Chapter 56

Museum ofFine ArtsCathedralRoyal PalaceNationalMonumentPANORAMIC VIEW OF THE HEART OF BERLIN, SHOWING THE MUSEUM OF ART, LUSTGARTEN, NEW CATHEDRAL, ROYAL PALACE, AND NATIONAL MONUMENT.

PANORAMIC VIEW OF THE HEART OF BERLIN, SHOWING THE MUSEUM OF ART, LUSTGARTEN, NEW CATHEDRAL, ROYAL PALACE, AND NATIONAL MONUMENT.

Largeleft-hand sideof panorama (85 kB)Largeright-hand sideof panorama (82 kB)

Chief Cities.—German cities and towns are officially distinguished as large cities (with one hundred thousand inhabitants and upwards); medium cities (twenty thousand to one hundred thousand inhabitants); small cities (five thousand to twenty thousand inhabitants); and country towns (two thousand to five thousand inhabitants). According to the latest census, the population of cities over fifty thousand was as follows:

Berlin, capital both of the Empire and of the Kingdom of Prussia, is by far the most important center of population in Germany. It lies on both sides of the Spree, and by the Spandau and Tetlow canals to the Havel it is linked with the systems of the Oder and the Elbe. It is eighty-four miles from Stettin and one hundred and eighty miles from Hamburg, and is the center of the great Prussian state railway system. (SeeInternal Communications.)

The city itself is served by an Outer Circle (Ringbahn) and by theStadtbahn, running east and west through the city. There are electric surface lines, an overhead, or elevated, electric railway, and a shallow underground railway.

On an island in the center of the city stands the Royal Palace, a foursquare pile built at different times between 1451 and the present day. It stands in the Schloss-platz, and is one of the few old buildings in Berlin, dating from the sixteenth century. It contains over six hundred rooms, including the great White Salon, and halls of the Black and Red Eagle orders.

Unter den Linden.—From this island stretches westward the noblest street in Berlin, Unter den Linden (“under the lime trees”). The triumphal arch at the west end of the street, the Brandenburg Gate (a copy, made in 1789-93, of the Propylæa at Athens), forms the entrance to the large park (six hundred and thirty acres) of the Thiergarten. In the east is the magnificent avenue of the Siegesallee or Avenue of Victory, adorned with thirty-two marble groups of the rulers of Prussia and Brandenburg. In the Unter den Linden are many splendid public edifices, among which are the Armory, the Opera House, the Royal Library, the new Town Hall, the University, the palaces of William I. and of Frederick III., and the monument to Frederick the Great by Rauch.

In the northeast of the Thiergarten stands the most imposing building of the city, the Imperial Diet or Parliament, erected from designs by Wallot, in 1884-94, at a cost of over five million dollars.

Business Quarter.—The Friedrichs-Stadt is the business center of Berlin, and the streets in this section are interesting. The banking street, Behrenstrasse, and the Wilhelmstrasse, the official quarter, where is the imperial chancellor’s palace, lie to the south. Fine shops and restaurants line the Friedrichstrasse, while Viktoriastrasse is one of the many thoroughfares of the fashionable district, southwest. Königstrasse and Kaiser Wilhelmstrasse[500]are the business streets of the city proper.

The Tempelhofn Feld, also to the south, is the parade and review ground of the Berlin garrison.

The most striking bridge is the Schloss-brücke, or Palace bridge, by F. Schinkel, with colossal marble figures. It leads from Unter den Linden, to the Lustgarten, a park in which stands an equestrian statue of Frederick William III.

DRAMATIC THEATER, GENSDARMEN MARKT

The Opera Platz contains statues of five generals, by Rauch, and is bounded by the Palace, University, Opera House, and St. Hedwig’s Church, an imitation of the Roman Pantheon. The Schauspielhaus, the leading dramatic theater, is in Gensdarmen Markt. The Schauspielhaus, with the church on each side, is considered one of the finest architectural groups in Berlin.

Statues and Art Museums, etc.—No city has so many statues and monuments to the national heroes, kingly or military, or to those famed in literature, science and art.

GERMAN CATHEDRAL, GENSDARMEN MARKT

The Royal Library, once in the palace, is now in the new building, built in 1909 on Unter den Linden; it contains nearly five million printed books. The University Library is housed in the same building. There is a large public library and twenty-eight municipal libraries.

