German Empire after the First World War. German Empire. Late Middle Ages
The section consists of separate essays:
Germany in ancient times
The Germans (Germanen) were the closest neighbors of the Celts who inhabited Central and Western Europe. The first mention of them occurs in the 4th century. BC NS. However, archaeological data indicate that the addition of the Pro-Germanic ethnic and linguistic substratum, dating back to the Indo-European community, in northern Europe can be attributed to the period ca. 1000 BC NS. By the 1st century. BC NS. the Germans occupied a region that roughly coincided with the territory of modern Germany. The etymology of the word "Germanen" itself is still unclear.Geographically, the Germans were divided into several tribes. Batavs, Bruckters, Hamavs and others belonged to the tribes that lived between the Rhine, Main and Weser. Alemans inhabited the southern part of the Elbe basin. The Bavars lived in the mountains in the south. Hawks, Cimbri, Teutons, Ambrons, Angles, Varins and Frisians settled on the coast of the North Sea. From the middle and upper Elbe to the Oder, the tribes of the Suevi, Marcomannian, Quads, Lombards and Semnons settled; and between the Oder and the Vistula there are Vandals, Burgundians and Goths. Swions and Gouts settled in southern Scandinavia.
In the 1st century. BC NS. the Germans lived in a tribal system. The supreme power in the tribe belonged to the people's assembly. Cattle breeding played an important role in the economy. Land ownership was collective. Social contradictions began to emerge between the community members and the nobility, who had more slaves and land. Internecine wars were the main trade.
The first contacts between the Germans and Rome refer to 58 BC NS. Then Julius Caesar defeated the Suevi, headed by Ariovistus. This happened on the territory of Northern Gaul - modern Alsace. Three years later, Caesar drove two more Germanic tribes beyond the Rhine. Around the same time, descriptions of the Germans as a separate ethnic group appear in the literature, including in Caesar's "Notes on the Gallic War". In 12 BC. a large-scale German campaign was launched by Nero Claudius Druse, who received the title of Germanicus. The borders of the empire were expanded to Albis (Elbe) and by 7 BC. NS. most of the tribes were subdued. The territory between the Rhine and the Elbe was not ruled by the Romans for long - before uprising of Arminius... Arminius, the son of the leader of the Cherusci, was sent to Rome as a hostage, was educated there, and served in the Roman army. He later returned to his tribe and served the Roman governor Var. When in 9 g. Var with an army and a wagon train moved to winter quarters, Arminius lagged behind with his army from the main one and attacked separate detachments in the Teutonic forest. In three days, the Germans destroyed all the Romans (from 18 to 27 thousand people). The Rhine became the border of Roman possessions. A line of fortifications "Limes" was built from the Rhine to the Danube, traces of which have survived to this day.
At the beginning of the first millennium, the Germanic tribes gradually began to form alliances that were stable. From history, the unions of the Alemans, Saxons, Franks, and Goths became known. The most significant tribal union of the Germans was the union of the Marcomanites led by Marobodu. In the 2nd century. the Germans intensified the onslaught on the borders of the Roman Empire, the result of which in 166 was Marcomannian War... In 174, Emperor Aurelius managed to stop the onslaught of the Marcomannians and other Germanic tribes.
The invasions of Germanic tribes into the territory of the Roman Empire continued throughout the 4th-7th centuries. During this period, and great migration of peoples Europe. These processes had important socio-economic and political consequences for the Western Roman Empire. Changes in the social structure of the tribes, as well as the crisis in the empire itself, contributed to the fall of Rome.
Formation of the first German states
In 395, after the death of Emperor Theodosius, the united Roman Empire was divided between his sons into Western and Eastern (Byzantium), whose rulers used the barbarian Germans to resolve their conflicts. In 401, the fortunes under the command of Alaric left the Eastern Empire for the Western, where, after a series of unsuccessful battles in Italy, they were forced to conclude a peace treaty with the Romans and settle in Illyricum. In 410, the Goths, under the command of Alaric, captured and plundered Rome. Also during this period, the Vandals, Suevi, Alans, Burgundians and Franks invaded the territory of Gaul.The first kingdom was founded in Aquitaine, the Burgundian kingdom in Gaul, the kingdoms in Spain and North Africa, England.
V 476 BC Germanic mercenaries, who made up the army of the Western Empire, led by Odoacer, deposed the last Roman emperor Romulus Augustus. Emperors in Rome in 460-470 The commanders were appointed from the Germans, first by Svev Ricimer, then by the Burgundy Gundobad. In fact, they ruled on behalf of their henchmen, overthrowing those if the emperors tried to act independently. Odoacer decided to become the head of state, for which he had to sacrifice the title of emperor in order to keep the peace with the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium). This event is formally considered the end of the Roman Empire.
In the 460s. Franks under King Childeric formed their own state at the mouth of the Rhine. The Frankish kingdom became the third Germanic state in the lands of Gaul (after the Wezegots and Burgundians). Under Chlodwig, Paris became the capital of the Frankish state, and the king himself with an army converted to Christianity in the form of Catholicism, which ensured the support of the Roman clergy in the struggle against other Germans who professed Arianism. The expansion of the Frankish state led to the creation in 800 of the Frankish empire of Charlemagne, which united for a short time the possessions of all Germanic peoples with the exception of England, Denmark and Scandinavia.
East Frankish Kingdom
The Kingdom of the Franks was founded by King Clovis I of the Merovingian family. The starting point in the formation of the Frankish state was the conquest of the last Roman possessions in Gaul by the Salic Franks led by Clovis I in 486. During the many years of wars, the Franks, led by Clovis, also conquered most of the Alemannic possessions on the Rhine (496), the Visigoth lands in Aquitaine ( 507) and the Franks who lived along the middle course of the Rhine. Under the sons of Clovis, the king of the Burgundians, Godomar, was defeated (534), and his kingdom was included in the kingdom of the Franks. In 536 the Ostrogothic king Vitigis abandoned Provence in favor of the Franks. In the 30s. 6 c. were also conquered the Alpine possessions of the Alemanni and the lands of the Thuringians between the Weser and the Elbe, and in the 50s. - Bavarian lands on the Danube. Power Merovingian represented an ephemeral political entity. It lacked not only economic and ethnic community, but also political and judicial-administrative unity (immediately after the death of Clovis, his 4 sons divided the Frankish state among themselves, only sometimes uniting for joint conquest campaigns). As a result of internecine strife among representatives of the house of the ruling dynasty - the Merovingians, power gradually passed into the hands of the mayordoms, who once held the posts of governors of the royal court. In 751, Major Pepin the Short, son of the famous major and commander Karl Martel, deposed the last king from the Merovingian clan and became king, founding a dynasty Carolingian.In 800 the Frankish king Charlemagne, son of Pepin the Short, was proclaimed the Roman emperor. Under him, the Frankish state reached its peak. The capital was in Aachen. The son of Charles the Great, Louis the Pious, became the last sovereign ruler of the united Frankish state. Louis successfully continued his father's policy of reforms, but the last years of his reign were spent in wars against his own sons and external enemies. The state found itself in a deep crisis, which a few years after his death led to the collapse of the empire and the formation of several states in its place - the predecessors of modern Germany, Italy and France. By The Verdun Treaty, which was concluded between the grandsons of Charlemagne in 843, the French part (West Frankish kingdom) went to Charles the Bald, the Italian-Lorraine (Middle Kingdom) to Lothair, the German part to Louis the German.
The East Frankish state is traditionally considered to be the first German state. During the 10th century. the unofficial name "Reich of the Germans" (Regnum Teutonicorum) appeared, which after several centuries became generally recognized (in the form of "Reich der Deutschen"). The state included territories east of the Rhine and north of the Alps. The territory of the state was relatively stable and tended to expansion: the eastern part of Lorraine, including the Netherlands, Alsace and Lorraine proper, was annexed in 870, colonization of the Slavic lands along the Elbe began.The border with the West Frankish kingdom, established in 890, existed until the 14th century. kingdom under Louis the German became Regensburg.
The kingdom actually consisted of five semi-independent large tribal duchies: Saxony, Bavaria, Franconia, Swabia and Thuringia (later Lorraine was added). The king's power turned out to be rather limited and dependent on the largest feudal lords. The process of enslaving the peasants in the kingdom was still in its initial stage, and in many regions a fairly wide layer of free peasantry (Swabia, Saxony, Tyrol) remained. By the end of the 9th century. the principle of the indivisibility of the state was formed, the power in which was to be inherited by the eldest son of the deceased monarch. The termination of the German line of the Carolingians in 911 did not lead to the transfer of the throne to the French Carolingians: the East Frankish nobility elected the Franconian Duke Konrad I as their ruler, thus securing the right of the German princes to elect a successor to the king in the absence of a direct heir to the deceased monarch.
The regular raids of the Vikings became a serious threat to the state. In 886 the Vikings reached Paris. The Carolingian Empire at this time was united under the rule of Karl Tolstoy, who was a weak ruler and lost his power. At the beginning of the 10th century. the situation was complicated by continuous wars with the Hungarians. During the reign of Konrad 1, the central government practically ceased to control the state of affairs in the duchies. In 918, after the death of Konrad, the Duke of Saxony was elected king Henry 1 Birdcatcher(918-936). Heinrich successfully fought against the Hungarians and Danes and created a line of fortifications protecting Saxony from the raids of the Slavs and Hungarians.
Holy roman empire
Henry's successor is his son Otto 1 the Great(936-973). Otto assumed the title "Emperor of the Romans and Franks" - the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation was founded. Soon after accession to the throne, Otto had to fight the dukes of Bavaria, Franconia and Lorraine and their own brothers who joined them, and at the same time repel the attacks of the Danes and Slavs. After many years of struggle, Otto was helped by a chance - two of his opponents died in one of the battles, and his younger brother Henry, who tried to send assassins to him, was pardoned and later remained loyal to him. Henry received the Duchy of Bavaria, the son of Otto Ludolph - the Duchy of Swabia, Otto himself ruled Saxony and Franconia.In 950, Otto made his first trip to Italy under the pretext of rescuing the young widow of the Italian king Adelgeida, who was kept in captivity and forced to a new marriage. The queen, however, managed to escape herself and asked for Otto's help. The following year, Otto himself married Adelheide. After the birth of Adelheida's son, an internecine war began, which was started by the son of Otto from his first marriage, Ludolph and the Duke of Lorraine. They called for help from the Hungarians. Otto managed to cope with this uprising. After that, the Hungarians suffered a crushing defeat on the Lech River (955), and then the Slavs were also defeated.
In 961, Otto made a second campaign in Italy, where he was summoned by Pope John 12, who was oppressed by the Duke of Lombard. Otto easily reached Rome with his army, where he was crowned as emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Otto had to pacify the Duke of Lombard and the Pope, who were beginning the turmoil, several times and insist on choosing a new Pope.
With the death of the grandson of Otto 1, Otto 3, the male line of the Saxon dynasty was cut short. Became king Henry 2 Saint(1002-1024), great-grandson of Heinrich 1 the Fowler, son of a Bavarian duke, the last representative of the Saxon dynasty. Henry had to fight with the Slavs, Greeks, pacify internal turmoil, make campaigns in Italy to establish the popes loyal to him. However, at the same time, Henry was devoted to the church and canonized after his death. After Henry 2, Konrad 2, the son of the Earl of Speyer, a descendant of Henry 1 the Fowler (Salic, or Franconian, dynasty) was elected king. He was succeeded by his son Heinrich 3 Cherny.
The title adopted by Otto 1 allowed him to fully control the ecclesiastical institutions in his domain. The church became one of the main pillars of the imperial power. The integration of the church into the state structure reached its climax under Conrad II (1024-1039) and Henry III (1039-1056), when the classical imperial church system was formed.
The state institutions of the empire in the early period remained rather poorly differentiated. The emperor was at the same time the king of Germany, Italy, and after the death in 1032 of the last king of Burgundy Rudolph 3 - and Burgundy. The main political unit in Germany was the tribal duchies: Saxony, Bavaria, Franconia, Swabia, Lorraine (the latter was divided into Lower and Upper in 965) and, since 976, Carinthia. A system of marks was created along the eastern border (North, Saxon East, Bavarian East, later - Meissen, Brandenburg, Luzhitskaya). In the 980s. For a while, the Slavs again threw the Germans over the Elbe and captured Hamburg, but at the beginning of the 11th century. the empire restored its position in the region, although further advancement stopped the entry of Poland and Hungary as independent kingdoms into the European Christian community. In Italy, marks were also formed (Tuscany, Verona, Ivrea), however, by the beginning of the 12th century. this structure collapsed. The main problem for the emperors was to retain power both north and south of the Alps. Otto 2, Otto 3 and Konrad 2 were forced to stay in Italy for a long time, where they fought against the offensive of the Arabs and Byzantines, and also periodically suppressed the unrest of the Italian patriciate, but they did not succeed in finally establishing imperial power on the Apennine Peninsula. With the exception of the short reign of Otto 3, who transferred his residence to Rome, Germany has always remained the core of the empire. The reign of Conrad 2 (1024-1039), the first monarch of the Salic dynasty, includes the formation of an estate of small knights (including ministerials), whose rights the emperor guaranteed in his decree "Constitutio de feudis" of 1036, which formed the basis of imperial feudal law ... The heredity and inalienability of the fiefs was recognized. Small and medium chivalry later became one of the main carriers of the trends of integration in the empire. Konrad II and his successor Henry III controlled most of the German regional principalities, independently appointing counts and dukes, and completely dominated the territorial aristocracy and clergy. This made it possible to introduce into the imperial law the institution of "God's Peace" - the prohibition of internecine wars and military conflicts within the empire.
The apogee of imperial power, reached under Henry III, turned out to be short-lived: already in the minority of his son Henry 4(1056-1106) the fall of the emperor's influence began. The ideas of the Gregorian reform were developed, which affirmed the supremacy of the Pope and the complete independence of the church authorities from the secular authorities. Pope Gregory 7 tried to eliminate the possibility of the emperor's influence on the process of filling church positions and condemned the practice of secular investiture. However, Henry 4 resolutely defended the emperor's prerogatives, which entailed a long struggle for investiture between the emperor and the pope. In 1075, Henry's appointment of the 4th bishop to Milan was the reason for the excommunication of the emperor Gregory 7 from the church and the release of the subjects from the oath of allegiance. Under pressure from the German princes, the emperor was forced in 1077 to make a penitential "walk to Canossa" and beg the Pope for forgiveness. The struggle for investiture ended only in 1122 with the signing of the Worms Concordat, which secured a compromise between secular and spiritual authorities: the election of bishops was to take place freely and without simony (buying a position for money), but secular investment in land holdings, and thus the opportunity the imperial influence on the appointment of bishops and abbots continued. In general, the struggle for investiture significantly weakened the control of the emperor over the church, brought the papacy out of imperial dependence and contributed to the rise of the influence of territorial secular and spiritual princes.
The reign of Henry 4 passed in a constant struggle with the popes and their own vassals and sons, who tried to deprive him of power. Henry was excommunicated. To maintain power, Henry relied on the ministerials loyal to him (servants who received flax for their own merits, small chivalry owed military service to the emperor or feudal lord) and large cities. Henry 4 was engaged in the construction of new castles and cathedrals, consecrated the Cathedral in Speyer, which he wanted to make imperial. Henry IV also took Jewish communities under his protection and legislated their rights. After his death, the reign passed to his son Henry 5, with whose death the Salic dynasty ended. After his death, the family property passed to the Hohenstaufens, in whose possessions Franconia and Swabia were at that time. After Henry's death, Lothair 2 of Saxony (1125-1137) was elected king. The Hohenstaufens tried to fight him, but failed and were forced to accept his authority. In 1138 Konrad 3 Hohenstaufen was elected emperor.
