* Peace of Augsburg
THE HABSBURG dream of a unified Empire
embracing the entire Christian world has been thwarted by the forces of
nationalism and religious enmity.
The Schmalkaldic Wars between the
Lutheran princes of the Holy Roman Empire and Catholic princes led by Emperor
Charles V have ended in 1555 with the Peace of Augsburg. Now, both Roman
Catholics and Lutherans are officially recognized within the Empire.
But this compromise peace has many
shortcomings and satisfies no one completely. And it does not recognize
Calvanism, a faith that spreads rapidly in the latter half of the 16th century.
Political rivalries among the numerous
petty princes are sharpened by religious differences among them. In 1618 the
uncertain peace collapses and the most terrible of all religious conflicts
breaks out—the Thirty Years' War.
* The Thirty Years' War
It begins as a conflagration between
Catholic and Protestant, but quickly grows into a life-and-death national
struggle between the French Bourbons and Austrian-Spanish Habsburgs for the
mastery of Europe!
Not since Attila the Hun has the
continent of Europe seen such butchery and destruction. In this war, all are
losers.
In 1648 the Peace of Westphalia ends the
war and restores a precarious peace to the Continent. But the German countryside
is ruined. It will take a century to recover.
The war has dealt a heavy blow to the
Holy Roman Empire. From now on, the Empire has no history of its own. It has
become a loose collection of separate rival states.
By the year 1700, Germany is a patchwork
of more than 1,700 independent and semi-independent princes and nobles. They are
vassals of the Habsburg Emperor in name only.
Without a united and subservient Empire,
the Emperor's position in Europe is very weak. Prospects for realizing the ideal
of a single European Empire a unified Christendom appear exceedingly dim.
The "Holy Roman Empire" has become but a
hollow name. The French philosopher Voltaire will shortly describe it as
"neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire." Yet the outward forms and titles of
the Empire are continued.
* The Sun King
Further threatening the existence of the
Holy Roman Empire is the rising power of France.
In 1661 young King Louis XIV assumes
active personal control of the state affairs of France. Louis has a strong sense
of royal mission. He wants to become the foremost prince of Europe. He envisions
himself as the heir of Charlemagne and seeks to resurrect the Frankish Empire
under his leadership.
Ruling from his grand palace at
Versailles, Louis' royal control is absolute. "L'état c'est moi," he
declares "I am the state!" He is popularly known as "The Grand Monarch," and as
le Roi Soleil ---- "the Sun King."
Under Louis, France's influence in Europe
expands. The French army becomes the strongest in Europe. The French monarchy
reaches its zenith.
Louis embarks on a long series of wars
aimed at maintaining France's domination of the Continent. This policy
ultimately leads to disaster. The greatest of these conflicts is the War of
Spanish Succession (1701-14), in which Louis fights to secure the crown of Spain
for his grandson. It is the culmination of the rivalry between Bourbon and
Habsburg. French armies sustain a series of costly defeats. An impoverished
France is reduced to a second-rate European power—for a time.
* The Rise of Prussia
Meanwhile, another European power is on
the rise—the Protestant state of Brandenburg, soon to be known as
Brandenburg-Prussia, or simply Prussia.
Prussia is ruled by the Hohenzollerns, a
family of German counts. In May 1740 Frederick II comes to the throne as king in
Prussia. History will know him as Frederick the Great.
Frederick believes that a third strong
political power must be established in Europe to offset the strength of France
and Austria. That power, he declares, must be Prussia.
Under Frederick, Prussia becomes a rival
to Austria for control of the German states. A non-Catholic, Frederick holds the
Catholic Habsburgs in low esteem and subjects them to public ridicule.
Frederick builds a strong government and
an efficient army. In short order, Prussia's military reputation becomes
unsurpassed in Europe.
The great war of his reign comes in 1756
. It is the Seven Years' War, pitting Frederick against the combined armies of
Austria, France, Russia, Sweden and Saxony. Frederick is vigorously attacked,
and his forces face annihilation. The very existence of Prussia is at stake!
In the end, the death of Elizabeth of
Russia and the exhaustion of France saves him. Alone, Austria and her allies are
unable to overcome Frederick. Austria has to accept the fact that Prussia is a
strong rival for leadership in Germany.