The Royal Museum, in the Lustgarten, north of the Schlossplatz, is divided into the Old and the New Museums, containing the treasures of classical and mediæval sculpture, the Egyptian collection, etc. The Old Museum is the finest building in the city, with a grand Ionic portico, adorned with colossal bronze groups, and richly frescoed halls. It has vast collections of antiquities; the halls of Greek, Roman, mediæval, and modern sculptures; and the Hall of the Heroes.

The New Museum is entered from the Old, and contains Kaulbach’s famous mural paintings, the Egyptian museum, an immense collection of casts, twelve cabinets of Northern antiquities four rooms of objects of art, and five hundred thousand engravings. It has a renaissance façade to the east. Opposite is the new Corinthian temple of the National[501]Gallery, which contains a magnificent and world-renowned collection of ancient and modern paintings.

Berlin Suburbs.—In recent years there has been a remarkable expansion of the suburban districts of Berlin, residential sites have sprung up in the pine woods and by the lakes of the Havel to the northwest, and Spandau, Charlottenburg, and Potsdam may almost be regarded as suburbs.

THE BOURSE, OR EXCHANGE, BERLIN

Potsdam, “the Versailles of Prussia,” with its palaces and parks, is sixteen miles from Berlin, among wooded hills and the lakelike expanses of the Havel. Here is the Sans Souci Palace, built by Frederick the Great, and full of reminiscences of him. Near by are the Picture-Gallery, the Orangery (adorned with fine statuary), and the Sicilian Garden. The New Palace has two hundred richly adorned rooms, with fine paintings, and a noteworthy Marble Saloon.

The Marble Palace is north of Potsdam, and has many paintings. Babelsberg is a new Gothic palace, with rich art-treasures. The Royal Palace (1660) is full of relics of the Great Frederick. The Garrison Church contains his tomb and military trophies. The Church of Peace is a noble Ionic basilica, with masterpieces of sculpture. The famous Sans Souci fountains play on summer Sunday afternoons.

Industries of Berlin.—In its industries Berlin is almost as varied as London, but machinery, especially locomotive and electrical, woolens, dyeing, furniture and metal work are the chief. It is beginning to rival Leipzig in book production, and its breweries are large. Besides being the center of the great trade in corn and other cereals of Eastern Europe, its great banks exercise increasing international influence.

A Center of Education and Culture.—The famous Freidrich Wilhelm University, founded in 1810, now the largest in numbers in Germany, the splendid technical institution at Charlottenburg, and its numerous schools of all ranks, make Berlin one of the greatest intellectual and educational centers of the world. As the seat of the Imperial Court, and of the Imperial Parliament and administration, it is also the social center of the empire, and its modern wealth and luxury have made it a growing rival to Paris as a city of pleasure.

Since 1878 the city has been practically rebuilt; the sudden growth of population has resulted in much overcrowding and crushingly high rentals. Once deplorable, the sanitation, water supply, and public hygiene are now of the highest standard, and German scientific thoroughness has made it the most highly organized and best administered city in the world.

ST. HEDWIG’S CHURCH, BERLIN

THE NEW HOHENZOLLERN CATHEDRAL, BERLIN

Other Prussian Cities.—Breslau on the Oder, the capital of the mining districts of Silesia, has grown to be the second town of the kingdom, carrying on very extensive manufactures and a great trade by river and railway. It is also the emporium of the flax-growing district of Silesia. About the Rhenish coal fields, which yield half the supply of the kingdom, stand the manufacturing and trading towns of Cologne, Aachen or Aix, Barmen, Düsseldorf, Elberfeld, Crefeld and Dortmund, spinning cotton, wool, linen, and silk; and the famous iron and steel works of Solingen and Essen, where Krupp’s steel guns are made.

Magdeburg, on the Elbe, and Cassel, on the Fulda, are the great manufacturing and trading towns of central Prussia. Much of the internal trade of Germany is still carried on at great annual fairs, and in this respect the two Frankforts (on the Main to the west, and on the Oder to the east) hold the most important place. Hanover, on the Leine, is the point of exchange of the mineral products of the Harz for the goods which come in by Bremen on the Weser, and has important manufactures of its own.