During the reign of Lothar II, a struggle began between two large princely families of Germany - the Hohenstaufen (Swabia, Alsace, Franconia) and the Welfs (Bavaria, Saxony, Tuscany). This confrontation began the struggle between Guelphs and Ghibellines in Italy. The Guelphs (on behalf of the Welfs) advocated limiting the power of the empire in Italy and strengthening the role of the pope. The Gibellines (from the name of the Hohenstaufen castle of Waiblingen near Stuttgart) were adherents of the imperial power.
After the death of Konrad III in 1152, his nephew became emperor Frederick 1 Barbarossa(Italian "red-beard", 1152-1190), whose reign was a period of significant strengthening of central power in Germany. Even as Duke of Swabia, he participated in the Second Crusade, in which he became famous. The main direction of the policy of Frederick 1 was the restoration of imperial power in Italy. Frederick made six campaigns in Italy, during the first of which he was crowned imperial crown in Rome. At the Ronkala Diet of 1158, an attempt was made to legalize the omnipotence of the emperor in Italy and Germany. The strengthening of the emperor on the Apennine Peninsula provoked resistance from both Pope Alexander III and the Kingdom of Sicily, and the Northern Italian urban communes, which in 1167 united into the Lombard League. The Lombard League managed to organize an effective rebuff to the plans of Frederick 1 in relation to Italy and in 1176 inflict a crushing defeat on the imperial troops at the Battle of Legnano, which forced the emperor in 1187 to recognize the autonomy of the cities. In Germany itself, the position of the emperor was significantly strengthened thanks to the division of the Welf holdings in 1181 and the formation of a fairly large Hohenstaufen domain. Frederick Barbarossa created a large European army for his time, the main force of which was the heavy knightly cavalry clad in steel armor, and improved its organization. At the end of his life, Frederick I went on the Third Crusade, during which he died in 1190, drowning while crossing the river.
Frederick Barbarossa's successor was his son Henry 6(1169 - 1197). He managed to expand the territorial power of the emperor by subjugating the Sicilian kingdom. It was in this state that the Hohenstaufens were able to create a centralized hereditary monarchy with a strong royal power and a developed bureaucratic system, while in the German lands proper, the strengthening of regional princes did not allow not only to consolidate the autocratic system of government, but also to ensure the transfer of the imperial throne by inheritance. After the death of Henry 6 in 1197, two Roman kings, Philip of Swabia and Otto 4 of Brunswick were elected at once, which led to internecine war in Germany.
In 1220 he was crowned emperor Frederick II Hohenstaufen(1212-1250), son of Henry 6 and king of Sicily, who renewed the Hohenstaufen policy of establishing imperial rule in Italy. He went into a tough conflict with the Pope, was excommunicated and declared the Antichrist, but nevertheless undertook a crusade to Palestine and was elected king of Jerusalem. During the reign of Frederick 2 in Italy, the struggle between Guelphs and Ghibellines developed with varying success, but on the whole it was quite successful for Frederick 2: his troops controlled most of Northern Italy, Tuscany and Romagna, not to mention the emperor's hereditary possessions in southern Italy. The focus on Italian politics, however, forced Frederick II to make significant concessions to the German princes. According to the Agreement with the princes of the church in 1220 and the Decree in favor of the princes of 1232, the bishops and secular princes of Germany were recognized as sovereign rights within the territory of their possessions. These documents became the legal basis for the formation of semi-independent hereditary principalities within the empire and the expansion of the influence of regional rulers to the detriment of the emperor's prerogatives.
Late Middle Ages
With the death of the sons of Frederick II, the Hohenstaufen dynasty ended and the interregnum began (1254-1273). But even after his overcoming and accession to the throne in 1273, Rudolf I of Habsburg the importance of the central government continued to decline, and the role of the rulers of regional principalities increased. Although the monarchs made attempts to restore the former power of the empire, dynastic interests came to the fore: the elected kings first of all tried to expand the possessions of their families as much as possible: the Habsburgs were entrenched in the Austrian lands, the Luxemburgs - in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia, Wittelsbach - in Brandenburg, Holland and Gennegau. It was in the late Middle Ages that the principle of electing the emperor acquired a real embodiment: during the second half of the 13th - end of the 15th century. the emperor was indeed chosen from several candidates, and attempts to transfer power by inheritance were usually unsuccessful. The influence of large territorial princes on the policy of the empire increased sharply, and the seven most powerful princes arrogated to themselves the exclusive right to elect and remove the emperor. This was accompanied by the strengthening of the middle and small nobility, the collapse of the imperial domain of the Hohenstaufens and the growth of feudal strife.In 1274 in Nuremberg, Rudolf 1 of Habsburg (1273-1291) convened the Reichstag - a meeting of representatives of the lands. They took part in the discussions, but the decision was left to the emperor. It was decided to return the property and rights of the empire seized after Frederick II. They could be returned back with the consent of the king and the electors. This decision was directed against Ottokar 2, who created a large state from the Czech Republic, Moravia, Austria, Styria, Carinthia. Ottokar tried to fight for these possessions, but was defeated. Rudolph secured the received lands as hereditary possession for the Habsburgs.
At the same time, Guelphism finally triumphed in Italy, and the empire lost its influence on the Apennine Peninsula. On the western borders, France strengthened, which managed to withdraw from the influence of the emperor of the land of the former Burgundian kingdom. Some revival of the imperial idea during the reign of Henry 7 (the first representative of the Luxembourg dynasty, 1308-1313), who made in 1310-1313. the expedition to Italy and for the first time after Frederick II crowned the imperial crown in Rome, was, however, short-lived: starting from the end of the 13th century. The Holy Roman Empire was increasingly confined exclusively to German lands, turning into a national state formation of the German people. In parallel, there was also a process of liberation of imperial institutions from the power of the papacy: during the period of the Avignon captivity of the popes, the role of the pope in Europe sharply decreased, which allowed the German king Ludwig of Bavaria, and after him, the large regional German princes, to withdraw from subordination to the Roman throne.
Into the reign Karla 4(1346-1378, Luxembourg dynasty) the center of the empire moved to Prague (Charles was also the Czech king). Charles's reign is considered the golden age of Czech history. Charles 4 managed to carry out an important reform of the constitutional structure of the empire: the Golden Bull of the Emperor in 1356 established a collegium of electors of 7 members, which included the archbishops of Cologne, Mainz, Trier, the king of Bohemia, the Elector of the Palatinate, the Duke of Saxony and the Margrave of Brandenburg. Members of the college of electors received the exclusive right to elect the emperor and actually determine the directions of the empire's policy; the electors were also recognized the right of internal sovereignty, which consolidated the fragmentation of the German states. At the same time, all influence of the pope on the election of the emperor was eliminated.
Crisis sentiment in the empire intensified after the plague epidemic of 1347-1350, which led to a sharp drop in the population and dealt a tangible blow to the German economy. At the same time, the second half of the 14th century. was marked by the rise of the North German union of the trading cities of the Hansa, which turned into an important factor in international politics and gained significant influence in the Scandinavian states, England and the Baltic states. In southern Germany, cities also turned into an influential political force that opposed princes and knights, but in a series of military conflicts at the end of the 14th century. The Swabian and Rhine unions of cities were defeated by the troops of the imperial princes.
In 1438, Albrecht 2 of Habsburg was elected king of Austria, Bohemia, Hungary and Germany. From this year, representatives of this dynasty constantly became emperors of the empire.
By the end of the 15th century. the empire was in a deep crisis caused by the inconsistency of its institutions with the requirements of the time, the collapse of the military and financial organization and the actual liberation of the regional principalities from the power of the emperor. In the principalities, the formation of their own administrative apparatus, military, judicial and tax systems began, and estate representative bodies of power (landtags) arose. At Friedrich 3(1440-1493) the emperor was drawn into protracted and unsuccessful wars with Hungary, while in other areas of European politics the influence of the emperor tended to zero. At the same time, the fall of the emperor's influence in the empire contributed to the more active involvement of the imperial estates in the management processes and the formation of an all-imperial representative body - the Reichstag.
In the 1440s, Gutenberg invented typography.
During the reign of Frederick 3, the weakness of the imperial power manifested itself especially strongly; he also took little part in church affairs. In 1446, Frederick concluded the Vienna Concordat with the Holy See, which settled the relationship between the Austrian monarchs and the Pope and remained in force until 1806. Under an agreement with the Pope, Frederick received the right to distribute 100 church benefits and appoint 6 bishops. In 1452 Frederick 3 traveled to Italy and was crowned in Rome by Pope Nicholas 5.
The transformation of the empire in accordance with the requirement of the new time was carried out during the reign of Maximilian I (1486-1519) and Charles 5.
Maximilian 1 married the heiress of the Duchy of Burgundy, Mary, which brought the Habsburg possessions in Burgundy and the Netherlands. The War of the Burgundian Succession soon began. Maximilian's son, Philip, married a Spanish princess, with the result that his son Charles became the Spanish king. After the death of his first wife, Maximilian himself was betrothed in absentia to Anna of Breton, and his daughter to the French king Charles 8. However, Charles 8 went to Brittany and forced Anna to marry him, which caused condemnation throughout Europe. At this time, Maximilian had to fight the Hungarians, who even took Vienna for a while. Maximilian was able to defeat the Hungarians after the sudden death of the Hungarian king. The dynastic marriages of Maximilian's granddaughter with the son of the King of Hungary and Bohemia, Vsevolod 2, and the grandson of Maximilian with the daughter of Vsevolod 2, subsequently allowed these two states to be annexed to the Habsburg possessions. Maximilian created a new, centralized system of government in Austria and laid the foundation for the unification of the ancestral Habsburg possessions into a single Austrian state.
In 1495, Maximilian I convened a general Reichstag of the Holy Roman Empire in Worms, for the approval of which he presented a draft reform of the state administration of the empire. As a result of the discussion, the so-called "Reichsreform" (German Reichsreform) was adopted. Germany was divided into six imperial districts (four more were added in 1512). The district meeting became the governing body of the district, in which all state entities in the district had the right to participate: secular and spiritual principalities, imperial knights and free cities. Each state entity had one vote (in some districts this ensured the predominance of imperial knights, small principalities and cities, which constituted the main support of the emperor). The districts dealt with issues of military development, organization of defense, recruiting the army, as well as the distribution and collection of imperial taxes. The creation of the Imperial Supreme Court, the supreme body of judicial power in Germany, which became one of the main instruments of the emperor's influence on territorial princes and a mechanism for pursuing a single policy in all state formations of the empire, was also of great importance. A system of financing general imperial expenditures was developed, which, although it was failing due to the reluctance of the electors to contribute their share to the general budget, nevertheless gave the emperors the opportunity to pursue an active foreign policy and made it possible to repel the Turkish threat at the beginning of the 16th century.
However, Maximilian's attempts to deepen the reform of the empire and create unified executive bodies, as well as a unified imperial army, failed: the princes of the empire strongly opposed and did not allow these proposals of the emperor to be passed through the Reichstag. Moreover, the imperial estates refused to finance the Italian campaigns of Maximilian 1, which sharply weakened the position of the emperor in the international arena and in the empire itself. Maximilian's military campaigns were unsuccessful, but he created a new type of mercenary army, which was further developed in Europe, and also under him the practice of selling German soldiers to other armies began.
Realizing the institutional weakness of the imperial power in Germany, Maximilian I continued the policy of his predecessors to isolate the Austrian monarchy from the empire: as Archduke of Austria, he refused to participate in the financing of imperial institutions, did not allow imperial taxes to be levied on Austrian lands. The Austrian duchies did not participate in the work of the imperial Reichstag and other general bodies. Austria was actually placed outside the empire, its independence was expanded. Almost the entire policy of Maximilian I was carried out primarily in the interests of Austria and the Habsburg dynasty, but only secondarily in Germany.
In 1499, Maximilian suffered a crushing defeat from the Swiss Union and the Basel Treaty actually recognized the independence of Switzerland not only from the Habsburgs, but also from the empire.
Of great importance for the constitution of the Holy Roman Empire was also the rejection of the principle of the necessity of coronation of the emperor by the pope in order to legitimize his rights to the title of emperor. In 1508, Maximilian tried to make an expedition to Rome for his coronation, but was not let through by the Venetians who controlled the routes from Germany to Italy. On February 4, 1508, at a festive ceremony in Tiente, he was proclaimed emperor. Pope Julius II, who badly needed Maximilian I to create a broad coalition against Venice, allowed him to use the title of "elected emperor". In the future, the successors of Maximilian 1 (except for Charles V) no longer aspired to coronation, and the imperial law included the provision that the very election of the German king as electors makes him emperor. From that time on, the empire received its new official name - "The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation."
During the reign of Maximilian 1 in Germany, there was a flourishing of the humanist movement. The ideas of Erasmus of Rotterdam and the Erfurt circle of humanists gained European fame. The Emperor provided support for the arts, sciences and new philosophical ideas.
Reformation and Thirty Years' War
Maximilian 1 was succeeded by his grandson Karl 5(King of Germany 1519-1530, Holy Roman Emperor 1530-1556). Huge lands were under his control: Holland, Zealand, Burgundy, Spain, Lombardy, Sardinia, Sicily, Naples, Roussillon, Canary Islands, West Indies, Austria, Hungary, Bohemia, Moravia, Istria. He himself annexed Tunisia, Luxembourg, Artois, Piacenza, New Granada, New Spain, Peru, the Philippines, etc. Charles 5 was the last emperor to be crowned by the Pope in Rome. Under him, a unified criminal code was approved for the entire empire. During his reign, Charles fought successful wars with France for Italian possessions and less successful wars with Turkey. In 1555, disillusioned with the idea of an all-European empire, Charles gave the Dutch and Spanish possessions to his son Philip. In Germany and Austria from 1531 his brother Ferdinand 1 ruled. In 1556 the emperor renounced the title of emperor and went to a monastery. Ferdinand 1 became the emperor.At the end of the reign of Maximilian, 1517, in Wittenberg, Martin Luther nailed to the door of the church "95 Theses", in which he spoke out against the existing abuses of the Catholic Church. This moment is considered the beginning Reformation, which ended in 1648 with the signing of the Peace of Westphalia.
The reasons for the Reformation were the emergence of centralized states, the economic crisis after the appearance of a huge amount of American gold, the bankruptcy of banks, the dissatisfaction of various segments of the European population with the moral decay of the Catholic Church, which was accompanied by economic and political monopolization. Throughout the Middle Ages, the church ideally fit into the existing feudal system, used the hierarchy of feudal society, owned up to a third of all cultivated land and formed an ideology. The layer of the bourgeoisie that appeared in the Renaissance needed a new ideology and a new church. In addition, at this time, new humanistic ideas appeared, the intellectual environment changed. Back in the 14th century. in England, the first protests against the Catholic Church (John Wyclif) began, they were adopted in the Czech Republic, where they became the basis for the ideas of Jan Hus.
In Germany, which by the beginning of the 16th century. still remained a politically fragmented state, dissatisfaction with the church was shared by almost all estates. Martin Luther, Doctor of Divinity, opposed the sale of indulgences, proclaimed that the church and the clergy are not mediators between man and God, and refuted the authority of church decrees and papal decrees, stating that the only source of truth is Scripture. In 1520, with a huge crowd of people, Luther burned the papal bull, where his views were condemned. Charles V summoned Luther to the Imperial Diet in Worms in order to persuade him to abandon his views, but Luther replied: “On that I stand. I cannot do otherwise. God help me. " According to the Edict of Worms, Luther was outlawed in the territory of the Holy Roman Empire. From that moment on, the persecution of Luther's supporters began. Luther himself was kidnapped on the way from Worms by the people of Frederick the Wise, Elector of Saxony, who decided to protect Luther. He was placed in the Wartburg castle and only the elector's secretary knew about his whereabouts. In Wartburg, Luther began translating the Bible into German. Luther's speech at Worms provoked a spontaneous burgher movement, and then the imperial chivalry. Soon (1524) the Peasant Uprising began. The peasants took Luther's reform as a call for social change. In 1526 the uprising was suppressed. After the Peasant War at the Reichstag in Speyer, the Edict of Worms was suspended, but resumed three years later, to which the Speyer protest was filed. By its name, the supporters of the Reformation began to be called Protestants. The protest was signed by six princes (including the Elector of Saxony, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, Landgrave of Hesse) and free cities (including Augsburg, Ulm, Konstanz, Lindau, Heilbronn, etc.).