After another century passes, the
Prussian king will actually become emperor of a united Germany!
* The Deluge
Back in France, the situation is dire.
Louis XIV is dead. His weak great-grandson, Louis XV, devotes himself to the
pursuit of women. "Après moi le deluge," he declares—" After me, the
flood." And it is so.
The reign of his grandson, Louis XVI,
begins in 1774. It is the prelude to revolution. The profligacy of the French
monarchy has nearly ruined the country. The lavish spending of the
court—epitomized by Louis XVI's unpopular and extravagant queen, Marie
Antoinette earns it the contempt of the French people. The outmoded feudal
privileges of the nobility are widely resented.
Discontent is widespread. Taxation is
heavy. The misery of the common man reaches the breaking point.
Events now move swiftly.
On July 14, 1789, the population of Paris
takes matters into its own hands. A mob storms the Bastille prison, the hated
symbol of absolute monarchy and despotism. This event triggers the mighty
explosion that history will call the French Revolution spreads rapidly
throughout France. The crown and nobility come under siege. Peasants burn
chateaus and terrorize their noble landlords. A revolutionary government seizes
control of the state.
Louis XVI and his queen are imprisoned.
They are later tried and guillotined. A bloody Reign of Terror grips the
country, as nobles and persons with real or suspected counterrevolutionary
sympathies are condemned to the blade.
* Canossa in Reverse
Religion also comes under attack. The
Church in France is put under state control. Church lands and wealth are
confiscated, religious orders suppressed, and the clergy required to take oaths
of fidelity to the constitution.
The picture is little better elsewhere in
Europe.
For decades, the Papacy has been
virtually excluded from the political affairs of Europe. Under Pius VI, Pope
from 1775 to 1799, the Papacy reaches its nadir. It is all but stripped of power
and influence. In the Habsburg dominions, the Catholic Church is still
influential, but even there it is subordinate to the state.
French armies march on Rome and occupy
the city early in 1798. A republic is declared. Pius refuses to renounce his
temporal sovereignty, and is taken prisoner by the French in March 1799. He is
taken to France, where he dies at Valence in August.
It is a "Canossa in reverse." Church
influence has deteriorated considerably since the time when Pope Gregory VII,
"master of Emperors," forced the capitulation of Henry IV at Canossa, Italy, in
1077.
* New Era
In Paris, radical political leaders vie
with one another for power. Corruption, incompetence, bloodshed and hysteria
are the order of the day.
Amid this domestic turmoil, a new star is
on the rise in the French firmament: The Napoleon Bonaparte. In desperation, the
country turns to him for relief.
A new era is about to begin in France.
Napoleon's ascent to power has been
meteoric. By age 26 the Corsican-born military genius of Byzantine stock had
become commander of the French army in Italy.
In 1799 the young hero returns from an
expedition against the English in Egypt. He seizes power in a bold move, setting
up a new government of three members. Borrowing a title from ancient Rome, he
calls them consuls. He himself is First Consul —a virtual dictator at age 30!
Like a Roman imperator, Napoleon
concentrates all powers of state in his own hands. He dreams of being another
Caesar. Classical imagery fills his mind. A bust of Julius Caesar adorns his
study.
"I am of the race of the Caesars, and of
the best, of those who laid the foundations," Napoleon will observe.
The Corsican patriot Pasquale di Paoli
had been the first to recognize the Roman in Napoleon. "There is nothing modern
about you, Napoleone," he had once observed . "You come from the age of [the
classical biographer] Plutarch!"
Napoleon dreams of a resurrected
Roman-European civilization dominated by France. He had grown up amid dreams of
the classical world. Now he means to make them reality!
* Breach Healed
One of Napoleon's first concerns is the
Papacy.
"The influence of Rome is incalculable,"
he declares. "It was a serious error to break with this power.
Napoleon realizes that the Papacy cannot
be conquered by the sword. He must come to terms with it in order to make use of
it.
In 1801 a concordat (an agreement for the
regulation of ecclesiastical matters) is concluded between France and the
Papacy. .The Catholic Church again becomes the official church of France. The
breach is healed.
The next year, Napoleon is appointed
"First Consul for Life." France puts herself fully in his hands. He is moving
relentlessly toward his ultimate goal. No hand can stay him.