The chief ports belonging to Prussia are the Baltic ones—Königsberg, Danzig, Stettin, Stralsund, Memel, Rostock, Wismar, and Kiel, on the Baltic; Altona, on the Elbe, next Hamburg. Posen, on the Warthe, was the ancient capital of Poland, and is the most important fortress towards the Russian frontier. Wiesbaden is the most important and the oldest of the watering-places which have grown up round the mineral springs of Nassau. Eisleben, where Luther was born, and Erfurt, where he resided, both in Prussian Saxony, are notable points in connection with the history of the Reformation in Germany.

THE NEW PALACE AT POTSDAMErected by Frederick the Great, at a cost of $2,250,000. The principal rooms are the Shell Saloon, the rooms of Frederick the Great, the Marble (concert) room, and ball room.

THE NEW PALACE AT POTSDAM

Erected by Frederick the Great, at a cost of $2,250,000. The principal rooms are the Shell Saloon, the rooms of Frederick the Great, the Marble (concert) room, and ball room.

Dresden and Other Cities of Saxony.—Dresden, its capital, finely placed on both banks of the Elbe, famous for its art treasures, has also many varied manufactures. Its architecture and its art collections have given it the name of “the German Florence.”

The old bridge, Augustusbrücke (Augustus Bridge), may be taken as the center of the most interesting part of Dresden. Immediately to the east of the Augustusbrücke, on the Alstadt side, stretches the beautiful Brühl Terrasse, whence are fine views over the river. There are high-class concerts in the Belvedere on the Brühl Terrace. Near the flight of steps to the terrace, facing the Royal Palace and Catholic Church, is the Rathaus (Town Hall) with an equestrian statue of King Albert in front.

THE ZWINGER, DRESDEN, CONTAINING THE WORLD-RENOWNED GALLERY OF PAINTINGS

The Royal Palace, just south of the Augustusbrücke, will be discovered by its lofty tower, three hundred and thirty-one feet high.

The Zwinger, to the west of the Schloss, is a range of buildings of seven pavilions, with the Museum at one corner. In the Museum are the picture gallery, with collections of engravings and drawings, and mineralogical collections, with scientific instruments.

The Picture Gallery is of world renown, containing more than two thousand four hundred paintings, mostly by Italian and Flemish masters. The gem of the collection is Raphael’s “Sistine Madonna;” other masterpieces being Titian’s “Tribute Money,” and Correggio’s “Magdalene” and “La Notte.”

The Green Vault in the Royal Palace contains an unrivaled collection of precious stones, articles wrought in gold, silver, and ivory, etc. The new Hoftheater is one of the finest theaters in Europe. Of the churches the most noted are the Frauenkirche, with its lofty dome (three hundred and ten feet high).

The so-called “Dresden china” is made for the most part at Meissen, fifteen miles from Dresden.

Leipzigis not only the seat of a famous university and the great book market of Germany, but has one of the largest annual fairs in the world, to which merchants come from all parts of the earth, even from America and China.

Chemnitz and Zwickau, beside the Saxon coal field, are the great woolen and machine-manufacturing towns of the kingdom. Freiberg is famed for its school of mines.

Cities of Bavaria.—Munich (München), the capital, stands in the midst of a bare elevated plain on the left bank of the Isar, one thousand seven hundred feet above sea-level, but has risen to importance as the central point of the great grain-growing plateau of southern Bavaria. It is the great corn depot of the country, and the place of manufacture of its favorite beer. In recent times it has become celebrated as a seat of the fine arts and for its splendid buildings.

Ancient Nürnburg, with its double line of walls, where watches, first called Nürnberg eggs, were invented, is the great seat of industry and commerce in the north of Bavaria, exporting toys which go to all parts of the world. It stands on the Ludwigs Canal, the most important one in the kingdom, uniting the navigable tributaries of the Rhine and Danube.

Augsburg, on the Lech, northwest of Munich, where the Protestants presented the Confession of Faith to Charles V., is a chief center of Bavarian trade and exchange. Würzburg, on the Main, is the old capital of Franconia, the district which was peopled by colonies of Franks in the sixth century.

Speyer or Spire and the fortress of Landau are also important places in the palatinate.

Cities of Württemberg.—Stuttgart, where Hegel was born, and where Schiller spent his youth, is the capital, and stands next to Leipzig and Berlin in the printing arts and book trade. The fortress of Ulm, on the Danube, where it leaves Württemberg, has a large transit trade. Heilbronn[504]is another important trading place. Tübingen is the university town.