In 1530, the opposing sides made attempts to reach an agreement on the Augsburg Reichstag. Luther's friend Melanchthon presented there a document called the Augsburg Confession. After the reistag, the Protestant princes formed the defensive Schmalkalden League.
In 1546 Luther died, Emperor Charles 5, after victories over the French and Turks, decided to take up the internal affairs of Germany. As a result, the Protestant troops were defeated. At the Reichstag in Augsburg in 1548, an interim was declared - an agreement between Catholics and Protestants, according to which Protestants were forced to make significant concessions. However, Karl failed to implement the plan: Protestantism managed to put down deep roots on German soil and had long been the religion of not only princes and merchants, but also peasants and miners, as a result of which the interim met with stubborn resistance. Protestantism was accepted by many large principalities (Saxony, Brandenburg, Kurpfalz, Braunschweig-Luneburg, Hesse, Württemberg), as well as the most important imperial cities - Strasbourg, Frankfurt, Nuremberg, Hamburg, Lübeck. The ecclesiastical electors of the Rhine, Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel, Bavaria, Austria, Lorraine, Augsburg, Salzburg and some other states remained Catholic. In 1552, the Protestant Schmalkalden Union, together with the French king Henry II, began a second war against the emperor, which ended in their victory. After the second Schmalkalden War, Protestant and Catholic princes concluded the Augsburg Religious Peace with the Emperor (1555), which established guarantees of freedom of religion for the imperial estates (electors, secular and spiritual princes, free cities and imperial knights). But despite the demands of the Lutherans, the Augsburg Peace did not grant the right to choose religion to the subjects of the imperial princes and knights. It was understood that each ruler himself determines the religion in his domain. Later, this position was transformed into the principle of "whose power, that is the faith." A concession to the Catholics in relation to the confession of their subjects was the fixation in the text of the agreement of the right to emigrate for residents of the principalities who did not want to accept the religion of their ruler, and they were guaranteed the inviolability of their person and property.
The abdication of Charles 5 and the division of the Habsburg possessions in 1556, as a result of which Spain, Flanders and Italy went to his son Philip 2, and the Austrian lands and the post of emperor - to his brother Ferdinand 1, also contributed to the stabilization of the situation in the empire, since it eliminated the danger of coming to power uncompromising Catholic Philip 2. Ferdinand 1, one of the authors of the Augsburg religious world and a consistent guide to strengthening the empire through a close alliance with the princes and increasing the efficiency of the functioning of imperial institutions, is rightfully considered the de facto founder of the empire of modern times. The successor of Ferdinand 1, Emperor Maximilian 2, himself sympathized with Protestantism, and during his reign (1564-1576) he managed, relying on the imperial princes of both confessions, to maintain territorial and religious order in the empire, resolving conflicts that arise using exclusively the legal mechanisms of the empire. The main development trend in the second half of the 16th - early 17th century was the dogmatic and organizational formation and isolation of three confessions - Catholicism, Lutheranism and Calvinism, and the associated confessionalization of all aspects of the social and political life of the German states. In modern historiography, this period is called the "Confessional Era".
By the end of the 16th century. the period of relative stability is over. The Catholic Church wanted to regain the lost influence. Censorship and the Inquisition intensified, and the Jesuit Order was strengthened. The Vatican in every possible way pushed the remaining Catholic rulers to eradicate Protestantism in their domains. The Habsburgs were Catholics, but the imperial status obliged them to adhere to the principles of religious tolerance. Therefore, they gave up the main place in Counter-reformation Bavarian rulers. To organize an organized rebuff to the growing pressure, the Protestant princes of South and West Germany united in the Evangelical Union, created in 1608. In response, the Catholics united in the Catholic League (1609). Both alliances were immediately supported by foreign states. Under these conditions, the activities of the general imperial organs - the Reichstag and the Judicial Chamber - were paralyzed.
In 1617, both branches of the Habsburg dynasty concluded a secret agreement - the Onyate Treaty, which settled the existing differences. Under his terms, Spain was promised lands in Alsace and Northern Italy, which would provide a land connection between the Spanish Netherlands and the Italian possessions of the Habsburgs. In return, the Spanish king Philip III renounced his claim to the crown of the empire and agreed to support the candidacy of Ferdinand of Styria. The reigning emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and King of Bohemia, Matthew, had no direct heirs, and in 1617 he forced the Czech Diet to recognize his nephew Ferdinand of Styria, an ardent Catholic and pupil of the Jesuits, as his successor. He was extremely unpopular in the predominantly Protestant Czech Republic, which was the reason for the uprising, which grew into a long conflict - Thirty Years War.
On the side of the Habsburgs were: Austria, most of the Catholic principalities of Germany, Spain, united with Portugal, the Holy See, Poland. On the side of the anti-Habsburg coalition - France, Sweden, Denmark, the Protestant principalities of Germany, the Czech Republic, Transylvania, Venice, Savoy, the Republic of the United Provinces, were supported by England, Scotland and Russia. In general, the war turned out to be a clash between traditional conservative forces and growing nation states.
The Evangelical Union was led by the Elector of the Palatinate Frederick 5. However, the army of the Catholic League under the command of General Tilly pacified upper Austria, and the imperial troops - lower Austria. Uniting after this, they suppressed the Czech uprising. Having finished with the Czech Republic, the Habsburg troops went to the Palatinate. In 1622 Mannheim and Heidelberg fell. Frederick 5 lost his possessions and was expelled from the Holy Roman Empire, the Evangelical Union disintegrated. Bavaria gained the Upper Palatinate, and Spain captured the Palatinate.
The defeat at the first stage of the war forced the Protestants to rally. In 1624 France and Holland signed the Treaty of Compiegne, which was joined by England, Sweden, Denmark, Savoy, Venice.
In the second stage of the war, the Habsburg troops attacked the Netherlands and Denmark. An army was created under the command of the Czech nobleman Albrecht von Wallenstein, who offered to feed the army by plundering the occupied territories. The Danes were defeated, Wallenstein occupied Mecklenburg and Pomerania.
Sweden was the last major state to change the balance of power. Gustav II Adolf, King of Sweden, sought to stop the Catholic expansion, as well as to establish his control over the Baltic coast of northern Germany. It was generously subsidized by Cardinal Richelieu, first minister of Louis 13. Prior to this, Sweden was kept from war by the war with Poland in the struggle for the Baltic coast. By 1630, Sweden had ended the war and secured Russian support. The Catholic League was defeated in several battles by the Swedes. In 1632, General Tilly died first, then King Gustav Adolf. In March 1633 Sweden and the German Protestant principalities formed the Heilbronn League; the entirety of military and political power in Germany passed to an elected council headed by the Swedish chancellor Axel Oxenscherna. But the lack of a single authoritative commander began to affect the Protestant troops, and in 1634 the previously invincible Swedes suffered a serious defeat at the Battle of Nördlingen. The Emperor and the princes concluded the Treaty of Prague (1635), which ended the Swedish phase of the war. This treaty provided for the return of possessions to the framework of the Augsburg Peace, the unification of the army of the emperor and the armies of the German states into the army of the Holy Roman Empire, and the legalization of Calvinism.
However, this treaty did not suit France, so in 1635 she entered the war herself. In 1639 France managed to break through to Swabia, Brandenburg left the war in 1640, Saxony was defeated in 1642, Bavaria capitulated in 1647, Spain was forced to recognize the independence of the Netherlands. In this war, all armies have exhausted their strength. The war brought the greatest damage to Germany, where up to 5 million people died. All over Europe there were epidemics of typhus, plague and dysentery. As a result, the Peace of Westphalia was concluded in 1648. Under its terms, Switzerland gained independence, France received South Alsace and Lorraine, Sweden - the island of Rügen, Western Pomerania, the Duchy of Bremen. Only the war between Spain and France remained unsettled.
The secularization of church holdings in Northern Germany was recognized. Adherents of all religions (Catholicism, Lutheranism, Calvinism) acquired equal rights in the empire, the transition to another faith of the ruler ceased to mean a change in the faith of his subjects. Religious issues were separated from administrative and legal issues and the principle of confessional parity was introduced in the Reichstag and the Imperial Court to resolve them: each denomination was given an equal number of votes, which restored the effectiveness of the Reichstag and the court. The Peace of Westphalia also redistributed powers between institutions of power within the empire: current issues, including legislation, the judicial system, taxation, ratification of peace treaties, were transferred to the competence of the Reichstag, which became a permanent body. This significantly changed the balance of power between the emperor and the estates in favor of the latter and established the status quo, contributed to the national cohesion of the German people. The rights of German appanage princes were expanded. Now they received the right to vote in matters of war and peace, the amount of taxes and laws concerning the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation. They were allowed to enter into alliances with foreign powers, provided that they did not jeopardize the interests of the emperor and the empire. Thus, the German appanage principalities became subjects of international law. The consolidation of the power of the appanage princes laid the foundation for the federal structure of present-day Germany.
Germany after the Peace of Westphalia
After the conclusion of the Peace of Westphalia, the role of the leading power passed to France, so the rest of the countries began to converge to fight it. The War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714) was the emperor's revenge Leopold 1 of Habsburg(1658-1705) during the Thirty Years War: French hegemony in Western Europe collapsed, the Southern Netherlands, Naples and Milan came under the rule of the Austrian Habsburgs. In the northern direction, a partnership of the Habsburgs, Poland, Hanover and Brandenburg was formed in the confrontation with Sweden, as a result of which, after the Dutch War (1672-1678) and the Second Northern War (1700-1721), Swedish dominance in the Baltic region came to an end, and most of its possessions in the territories of the empire (Western Pomerania, Bremen and Verden) were divided between Brandenburg and Hanover. The Habsburgs achieved their main success in the southeastern direction: in a series of military campaigns against the Ottoman Empire in the last quarter of the 17th century. Hungary, Transylvania and northern Serbia were liberated, which became part of the Habsburg monarchy, which sharply raised the political prestige and economic base of the emperors. Wars with France and Turkey in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. caused a revival of imperial patriotism and again turned the imperial throne into a symbol of the national community of the German people.The establishment in the Palatinate in 1685 of the Catholic line of the Wittelsbach dynasty allowed Emperor Leopold I to restore his position in the west of the country and rally the Rhine states around the imperial throne. The main allies of the imperial throne in this region were the Electors of the Palatinate, Hesse-Darmstadt, Mainz and the imperial knights of Westphalia, Middle Rhine and Swabia. In the southern sector of Germany in the late 17th - early 18th century. Bavaria completely prevailed, the elector of which competed in influence with the emperor himself. In the northern part of the empire, under the conditions of the strengthening of Brandenburg, Saxony, whose ruler converted to Catholicism in 1697, passed to a closer alliance with the Habsburgs, as well as Hanover, who achieved the ninth title of Elector for himself in 1692. Brandenburg was also included in the processes of imperial integration: orientation on the emperor became the basis of the policy of the "Great Elector", and his son in 1700 received the consent of Leopold I to accept the title of King of Prussia.
The Reichstag since 1662 has become a permanent body, meeting in Regensburg. His work was notable for sufficient efficiency and contributed to the preservation of the unity of the empire. Emperor Leopold I took an active part in the work of the Reichstag, who consistently pursued a policy of restoring the role of the imperial throne and further integration of the estates. The representative function of the imperial court in Vienna began to play an important role, which turned into a center of attraction for nobles from all over Germany, and the city itself became the main center of the imperial baroque. The strengthening of the position of the Habsburgs in the hereditary lands, the successful policy of dynastic marriages and the distribution of titles and positions also significantly contributed to the rise of the emperor's influence. At the same time, the processes of consolidation at the imperial level were superimposed on regional integration: in the largest German principalities, their own ramified state apparatus, a magnificent princely court, rallying the local nobility, and armed forces were formed, allowing the electors to pursue a policy more independent of the emperor. During the wars with France and Turkey, the role of the imperial districts significantly increased, which from 1681 assumed the function of recruiting the army, collecting imperial taxes and maintaining permanent military contingents in the empire. Later, associations of imperial districts were formed, which made it possible to organize a more effective defense of the imperial borders.
Under the successors of Leopold 1, a striving for absolutism arose. The emperors again began to lay claims to Italian territories, to interfere in the internal affairs of the German principalities, which provoked their resistance. At the same time, the power of the large principalities grew (Bavaria, Prussia, Saxony, Hanover), which sought to pursue their own independent policy in Europe, taking little into account the interests of the empire and the emperor. By the middle of the 18th century. the unity of the empire was significantly undermined, the large German principalities practically got out of the control of the emperor, the tendencies of disintegration clearly prevailed over the weak attempts of the emperor to maintain a balance of power in Germany.
Kingdom of Prussia
According to the Peace of Westphalia, the Brandenburg Elector acquired a number of territories, and in 1618 the Duchy of Prussia ceded to it. In 1701, the Elector of Brandenburg, Frederick III, with the consent of Emperor Leopold I, was crowned King of Prussia, Frederick I.After the death of Frederick 1 in 1713, Frederick Wilhelm 1, nicknamed the Soldier King, ascended the Prussian throne. During his reign, the Prussian army became the strongest army in Europe. From 1740 to 1786 the king of Prussia was Frederick II the Great. During this period, Prussia took part in numerous wars. The economic upsurge, the creation of an effective bureaucratic management system under Frederick I and Frederick Wilhelm I, and the formation of a strong army pushed Prussia to the fore among the German states, which led to an aggravation of rivalry with Austria. Prussia actually ceased to take part in general imperial issues: norms protecting the interests of the estates did not operate on its territory, decisions of the imperial court were not executed, the army did not take part in the emperor's military campaigns, and the work of the Upper Saxon imperial district was paralyzed. As a result of the growing discrepancy between the actual military and political power of Prussia and other large German principalities and the outdated imperial hierarchy by the middle of the 18th century. an acute systemic crisis of the Holy Roman Empire has matured. After the death of Emperor Charles 6 in 1740 and the suppression of the direct male line of the House of Habsburgs, the Austro-Prussian confrontation turned into open war. The Silesian Wars (1740-1745) between the Prussian King Frederick II and the Austrian Archduchess Maria Theresa ended with the defeat of Austria and the loss of Silesia. Attempts by the Habsburgs to restore the efficiency of the imperial structures and put them at the service of the interests of Austria met with decisive resistance from the principalities led by Prussia, which assumed the role of the defender of German freedoms from the "absolutist" claims of the Habsburgs.
In 1756-1763. Prussia took part in the Seven Years' War, in which it won, but suffered heavy losses. In this war, Prussia had to fight in alliance with England against Austria, France and Russia.
Frederick II died in 1786 in Potsdam, leaving no direct heir. He was succeeded by his nephew Friedrich Wilhelm 2. Under him, the system of government created by Frederick began to collapse, and the decline of Prussia began. Under Frederick Wilhelm II, during the Great French Revolution, Prussia, together with Austria, formed the core of the 1st anti-French coalition, however, after a series of defeats, it was forced to sign a separate Peace of Basel with France in 1795. In 1797, after the death of the Prussian king Frederick Wilhelm 2 on the throne was succeeded by his son, Friedrich Wilhelm 3. Friedrich Wilhelm turned out to be a weak and indecisive ruler. In the Napoleonic wars, for a long time he could not decide on whose side he was. As a result, according to the Peace of Tilsit in 1807, Prussia lost about half of its territories.