* Imperial Coronation
In 1804 all veils are cast aside. It is the year of destiny.
In May the French Tribunate votes in
favor of declaring Napoleon Emperor. The Senate passes the measure soon
thereafter. A plebiscite is held throughout France. The vote is 3,572,329 in
favor, 2,569 against. Napoleon has become Emperor of the French, his realm an Empire.
The very Frenchmen
who did away with monarchy 12 years earlier now reestablish it!
Napoleon summons Pope
Pius.VII_(1800-1823) to Paris "to give the highest religious connotation to the
anointing and crowning of the first Emperor of the French." The Pope crosses the
Alps late in November.
The spectacular coronation ceremony is
held at the Cathedral of Notre Dame on December 2, 1804, a millennium after
Charlemagne was crowned by Leo III in Rome.
Napoleon walks to the high altar leading
his wife, Josephine, by the hand. She is a beautiful Creole, born in Martinique
in the West Indies.
The Pope is waiting, surrounded by
cardinals. Napoleon approaches. All expect him to kneel before the Pontiff. But,
to the amazement of the congregation, Napoleon seizes the crown from the Pope's
hands, turns his back on the Pope and the altar and
crowns himself'! He then crowns
his kneeling wife as Empress.
Napoleon is officially Emperor of the
French at age 34! He has made it clear that religion must be in the hands of the
state.
The Pope had been informed of Napoleon's
intentions shortly before the ceremony, but had chosen to proceed anyway. He now
anoints and blesses the imperial couple.
In 1806 Napoleon crowns himself again,
this time with the celebrated "iron crown" of Lombardy. ne of the great historic
symbols of Europe, this crown had previously been worn by Charlemagne, Otto the
Great and other European sovereigns.
(click to enlarge) |
* Heir of Charlemagne
For years, Napoleon has seen himself as a
new Alexander the Great and a modern Roman Caesar. Now he begins to consider
himself more as the heir of the great Charlemagne . He goes to Aachen
(Aix-la-Chapelle) for a ceremonial visit to the tomb of the great Frankish
Emperor.
"There will be no peace in Europe," he
says to his companions as he stands before the tomb, "until the whole Continent
is under one suzerain, an Emperor whose chief officers are kings, whose generals
have become monarchs."
Napoleon has visions of conquest on a
grand scale. It will be he who will carry out the projects of Charlemagne, Otto
the Great and Charles V in the modern world. "I did not succeed Louis XVI, but
Charlemagne," Napoleon declares.
In 1805 Napoleon makes himself king of
Italy. When I see an empty throne," he confides, "I feel the urge to sit on it."
* "Miracle" at Austerlitz
On December 2, 1805, Napoleon engages the
combined armies of Russia and Austria at Austerlitz. Dawn begins with thick fog
and mist. The Russians and Austrians could wish for nothing better . Under its
cover, they hope, the Austro-Russian armies will be able to complete their
maneuvers without the French seeing what they are doing. "But suddenly," as one
historian will describe it, "the sun with uncommon brightness came through the
mist, the sun of Austerlitz. It was in this blazing sun that Napoleon at once
sent a huge cavalry force under Marshal Soult into the gap left between the
center and the left of the Austro-Russian battlefield." This is the break
Napoleon needs. His victory is sealed. Many see it as the result of divine
intervention.
France is now indisputably the leading
power on the Continent.
Austerlitz gives Napoleon increased
confidence . "Tell the Pope," he writes to Rome, "I am Charlemagne, the Sword of
the Church, his Emperor, and as such I expect to be treated!"
With renewed vigor, Napoleon pushes ahead
with his plans for a United States of Europe a league of European states under
French hegemony. "I shall fuse all the nations into one," he declares.
* Holy Roman Empire Dissolved
In July 1806 Napoleon organizes the
Confederation of the Rhine (Rheinbund). It is a union of all the slates of
Germany (except, of course, Austria and Prussia) under his protection.
With the advent of this French-controlled
federation, it becomes clear to all that the Austrian-led Holy Roman Empire is
dead. Napoleon has rearranged the map of Europe. He is supreme in Western
Europe, and is virtual dictator in the German states. He has usurped the Holy
Roman Emperor's primacy among Europe's monarchs.
