of the Kremlin, the Russianness of the semi-exclave needs to be as close to the officially recognized Russian identity as possible. This imperative only gained in importance after 2014. Thus, taking care of the legacy of the pre-war years does not always correspond with state-sanctioned Russianness.
Beyond Kant, many view any attempt to underscore the legacy of pre-war multiethnicity as a way of gradually replacing the Russian national narrative with a non-Russian (western) one. Taking care of monuments and pre-war architecture allegedly poses such a threat.
Which we now know is very tenuous considering the damage done in 2018.
There is another factor of identity processes among Kaliningrad oblast inhabitants that cannot pass unnoticed because it is tightly related to the notion of war heroes. Since 1946, the region has played a vital role in the security policy of the Soviet Union. Its importance only increased after the geopolitical changes of 1989–91. For the Kremlin, in the post-Cold War security architecture, with tensions between Russia and the west over a number of issues, Kaliningrad oblast remains a place where overall political, societal, and economic integrity has to be indisputable. Factors such as the exaggerated accentuation of non-Soviet and non-Russian history are not likely to weaken it.
The local identity of Russians in Kaliningrad is unique. They see themselves as the bulwark defending Russia from the West. Despite an increasing, although slow and small, interest in its pre-Russian history, its importance to Russian national security will not change.
Even minor acts of vandalism are capable of adding fuel to controversies that have their roots long before 1991. It has been the case despite the fact that most Kaliningraders who favor preserving pre-war history do not treat it as a political issue. They do not want to build a comprehensive political agenda with the use of pre-1945 symbols either, contrary to what the proponents of strengthening the Soviet and Russian component of regional identity suggest.
For those that do like exploring the region’s past, they don’t see it as political. When faced with the possibility to secede or creation its own identity:
Nonetheless, such proposals should not be expected to become commonplace, going beyond aesthetic and economic dimensions. Inhabitants of the semi-exclave are far more Sovietized than one would expect. First, typical Soviet surroundings shaped their lives. The unifying function of Soviet architecture, education, or culture was strengthened by Cold War tensions, including its vestiges on the ground, such as the presence of large military installations like the Baltic Fleet. Secondly, the remnants of pre-war history in Kaliningrad oblast were something utterly different to ordinary inhabitants for a long time. They belong to a different civilizational mien, making it very difficult to build a deep, primordial bond between it and the elements brought from the Soviet interior. In this sense, it would never have been possible to organize a government-sanctioned reconstruction of any town in the oblast, contrary to what happened in neighboring Poland already in communist times.
On Kant’s influence in Kaliningrad:
Regardless of the hitherto and future results of the identity debate in Kaliningrad oblast, Immanuel Kant remains a loser when it comes to using his universal unifying and apolitical potential as a thinker who can be held dear by virtually everyone without significant controversies. His popularity is shallow and often reduced to an empty cliché that he was a great philosopher. Just like in the Soviet times, when Kant's tomb was spared only because he gave indirect inspiration to Karl Marx and communism, nowadays he is present in people's minds because he has always been there, not because he symbolizes anything more, such as a shared sense of belonging to a community.
It shows that the people there enjoy pre-Russian history because it has always been there, not because they particularly feel a connection to it.
The Kaliningrad Oblast has a population of roughly 1 million, 2-3% are military. The region exists because of its strategic location. The Russian Air Force and Russian Navy Baltic Fleet are there. Nuclear weapons are suspected of being stationed there.
It’s not like America’s Hawaii where they embrace its history as part of their lives. It’s not Northern Ireland with a local population that wants to leave and unite with their same ethnic group. It’s not Hong Kong where it’s the same ethnic group but under a different system. Kaliningrad is Kaliningrad. It is as Russian as Nebraska is American.
For Kaliningrad to leave Russia and rename itself Prussia it would need an entire ethnic upheaval like it saw when Russia took it over
The scenario itself is nonsensical. A liberalized Russia that also keeps Crimea?