To bring the country out of the crisis in which it found itself after the defeat, reforms were undertaken, which subsequently gave rich fruits. A small group of officials in the person of the head of the Prussian government, Baron Heinrich Friedrich Karl Stein and Prince Karl August von Hardenberg, generals Gerhard von Scharnhorst and August Wilhelm Nidhardt Griesenau, an official and scientist Wilhelm von Humboldt, developed the largest package of reforms in the so-called German "history" reforms ", begun in 1807. The education system was reformed, general rules for admission to the university were created, and an exam for teachers was introduced. The reformers abolished the monopoly of workshops and allowed citizens to engage in any economic activity. In 1811 serfdom was abolished, the peasants received the right to have private property and choose a profession, the right to redeem land. Ministries were created, the post of Chancellor - Chairman of the Council of State (the body giving advice to the king) was introduced. In addition, the army, municipal self-government were reformed, and an income tax was introduced to replace the poll tax. As a result of reforms over the next several decades, the Prussian economy revived, a free labor market emerged. Industry began to develop, and this laid the foundation for further industrialization of the economy. Many components of the modern German economy, social structure and education were laid down two centuries ago.
Napoleonic Wars and the End of the Empire
In 1785, under the leadership of the Prussian King Frederick II the Great, the Union of German Princes was created as an alternative to the imperial institutions controlled by the Habsburgs. Austro-Prussian rivalry deprived the other German states of the opportunity to exert at least some influence on internal imperial affairs and made it impossible to carry out reforms. This led to "empire fatigue" of secular and ecclesiastical principalities, knights and free cities, which historically were the main pillar of the construction of the Holy Roman Empire. The stability of the empire was finally lost.The outbreak of the Great French Revolution initially led to the consolidation of the empire. In 1790, the Reichenbach Alliance was concluded between the emperor and Prussia, which temporarily ended the Austro-Prussian confrontation, and in 1792 the Pilnitz Convention was signed, according to which both states pledged to provide military assistance to the French king. However, the goals of the new Austrian emperor Franz II were not the strengthening of the empire, but the implementation of the foreign policy plans of the Habsburgs, the expansion of the Austrian monarchy, including at the expense of the German principalities, and the expulsion of the French from Germany. The Prussian king had similar aspirations. On March 23, 1793, the Reichstag declared Imperial War on France.
By this time, the left bank of the Rhine and the Austrian Netherlands were occupied by the French, and Frankfurt was burned. The imperial army was extremely weak. The subjects of the empire sought to limit the participation of their military contingents in hostilities outside their own lands as much as possible, refused to pay military contributions and tried to conclude a separate peace with France as soon as possible. Already in 1794, the imperial coalition began to disintegrate. In 1795, having concluded the Basel Peace, Prussia withdrew from the war, followed by the North German states, and in 1796 Baden and Württemberg. The Austrian army, which continued to conduct military operations, suffered defeats on all fronts. Finally, in 1797, the French army of Napoleon Bonaparte invaded from Italy into the territory of the hereditary possessions of Austria. In the spring of 1797, the Campoformi Peace Treaty was concluded. The emperor handed over Belgium and Lombardy to France and agreed to the cession of the left bank of the Rhine, and in return received the continental possessions of Venice and the right to increase the Austrian possessions in the empire at the expense of the ecclesiastical principalities of southeastern Germany.
The war of the Second Coalition that broke out in 1799 (1799-1801), in which Austria tried to achieve revenge, ended in complete defeat of the Allies. The Luneville Peace of 1801 recognized the annexation of the left bank of the Rhine by France, including the lands of three spiritual electors - Cologne, Mainz and Trier. The decision on the issue of territorial compensation to the injured German princes was submitted to the imperial deputation. After lengthy negotiations under pressure from France and Russia and with actual disregard for the position of the emperor, the final project for the reorganization of the empire was adopted, which was approved in 1803.
Church holdings in Germany were secularized and for the most part became part of large secular states. Almost all (with the exception of six) imperial cities also ceased to exist as subjects of imperial law. In total, not counting the lands annexed by France, more than 100 state formations within the empire were abolished, and the population of the secularized lands reached three million people. Moreover, the largest increments in terms of territory and population were obtained by the French satellites Baden, Württemberg and Bavaria, as well as Prussia, under whose rule most of the church's possessions in Northern Germany came to be. After the completion of the territorial demarcation by 1804, about 130 states remained in the Holy Roman Empire, not counting the possessions of the imperial knights.
Territorial changes brought about radical changes in the composition of the Reichstag and the College of Electors. The titles of the three ecclesiastical electors were abolished, and instead, the electors' rights were granted to the rulers of Baden, Württemberg, Hesse-Kassel and the Arch Chancellor of the Empire Karl-Theodor von Dahlberg. As a result, in the College of Electors, as well as in the House of Princes of the Imperial Reichstag, the majority went to the Protestants and a strong pro-French party was formed. The liquidation of free cities and ecclesiastical principalities - traditionally the main pillar of the empire - led to the loss of stability by the empire and the complete fall of the influence of the imperial throne. The Holy Roman Empire finally turned into a conglomerate of virtually independent states and lost the prospects for its survival as a single political entity.
In 1805, the war of the Third Coalition began. The army of Franz II was utterly defeated in the battle of Austerlitz, and Vienna was captured by the French. On the side of Napoleon in this war, the troops of Baden, Bavaria and Württemberg fought, which did not cause any negative reaction in the empire. Franz II was forced to conclude the Treaty of Presburg with France, according to which the emperor not only renounced possessions in Italy, Tyrol, Vorarlberg and Western Austria in favor of Napoleon and his satellites, but also recognized the titles of kings for the rulers of Bavaria and Württemberg, which legally deduced these states from under any power of the emperor and gave them almost complete sovereignty. Austria was finally pushed aside to the periphery of Germany, and the empire turned into a fiction.
In 1806 Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, Nassau (both lines), Berg, the Erz Chancellor Dahlberg and eight other German principalities signed an agreement in Paris on the formation of the Rhine Union under the auspices of Napoleon. On August 1, these states announced their secession from the Holy Roman Empire. Franz II announced his resignation of the title and powers of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, explaining this by the impossibility of fulfilling the duties of the emperor after the establishment of the Rhine Union. The Holy Roman Empire ceased to exist.
Unification of German lands
Defeat of Napoleon in 1813-1814 opened up opportunities for the restoration of the Holy Roman Empire. However, the restoration of the Old Empire was no longer possible. In accordance with the Austro-Prussian treaties of 1807 and 1813, agreements on the accession of former members of the Rhine Union to the anti-French coalition in 1814, and, finally, according to the terms of the Paris Peace Treaty of 1814, Germany was to become a confederate entity. The attempt to revive the empire threatened with a military conflict between Austria and Prussia and other large German states. At the Congress of Vienna in 1814-1815, Franz II renounced the imperial crown and obstructed the project of restoring the empire under the rule of an emperor elected from the German princes. Instead, the German Confederation was established - a confederation of 38 German states, including the hereditary possessions of the Austrian Empire and the Prussian Kingdom, within borders roughly corresponding to the former Holy Roman Empire. The Emperor of Austria remained the chairman of the German Confederation until 1866. The German Confederation was dissolved after the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, it was replaced by the North German Confederation, and from 1871 - the German Empire under the rule of Prussia.The German Union included the Austrian Empire, the kingdoms of Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, Hanover, Württemberg, duchies, principalities and 4 city-republics (Frankfurt, Hamburg, Bremen and Lubeck). The indisputable military and economic superiority of Austria and Prussia gave them a clear political priority over other members of the union, although formally it proclaimed the equality of all participants. At the same time, a number of lands of the Austrian Empire (Hungary, Slovenia, Dalmatia, Istria, etc.) and the Prussian Kingdom (East and West Prussia, Poznan) were completely excluded from the allied jurisdiction. The governing body of the German Confederation was the Allied Sejm. It consisted of delegates from 34 German states (including Austria) and 4 free cities and sat in Frankfurt am Main. The chairmanship in the union belonged to Austria, as the largest state of the German Union in terms of territory and population. Each of the states united in the union had sovereignty and its own system of government. In some, autocracy was preserved, in others there were similarities of parliaments (Landtags), and only seven were constitutions that limited the power of the monarch adopted (Bavaria, Baden, Württemberg, Hesse-Darmstadt, Nassau, Braunschweig and Saxe-Weimar).
In March 1848, a wave of demonstrations swept across Germany, as well as in France and Austria, including with street battles in Berlin, demanding political freedoms and a united Germany. On May 18, 1848, in Frankfurt am Main, on the initiative of the liberal intelligentsia, the All-German National Assembly, which went down in history as the Frankfurt Parliament, met. The Frankfurt parliament adopted an imperial constitution, according to which the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm 4 was to become the constitutional monarch of the German Empire. The Constitution was recognized by 29 German states, but not by the largest members of the German Confederation (Prussia, Austria, Bavaria, Hanover, Saxony). Friedrich Wilhelm 4 refused to accept the imperial crown from the hands of the revolutionary Frankfurt parliament, Austria and Prussia withdrew delegates from there. Having lost the political support of the upper classes against the background of the fading of the revolution, the parliament disintegrated. Some of the delegates voluntarily left it, the other extreme left part was dispersed by the Württemberg troops in Stuttgart in June 1849. The unrest that broke out in some states was suppressed by the Prussian troops.
The desire of Austria and Prussia to unite all German lands under their auspices led to the outbreak of the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, the results of which were the annexation by Prussia of the territories of Hanover, Kurgessen, Nassau, Schleswig-Holstein, Frankfurt am Main, achieved as a result of these annexations the territorial connection of the Rhine provinces of Prussia with the main territory of the kingdom and the formation of the North German Confederation, which united 21 German states north of the Main.
In 1870-1871. Prussia waged a war against France, as a result of which the South German lands - Baden, Württemberg and Bavaria - were annexed to the North German Alliance. On January 18, 1871, even before the end of the war, at Versailles, Prussian Minister-President Bismarck and Prussian King Wilhelm I announced the creation of the German Empire. France, in addition to having lost a number of lands, paid a large indemnity as a result of the war.
German empire
Bismarck's new empire became one of the most powerful states in continental Europe. Prussian domination in the new empire was almost as absolute as it was in the North German Confederation. Prussia had three-fifths of the empire's area, and two-thirds of its population. The imperial crown became hereditary to the Hohenzollern dynasty. From the mid-1880s, Germany became involved in the process of colonization and acquired quite large colonies in a short time.According to the constitution, the presidency belonged to the Prussian king, who enjoyed the title of German emperor. The emperor had the right to participate in legislative matters only as a Prussian king. The emperor had the right to promulgate laws; but since, according to the constitution, he did not even use a delaying veto, this right is a simple duty of the executive branch. The emperor was given, however, a fairly broad right to issue his own orders. The emperor was given the right in cases threatening public safety, both in war and in peacetime, to declare any part of the empire (with the exception of Bavaria) in a state of siege. The Emperor had the power to appoint and dismiss all major imperial officials, starting with the Chancellor. The Reich Chancellor was the main body of executive power and at the same time the only person responsible to the Union Council and the Reichstag for all actions of this power. Apart from the Reich Chancellor himself, there were no ministers in the German Empire. Instead, there were secretaries of state subordinate to the Reich Chancellor, who presided over the imperial departments (railways, postal, legal, treasury, Alsace-Lorraine administration, foreign and domestic political departments, maritime and, finally, colonial).
William 1 died in 1888 and was succeeded by the Crown Prince, Frederick 3. The new emperor, was an Anglophile and planned to implement sweeping liberal reforms. But he died 99 days after his ascension to the throne. He was succeeded by 29-year-old Wilhelm II.
The new Kaiser quickly spoiled relations with the British and Russian royal families (although he was closely related to them), became their rival and finally an enemy. Wilhelm II removed Bismarck from office in 1890 and launched a campaign of militarization and adventurism in foreign policy that eventually led Germany to isolation and World War I.
In 1914, the First World War began. Germany was in coalition with Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, Bulgaria. The beginning of the war was successful for Germany: Russian troops were defeated in East Prussia, the German army occupied Belgium and Luxembourg, and invaded North-East France. Paris was saved, but the threat remained. Germany's allies fought worse: the Austrians were utterly defeated in Galicia, the Turks suffered many defeats on the Caucasian front. Italy betrayed its allies and declared war on Austria-Hungary. Only with the help of the German army did the Austrians and Turks regain some positions, the Italians were defeated at Caporetto. Germany won many victories in the course of active hostilities, but by 1915 a trench warfare began on all fronts, which was a mutual siege of attrition. Despite its industrial potential, Germany could not defeat the enemy in trench warfare. The German colonies were occupied. The Entente had an advantage in resources, and on November 11, 1918, two days after the start of the revolution, Germany surrendered. After the war, the country lay in ruins, absolutely exhausted. As a result, Germany was gripped by an economic crisis. In four months, the price of a paper stamp fell 382,000 times.
The post-war Treaty of Versailles forced Germany to bear full responsibility for the war. The treaty was signed at Versailles, in the hall of mirrors, where the German empire was created. Under this peace treaty, Prussia lost a number of territories that had previously been part of it (Upper Silesia, Poznan, part of the provinces of East and West Prussia, Saarland, North Schleswig and some others).
Even before the end of the war in Germany, the November Revolution of 1918 broke out, forcing William II to abdicate both the Prussian throne and the title of German emperor associated with it. Germany became a republic, the Kingdom of Prussia was renamed the Free State of Prussia.
Weimar Republic
The Weimar Republic (1919-1934) in Germany existed for most of the peace period between the two world wars. After the March Revolution of 1848, it was the second (and first successful) attempt to establish liberal democracy in Germany. It ended with the coming to power of the NSDAP, which created a totalitarian dictatorship. The Weimar state, even during its existence, was given the definition of "democracy without democrats", which was only partially correct, but indicated a significant problem in its structure: in the Weimar Republic there was no strong constitutional consensus that could bind the entire spectrum of political forces - from the right to left. The wave of democratization did not touch the institutions of administration, justice and, above all, the military apparatus inherited from the Kaiser's empire. In the end, a parliamentary majority in the Reichstag was won by parties that rejected the values of parliamentary democracy: the National Socialist German Workers' Party and the German National People's Party on the one hand, and the German Communist Party on the other. The parties of the Weimar Coalition (SPD, Center Party and German Democratic Party), which received this name, having formed a government coalition in the Weimar Constituent Assembly, lost their absolute majority already in the first elections to the Reichstag in 1920 and were never returned. Over 14 years, 20 government offices have been replaced. Eleven cabinets, created by the minority, worked with the permission of the parliamentary majority, and at the end of the Weimar Republic, already with the removed Reichstag, only at the discretion of the Reich President and on the basis of emergency decrees issued instead of laws in accordance with Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution. The number of parties in the Reichstag of the Weimar Republic often reached 17, and only in rare cases dropped to 11.Since its inception, the young republic has been forced to fight the attacks of the radicalists from both the right and the left. The left-wing forces accused the Social Democrats of collaborating with the old elite and betraying the ideals of the labor movement. The right-wingers blamed the supporters of the republic - the "November criminals" - for the defeat in the First World War, reproaching them that with his revolution he stuck a knife in the back of the "invincible on the battlefield" of the German army.
The Kapp coup in March 1920 was the first serious test of strength for the republic. Freikor (paramilitary patriotic formations), which, under the terms of the Versailles Treaty, Germany was obliged to dissolve, under the leadership of General Baron Walter von Lütwitz, seized the government quarter in Berlin and appointed the former head of the regional government in Prussia Wolfgang Kapp as Reich Chancellor. The legitimate government first withdrew to Dresden and then to Stuttgart and from there called for a general strike against the conspirators. The putschists were soon defeated, the decisive role in this was played by the refusal of the ministerial officials to obey Kapp's orders. The army remained neutral. The government could no longer hope for the support of the Reichswehr. Almost simultaneously with the Kapp putsch, the Ruhr region was shaken by an attempted workers' uprising. Its suppression by the forces of the Reichswehr and Freikor ended in bloodshed. The uprisings in the central part of Germany, in Thuringia and Hamburg (March Uprising of 1921) also ended.