In view of these facts, it is
preposterous for an Austrian archduke to bear the grandiose title of "Holy Roman
Emperor," pretending to be supreme over all Christendom.
On August 6, 1 806, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis II formally resigns his titles and divests himself of the imperial
crown. He is now simply "Emperor of Austria." Technically, Napoleon has swept
away the moribund Holy Roman Empire, the
sacrum Romanuin imperium. But he perpetuates it, under a different
name, for another eight years.
In October 1806 Napoleon defeats Prussia
in the battles of Jena and Auerstädt. No power can stand before him. He is the
unchallenged Emperor of the West!
* Excommunication
Meanwhile, relations between Napoleon and
the Papacy deteriorate rapidly.
Pius VII refuses to join Napoleon's
Continental System, the emperor's plan for shutting Great Britain out from all
connection with the continent of Europe. On February 2, 1 808, French forces
occupy Rome. The Pope is arrested and detained. "The present Pope has too much
power," Napoleon writes his brother. "Priests are not made to rule."
In 1809 Napoleon decrees the Papal States
annexed as a part of the French Empire. Pius replies with a bull of
excommunication on June 10. Napoleon's reply? "In these enlightened days none
but children and nursemaids are afraid of curses," he laughs.
The Pope becomes Napoleon's prisoner, and
is eventually transferred to Fontainebleau, near the city of Paris. He does not
return to the Vatican until May 1814.
* Decline and Fall
In April 1810 Napoleon marries
Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria, having dissolved his childless marriage
with the empress Josephine. Marie-Louise is a Habsburg princess, the eldest
daughter of the last Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II. In March 1811 she bears
Napoleon a long-desired son, who is given the title "King of Rome."
Though elated at the birth of an heir,
Napoleon is growing restless. Western Europe is already beginning to seem too
small for him. He now plans what is to be the capstone of his career the
incorporation of Russia into his Empire.
In June 1812 Napoleon and his 600,000-man
Grand Army cross the Niemen River and invade Russia. Following the Battle of
Borodino on September 7, the Russians retreat. The French reach Moscow on
September 14 only to find it burned by the Russians at the encouragement of the
British.
But Napoleon has overreached himself. In
trying to grasp too much, he loses all. The freezing Russian winter devours his
men by the multiple thousands. A disastrous retreat from Russia begins.
It is the beginning of the end. Napoleon
returns to France having lost more than 400,000 men! The handwriting is on the
wall.
In October 1813 Napoleon meets the allied
armies of Prussia, Russia and Austria at Leipzig in the "Battle of the Nations."
His army is torn to shreds.
The Allies close in on Paris . In March
1814 the Treaty of Chaumont is signed by Russia, Prussia, Austria and Great
Britain. It restores the Bourbon dynasty.
With everything crashing around him,
Napoleon finally abdicates in favor of his young son on April 6, 1 814. The
Allies reject this solution. The Senate, too, does not recognize the child's
title, and calls the Bourbon Louis XVIII to the throne instead. Napoleon then
abdicates unconditionally and is sent into exile on the island of Elba.
* Into the Abyss
With the fall of Napoleon in 1814, the
time-honored system of Roman-inspired government first resurrected by Justinian
in AD. 554 comes to an end after 1,260 years.
A year later, Napoleon escapes. rom his
island home. Recruiting an army, he marches on Paris. His brief return to power
is to last but 100 days.
On June 18, 1815, Napoleon meets a
combined British-Prussian army near the Belgian town of Waterloo. After a bitter
battle he is delivered a crushing defeat. As the French author Victor Hugo will
write: "It was time for this vast man to fall."
On July 1 5 Napoleon surrenders and, as a
prisoner, is sent to Saint Helena, a volcanic island in the South Atlantic
Ocean. The little Corsican who had conquered Europe becomes a caged eagle. "What
can I do on a little rock at the world's end?" he laments. From the abyss of
Saint HelenaNapoleon reminisces: "I wanted tofound a European system, a European
code of laws, a European judiciary. There would have been but one people
throughout Europe.
Napoleon dies on May 5, 1821, on Saint
Helena, having been slowly poisoned by one of his disenchanted countrymen. His
dream of a unified Europe will have to be left to others. Even as Napoleon's
body is being interred in the island's rocky soill (later to be entombed in
Paris), the Continent is beginning to reform and reshape itself. The nations of
Europe are moving toward a new configuration—and an unexpected destiny.