THE PINAKOTHEK, MUNICH, FAMOUS GERMAN MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS

The little territory belonging to the house of Hohenzollern, which runs into Württemberg on the south, fell by inheritance to the king of Prussia in 1849.

Cities of Baden, and Elsass-Lothringen(Alsace-Lorraine).—Carlsruhe, the capital, and Mannheim, at the confluence of the Neckar and Rhine, are its largest towns. Heidelberg (north) and Freiburg (south) are the seats of universities. Baden-Baden in the center, the famous watering-place, gives its name to the Duchy.

The fortress of Strassburg, on the Rhine, in central Elsass, anciently a free imperial city of Germany, is the chief place in the Reichsland and its university town, noted also for its manufacture of leather-work and of beer. The cotton, wool and silk factories and machine works of the province center at Mülhausen in southern Elsass.

The fortresses of Metz and Diedenhofen or Thionville, memorable in the war of 1871, are the chief places in Lothringen.

Cities of the Smaller States.—Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck, the remaining free Hanse[6]towns, are republics, each governed by a senate and house of burgesses. Each of them has a small territory besides that occupied by the city.

[6]The Hansa or League of the North German towns was the first trade union of Europe, and dates from the thirteenth century. At one time it included eighty-five towns, and had several foreign factories.

They are the great gates of the external commerce of Germany, and from this have also become important centers for the preparation of foreign products, and of the necessaries of trading (tobacco, sugar-refining, cotton-spinning, shipbuilding). Besides the traffic brought to Hamburg and Bremen by their rivers, all the railways of the northwest converge toward them.

German Colonies.—At the commencement of the war these had a total area of 1,134,239 square miles, with a population of about 14,890,000, of whom 24,170 (including garrison and police) were whites. Of these whites about 18,500 were settled Germans.

The following is a list of the principal colonies and regions under the protection or influence of Germany, with approximate estimates of area and population:

PARLIAMENT BUILDINGS, BERLIN

The earliest information we have of the Germans, the peoples and the tribes who dwelt among the dense forests that stretched from the Rhine to the Vistula and from the Danube to the Baltic Sea, comes to us from the Romans.

First Contact with Romans.—The first tribes of Germanic race to come into collision with the arms of Rome were the Cimbri and Teutones, who in 113 B. C. had invaded Styria, and there met with defeat from the troops of the consul Papirius. When in 58 B. C. Cæsar began his campaigns in Gaul, he found several hordes of Germans, mostly Marcomanni and Suevi, settled between the Rhine and the Vosges, and even on the western side of these hills.

Appealed to by the Gauls of those regions to free them from their German oppressors, Cæsar inflicted a crushing defeat upon their ambitious chieftain, Ariovistus, and chased him and his followers across the Rhine. In the period 166-74 Aurelius was engaged in beating back a formidable incursion of the Marcomanni and Quadi into Roman territory. From the third century we no longer read of single tribes, but of great confederations of tribes, as the Goths, Alemanni, Franks, Frisians, Saxons, Thuringians, and others. Of the history of Germany itself we learn little more that is authentic until we come down to the times of the Franks, by whom the kingdoms of France and Germany were subsequently formed.

Henceforward, till the time of Charlemagne, Germany was occupied by a number of chieftains, who were perpetually at war with one another, except when invasions from without forced them into transitory alliance.

Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, the Frankish king, was crowned emperor of Rome by the pope in 800, and after his death his empire was partitioned among his four sons, and the result of the family struggles which followed was the separation of Germany from Gaul and of both from Burgundy and Italy by the Treaty of Verdun in 843. (Seehistory of France; alsoEmpire of Charlemagne.)

A separate kingdom of Germany was then formed under Lewis the German. A temporary reunion of the dominions of Charlemagne—with the exception of Burgundy—was effected under Charles the Fat in 884, but he was deposed in 887 and the final separation into the East and West Frankish kingdoms was accomplished.

The inroads of the Norsemen were checked in 891 by Arnulf, but they were followed by the savage attacks of the Hungarians during the reign of Louis the Child, with whom ended the race of Charlemagne in 911.