Despite all the tension of the situation and the abundance of conflicts that the young republic had to cope with, democracy began to bear its first fruits. Monetary reform and the flow of loans from the United States under the Dawes plan launched a new phase characterized by relative stabilization in the economy and politics, the so-called "golden twenties." Stabilization was also supported by the fact that, despite numerous changes of government, Gustave Stresemann remained at the helm of foreign policy, who, together with his French counterpart Aristide Briand, took the first steps towards rapprochement between the two countries. Stresemann consistently sought to revise the Versailles Treaty and recognize Germany as an equal member of the international community. Germany's accession to the League of Nations and the Locarno Agreements marked the first successes in this direction. With the Berlin Treaty with the USSR, which confirmed friendly relations and mutual obligations of neutrality, the Reich Foreign Minister tried to allay fears about the unilateral conclusion of an alliance with the West, which took place not only in the USSR, but also in Germany itself. The next milestones on the road to reconciliation with former opponents were the signing of the Briand-Kellogg pact, which proclaimed the renunciation of war as a political instrument, as well as the consent to the Jung plan given by Germany despite the serious resistance of the right, expressed in the creation of a popular initiative. Jung's plan finally settled the issue of reparations and became a prerequisite for the early withdrawal of the allied occupation forces from the Rhineland.
On the whole, these years have brought only relative, but not absolute, stabilization. And in these years, only two governments were supported by a parliamentary majority, and the coalitions of the majority were constantly under the threat of collapse. No government has lasted its entire term of office. The parties served not so much the interests of the people as of certain narrow circles, or were aimed at their own political success. At this time, the first signs of an economic crisis were outlined due to the lack of balance in foreign trade, which was leveled off by short-term loans from abroad. With the withdrawal of credit funds, the economy began to collapse.
Crucial in the radicalization of politics was the global economic crisis, which affected Germany much more severely than other European countries. The massive unemployment that began exacerbated the already difficult social and economic situation. All this was accompanied by a protracted government crisis. In the elections and government crises that followed each other, the radical parties, and above all the NSDAP, gained more and more votes.
Faith in democracy and a republic was rapidly falling. The republic was already charged with a worsening economic situation, and the imperial government during 1930 also introduced several new taxes to cover state needs. The voices of those yearning for a "strong hand" that could restore the German Empire to its former greatness grew louder. First of all, the National Socialists responded to the requests of this part of society, who, in their propaganda focused on the personality of Hitler, purposefully created such a "strong" image for him. But not only the right, but also the left forces grew stronger. The Republican Social Democrats, unlike the liberal ones, passed the elections with practically no losses, and the Communist Party of Germany even improved its results and turned into a serious force both in parliament and on the streets, where the struggle of the militant organizations of the NSDAP (SA) and the KKE ( Rot Front)), which looked more and more like a civil war. The fighting organization of the republican forces, the Reichsbanner, also took part in the street fighting. In the end, all these chaotic armed clashes, often initiated by the National Socialists themselves, played into the hands of Hitler, who was increasingly seen as a "last resort" to restore order.
Third Reich and World War II
The worldwide economic crisis that began in 1929, the rise in unemployment and the burden of reparations still pressing on the Weimar Republic put the Weimar Republic in dire straits. In March 1930, having failed to agree with parliament on a single financial policy, President Paul Hindenburg appoints a new Reich Chancellor, who no longer relies on the support of the parliamentary majority and depends only on the president himself.The new chancellor, Heinrich Brüning, is putting Germany on austerity. The number of dissatisfied people is growing. In the elections to the Reichstag in September 1930, the National Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (NSDAP), led by Hitler, manages to increase the number of its mandates from 12 to 107, and the Communists from 54 to 77. Thus, right-wing and left-wing extremists together conquer almost a third seats in parliament. In these conditions, any constructive policy becomes practically impossible. In the 1932 elections, the National Socialists receive 37 percent of the vote and become the strongest faction in the Reichstag.
The NSDAP receives support from influential representatives of the business community. Relying on big business and his own electoral success, in August 1932 Hitler appealed to Hindenburg with a demand to appoint him Reich Chancellor. Hindenburg initially refuses, but already on January 30, 1933 yields to pressure. However, in the first Nazi cabinet of the NSDAP, only three out of eleven ministerial posts belonged. Hindenburg and his advisers hoped to use the brown movement for their own purposes. However, these hopes turned out to be illusory. Hitler quickly seeks to consolidate his power. Just a few weeks after his appointment as Reich Chancellor, Germany was effectively declared a permanent state of emergency. After becoming chancellor, Hitler first asks Hindenburg to dissolve the Reichstag and call new elections. In the meantime, the Nazi Minister of the Interior gains the right, at his own discretion, to ban newspapers, magazines and meetings that he does not like. On February 27, 1933, the arson of the Reichstag was organized. Who is behind the crime is unclear to this day. In any case, Nazi propaganda derives considerable benefit from the incident, attributing the arson to the communists. The next day, the so-called Decree on the Protection of the People and the State is issued, abolishing the freedoms of the press, assembly and opinion. The NSDAP is almost alone in the election campaign. All other parties are half or completely driven underground. The results of the elections in March 1933 are all the more surprising: the Nazis fail to gain an absolute majority of votes. Hitler is forced to create a coalition government.
Having failed to achieve his goal with the help of elections, Hitler takes a different path. On his instructions, a law on emergency powers is being developed and implemented. It allows the National Socialists to rule bypassing parliament. The process of so-called "familiarization with the dominant ideology" of all socio-political forces in the country begins. In practice, this is expressed in the fact that the NSDAP places its people in key positions in the state and society and establishes control over all aspects of public life. NSDAP becomes a state party. All other parties are either banned or cease to exist themselves. The Reichswehr, the state apparatus and the judiciary offer practically no resistance to the course of becoming familiar with the dominant ideology. Comes under the control of the National Socialists and the police. Almost all power structures in the country obey Hitler. Opponents of the regime are monitored by the secret state police of the Gestapo. Already in February 1933, the first concentration camps for political prisoners appeared. Paul Hindenburg died on August 2, 1934. The Nazi government decides that henceforth the post of president is merged with the post of Reich Chancellor. All the former powers of the president are transferred to the Reich Chancellor - the Fuhrer. Hitler's course of a sharp increase in armaments first brings him the sympathy of the army elite, but then, when it becomes clear that the Nazis are preparing for war, the generals begin to express dissatisfaction. In response, in 1938, Hitler made radical replacements of the military leadership.
The Weimar Constitution established a federal structure in Germany, the country's territory was divided into regions (lands), which had their own constitutions and authorities. Already on April 7, 1933, the Second Law "On the Unification of Lands with the Reich" was adopted, according to which the institution of imperial governors (Reichsstatgalter) was introduced in the German lands. The task of the governors was to govern the local authorities, for which they were given extraordinary powers (including the right to dissolve the Landtag, dissolve and form a land government headed by a minister-president). The law "On the new structure of the Reich" of January 30, 1934, the sovereignty of the lands was abolished, the Landtags in all lands were dissolved. Germany became a unitary state. In January 1935, the imperial governors became permanent representatives of the government in the lands.
On September 1, 1939, German troops invaded Poland. Great Britain and France declared war on Germany. During 1939-1941, Germany defeated Poland, Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Greece, Yugoslavia. In June 1941, Germany invaded the territory of the Soviet Union and occupied part of its territory. Labor shortages were growing in Germany. In all the occupied territories, civilian workers were recruited. In the Slavic territories, a massive export of the able-bodied population was forcibly carried out. In France, the forced recruitment of workers was also carried out, whose position in Germany was intermediate between the position of civilians and prisoners.
An intimidation regime was established in the occupied territories. Immediately began the mass extermination of Jews, and in some areas (mainly on the territory of the USSR) - the extermination of the local non-Jewish population as a preventive measure for the partisan movement. The number of concentration camps, death camps and prisoner of war camps grew in Germany and some occupied territories. In the latter, the position of Soviet, Polish, Yugoslav and French prisoners of war differed little from the position of prisoners in concentration camps. The position of the British and Americans was generally better. The methods of terror used by the German administration in the occupied territories excluded the possibility of cooperation with the local population, and caused the growth of the partisan movement in Poland, Belarus and Serbia. Gradually, partisan warfare also developed in other occupied territories of the USSR and Slavic countries, as well as in Greece and France. In Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, the occupation regime was softer, so there were fewer anti-Nazi protests. Separate underground organizations also operated in Germany and Austria.
On July 20, 1944, a group of Wehrmacht generals made an unsuccessful attempt at an anti-Nazi coup with an attempt on Hitler's life. This conspiracy was later called the "Conspiracy of the Generals". Many officers were executed, even those who were only indirectly related to the conspiracy.
In 1944, the Germans also began to feel the lack of raw materials. Aviation of the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition bombed cities. Hamburg and Dresden were almost completely destroyed by British and US aviation. Due to the large losses of personnel, a Volkssturm was created in October 1944, in which local residents were mobilized, including the elderly and young men. Were prepared detachments "Werewolf" for future guerrilla and sabotage activities.
On May 7, 1945, an act of unconditional surrender of Germany was signed in Reims, duplicated the next day by the Soviet side in Berlin (Karlshorst). May 9 was declared the day of the cessation of hostilities. Then, on May 23 in Flensburg, the government of the Third Reich was arrested.
Germany after World War II
After the termination of the state existence of Germany on May 23, 1945, the territory of former Austria (divided into 4 zones of occupation), Alsace and Lorraine (returned to France), the Sudetenland (returned to Czechoslovakia), Eupen and Malmedy (returned into Belgium), the statehood of Luxembourg was restored, the territories of Poland annexed in 1939 (Posen, Wartaland, part of Pomerania) were separated. The Memel (Klaipeda) region was returned to the Lithuanian SSR. East Prussia is divided between the USSR and Poland. The rest is divided into 4 zones of occupation - Soviet, American, British and French. The USSR transferred part of its occupation zone east of the Oder and Neisse rivers to Poland.In 1949, from the American, British and French zones was formed Federal Republic of Germany... Bonn became the capital of the Federal Republic of Germany. The first Federal Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (1949-1963) was Konrad Adenauer, who put forward the concept of a social market economy. Adenauer was one of the founders (1946) and since 1950 the chairman of the Christian Democratic Union party.
Thanks to US assistance under the Marshall Plan, as well as the implementation of the country's economic development plans developed under the leadership of Ludwig Erhard, the 1950s saw rapid economic growth (a German economic miracle) that lasted until 1965. To meet the need for cheap labor, Germany supported the influx of guest workers, mainly from Turkey.
In 1955, Germany joined NATO. In 1969, the Social Democrats came to power. They recognized the inviolability of the post-war borders, weakened emergency legislation, and carried out a number of social reforms. During the reign of Federal Chancellors Willy Brandt and Helmut Schmidt, there was a significant improvement in relations between the FRG and the USSR, which was further developed in the policy of detente. The Moscow treaty between the USSR and the FRG in 1970 fixed the inviolability of borders, renounced territorial claims (East Prussia) and declared the possibility of uniting the FRG and the GDR. Subsequently, the Social Democrats and Christian Democrats alternated in power.
In the Soviet zone in 1949 was formed German Democratic Republic(GDR). In 1952, a course was proclaimed to build socialism in the GDR. On June 17, 1953, a "popular uprising" took place. As a result, instead of levying reparations, the USSR began to provide economic assistance to the GDR. In the context of the aggravation of the foreign policy situation around the German question and the mass exodus of qualified personnel from the GDR to West Berlin, on August 13, 1961, the construction of a system of barrage structures between the GDR and West Berlin - the "Berlin Wall" began. In the early 1970s. a gradual normalization of relations between the two German states began. In June 1973, the Treaty on the Basics of Relations between the GDR and the FRG entered into force. In September 1973, the GDR became a full member of the UN and other international organizations. On November 8, 1973, the GDR officially recognized the FRG and established diplomatic relations with it. In the second half of the 1980s, economic difficulties began to grow in the country, a socio-political crisis arose in the fall of 1989, as a result of which the SED leadership resigned (October 24 - Erich Honecker, November 7 - Willy Stof). The new Politburo of the Central Committee of the SED on November 9 decided to allow GDR citizens to travel abroad privately without good reason, which resulted in the spontaneous fall of the Berlin Wall. After the victory of the CDU in the elections on March 18, 1990, the new government of Lotard de Mézières began intensive negotiations with the government of the Federal Republic of Germany on issues of German unification. In May and August 1990, two Treaties were signed containing the conditions for the accession of the GDR to the FRG. On September 12, 1990 in Moscow, the Agreement on the Final Settlement with respect to Germany was signed, which contained decisions on the entire range of issues of German unification. In accordance with the decision of the People's Chamber of the GDR, it joined the FRG on October 3, 1990.
Ludwig 2. Biography
Material taken from the site www.opera-news.ru "I want to remain an eternal mystery for myself and for others," - Ludwig once told his governess. The poet Paul Verlaine called Ludwig II the only true king of this century. The prince did not have a carefree childhood. He and his brother Otto, 2 years younger than him, had to get used to royal duties from an early age. They were not allowed to interact with other children, and contact with their parents was kept to a minimum, which was believed to foster independence. The princes spent most of their childhood away from the capital in Hohenschwangau. Here the prince grew up influenced by the romantic landscape, architecture, German fairy tales and sagas. The prince was especially interested in theater, opera librettos and literature.When Ludwig was 16 years old, an event took place in his life that largely determined his fate - on February 2, 1861, he attended the performance of Wagner's opera Lohengrin. Wagner's music shocked him. He saw in her the embodiment of his romantic dreams. From that time on, he became a passionate admirer of Wagner and a collector of his works.
When he became king, the first thing he did was to find and bring Wagner to him in Munich. Their meeting took place on May 4, 1864 and had far-reaching consequences for both. In the evening of the same day, Wagner wrote to his friend, Dr. Wille: “Unfortunately, he (the king) is so brilliant, so noble, so emotional and amazing that I am afraid that his life would disappear, like a trickle in the sand, in this cruel I am so lucky that I am simply crushed; if only he lived ... "Ludwig made him his protégé, built him a luxurious house and took over all material concerns. From now on, Wagner could fully engage in creativity, without being distracted by getting his daily bread. But Wagner, alas, turned out to be a prophet ...
The king created a music school in Munich and decided to build a new opera house, equipped in accordance with the requirements of Wagner's operas. He saw Munich as the musical capital of Germany, something like German Vienna. But then the king's plans ran into confrontation between the government, his own relatives and the inhabitants of Munich.
For a year and a half, Ludwig bravely confronted the indignation of the parliament and the masses. In the end, the king was forced to give in and ask Wagner to leave Munich, which cost him untold moral torment. It was then that the mutual alienation of the king and parliament began, deepening over the years and leading to catastrophe. Ludwig hated Munich so much that he wanted to move the capital to Nuremberg.
The king could not marry in any way: he stubbornly avoided the bonds of Hymen and was not noticed in adultery. His engagement to his cousin, Princess Sophia, was canceled after 8 months without explanation. It became obvious to the royal family that they could not wait for the heir to the throne.
In 1866, a war with Prussia was brewing, which Ludwig, a purely peaceful man, tried in every possible way to avoid. He was even ready to give up the throne in the name of this. Not trusting his government, he secretly left Munich and, without telling anyone, went to Wagner in Switzerland for advice. What the advice was, can be judged by the fact that two days later the king returned, refused to abdicate and announced mobilization. In this war, which lasted only three weeks, Bavaria was utterly defeated by the Prussian army, suffered heavy losses and had to pay reparations to Prussia in the amount of 154 million marks. Against the backdrop of this national catastrophe, Ludwig began to embody the romantic dream of his life - the construction of castles in the Bavarian Alps.
In total, three of them were built during his life, but only one was completed - in Linderhof.