* Bourbons Restored
THE NAPOLEONIC attempt to restore the
Roman Empire in the West is but a short-lived success.
Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo in
1815 sends the one-time master of Europe into lonely exile on the rocky island
of St. Helena in the south Atlantic. And his dream of a unified Europe follows
him into the abyss.
Defeated France is reduced to her 1790
boundaries, assessed a large indemnity payment and forced to submit to an allied
army of occupation. The unpopular Bourbons are restored to the French throne
under Louis XVIII, brother of Louis XVI.He will reign as French king until his
death in 1824.
* Feeble Confederation
But the affairs of the rest of Europe
also have to be reordered.
To guard against the recurrence of war,
the Congress of Vienna convenes to redraw the map of Europe and bring stability
to the war-exhausted Continent.
Among the chief negotiators are Austria's
chancellor Prince Metternich, Britain's foreign minister Lord Castlereagh, Czar
Alexander I of Russia, Prussia's King Frederick William Ill, France's
representative Talleyrand, and the Papal delegate Cardinal Consalvi.
The international assembly reorganizes
the political boundaries of Europe. One of the results of the Congress is the
establishment of the German Confederation (Deutscher
Bund) under the presidency of Austria. The defunct Holy Roman Empire
of the German Nation is no more.
Napoleon's reorganization of Germany
consolidated scores of smaller German states into larger entities. The new
German Confederation is an association of 39 sovereign German states. But it is
a feeble organization. Unity is still severely hampered by rivalries among
states. The loosely knit league will limp along until 1866.
* First Step Toward Unity
Prince Metternich (1773-1859), the
Austrian chancellor, seeks to make Austria a leading European power and the
undisputed head of the German-speaking peoples. But his designs are opposed by a
formidable antagonist—Prussia.
Under Frederick the Great (king in
Prussia from 1740 to 1786), Prussia had become a rival to Austria for control of
the German states. This rivalry persists. Prussia still seeks to gain the upper
hand in German affairs.
In 1834, Prussia organizes a German
customs union, known as the Zollverein,
under Prussian leadership. It creates a free-trade area throughout much
of Germany, removing unnecessary restrictions from commerce. And, significantly,
it undermines Austria's dominant position in the region.
The Zollverein shows the Germans the
value of cooperation. It encourages the desire for unity. Historians will look
back on the customs union as a key first step on the road toward German
reunification.
* Revolutions in France
Back in France, a revolution in July 1830
drives the Bourbons from the throne. The Bourbon monarch, Charles X (1824-1830),
flees to England in exile.
The new king of the French is
Louis-Philippe, duke of Orleans. Though a relative of the exiled king,
Louis-Philippe has a reputation as a progressive. He reigns for nearly 18 years
as constitutional monarch.
In 1848, a revolutionary tide sweeps
across Europe. The colorless and increasingly unpopular Louis-Philippe is one of
its victims. Abdicating in February, he too flees to England.
On December 10, 1848, Louis Napoleon
Bonaparte (1808-1873), a nephew of the late Emperor Napoleon 1, is elected
president of France's Second Republic. The republic, however, is short-lived.
In the last month of 1851, Louis Napoleon
Bonaparte stages a widely popular coup d'etat, establishing an authoritarian
government under his leadership. A vote is taken in favor of the restoration of
the Empire.
The Second Empire is formally inaugurated
on December 2, 1852, the day of Louis Napoleon's coronation. He styles himself
Napoleon III, Emperor of the French. (Napoleon II, the young son of Napoleon I,
had died in 1832)
A major concern of his reign will be the
threatened emergence of a unified German nation. The stage is being set for a
titanic clash of ambitions that will rock Europe to its very foundations!
* House of Savoy
Meanwhile, in Italy, a crucial series of
events is taking place.
The Congress of Vienna had again divided
Italy into numerous states. Most of the peninsula is now dominated by Austria.
Only the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont is free of Austrian influence.
In 1849, Victor Emmanuel II comes to the
Sardinian throne. He is head of the House of Savoy.. During the 18th century,
this dynasty had acquired the rulership of the island of Sardinia and
territories in northern Italy, centered on the region of Piedmont. The capital
of the Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont is the city of Turin.