Under Feudal System.—The royal power had now almost vanished, and the system of granting fiefs had resulted in the formation of a class of powerful local rulers—the dukes of the great groups or confederations of tribes. The maintenance of central authority at all was probably due only to external danger from Slavs, Norsemen, and Magyars, and even this could not prevent constant warfare between the great feudal lords. Conrad of Franconia, elected by the leading nobles, was unable to enforce his authority, and was, at his own suggestion, succeeded by his great enemy, Henry, Duke of Saxony.

THE BRANDENBURG GATEat the western terminus of the Unter den Linden, was erected 1789, at a cost of three hundred and seventy thousand dollars, after the Propylæa of Athens, and is regarded as the finest archway in Europe next to the Arc de Triomphe at Paris. The Quadriga or four-horse car of Victory, by Schadow, was taken to Paris by the French in 1806, and returned 1814.

THE BRANDENBURG GATE

at the western terminus of the Unter den Linden, was erected 1789, at a cost of three hundred and seventy thousand dollars, after the Propylæa of Athens, and is regarded as the finest archway in Europe next to the Arc de Triomphe at Paris. The Quadriga or four-horse car of Victory, by Schadow, was taken to Paris by the French in 1806, and returned 1814.

Henry I. Establishes Order.—A born leader of men, statesman and general, Henry I. (919-936) introduced a new civil and military organization. He created the burgher class by the foundation of towns, compelling every tenth freeman to labor on buildings, and these towns he made the centers for judicial administration, ceremonies and festivals, markets, and trade. He broke the power of the Magyars, subdued Danes and Slavs, and before his death private war had ceased.

Otto the Great Revives the Holy Roman Empire.—His son, Otto the Great (936-973), consolidated the royal power, and reduced the great Duchies to submission, keeping them in his own hands or in those of members of his family. In 951 he entered Italy to settle the affairs of the Lombard kingdom, but returned to cope with a revolt terminated only by the vital danger of an invasion by the Magyars, whose power was finally crushed in 955. Crowned Emperor by the Pope in 962, he set an example to subsequent German kings, who claimed the Imperial and Lombard crowns as of right; but the precedent led also to the continued absences of the German rulers in Italy and the severance of their interests from those of their own proper dominions. The sense of German nationality grew in his reign, yet this was accompanied by a weakening of central authority and the development of the power of the great vassals, dukes, and princes, ecclesiastical and secular.

Under the House of Franconia.—After his death constant civil war increased their power until their growing independence was checked by Conrad II. (1024-1039), the first of the Franconian Emperors, who rendered the mediate nobles, vassals of the great lords, less dependent on their feudal superiors, and formed a close alliance with the towns. His son, Henry III. (1039-1056), further strengthened the royal power, put down private war, and in 1043 proclaimed a general peace.

Struggle with the Papacy.—His attempted reformation of the Papacy and appointment of four German popes in succession commenced the long and fierce struggle between the Emperors and the Popes. During the minority of his son, Henry IV., the great nobles recovered much of their power. His opposition to the famous decree of Pope Gregory VII. in 1075 against the marriage of the clergy and their investiture by laymen was followed by his summons to Rome, his deposition of the Pope through a synod of German bishops, his excommunication and complete humiliation at Canossa in 1077. The dispute was only settled under his son, Henry V., by a compromise, the “Concordat of Worms,” in 1122, but the power of the Papacy had been enormously strengthened. It had attempted to dispose of the Imperial Crown, and Innocent II. even claimed to have granted it to Lothar of Saxony (1125-1137) in 1133 as to a vassal.

Famous Hohenstaufen Line.—With Conrad III. of Franconia (1137-1152) commences the line of the famous Hohenstaufen Emperors. The two great parties supporting the Pope and the Emperor now first became known as Guelfs and Ghibelines (Welfs and Waiblings). His successor, the great Frederick Barbarossa (1152-1190), was occupied in Italy during long years with the now permanent struggle against the Popes and the Italian cities supporting them. In Germany Teutonic power was extended over the Slavonic countries along the Baltic by Henry the Lion of Saxony and Albert the Bear, to whom was granted the Mark of Brandenburg. Under Frederick II. (1212-1250) the struggle with the Papacy was continued. Sentence of excommunication was[507]launched against him, and a rival king was elected, and his continued absence in Italy led to the utmost anarchy in Germany. Meanwhile the conquest of the Slavonic lands now forming a great part of Prussia progressed steadily under the Knights of the Teutonic Order and of the Order of the Sword.