In 1869, Ludwig laid the first stone at the site of an ancient fortress on the slopes of the Alps. Neuschwanstein Castle was built in the form of a medieval castle with a fortress wall, towers and passages. Its construction took 17 years, but was never completed. Ironically, in this romantic castle, Ludwig II experienced the greatest humiliation of his life.
His favorite castle was Linderhof, a real little Versailles. Ludwig took Louis XIV as a model of his life and followed him in everything. Even the bedroom in Linderhof, like the bedroom of the "sun king", was arranged and arranged so that the sun never set in the windows. The evocative luxury of Rococo amazes even seasoned tourists. An abundance of gold, mirrors, vases, of which Ludwig was a great connoisseur and collector; life-size peacocks from precious Meissen porcelain, an ivory chandelier, a bouquet of porcelain flowers indistinguishable from real ones; a huge crystal chandelier for 108 candles, never lit for fear of fire, a lifting table from kitchen to dining room - all this testified not only to unlimited funds, but also to the exquisite taste of their owner. A white grand piano covered with gold ornaments was commissioned especially for Wagner, but the composer never touched his keys. All the excess, pretentious luxury of Lindenhof was designed for one and only person - Richard Wagner, but he never visited Lindenhof. The king whiled away his days in complete solitude, except for a few servants, listening to Wagner's music performed by first-class orchestras and opera groups in a grotto theater specially carved into the rock, or boating on an artificial lake nearby. He more and more moved away from state affairs, plunging into the ideal romantic world created for himself.
Meanwhile, in 1870, the second war broke out, which Ludwig wanted to avoid as passionately as the first, and was just as forced to take part in it. Bavaria, according to the terms of the peace treaty, was to fight against France on the side of Prussia. This war ended with the defeat of France. Prussian King Wilhelm I was declared emperor of the united German Empire. The entire German aristocracy was present at this solemn event in the hall of mirrors of the Palace of Versailles. Only the king of Bavaria was absent. The rampant construction and the funds spent on it did not contribute to the popularity of the once adored monarch. He planted his own annual income of 5.5 million marks into his projects and went deep into the state's pocket. At the time of Ludwig's death, his debt to the state was 21 million marks. The country's wealth, acquired over 800 years by many generations of Bavarian monarchs, was blown away in just 20 years.
As a result of a successful conspiracy led by Prime Minister Lutz, the king was declared incapacitated. His uncle, the Bavarian prince Lutpold, was declared the ruler. Lutz was interested in isolating the king because, as head of government, he was aware of the exorbitant costs, but kept them secret from the king, who was poorly versed in economics. In exile at Berg Castle near Lake Starnberg, Ludwig was led by the court physician von Hudden. He also informed him of the decision of a council of four doctors about the need for isolation and treatment.
-How can you declare me mentally ill if you have never examined me? Ludwig asked. To which the court doctor replied:
“Your Majesty, this is not necessary. We have information that gives us enough evidence.
On June 13, 1886, at six o'clock in the evening, Ludwig and his doctor Gudden went for a short walk in the park without bodyguards - a doctor refused their services at the last minute. A few hours later, their bodies were found in the lake. Whether it was murder or suicide, the investigation has not established. Both were in frock coats, hats and umbrellas, which excluded the intention to swim. Ludwig was an excellent swimmer, which made the version of an accident unlikely. The autopsy also did not shed light on the reasons for the death of the king. It was beneficial for official sources to support the version of insanity and suicide. After Ludwig's death, the reign passed to his mentally disabled brother Otto under the tutelage of his uncle Lutpold.
After Ludwig's reign, in addition to his palaces, the Academy of Fine Arts and the Technological Institute in Munich, the Bavarian Red Cross remained. The funds created by him supported the development of musical culture, which led to the construction of the Palais des Festivals in Bayreuth.
Fussen
The area where Füssen is located has been shaped by various ice ages, mainly due to the influence of the Lech glacier. Numerous moraine hills and most of the lakes are legacies from this period.People began to settle in these places from the end of the Paleolithic. At first, these were the tribes of the Celts, who were romanized approx. 15 BC during the campaigns of Augustus' stepchildren - Tiberius and Drusus. The area became part of the Roman province of Raetia, which during the reign of Emperor Diacletian (284-305 AD) was divided into Raetia 1 (the capital of Chur) and Raetia 2 (with the capital Augsburg). To connect the new territories, the Roman emperor Claudius (41-54 AD) built the military road of Claudius Augustus, which began at Altinum (now a place near Venice) and at the river. Po and reached the Danube through Füssen and Augsburg. At the end of the 3rd century. on the hill where the palace is located, a Roman camp was set up to defend against the attacks of the Germanic tribes, which began at the beginning of the century. In the 4th century. the territory was inhabited by Germanic tribes, first under the rule of the Ostrogoths, then - the Franks.
There are different versions about the origin of the name Fussen. For the first time this word appeared on a Roman tombstone of the 4th century. (fotensium) And at the beginning of the 5th century. appeared in the official papers of the Romans (in the form of foetibus). It is unclear whether this word appeared in pre-Roman times and was Latinized or it was originally a Latin word meaning "a place near a gorge" (the mouth of Lech in the rocks was called Lusaltenfelsen). On the other hand, it could be a Roman military term: "praepositus Fotensium" - the commander of the troops of Füssen. The monks of St. Mungo called the site of their monastery "ad fauces" (near the gorge) and in 1175 the German word Fozen was recorded.
By the time the settlement received the status of a city, it was called Fuezzen, and this name was associated with the word for feet (fuesse), so the city's coat of arms depicts three legs. Seals with the coat of arms appeared since 1317. Three legs are associated with three sources of power to which the city is subordinated: the prince-archbishop of Augsburg (or the Duchy of Swabia), the County of Tyrol and the Duke of Bavaria).
St. Magnus was born c. 700 g. He worked in this area not so much as a missionary, but rather as a teacher of ordinary people, helping them. In 750 or 772 he died and the monastery of St. Mungo was later built on his grave.
In the 12th century. the city was at first under the rule of the Guelphs, then the Duke of Bavaria built a palace here in 1298, thus trying to establish his power. But the archbishops of Augsburg have had power over Füssen since ancient times. In the 13th century. Füssen acquired independence and was governed by its own municipal laws, although it was under the rule of the archbishop until secularization in 1802, when it came under the rule of Bavaria.
Since the time of the Romans and the construction of the road, Füssen has become an important trade center, goods came from the south and north, floated along the Lech.
In the 16th century. the first European guild for making lutes and violins was founded. Violin makers from Fussen spread throughout Europe, especially in Vienna, making Vienna the largest city for the manufacture of musical instruments, along with Paris and London. From the 16th century. a tradition of making organs is also developing. There are now two toolmaking workshops in Füssen that supply products to the international market.
After the wars of the 16-18 centuries. Füssen has lost its significance. Only in the 19th century. with the construction of a tesktile factory, and then with the development of alpine tourism, the city's economy began to recover.
In 1995, Füssen celebrated its 700th anniversary.
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Neuschwanstein
Construction began in 1869 by order of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, known as the "Mad King Ludwig". The castle stands on the site of two fortresses - the front and rear Schwangau. The king ordered at this place to lower the plateau by about 8 meters by blowing up the rock and thereby create a place for construction.The castle was conceived as a giant stage, where the world of German mythology comes to life, especially the image of the legendary swan knight Lohengrin from the opera of the same name by Wagner (see libretto). The name of the castle in translation from German means "new swan stone".
The castle was not built as quickly as the king wanted. The gate building was the first to be built and Ludwig lived here for several years. He moved to the palace in 1884. Moving further and further away from society, Ludwig changed the purpose of the rooms. The guest rooms were replaced in the plan by the Moorish Hall with a fountain, but it was never built. The study was turned into a small grotto in 1880. The audience room has been transformed into a huge Throne Room. It was no longer intended for audience, but embodied royal grandeur and was a copy of the legendary Grail Hall.
The medieval appearance of the castle hides the most modern technical innovations at that time: the castle was heated using central heating, there is water on every floor, there is both hot and cold water in the kitchen, toilets have an automatic cleaning system, servants were called by an electric bell system. There were even telephones on the third and fourth floors. The food did not climb the stairs, but the elevator. One of the innovations is large windows. Windows of this size were still unusual in Ludwig's time.
The construction of the castle was not completed during the king's lifetime. Soon after his mystical death in 1886, the castle and its magnificent interior were opened to the general public. It took 17 years to complete its construction.
At the end of World War II, the castle contained the gold reserves of the German Reich, but in the last days of the war it was taken to an unknown destination.
Halls of the castle
The walls of the halls are painted according to the themes of medieval legends and Wagner's operas. The main characters are kings, knights, poets and lovers. The main figures are the poet Tannhäuser (Singing Hall) (see the plot of Wagner's opera Tannhäuser), the swan knight Lohengrin (see the plot of Wagner’s opera Lohengrin) and his father, the Grail King Parzival (see the plot of Wagner’s opera Parzival) ...The Salzburg marble royal staircase, over which a stylized dragon and hunting scenes are depicted, lead to the passage to the royal chambers on the 4th floor. On the vault are the coats of arms of Schwangau, Bavaria and Wittelsbach.
Since the castle was built in the style of a medieval fortress, and in the 12th century. there were no glass windows, the king wanted to create the impression of open window arches. Therefore, the glass of the vaults, as well as the glass between the columns, was built directly into the stone wall.
Next to the door leading to the main staircase are oak doors leading to the servants' staircase. At the time of the presence of the king, the servants did not have the right to use the main staircase.
The servants lived on the first top floor. Five servants' rooms are showing today. They have simple oak furniture. Two people slept in each room. When the king was absent, 10-15 people lived in the castle, looking after him. When he returned, the number of workers more than doubled.
The main staircase leads to the hall on the third floor. To the west of it is the Throne Room, to the east are the royal apartments. The paintings on the walls depict scenes from the Sigurd legend based on the Elder Edda. It served as the basis for the legend of Siegfried from the medieval German Song of the Nibelungs, which formed the basis of Wagner's cycle of operas The Ring of the Nibelungs. There is a curse on the treasures of the Nibelungen. Sigurd killed the dragon and took possession of the treasure, but a curse fell on him and he was killed. The murals on the walls in the lobby show scenes from Sigurd's fortune telling to his death. The fate of Sigurd's wife Gudrun is shown in the hall in the next tier.
Throne room resembles a Byzantine basilica. Ludwig wanted it to be like the Cathedral of All Saints in Munich and St. Sophia in Constantinople. The throne, which was supposed to stand in the place of the altar, was never built. Ludwig II had his own ideas about the role of the king and the monarchy, which are vividly illustrated in the Throne Room by paintings: the throne is the source of law, royal power is given by the grace of God.
Wall paintings depict Christ in glory with Mary and St. John surrounded by angels, and below are 6 canonized kings, among whom is St. Louis 9 of France, the king's patron. On the opposite wall are St. Michael the Archangel (above) and St. George, patron saint of the Bavarian order of knights. Ludwig did not want state receptions to take place in the Throne Room. He considered this hall a holy of holies, a place where his fantasies came true. The mosaic floor is especially beautiful in this room. On the surface, a celestial sphere with the image of animals and plants is visible. Above it is the heavenly dome, the sun and the stars, and between heaven and earth the symbol of the royal crown is a huge chandelier, emphasizing the mediating role of the king between God and people. The chandelier is made of gilded copper, decorated with glass stones and 96 candles. With the help of a special spiral, the chandelier (weighing 900 kg) can be lowered to the floor.
On the canvases Dining room depicts scenes of the legendary contests of singers-minnesingers (which became the basis of Wagner's opera "Tannhäuser"). All the paintings of the royal chambers are painted on rough linen, so they give the impression of tapestries. This was also done at the request of the king, since tapestries were expensive and took a long time to make. The food was lifted into the dining room using a lift.
Bedroom king is designed in the neo-gothic style, with luxurious oak carvings. The wall paintings show scenes from the saga of Tristan and Isolde. It was in this room that on June 12, 1886, the king was announced that he was declared insane and incapacitated. He died the next day.
The next room is court chapel... It is also designed in a neo-gothic style.
Next is the royal hall, living room king. It consists of a large salon and a so-called swan corner separated by columns. The theme of the wall paintings is the Lohengrin saga. In the bay window there is a large swan-shaped vase made of nympheburg majolica.
Between the living room and the study was created artificial grotto in a romantic style. The walls are made of simple materials such as tow and gypsum, there is an artificial waterfall, and a passage on the right leads to the winter garden.
Study king is designed in the Romanesque style. As in the living room, there is a carved oak, lamps made of gilded copper. The walls are decorated with paintings on the theme of the Tannhäuser saga. Then the group is taken to the adjutant and on the 5th floor - in Singing hall... Numerous wall paintings illustrate scenes from the legend of Parzifal (see legend of Parzifal). The painting, which serves as a backdrop for the stage - a gazebo for singing, depicts the garden of the wizard Klingsor and is designed to create the most reliable illusion that the listener sees a real garden in front of him. Concerts are held in the Singing Hall every September.
The tour ends at the landing of a staircase that only the king could walk on.
Palace kitchen, which has been completely preserved from the time of the king, visitors explore on their own. The kitchen was equipped with the latest innovations of the time: it has a built-in unit with hot and cold water, automatic roast spitters. The oven heat served at the same time to heat the dishes.
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Hohenschwangau
It is based on the Schwanstein fortress. It was built in the 12th century. and immediately became a meeting point for singers-minnesingers. The Knights of Schwangau received these lands in fief from the Welfs, then they were subordinate to the Hohenstaufens. Hitpold von Schwangau, one of the first known knights with this name, went down in history as a famous minnesinger and was immortalized in the Heidelberg Songbook and the Manes Manuscript.In the 16th century. the family of knights of Schwangau died out, the fortress began to gradually fall apart. In 1538-41. it was reconstructed by the Italian architect Licio de Spari for the then owner of the Augsburg aristocrat Paumgarten. The building was the main seat of the Schwangau government.
After several owners changed, the castle in the form of ruins was bought by Crown Prince Maximilian of Bavaria, future King Maximilian II and father of Ludwig 2. Restoration began in 1833. King Maximilian II used the castle as a summer residence. Ludwig II lived here as a child and later also spent a lot of time, and here he received Wagner.
The lack of interiors of the castle is made up for by countless paintings telling about the deeds of prominent personalities from German legends and history, as well as about the generations of the Wittelsbach family: about the swan knight Lohengrin (the swan was a heraldic animal of the knights of Schwangau), about the life of the Wittelsbufrich family (Hohenstaal Barbarossa), a kind of knights of Schwangau, Charlemagne, etc.
The castle has been open to the public as a museum since 1913. During the Second World War, the castle was not damaged; today it still belongs to the members of the royal house of Bavaria, the Wittelsbach family.
about the sights briefly / photo
Linderhof
The first plan of Linderhof was made by Ludwig in 1868. The new building was erected on the basis of a forest house belonging to Ludwig's father Maximilian 2. The palace was the only one completed of all Ludwig's projects, and he spent a lot of time here alone.In 1869 Ludwig began rebuilding the forest lodge, calling it the Royal Cottage. In 1870, under the supervision of the palace builder Georg Dollmann, a wing was added and the original plan was changed: a second wing was added to balance the first, and a bedroom to link the two wings. In 1873, the final design of the palace was drawn up. The original timber structure was replaced by a stone one and was covered with a new roof. In 1874 the cottage was moved 200 meters to the place where it is now. Now the exterior of the façade has taken on its present appearance. By 1876, the creation of the interiors of the palace was completed. In 1874, work was completed on the plans for the park.
Halls of the palace
The tour starts at Lobby, they give out brochures with text in different languages if the visitor does not understand English or German. In the center of the room is a bronze statue of the French king Louis 14, whom Ludwig II admired and who was for him a symbol of absolute royalty. From the lobby, stairs lead to the living rooms.V western tapestry room, otherwise called the Musical, strikes the multicolored wall paintings and seating furniture. The tapestry-like paintings depict scenes from high society and shepherd life in the Rococo style. Next to a richly decorated musical instrument - a combination of piano and harmonium typical of the 19th century - stands a life-size peacock made of painted Sèvres porcelain. The same peacock stands in the eastern tapestry room. This bird is considered, like the swan, the king's favorite animal.