A growing movement is now under way for
Italian freedom and unification. It is called the
Risorgimento ("resurgence").
Victor Emmanuel is an ardent supporter of the cause of Italian independence.
In 1852, Count di Cavour (1810-1861)
becomes prime minister of Sardinia-Piedmont. He is a descendant of one of the
ancient noble families of Piedmont. Like his king, Cavour is devoted to the
cause of ejecting Austria from Italian affairs and bringing about the
unification of Italy under the House of Savoy.
* Garibaldi's Red Shirts
In July 1858, Cavour meets with Napoleon
III, Emperor of the French. They agree to provoke Austria into war.
The war comes in 1859. The Franco-Italian
coalition succeeds in breaking the power of Austria in the Italian peninsula.
But at the last moment, Napoleon III deserts the Italians and concludes a treaty
with the Austrians. He wants Italy liberated from Austria, but does not want the
peninsula united under Savoy.
Despite this setback, the movement for
Italian unification continues. Another figure now enters the picture: Giuseppe
Garibaldi (1807-1882).
Years earlier, Garibaldi had joined Young
Italy, a movement for Italian liberty and unification organized by the
revolutionist Giuseppe Mazzini. Now Garibaldi decides that the best road to
unity lies in his working with Victor Emmanuel and Cavour.
In May 1860, with the support of
Cavour, Garibaldi leads a 1,000-man volunteer guerrilla army from Genoa in a
spectacular invasion of Sicily, then ruled by the king of Naples. This is the
famous Expedition of the Thousand. Garibaldi's men are clad in scarlet shirts,
and are popularly dubbed the Red Shirts.
Sicily is taken after threemonths of
fighting. Garibaldi then moves against Naples. That city falls on September 7,
1860. Sicily and Naples have been conquered! Garibaldi is a national hero.
Garibaldi hands his conquests over to Victor Emmanuel. Other Italian states
declare by plebiscite for union with Sardinia-Piedmont. On March 17, 1861,
Victor Emmanuel II is proclaimed the first king of Italy. Most of Italy is
united under the House of Savoy! But the unification of the peninsula is by no
means complete.
(click to enlarge) |
* Rome Holds Out
Not included in the new kingdom is the
Papal possession of Rome.
Emperor Napoleon I had taken the Papal
States—territory in central Italy ruled by the Papacy—from the Pope in 1809.
They were restored to the Pontiff by the Congress of Vienna in 1815.
Now, the Papal States (or States of the
Church) are seized by the armies of Victor Emmanuel and annexed to Italy. The
Church's temporal power is shattered! Only Rome—garrisoned by French
troops—remains under Papal sovereignty. France considers herself the protector
of the Papacy. Garibaldi still dreams of Rome as the capital of the new united
Italy. In 1862, he raises a force to capture Rome and annex it to the Italian
kingdom. But Victor Emmanuel, desirous of avoiding a conflict with France,
orders his own forces to stop Garibaldi. Four years later Garibaldi tries
again, but is defeated by Papal and French forces.
The time is not yet ripe for the conquest
of Rome.
* Enter Bismarck
Now the focus shifts to Germany
In Prussia, Otto von Bismarck becomes
prime minister and minister of foreign affairs in the autumn of 1862. He serves
under King William (Wilhelm) I, who acceded to the Prussian throne in 1861.
Bismarck was born in 1815, the year of
Napoleon's final defeat at Waterloo. He is a political genius, ultraconservative
in viewpoint. From 1859 to 1862, he served as Prussian ambassador to Russia.
Bismarck's chief ambition is to unify
Germany under Prussian leadership and exclude Austria from German politics.
During a short stay in London in the summer of 1862, he astonishes British
statesmen by bluntly declaring that when he becomes Prussian prime minister, his
first move "will be to reorganize the army with or without the help of the Diet
. As soon as the army shall have been brought into such a condition as to
inspire respect, I shall seize the first pretext to declare war on Austria,
dissolve the German Diet, subdue the minor states, and give national unity to
Germany under Prussian leadership."
Within nine years he will fulfill this
program.