The period of the Hohenstaufens was one of great brilliancy. Chivalry was promoted in the Crusades, literature was in full bloom in the works of the Minnesänger, Gothic architecture received its finest developments, the towns increased in prosperity, many serfs were freed, and codes of local customs and usages were compiled, such as the Sachsenspiegel and the Schwabenspiegel. On the other hand, the greater vassals became practically independent, and the principle of inheritance was applied to their lands and offices. The privileges usurped by the ecclesiastical and secular princes were confirmed by Frederick II. in the “Pragmatic Sanctions” of 1220 and 1232, and the right of electing the Emperor was confined to the Seven Electors.

The Interregnum.—The period of anarchy culminating in the “Great Interregnum” (1250-1273) is marked by the formation of the Rhenish Confederation of some seventy leading cities for mutual defense, and of the powerful Hanseatic League.

Beginning of the Hapsburg Line.—Rudolf of Hapsburg, elected in 1273, revived the royal authority and strictly enforced justice, but his rule was unfavorable to the growing privileges of the towns. In this respect his policy was reversed by his successor, Adolf of Nassau (1291-1298), and by his son, Albert I. (1298-1308), who even befriended the serfs and the Jews. The long struggle between the Empire and the Papacy practically ended under Louis IV. (1314-1347), by the formal declaration of the Electors in 1338 that the Papal sanction was not needed to the election of the emperor. Public peace was encouraged under Louis IV., and his friendship to the towns was constant. Industry and trade flourished more and more in the cities, and their government was now becoming more democratic through the victory of the craft-guilds over the old patrician families.

House of Luxemburg.—Charles IV. (1347-1378), the first emperor who retained his hereditary lands on election, by the “Golden Bull” in 1356 regulated the method of election and confirmed the complete sovereignty of the Electors in their own territories. In 1396 the foundations of Swiss independence were laid in the victory of the “Eidgenossen” over Duke Leopold of Austria at Sempach.

Reformation Foreshadowed.—In the reign of Sigismund (1410-1437), who united the dignities of King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, and Margrave of Brandenburg, and who was the last Emperor crowned at Rome, the Hussite war, consequent on the burning of John Huss by the Council of Constance in 1415, foreshadowed the Reformation. The Mark of Brandenburg now passed to the Hohenzollerns, under whom it was to grow into the kingdom of Prussia.

The reigns of Frederick IV. (1440-1493), and Maximilian I. (1493-1519), the husband of Mary, the heiress of Charles the Bold, last Duke of Burgundy, bring the Middle Ages to a close. The age of chivalry was ended by the invention of gunpowder and the use of mercenary troops; the realities of feudalism had passed away, the Imperial authority had dwindled to nominal control, and princes and cities had attained independence. But the Imperial dignity was now permanently connected with the House of Hapsburg and combined with great territorial possessions. The semblance and, to some extent, the reality of unity were established by the growing use of Roman law, by the constitution in 1495 of an Imperial Tribunal or Court of Appeal (the “Aulic Council”), and by the division of Germany in 1501 and 1512 into “Circles,” each with its own “States” charged to carry out the decisions of the Imperial Chamber.

Period of Charles V.—Luther’s denunciation of indulgences was made in 1517, but the full storm of the Reformation burst after the accession of Charles V. (1519-1555), who united to the Empire the entire possessions of the kingdom of Spain. At the Diet of Worms in 1521 he took up the defense of the Church, and condemned Luther as a heretic. At the same Diet an Imperial Administrative Council was established, and a “Matricula” drawn up, settling the contingents of troops to be raised by the States, both of which existed until the fall of the Empire. The Reformation now made irresistible progress; a common name, “Protestants,” was acquired by the Reformers at the Diet of Speyer in 1529, and in common statement of doctrines, the “Augsburg Confession,” was drawn up in 1530.

Thirty Years’ War.—The new and the old religions were put upon an equality by the Religious Peace of Augsburg in 1555, in which, however, the Calvinistic or Reformed Faith was not included. In the fearful struggle which followed the Reformation the Imperial authority was completely ruined. The reaction against the new doctrines, due mainly to the zeal of the Jesuits, gave fresh strength to the Catholic party, the Reformation was stamped out in Bohemia, and complete toleration was not acquired by Protestants (including both Lutherans and Calvinists) until the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.