Visitors enter the reception area through a yellow office overlooking the western terraces. This room was originally intended to be the throne room. Into the precious wall cladding audience rooms inscribed are two marble fireplaces with equestrian statues of kings Louis XV and Louis XVI. Between the fireplaces is the king's desk with a gilded writing set. Above the work table there is a canope, decorated with gold thread embroidery. Round malachite tables are a gift from the Russian empress.
Royal bedroom- this is the central and most capacious room of the castle, illuminated by 108 crystal candelabra candles. Marble sculptures, stucco moldings and ceiling paintings pay tribute to the heroes of ancient mythology.
Pink Cabinet- this is the king's dressing room, one of four small rooms connecting the main premises. She leads to the dining room.
Aged in vibrant red canteen has an oval shape. In the middle of the room is a retractable table decorated with a Meissen porcelain vase. He was served in the lower rooms and raised to the king so that even the presence of the servants would not bother him.
V east tapestry room dominated by motives of Greek mythology. It leads to the Hall of Mirrors.
Fabulous Mirror hall was established in 1874. Mirrored cabinets are typical of German palaces of the 18th century, but in Linderhof this found its highest embodiment. Huge mirrors, white and gold panels between the mirrors create endless rows of rooms.
Park and park pavilions
The park covers 80 hectares and includes Renaissance terraces, austere baroque parterres and an English landscape park that gradually turns into forest and mountains.Right behind the palace there is a flower bed with the image of the Bourbon lily. The creators of the park made good use of the natural environment, the fact that the castle stands at the foot of steep slopes. Linden pergolas go up along the cascade, which ends at the palace with a fountain with the figure of Neptune, stone figures symbolize the four continents. Upstairs there is a gazebo, from there a beautiful view of the palace, a cascade, terraces and the Temple of Venus opens up on a hill on the other side of the palace.
To the right and to the left of the palace are the eastern and western parterres, respectively. Eastern parterre is a three-tiered garden in the style of French regular gardens with ornamented flower beds and figures depicting the 4 elements allegorically: fire, water, earth and air. In the center - a stone sculpture of Venus and Adonis, a fountain with a gilded figure of Cupid with an arrow and a stone bust of King Louis 16 of France. Western parterre was the first palace garden. In the center there are flower beds with two fountains with gilded figures of the goddess of glory Fama and Cupid. Along the perimeter there are symbolic figures of the four seasons.
In front of the palace - a geometric garden surrounded by a hornbeam hedge, in the center - the fountain(22 m) with a gilded group "Flora and Putti", which turns on for 5 minutes every half hour. Nearby is a huge linden tree (about 300 years old), which originally gave the name to the farm located here, and then to the palace. Three Italian-style terraces rise up the Linderbichl hill. Terraced gardens decorated with 2 lions and the Naiad fountain. In the center of the terrace there is a complex of grotto niches with a bust of Queen Marie Antoinette of France. The terraces end with a platform with a round Greek temple with the figure of Venus. Initially, a theater was planned on this site.
All other pavilions are located along the perimeter of the arc, in the center of which is the palace.
Closest to the park entrance Moroccan Pavilion... It was purchased at the World's Fair in Paris in 1878, and the interior was changed at the request of Ludwig. The house was originally located outside Linderhof next to the German-Austrian border, not far from the hunting lodge. After Ludwig's death, it was bought by a private person and returned back, now to the park, only in 1982.
The next building on the way to the palace is Royal Loggia... The building dates back to 1790. It was already used by Maximilian as a hunting lodge. Ludwig often lived here until the palace was finished, and after the king's death, it was often used by Prince Regent Luitpold.
To the right of the palace - St. Anne's Chapel... The oldest building in the Linderhof complex, built in 1684 by Abbot Ettal. The interiors were changed under the direction of Ludwig 2.
The furthest from the palace, at the exit (closed for visitors), leading to Ettal and Oberammergau, is Hunting lodge... It was built in 1876 and was located in the Ammertal valleys, burned down in 1884 and immediately rebuilt. In 1945 it burned down again and was rebuilt in 1990 in Linderhof. The interior of the house serves as a decoration for Wagner's opera Valkyrie. In the center is an ash tree, a symbol of the World Tree of Scandinavian Myths.
Perhaps the most interesting Moorish Pavilion... Ludwig was particularly interested in oriental architecture, and by the time he bought the Moorish Pavilion, he had already built the Indian Pavilion at his Munich residence. The Moorish Pavilion was built in 1867 in Prussia for the world exhibition in Paris. In the twilight light of colored glass windows and colored lamps, the splendor of an exotic interior is revealed. A peacock throne made for the king in 1877 in Paris was installed in the rounding of the apse: three peacocks are made of bright enameled cast metal, and the tails are made of polished Bohemian glass. The furnishings are complemented by a Moorish fountain, stylized lamps, smoking tables and coffee tables.
Grotto of Venus was built in 1877. The cave with a lake and a waterfall was created for the performance of the first act of Wagner's opera Tannhäuser. The lights were supplied with electricity. The stone doors were opened with a special secret switch.
German empire
Germany or officially Deutsches Kaiserreich (from German German Empire) is a state of Central Europe. In the north, the borders reach the North Sea, Denmark and the Baltic Sea, in the east it borders on Poland, Lithuania and the United Baltic Duchy; in the south with Austria-Hungary and Switzerland; in the west with the French Commune, Flanders - Wallonia and the Netherlands. Through colonial possessions it borders with Spain, National France, Liberia, Abyssinia, Egypt, Ottoman Empire, Oman, South Africa, Portugal, Siam, Qing Empire (which includes General East Asia Company (A.O.G) ), The League of Eight Provinces, the Fengtian Republic, and Australasia.
The German Empire is a semi-constitutional monarchy, consisting of 28 states, ruled by the Hohenzollern dynasty. Germany is currently the most powerful country in the world, and its influence is spreading throughout the world. The State of Germany was proclaimed on January 18, 1871 in the Mirror Gallery of the Palace of Versailles after the Franco-Prussian War of 1871. As the main winner of the World War, Germany has a vast overseas empire with colonial possessions in Africa, Asia and the Pacific. Germany also leads Mitteleurope - a military and economic alliance with several Eastern European countries.
Spoiler: short info
Full title | Deutsches Kaiserreich (German Empire) |
Simplified name | Germany |
Motto | Gott mit Uns (God is with us) |
Hymn | Heil dir im Siegerkranz (I welcome you in the crown of the Winner) |
Official language | German |
Capital | Berlin |
Form of government | Semi-constitutional monarchy |
Head of state | Kaiser Wilhelm II |
Head of the government | Franz von Papen |
State currency | Paper stamp |
Year of foundation | 1871 |
Area (no colonies) | More than 543,000 km² |
Population (no colonies) | 75.12 million people |
History
Union
As a result of the actions of the Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck (nicknamed the "Iron Chancellor"), Germany was finally united: the creation of the German Empire was proclaimed at the Palace of Versailles of Louis XIV on January 18, 1871. Kaiser Wilhelm I died on March 9, 1888, and just 99 days later his son and heir Frederick III died of throat cancer. Frederick's son Wilhelm II ascended the throne. Considering Bismarck's foreign policy too cautious, the Kaiser removed the Iron Chancellor from his post in 1890, replacing him with a more accommodating chancellor.
A place under the sun
Wilhelm II was obsessed with the implementation of colonial ambitions and, on the advice of Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, began a sea race with Great Britain, which led to increased isolation due to the aggressive policy of Germany. Europe first approached the brink of a major war in 1911 during the Agadir Crisis, when William II demanded the transfer of Morocco to Germany. This crisis, having created a reputation for the Kaiser as an irresponsible warmonger, however, was resolved peacefully, but as it later turns out, the war will only be postponed for several years. As history will soon show, William II's risk will pay off, he will achieve all of his goals and more, and even many of his harshest critics will be forced to admit it.
World War
Spoiler: Kaiser announces the outbreak of World War 1 August 1914
Archduke Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was assassinated in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914 by a Serbian revolutionary. A month later, Austria-Hungary, with the support of Germany, declared war on Serbia in revenge; the Reich soon found itself at war with France, Great Britain and the Russian Empire. Having quickly occupied Belgium and Luxembourg, the German offensive was nevertheless halted on the Marne and on the Eastern Front in Poland, reaching a dead end that could determine the outcome of the war.
In 1917, a Revolution took place in the Russian Empire, and thousands of German soldiers were transferred from the Eastern Front to the West. The situation in the rear turned grim: hunger, deprivation and fatigue from the ongoing war led to a socialist uprising in November 1918, which spread widely and eventually required a complete suspension of hostilities at the front, leading the frightened Reichstag to the Enabling Act.
But finally, in March 1919, after four and a half years of an exhausting war, the German offensive on the Western Front finally broke the Entente defenses. When the front collapsed, the terrified French government surrendered and allowed the German army to occupy the country. However, the outbreak of the French Civil War prevented the Germans from fully realizing their territorial claims.
The debate over possible intervention in this new war ended with the still strong Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), putting pressure on the weak Reich Chancellor Michaelis, only to extend Ludendorff's command over the renewed conflict. Enraged, Ludendorff demanded that the Kaiser dissolve the Reichstag, the Bundesrat and the removal of Michaelis in favor of Paul von Hindenburg, thereby establishing the dictatorship of Ludendorff himself. Only the Progressive People's Party (FPP) and the SPD protested against this apparent coup d'état, while the Kaiser readily agreed to the demands.
Ludendorff's dictatorship
After a stunning victory over France, German forces were quickly deployed to occupy Italy and support the Ottoman Empire on the southern fronts. In November, a ceasefire agreement was signed, but the war with Great Britain and the rest of the Entente countries continued until 1921, when the Honest Peace was concluded.
However, the economic and social problems caused by the war continued to grow. The population was on the verge of starvation due to the British blockade, which was broken only in 1918, and the economy was in an equally difficult state. Demobilization created a huge mass of unemployed men that oppressed the urban economy, trade with the United States and other neutral countries was just beginning to slowly recover, and the Eastern puppets were still in chaos.
The Reich Chancellor and dictator Ludendorff quickly launched a series of reforms to address these problems. The most successful of these was the tax reform led by Center party member Matthias Erzberger. The reform, which was clearly supposed to limit the independence of the constitutional lands of the empire, led to the withdrawal of the Bavarian branch of the Center party, which formed the Bavarian People's Party (BNP). On the other hand, the failed resettlement policy in the Polish border strip failed to help the Junkers and led to a weakening of economic ties with Poland, which hinders the economic integration of the eastern puppet states. Mitteleuropes .
With the Reichstag still disbanded, newspaper agitation became a modus of non-parliamentary opposition, which led to the country becoming increasingly polarized between supporters and enemies of the regime; The SPD, which escaped a complete ban on socialist activity, followed a strategy of publicly challenging the boundaries of legality and considered itself the only real opposition.
The Kaiser became less and less involved in public life, leading to rumors of increasing isolation from his most powerful subordinate. Finally, in 1923, a disaster struck - the Osthilf scandal united the Social Democrats and liberals with the Kaiser and even the Reich Chancellor von Hindenburg. Ludendorff found himself exiled to his estate, and elections were called for the first time in a decade.
Golden Age of Tirpitz
After a week of feverish campaigning known as Tage der Schreihälse (German: Screamer Week), on July 24, 1923, Ludendorff's party, the German National People's Party (DNPP), emerged victorious with 32% of the vote, a severe blow to the opposition's dreams. However, the Kaiser finally chose a new Reich Chancellor, who proved that he could use the calls for reform for his own purposes: he was Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz.
Tirpitz embarked on a program of economic liberalization. After a period of near-zero internal growth, this coincided with a sharp increase in long-term investment in Mitteleurope ; the result was explosive economic growth that would last throughout von Tirpitz's reign, giving him immense popularity and a reputation as the "Second Bismarck".
However, the policy of stimulating the private economy has left center-right elements unhappy. On May 14, 1924, several members of the Reichstag formed a new party - Alldeutsche Verband (with German Pan-German Union). With a declared program of a state-controlled economy and German nationalism, this new party seemed to have little chance of success. But that all changed a year later, when the charismatic fighter pilot Hermann Goering became party chairman and led the party to an 8 percent result in the 1928 elections.
Tirpitz in 1925, after the outbreak of the British Revolution, conducted a well-organized occupation of the British colonial possessions and the following year formed an alliance with the Chinese Zhili clique. Together with Mittelafrica, who occupied the British colonial possessions and the A.O.G, the German dream of a "place in the sun" was finally realized.
In Europe, Tirpitz did not have a similar success: he could not prevent the creation of a new German-hostile bloc within the Union of Great Britain, the Socialist Republic of Italy and the French Commune. A symptom of this failure was the rise of syndicalist terror, culminating in the assassination of Reichsbank President Karl von Helferrich on 28 August 1928.
Interregnum
On June 6, 1930, Reich Chancellor von Tirpitz died unexpectedly during a visit to Hamburg. His death was a great success for the NNOU, as no other politician came close to being a possible successor. After von Tirpitz's funeral procession through Berlin became the largest public event ever to take place in Germany, media mogul Alfred Hugenberg defeated Ulrich von Hessel in the election of party chairman.
But even though Hugenberg immediately launched a massive campaign to become the only possible successor to Germany's Second Greatest Chancellor, the Kaiser did not appoint Hugenberg as the new Reich Chancellor. Instead, after an unusually long waiting period, Franz von Papen, the chairman of the German Conservative Party (NKP) who was most suited to the implementation of the NNP program, was appointed Reichskansler on 3 August.
Shocked and outraged by this, Hugenberg adopted a new party program for the NKP to differentiate from the NKP: restoring power to local nobles and lands constituting an empire, similar to that of the Center Party and the Bavarian People's Party, but combined with a return to a state-controlled economy and agricultural subsidies for Junkers of the East Elbe.
This new platform proved useless when, on July 16, 1932, the von Papen NKP won a landslide victory, gaining 32%, and the "new" NNPO received a record low 5%. The SPD remained the second largest party with 25%, as it has been for twenty years.
The biggest event since then was the honorary presidency in 1934 of the minor National Liberal Party (NLP) of the invincible World War hero Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck. The Germans have lost all desire for adventure; all of them - and their politicians - hope that this status quo will last as long as possible. But the Kaiser is aging, as is the postwar world order. And even though Germany is stronger than ever, it has never had such a heavy burden as it is now.
Politics and Parties
Germany is a semi-federal semi-constitutional monarchy ruled by the German Kaiser (the king of Prussia in permanent personal union). According to the constitution of the Second German Reich, the chancellor and government are appointed and accountable only to the kaiser, but bills must pass the approval of the Reichstag and the House, elected in proportion to the universal suffrage of men, and the Bundesrat, composed of representatives from each state of the empire.
However, during the dictatorship of Ludendorff, the Bundesrat was dissolved. In Germany, the voices of the particularist society are strong, and they never cease to insist on the restoration of a full federal structure. Another problematic issue is the ownership-based electoral system for the Prussian Landstag, which provides a stable majority for the conservative parties.
Despite its rather authoritarian nature, the German political system works in favor of multi-party coalitions that provide a majority for the Kaiser's chancellor, thereby significantly influencing the policies of governments. The current coalition consists of the German Conservative Party (NCP) and the Center Party.