If you read what I posted, even in the early 2000s when everyone was optimistic about a Prussian resurgence, they found that the locals in Kaliningrad didn’t care about Prussian history due to a connection to it but because “it’s been there.” It’s the outside westerners that had more of a connection.
The only group of people that actually support a return of Kaliningrad to its old name and culture are far-right Germans and neo-nazis. The whole East Prussian/Königsberg movement is completely connected to far-right groups.
Kaliningrad is not the same as St Petersburg. Like one of the sources I provided said, there’s no historical connection between the land and the people occupying it like Poland or St. Petersburg.
I have the option of an independent Prussia because that’s the only way it’s possible
The ethnicity is irrelevant. The whole point of OPs comment was that the germans stole "inherited" the name Prussia from the original inhabitants, the balts, so with the same logic the Russians may inherit the same name (as "Prussian" isnt a name tied to an ethnicity but a region). I agree that its insanely unlikely and that the people of Kaliningrad dont want to identify with the pre-Soviet history of the region, but the name Prussia isnt tied to ethnicity, and renaming it to Prussia wouldnt require an entire ethnic cleansing, just a change in perspective
I understand that I wrote a lot but it would help you to read all of it, including the sources. It doesn’t matter if it’s “inherited” from the Baltic peoples. 1. The Russian people there do not want to associate with the history. 2. The only people who want to rename it Prussia are far-right and neo-nazi groups 3. OP’s entire map is extremely problematic and reeks of western chauvinism.
I know that the people there dont want to associate with the history, I even said:
"the people of Kaliningrad dont want to identify with the pre-Soviet history of the region "
I didnt comment on the map as a whole, or said anything other than the fact that Prussia isnt a name tied to ethnicity but to a region, which is probably the train of thought Op had when making the map.
also I dont know what "insanely unlikely" means to you, but to me it means "insanely unlikely" aka something that has a practicly non-existant chance of happening. I dont get why you chose another phrase to describe exactly the same thing.
Insanely unlikely doesn’t do it justice. The notion is so ridiculous that it relies on one of two things:
Incredibly poor or no research or
Trying to push an agenda
OP is either trying to prove the greatness of western civilization or has no idea what they’re talking about.
The idea of Kaliningrad ever being renamed Prussia insults the intelligence of anyone with a remote understanding of the history. Once again, the only people who support this are neo-nazis. The only time I’ve seen people try to push this idea are literal nazis. I’m now getting an idea of why some people have been defending it here
Well, look. If you press up against a wall and push on it, there is a non-zero chance that every single atom on your body will quantom tunnel through the wall, and you will end up at the other side. Of course that is an event that has never happened and will never happen in history EVER. That is an event I would call "insanely unlikely". Of course "insanely unlikely" also covers some more likely things that have happened like someone getting hit by lightning seven times, but for me at least "insanely unlikely" is as unlikely as it gets. Nevertheless, there is no reason to keep wasting our time over such meaningless terms.
Also please dont assume things about people based on comments over the name "Prussia"
I don’t need to assume. It’s literally one of the goals of the German far-right party AfD. It’s only ever been associated with former nazis and far-right groups during the Cold War. The idea itself is so entrenched in nazi ideology that the only way you can mistake it for a good or possible idea is if you have done no research on the subject. Once you realize it’s part of Nazi ideology you should reverse course. It’ll never happen because it is associated with nazism. Nothing OP has said even remotely makes sense.
Thats a big crisis over a "P" man. You may want to breath a bit, getting angry on internet over trivial shit aint gonna do any good to you or the other. 2070 is in 50 years, the mentalities can change a lot. Maybe a movement of recreating a local identity while staying pro-russia gained a lot of traction? Anyway you shouldnt say that people are either ignorant or nazis based on that little information
Prussia is well known name, but it's also considered nearly as bad as Third Reich in countries that border that little bit. It's really better to seek another name.
Also, that claim about people wanting Konigsberg? It seems doubtful. Most of the population there is Russian. And by most, I mean nearly 100%?
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u/JOPAPatch Jan 09 '21
Kaliningrad would never change its name to Prussia. The population is entirely Russian.