This was at the close of the disastrous and merciless struggle known as the Thirty Years’ war. The result of the confused period commencing with the abdication of Charles V. in 1555 must be briefly summed up. The Empire in Germany was practically ended and was now attached to the hereditary dominions of the house of Hapsburg in Austria. The population of Germany was reduced by more than one-half; industry and trade had almost ceased to exist; enormous territorial losses had been suffered, and France and Sweden had made great acquisitions. Switzerland and the United Provinces were severed from the Empire, and had acquired complete independence. Germany emerged from the war a mere lax confederation of states, whose rulers—a race of absolute and, in most cases, coarse and selfish despots—were recognized by the Peace of Westphalia as independent. Even in the cities government had passed into the[508]hands of local oligarchies. The only bond of union was the nominal authority remaining to the emperor, and now transferred to the Diet, of passing laws, concluding treaties, and making war and peace. One completely good result of the war was that amid the prevailing anarchy were laid, by Grotius, the foundations of a system of International Law.

Rise of Prussia to Power.—The Thirty Years’ war was followed by the rise of Prussia. Brandenburg had in 1611 become united to the Duchy of Prussia, part of the possessions of the Teutonic Order, which was in 1657 declared independent of Poland, of which it had been a fief, and received further accessions under the Great Elector, Frederick William. It grew steadily in power during the long struggle against the unscrupulous aggressions of Louis XIV., and in 1701 the son of the Great Elector, Frederick I., obtained from the Emperor the recognition of the Prussian Duchy as a kingdom. In 1713 a “Pragmatic Sanction” was drawn up by the Emperor Charles VI. (1711-1740), providing for the inheritance of the Austrian dominions by his daughter, Maria Theresa, and this was ultimately guaranteed by the leading powers.

Frederick the Great and the Seven Years’ War.—But his death in 1740 was the opportunity of Prussia, where Frederick II., better known as Frederick the Great, had just ascended the throne. He immediately occupied Silesia. Maria Theresa met with enthusiastic support in Hungary, and in 1745 her husband was elected emperor as Francis I. (1745-1765). An interval of peace was followed by the Seven Years’ war, at the conclusion of which, in 1763, Prussia was confirmed in the possession of Silesia, took rank as a great Power, and became definitely the rival of Austria in German politics.

In 1765 Joseph II. succeeded to the imperial crown, becoming at the same time co-regent with his mother of the Austrian hereditary dominions. He joined with Russia and Prussia in the first partition of Poland (1772). He was succeeded by his brother Leopold, who, having died in 1792, was succeeded by his son, Francis II., who joined in 1793 in the second partition of Poland. He took the command of his army against the French in 1794, concluded the peace of Campo Formio with Bonaparte (1797); joined the second coalition against France in 1799, and concluded the treaty of Lunéville (1801).

In 1804 Francis took the title of hereditary emperor of Austria, renouncing two years later that of head of the German Empire, which, indeed, had ceased to exist, owing to the conquests of Napoleon. The latter’s secularization of the ecclesiastical states, overthrow of Austria at Austerlitz (1805) and of Prussia at Jena and Auerstädt (1806), and formation of the Confederation of the Rhine, completed the extinction of the Holy Roman Empire.

The German Confederation.—The states of Germany were again united by the treaty of Vienna (1815), in a confederation called the German Confederation (der Deutsche Bund). In 1818 a general commercial league, called the Zollverein was projected by Prussia, and was gradually joined by most of the German states, exclusive of Austria. Revolutionary outbreaks caused great disturbances in various German states in 1830 and 1848, particularly the latter. The German Diet was restored in 1851 by the efforts of Prussia and Austria, who were latterly rivals for the supremacy in the confederation.

Beginning of Bismarck’s Power.—In 1861 William I. succeeded to the throne of Prussia, and the conflicts between the liberals and his ultra-reactionary government led in 1863 to the entrance into the ministry of Otto von Bismarck, who soon after became its president and the minister of foreign affairs. On the death of Frederick VII. of Denmark, Prussia and Austria disputed the claims of Christian IX., his successor, to the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, and the war which followed (1864) resulted in the cession of Schleswig-Holstein, and Lauenburg to those powers jointly.