* Iron Chancellor
At the very outset of his premiership,
Bismarck stuns the world by declaring to the Ways and Means Committee of the
Prussian Diet: "The great questions of our day cannot be solved by speeches and
majority votes, but by blood and iron." He is thereafter popularly known as the
Iron Chancellor.
Bismarck expands the Prussian military as
the long-standing hostility between Prussia and Austria nears the breaking
point.
In 1866, the question of the leadership
of Germany is finally fought out. In June, Bismarck picks a quarrel with Austria
over the possession of Schleswig-Holstein, a territory at the base of the
Jutland peninsula bordering Denmark. Thus begins the Seven Weeks' War, occupying
the summer of 1866.
The Seven Weeks' War is a conflict
between opposing groups of German states, one led by Austria and the other by
Prussia. It culminates at the battle of Sadowa (Koniggrütz) an overwhelming
Prussian victory.
Austria is now excluded from
participation in German affairs. Bismarck declares null and void the
Constitution of the German Confederation of 1815.
* New Confederation
In the wake of the Prussian victory over
Austria, the North German Confederation (Norddeutscher
Bund) is formed under Prussian hegemony in 1867. It is a union of the
German states north of the Main River.
Berlin becomes the capital of this new
Confederation. Bismarck writes a constitution making the Prussian king the
hereditary ruler and the Prussian prime minister its chancellor.
The four large southern German states of
Baden, Bavaria, Saxony and Wurttemberg remain independent and are permitted to
form a separate confederation. They enter into a military alliance with Prussia.
Austria's defeat in the Seven Weeks' War
leads Austrian Emperor Franz Josef and his government to establish a dual
monarchy embracing the Empire of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary. It is
officially known as the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy
(Oesterreich isch—Ungarische Monarchie). The two halves of the
monarchy are independent of each other . The bond of union is the common dynasty
and a close political alliance. The crown is hereditary in the Habsburg-Lorraine
dynasty.
* Franco-Prussian War
Bismarck's ultimate goal—that of uniting
all Germany under Prussian leadership —has still not been achieved. His next
move will be to bring the south German states into final union with the
Prussian-led North German Confederation. He will accomplish this by provoking a
war with France. After making sure that Russia will remain neutral in any
Franco-German conflict, Bismarck uses the candidacy of a Hohenzollern prince to
the throne of Spain to goad France into war.
Napoleon Ill of France declares war on
Prussia on July 19, 1870—just as the Iron Chancellor had hoped. The ambitions of
the two men have come to a clash. Thus begins the Franco-Prussian War.
As Bismarck had anticipated, the south
German states side with Prussia against France. Fighting side by side against
the armies of Napoleon III, Germans of the north and south develop a sense of
camaraderie and oneness—another step toward the unification of all Germany.
The German offensive is planned
brilliantly by General Helmuth von Moltke. On September 1, 1870 Prussia defeats
France at the battle of Sedan. Napoleon Ill surrenders himself to the Prussians.
Paris itself is captured on January 28, 1871.
The German victory marks the end of
French hegemony in continental Europe. The war is concluded by the peace of
Frankfurt on May 10, 1871.
* Second Reich
The Franco-Prussian War brings about a
strong feeling among German states for a closer union. The south German states
decide to unite with the North German Confederation.
On January 18, 1871, King William I of
Prussia is proclaimed German Emperor (Deutscher Kaiser) in the Hall of Mirrors
at Versailles near Paris. North and South Germany are united into a single
Reich, or Empire. Bismarck has succeeded in consolidating Germany under the
Prussian Hohenzollerns!
Bismarck assumes the office of Reich
Chancellor and is made a prince.
This new German Empire is called the
Second Reich. (The First Reich had been inaugurated in AD. 962 with the crowning
of Otto the Great as Holy Roman Emperor by Pope John XII.) This Second Reich,
born in 1871, will live 47 years (until 1918). Germany has become the dominant
force in European affairs!
* Prisoner Popes
With the French defeat in the
Franco-Prussian War, Napoleon Ill's troops in Rome return home. For years they
had maintained the temporal power of the Papacy over that city. Now Rome is
virtually defenseless.
On September 20, 1870, the forces of
Victor Emmanuel II enter Rome. The "Eternal City" is taken by Italian troops in
the name of the Kingdom of Italy. In October, Romans vote overwhelmingly to be a
come part of the Italian kingdom. Rome officially becomes the capital of a
united Italy on July 2, 1871.
