Province of Hanover

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Province of Hanover Provinz Hannover
Province of Prussia
1868–1946
Flag Coat of arms
The Province of Hanover (red), within the Kingdom of Prussia (white), within the German Empire (beige)
Capital	Hanover
Area
• Coordinates	52°22′N 9°43′E / 52.367°N 9.717°E / 52.367; 9.717
• 1939	38,705 km2 (14,944 sq mi)
Population
• 1939	3.537.390
History
• Established	1868
• Disestablished	1946
Political subdivisions	Aurich Hanover Hildesheim Lüneburg Osnabrück Stade
Preceded by Succeeded by Kingdom of Hanover State of Hanover Mecklenburg (1945–1952)

The Province of Hanover (German: Provinz Hannover) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and the Free State of Prussia from 1868 to 1946.

During the Austro-Prussian War, the Kingdom of Hanover had attempted to maintain a neutral position, along with some other member states of the German Confederation. After Hanover voted in favour of mobilising confederation troops against Prussia on 14 June 1866, Prussia saw this as a just cause for declaring war; the Kingdom of Hanover was soon dissolved and annexed by Prussia. The private wealth of the dethroned House of Hanover was then used by Otto von Bismarck to finance his continuing efforts against Ludwig II of Bavaria.

In 1946, the British military administration recreated the State of Hanover based on the former Kingdom of Hanover; but within the year, at the instigation of the German leadership, it was merged into the new state (Bundesland) of Lower Saxony—along with the states of Oldenburg, Brunswick, and Schaumburg-Lippe—with the city of Hanover as the capital of this new state.