It was created from the Duchies of
Schleswig and
Holstein, which had been conquered by Prussia and the
Austrian Empire from
Denmark in the
Second War of Schleswig in 1864. Following the
Austro-Prussian War of 1866, which ended in Austrian defeat, Schleswig and Holstein were annexed by decree of Prussian King
Wilhelm I on 12 January 1867. The province was created in 1868, and it incorporated the
Duchy of Lauenburg from 1876 onward. Following the defeat of
Imperial Germany in World War I, the Allied powers organised two
plebiscites in northern and central Schleswig on 10 February and 14 March 1920, respectively. In northern Schleswig, 75% voted for reunification with Denmark and 25% for staying with Germany. In central Schleswig, the situation was reversed, with 80% voting for Germany and 20% for Denmark. No vote ever took place in the southern third of Schleswig, as it was considered a foregone conclusion that almost all the inhabitants would vote to remain in Germany. On 15 June 1920, northern Schleswig was officially reunited with Denmark (see:
South Jutland County). The remainder of Schleswig remained part of Schleswig-Holstein, now a province of the
Free State of Prussia. With the
Greater Hamburg Act of 1937, the
Hanseatic City of Lübeck and the
Oldenburgian exclave
Region of Lübeck were incorporated into the Schleswig-Holstein province. A number of municipalities belonging to Schleswig-Holstein adjacent to the
Hanseatic City of Hamburg, among them
Altona and
Wandsbek, were incorporated into the city and, in return, Hamburg ceded its exclaves of
Geesthacht and
Großhansdorf to Schleswig-Holstein. After
World War II, Schleswig-Holstein was part of the
British occupation zone, although some municipalities of Schleswig-Holstein east of
Ratzeburg were exchanged for municipalities of
Mecklenburg in the
Soviet occupation zone (
Barber Lyashchenko Agreement). The British-occupied section became the new
German state of
Schleswig-Holstein on 23 August 1946, which joined the
Federal Republic of Germany on 23 May 1949. , within the
Weimar Republic, following the
cession of North Schleswig to Denmark in 1920 ==See also==