After 1500 years, Rome is again the
capital of Italy!
But what of the Papacy?
The Pope, Pius IX (1846-1878), has been
stripped of temporal power by troops of the Kingdom of Italy. He excommunicates
the invaders, declares himself a prisoner in the Vatican and refuses to
recognize the new kingdom. His successors, too, will become voluntary prisoners
in their own palace. It will be six decades before a reconciliation is effected.
Though weak in the temporal sphere, the
Papacy is asserting its strength in the spiritual realm.
Pope Pius had convoked the first Vatican
Council in 1869. The next year it declared Papal infallibility as a formal
article of Catholic belief. This dogma holds that when a Pope speaks officially
(ex cathedra ) to the universal
Church on a doctrine of faith or morals, he cannot err.
This dogma had long been held in some
form, but in view of objections being made against it, the bishops in the
Vatican Council thought it expedient to make clear the stand of the Church.
Not all, however, are willing to submit
to this newly defined and reasserted Papal authority.
* Struggle for Power
The German Reich is ruled by a Protestant
dynasty, the Hohenzollerns. Bismarck seeks to strengthen the unity of the Reich
by limiting thepower of the Catholic Church within Germany. He accuses Catholic
elements within the Reich of political separatism, and labels them a threat to
the unified German state.
Thus begins the so-called
Kulturkampf (1871-1887), the
conflict between Prussia and the Church of Rome. It is a struggle between two
rival cultures and powers —the Catholic Church and the secular state. Bismarck's
objective is to wipe out the Vatican's political influence within the Reich.
"We are not going to Canossa, either
bodily or spiritually!" Bismarck declares, in an allusion to the capitulation of
Emperor Henry IV to the Pope at Canossa in 1077.
A series of drastic laws are passed to
intimidate the Catholic clergy. "What is here at stake is a struggle for power,
a struggle as old as the human race, the struggle for power between monarchy and
priesthood. That is a struggle for power which has filled the whole of German
history," Bismarck declares. Pope Pius dies in 1878 after a pontificate of 32
years—the longest in the history of the Popes. But the Kulturkampf continues,
though on a lesser scale, for an other nine ears.
A major reason for the Kulturkampf had
been Bismarck's desire to create some focus for national resentment. But with
the rise of socialism, Bismarck now sees the socialists filling that role even
better. He gradually begins to rescind his anti-Catholic measures.
* New German-Italian Alliance
Bismarck is also active in the
international political arena. On October 7, 1879, he concludes a military pact
with Austria-Hungary, allying the Habsburgs with Prussian-dominated Germany. The
alliance is designed to render France powerless against the Reich.
In 1882, Italy joins, forming the Triple
Alliance. It will remain in force until Italy's defection in 1915.
The ancient ties of Italy and Germany,
extending back to the days of Charlemagne and Otto the Great, are reforged. It
is the prelude to an era that will arise more than a half century later under
Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
* Conflict and Defeat
Emperor William I dies March 9, 1888. His
son and successor, Frederick III, lives only a few months.
In June 1888, William 11 becomes Emperor
of German . The new Kaiser is anxious to direct the government personally. He
demands the Iron Chancellor's resignation.
After 38 years of service, Bismarck
steps down in March 1890. He retires to his castle, Friedrichsruh, near
Hamburg. The Kaiser then sets an aggressively independent course in foreign
affairs—a course that leads eventually to war.
On June 28. 1914 Archduke Françis
Ferdinand——heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary——is assassinated by a Serbian
in the Balkan town of Sarajevo. The great powers are caught in the webs of their
alliances. The bloody event triggers World War I.
When the guns finally fall silent on
November 11, 1918, a staggering 10 million lie dead. And the German Empire lies
vanquished.
The abdication of the Kaiser is announced
November 9. Defeated Germany is demilitarized and becomes a republic. A new
German constitution is adopted at the city of Weimar.
Many German war veterans are embittered
by defeat and the humiliations imposed on Germany by the Treaty of Versailles.
Among them is a young Gefreiter
(lance corporal) by the name of Adolf Hitler.
Forward to Next Chapter/ . . .
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In the public interest. Text by: Keith W. Stump