By the treaty of Gastein, Austria and Prussia agreed to a joint occupation of the Elbe duchies; but to prevent collision it was judged prudent that Austria should occupy Holstein, and Prussia Sleswick.

Contest Between Prussia and Austria.—Already a difference of policy had begun to show itself. Prussia was believed to have the intention of annexing the duchies; while Austria began to favor the claims of Prince Frederick of Augustemburg. In the meantime, both nations were making ready for the struggle; and Italy, looking upon the quarrel as a precious opportunity to strike a blow for the liberation of Venetia, had secretly entered into an alliance with Prussia.

On July 3, 1866, was fought the decisive battle of Sadowa, in which the Austrians were routed. Not till the victorious Prussians had pushed forward towards Vienna was a truce obtained through the agency of the Emperor of the French, the Peace of Prague (August 20). Italy, though more than half-inclined to stand out for the cession by Austria of the Trentino, as well as Venetia, reluctantly agreed to the armistice (August 12).

A brief campaign sufficed for the defeat of the minor states of Germany that had joined Austria, viz.: Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt; and, after peace had at last been arranged, some of them were forced to submit to a certain loss of territory.

Independence of Austria and Union of Germany.—The war completed the dissolution of the Confederation, and secured the reconstruction of Germany on an entirely new basis. Austria was excluded from Germany, and a new confederation, the North German, was formed of the states north of the Main, under the headship of the king of Prussia. Schleswig-Holstein, Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, Nassau, and Frankfort were incorporated with that kingdom. Efforts to secure a further consolidation were opposed by the South German states, but the final solution of the question was at length brought about by France, whose demands resulted in the War of 1870. (See underFrance.)

In this war Germany acquired Alsace and a part of Lorraine, and south Germany now[509]waived any further opposition to a consolidation of all the German states under the leadership of Prussia.

Restoration of the German Empire.—On December 3 the king of Bavaria invited the king of Prussia to restore the dignity of German emperor. Most of the other states gave their assent and the North German Reichstag on December 10 adopted a motion for the establishment of the German empire under the king of Prussia. On January 18, 1871, the restoration of the imperial dignity was solemnly proclaimed by William I. at Versailles.

Subsequently the empire was largely organized under the vigorous administration of Prince Bismarck. The parliament of the new empire soon met at Berlin, and adopted the new constitution. The main result of his foreign policy was a cordial alliance with Austro-Hungary; an alliance, in 1872, between the emperors of Germany, Austria and Russia, in which, subsequently, Italy took the place of Russia, forming what is known in European politics as the Triple Alliance.

In domestic affairs many difficulties were encountered. With the birth of the new Empire commenced the long struggle of Prince Bismarck with the Papacy. The Jesuits were expelled in 1872, and in 1873 the famous “Falk Laws” imposed secular restrictions on all ecclesiastical appointments. The strict enforcement of these laws led to intense discontent and ill-feeling among Catholics. The contest ended with the grant of many concessions and the confession by Prince Bismarck in 1887 that his policy was practically changed. The democratic movement known as Socialism, aiming at the regulation and organization by the State of labor and production, grew rapidly in strength and importance, and inaugurated an era of “labor policy” by legislation compelling employers to institute a system of insurance in favor of their work-people, since followed by the adoption of an important state-aided scheme of insurance against death and old age.

In 1888 Emperor William I. died, and the premature death, after a reign of three months, of the beloved Crown Prince, who succeeded him as Frederick III., disappointed the hopes of those who had anticipated a Liberal policy on the part of the Crown.

Accession of William II.—His son and successor, William II., took a strong view of his functions as emperor and king. His reign was immediately characterized by the further development of the labor policy inaugurated by Prince Bismarck. The emperor was not, however, generally in accord with the views of the great Chancellor, whose resignation was accepted in 1891.

Caprivi now became chancellor, and managed to negotiate a series of commercial treaties, in 1892-1894, with the countries of Central Europe (Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy), and later with Servia and Roumania, the purpose of which was to lower the import-duty on corn on condition that the foreign states favored German manufactures. These treaties at once induced the peasants to combine and in 1893 a great agricultural union was formed, called theBund der Landwirte, with which an older association, theDeutsche Bauernbund, almost immediately coalesced.

Commercial and Colonial Expansion.—But the great features of recent German history have been the growth of German trade and commerce, the great colonial expansion in Africa and Polynesia, and the rapid increase of her navy.

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