Editing East Prussia (section)

===Napoleonic Wars===
[[File:Antoine-Jean Gros - Napoleon on the Battlefield of Eylau - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|Napoleon on the [[Battle of Eylau|Battlefield of Eylau]] in February 1807]]
After the disastrous defeat of the [[Royal Prussian Army of the Napoleonic Wars|Royal Prussian Army]] at the [[Battle of Jena-Auerstedt]] in 1806, [[Napoleon]] occupied Berlin and had the officials of the Prussian General Directorate swear an [[oath of allegiance]] to him, while King [[Frederick William III of Prussia|Frederick William III]] and his consort [[Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz|Louise]] fled via Königsberg and the [[Curonian Spit]] to [[Klaipėda|Memel]]. The French [[Grande Armée]] troops immediately took up pursuit but were delayed in the [[Battle of Eylau]] on 9 February 1807 by an East Prussian contingent under General [[Anton Wilhelm von L'Estocq]]. Napoleon had to stay at the [[Finckenstein Palace]], but in May, after a siege of 75 days, his troops led by Marshal [[François Joseph Lefebvre]] were able to capture the city of [[Gdańsk|Danzig]], which had been tenaciously defended by General Count [[Friedrich Adolf, Count von Kalckreuth|Friedrich Adolf von Kalkreuth]]. On 14 June, Napoleon ended the [[War of the Fourth Coalition]] with his victory at the [[Battle of Friedland]]. Frederick William and Queen Louise met with Napoleon for peace negotiations, and on 9 July the Prussian king signed the [[Treaties of Tilsit|Treaty of Tilsit]].

The succeeding Prussian reforms instigated by [[Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein]] and [[Karl August von Hardenberg]] included the implementation of an {{Lang|de|[[Oberlandesgericht]]}} appellation court at Königsberg, a [[municipal corporation]], [[economic freedom]] as well as [[emancipation]] of the [[serfdom|serfs]] and [[Jewish emancipation|Jews]]. In the course of the Prussian restoration by the 1815 [[Congress of Vienna]], the East Prussian territories were re-arranged in the {{lang|de|[[Regierungsbezirk]]e}} of [[Gumbinnen (region)|Gumbinnen]] and [[Königsberg (region)|Königsberg]]. From 1905, the southern districts of East Prussia formed the separate ''Regierungsbezirk'' of [[Allenstein (region)|Allenstein]]. East and West Prussia were first united in [[personal union]] in 1824 and then merged in a [[real union]] in 1829 to form the [[Province of Prussia]]. The united province was again split into separate East and West Prussian provinces in 1878.