Conscription Law: Volunteers Only
Economic Law: Civil Economy
Trade law: focus on export
Head of Government: Franz von Papen
Foreign Minister: Friedrich-Werner von Schulenburg
Minister of Economy: Hjalmar Schacht
Security Minister: Johann von Bernstorff
Intelligence Minister: Karl von Schubert
Industry
25 military factories
51 civilian factories (36 for consumer goods)
20 shipyards
400 convoys
After all possible research on the German focus tree:
4 military factories
3 civil factories
4 shipyards
Resources (excluding overseas territories):
714 units of steel
158 units of aluminum
4 units of chromium
4 units of tungsten
4 units of oil
0 rubber
Military establishment
Spoiler: Reichskriegsflagge (Imperial Sun Flag) symbol of Germanic hegemony
Deutsches Heer(German Army) is the second largest army in the world after the Russian Republic. In the past few years, however, it has been plagued by hastily suppressed scandals showing that military doctrine and training is out of step with a bloated military budget. Field Marshal August von Mackensen, the current head of the army, firmly insists that there is no need for large-scale reforms, but he is old and that may soon change.
Most of Germany's ground forces are stationed in Europe in accordance with a defense plan created in the late 1920s by Reich Chancellor Alfred von Tirpitz. Flanders-Wallonia and the currently mothballed Ludendorff Line in Alsace-Lorraine constitute the skeleton of the defense in the west, and numerous Eastern European satellites act as buffer states against Russia in the east. Colonial security, with the exception of strategic garrisons in Morocco, Singapore and the Pacific and West Africa islands, is entrusted to the militias maintained by the Free State of Mittelafrika and A.O.G.
At the start of the game, Germany has 89 divisions. Of these: 67 infantry divisions, 9 garrison divisions, 6 cavalry divisions, 4 marine divisions and 3 motorized divisions. Most of these units have conventional experience, as well as a few experienced and veteran units. Detachments of garrisons are scattered throughout the German colonies, and all other divisions are located in Germany itself.
Navy
The Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy) is the largest and arguably the most powerful navy in the world. Despite this, its superiority over other modern navies is not the same as that of the British Royal Navy before World War II. With the largest, albeit outdated, battleship fleet in the world, the Imperial Navy is also one of the few to have aircraft carriers. With bases around the world, the Kaiserliche Marine is the main instrument of the German Empire for securing its interests abroad and securing trade routes from the metropolis to the colonies and back. The Kaiserliche Marine is currently headed by Admiral Ludwig von Reuter.
Germany starts the game with 10 fleets of ships of various types. In total, the fleet consists of 6 aircraft carriers, 34 battleships, 19 battle cruisers, 13 heavy cruisers, 37 light cruisers, 108 destroyers and 32 submarines. Most of these ships are in the Schlachtwadron harbor in Kiel. Although there are several fleets based in the German colonies of Africa and Indochina, most of the fleet is moored in northwestern Germany.
Air Force
The Luftstreitkräfte (Air Defense Force) is headed by Field Marshal General Manfred von Richthofen, a famous World War ace. The largest air force in the world, the Luftstreitkräfte devotes a lot of attention to supporting the army's operations with tactical bombers. The Air Force also has an overseas presence, most notably in Qingdao, where a large air force is deployed.
The German Air Force consists of 175 ground fighters, 150 fighters and 120 AUG bombers, 350 tactical bombers. Ground wings are organized in 25 units. As with the rest of Germany's forces, only a minority of the air force is based in its colonies, while the rest is based in Germany itself.
International relationships
German Empire is the leader Mitteleuropes - the alliance of collective defense and economic bloc, created after the victory in the World War in 1921. Mitteleurope consists of Germany and its satellites on the European continent. The overseas colonies of the German Empire are considered de facto members of Mitteleurope, with the exception of Central Africa and A.O.G, which were granted limited autonomy in international affairs.
Germany maintains friendly relations with its former allies Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria, who have not shown an active interest in joining Mitteleurope.
A staunch anti-Syndicalist, Germany declared its hostility to the French Commune, the Socialist Republic of Italy and the Union of Great Britain. Germany holds the less hostile views of its old adversaries in the Entente, aimed mainly at the Dominion of Canada and the Nation-State of France.
Colonies and dependent territories
The expansion of Germany's colonial empire was largely considered an afterthought during World War II, with most of the colonial and dependent territories under Entente occupation throughout the war. After 1921, the German Empire was able to expand its holdings over most of the world, thanks in part to the collapse of the British and French empires.
In Europe, Germany controls Crete and Malta. In Africa, German dominance is concentrated in Mittelafrica, with additional outposts in Berbera, Djibouti, Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion Island, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Morocco, the Suez Canal Zone and Yemen. In the Far East, A.O.G controls several coastal cities, while Germany owns Indochina, Qiaohov Bay, Singapore, German Borneo, Ceylon and Hainan. The colonies in Oceania include German colonies; Kaiser Wilhelmsland, Bismarck Archipelago, German Solomon Islands, Bougainville Island, Angenheim Island, Marshall Islands, Mariana Islands, Carolina Islands and German Samoa.
Culture
Women of Germany
Although economic and social processes have allowed women to occupy many jobs in large cities, especially in services and clerical work, the conservative Reich still has not given them the right to vote in elections to the Reichstag (although some of the more progressive states such as Württemberg and Baden , allowed women to vote in regional assemblies). However, the long presence of women politicians in public life, including Rosa Luxemburg, the grandmother of German socialism, made the Frauenwahlrecht (women's suffrage) a hot political issue.
Literature
At the moment, the most famous writer in Germany is Erich Paul Remarque, whose anti-war book Breakthrough (1929), after which was published The Way Forward (1931), became extremely popular, despite the opposition of the General Staff. He is currently working on his third book, written after the final truce with Great Britain. According to some rumors, we are talking about an alternative historical novel "Führerreich", which tells the story of Germany, which lost in the World War. Nobel laureate Thomas Mann is a well-known admirer of the Kaiser and is often referred to as the future foreign minister because of his personal influence. Ernst Jünger, who pioneered the fashion of World War Diaries (describing war from the perspective of soldiers), is currently a high-ranking official in the Mittelafrika administration. German writers were also involved in extremist politics: Berthold Brecht's plays narrowly escaped ban because of their propaganda of syndicalist values, although this was diluted somewhat in those plays he did with his more conservative co-writer Oswald Spengler. The interpretation of German philosophy (Kant, Hegel, Nietzsche) by the nationalist Alfred Rosenberg has a limited but notable audience in Germany.
Music
Although Germany officially supports classical music - especially Wagner, Bach, Brahms, Mozart, Handel and all German composers, it is no longer as popular as it used to be. Even the Kaiser is heard by Scott Joplin. Crown Prince Wilhelm's wife, Princess Cecile, is a renowned friend of contemporary musicians. The prestigious composers Siegfried Alkan, Bozislav Hubermann, Wilhelm Kempff, Ellie Ney, Wilhelm Furtwängler and Herbert von Karajan often perform small concerts for the royal family at the Cecilienhof Palace.
Cinema
Babelsberg Studios, located in the suburbs of Berlin, are the largest in Europe and rival even Hollywood in production, quality and quantity of films. German cinema has become a worldwide industry and a dream factory for the whole of Europe. Moreover, thanks in large part to the efforts of the late Friedrich Murnau, it has managed to outgrow its original essence as a simple government propaganda tool and become more highly artistic. Hans Albers and Marlene Dietrich and the famous comics of Ernst Lubitsch are popular with the German public, although the work of Fritz Lang is often considered too dark and naturalistic for the tastes of the viewer.
Painting, sculpture and architecture
The Dada wave also spread to Germany, a tortured country that enjoyed a favorable end to the World War: for example, the work of Max Ernst and George Gross is characterized by the trauma of the war years. In urbanism, Walter Gropius and his young rival Albert Speer compete for the attention of the German government, seeking to erect magnificent monuments to commemorate World War II. The Arno Brecker statues, first conceived as a celebration of a German man, were censored for their nudity and were deemed indecent by the German authorities.
In this article, you will learn:
Historians call the German Empire in the period from 1871 to 1918 the era of the Second Reich. Having existed for less than half a century, this state formation has played an important historically forming function in the formation of the current world order.
Having won a brilliant victory over the French army, Otto von Bismarck, together with Wilhelm I, began to actively unite the German territories. The day of German reunification is solemnly announced on January 18. The German states are willingly part of the young state association. Austria chose the path of independence, while maintaining allied relations.
William I 
Otto von Bismarck
The victory in the war was a powerful impetus for the development of a united Germany. The German economy is developing rapidly. The huge indemnity imposed on the French contributed to the creation of a solid foundation that placed the country among the world's leading powers.
World leaders England, Russia, the USA are forced to reckon with the emergence of a strong Germany. The area of the new empire is 540,857 km². It is inhabited by 40,000,000 subjects. The army of the German Reich can mobilize almost 1,000,000 soldiers.
Features of public administration
According to the Constitution, Germany becomes an empire. It is headed by the king of Prussia. He promulgates laws, issues orders, is responsible for security. The emperor appoints and dismisses all officials of the executive branch. He also appoints the Reich Chancellor.
The Chancellor is the country's chief executive. He is responsible to the deputies of the Reichstag. He is actually the only minister in the country. The rest of the ministerial portfolios are in the hands of the secretaries of state.
The parliament in the country is bicameral. The Upper House includes the Bundesrat (Allied Council). The members of the Lower House form the Reichstag. The composition of the Bundesrat is formed by the appointment of local governments. The Reichstag is replenished through popular elections.
German empire
Germany forges the foundations of its unprecedented economic strength
Germany is meeting the new century at the peak of its economic growth. The leaders in industrial production are mechanical engineering and metallurgy. The establishment and rapid growth of electrical engineering and chemical production took place almost from the zero cycle. Monopoly capital is growing at a rapid pace. His element is industry and banking. Banks, among the largest, concentrate in their hands all the most significant credit transactions. Such famous names as Krupp and, of course, the ubiquitous Kirdorf become the leaders of the monopolies. Huge funds are in their financial hands. This concentration of capital became one of the main economic prerequisites for the bloody events that unleashed the world war. It went down in history under the name of the First World War.
The mighty German Empire suffers a brutal defeat
The beginning of the war was successful for the German Empire. They are pushing the Russian army on the battlefields in East Prussia, occupying the territory of neighboring European countries, and rapidly attacking France. Paris was not taken only by the desperate offensive of the Russian army on the Eastern Front.
The striking successes of the beginning of the war did not bring a general and quick victory. Events are protracted. Germany, having at its disposal a huge human and economic potential, is forced to weaken offensive power and go over to positional defense. With each passing month, the strength of the empire is concealing, and the chances of a successful outcome of the war become illusory.
End of the First World War
The German Empire, despite colossal efforts, capitulated to the troops of the Entente. This happened at the end of 1918. The Second Reich was left without its colonies and part of German territory. Wilhelm II faint-heartedly flees to the Netherlands. Here he will spend the last years of his life. In Berlin, a government is formed, which receives the status of Provisional. It is this that will sign the Peace of Compiegne, humiliating for the Germans.
The Versailles Conference of Nations cemented Germany's defeat. The country was losing 13% of its territory. Among the lost lands are native German lands such as Alsace and Lorraine. Germany has lost not only land, but also mineral deposits. Economic prosperity was impossible without them.
The mighty, quite recently, empire lost its international equality. The country was dismembered, a multimillion-dollar indemnity was imposed on it, being found guilty of unleashing a war. The German state was banned from having an army that would meet modern threats. It was like a historic lynching. The German people were deeply disappointed and humiliated. The population lived in poverty. Very soon, the ideas of revenge will fall on the prepared ground. The world will shudder from the tread of the Great German Reich.
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On January 18, 1871, a new state was formed on the map of Europe, which was named the German Empire. The founding fathers of this state formation are considered to be an outstanding personality who went down in history under the formidable name of the "Iron Chancellor" - Otto von Bismarck, as well as Wilhelm I of Hohenzollern. The German Empire lasted until November 9, 1918, after which the monarchy was overthrown as a result of the November Revolution. It went down in history as a state distinguished by its power and a clearly established development strategy.
The German Empire is the name that Russian historiographers began to use in the 19th century. The Second Reich, Kaiser's Germany, are much less common in the literature. The following significant historical events contributed to her formation:
- the collapse of the German Confederation (1866);
- the war between Germany and Denmark (1864);
- war between states such as Austria and Prussia (1866);
- the war between Prussia and France (1870-1871);
- creation of the North German Union (1866-1871).
In 1879, the Prussian King William I, together with Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, declared war on France in order to undermine its economy and influence the political situation of this country. As a result of hostilities, they decided the North German Confederation, which was created for this purpose, won a complete victory over the French, and in January 1871 at Versailles it was announced that the creation of the German Empire had taken place. From that moment on, a new page appeared in world history. The unification of not only countries, but also other states began, which considered entry into the empire most expedient for themselves. Bavaria and other lands of southern Germany became part of the German Empire.
Austria flatly refused to be part of it. At the end of the Franco-Prussian War, France paid a huge contribution (five billion francs), so the formation of the German Empire did not begin from scratch. Thanks to such a serious financial injection, she was able to create her own economy. The Kaiser (King) Wilhelm I was nominally at the head, but in fact, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck took control of the empire. The states that were not part of were forcibly subordinated to Prussia, therefore the creation of the German Empire cannot be called a voluntary unification. It consisted of twenty-two Germanic monarchies and the cities of Bremen, Lubeck and Hamburg, which at that time were free.
After the adoption of the Constitution in April 1871, the German Empire received the status and the Prussian king received the title of emperor. During the entire period of its existence, this title was used by three monarchs. This is who was in power from 1871 to 1888, Frederick III, who was in power for only 99 days, and William II (1888-1918). The last emperor after the overthrow of the monarchy fled to the Netherlands, where he died in 1941.
The formation of the German Empire contributed to the national unification of the German people and the speedy capitalization of Germany. But after this empire was created, it became very dangerous for all the peoples of Europe and, perhaps, the whole world. The German Empire began to intensively develop its combat power and dictate its conditions from a position of strength. It was at this time that the birth of nationalism began, which subsequently led to two world wars, various bloody revolutions and millions of dead, destroyed people. With the formation of the German Empire, the national idea of the world domination of their country and the superiority of the Germans over other peoples settled in the souls of the people of the German nation.
In 1871, the Second German Empire was proclaimed. It was declared an "eternal union", which included 25 states with different political status: 4 kingdoms, 6 grand duchies, 5 duchies, 7 principalities, 3 free cities (Hamburg, Bremen and Lubeck), as well as Alsace-Lorraine, which has a special status seized from France. At the same time, none of the subjects included in the union could neither leave nor be expelled from it. Disputes between individual states were under the jurisdiction of the imperial Bundesrat. This central union body in the legislative sphere formally had equal rights with the imperial parliament - the Reichstag. In fact, his powers were even broader, since the Bundesrat had the right to dissolve the Reichstag, and also had legislative initiative.
In addition, the laws of the empire could only be adopted with the mutual consent of the Reichstag and the Bundesrat. The member states had 58 votes in the Bundesrat. At the same time, Prussia played a special role in his activities, which had 30% of all votes and the right of veto to amend the constitution. Since the Kaiser (in 1871 he was William I) was simultaneously the Prussian king, and the Reich Chancellor headed the Prussian government, this situation sharply strengthened both the central power and the power of Prussia. In the competence of the monarchies and free cities that made up the empire, there were actually only education, church politics and administration. Some of the constituent parts of the empire. had the right to keep limited military contingents.
Bismarck served as Reich Chancellor for 19 years. This period in German history was characterized by an effective and successful foreign policy. Bismarck pursued a course of creating alliances with the strongest European powers, primarily with Russia and Austria-Hungary. However, his domestic policy caused serious discontent in the country: he was intolerant of opposition (Catholics, socialists and supporters of the rights of the constituent parts of the empire). Despite this, under Bismarck, the formation of the social democratic movement in Germany took place. Thanks to the activity of F. Lassalle and the followers of K. Marx, mass workers' organizations arose in Germany, and in 1875 the Marxists and Lassalleans united in the Socialist Labor Party (since 1890 - the German Social Democratic Party, traditionally abbreviated as the SPD). Under pressure from the Social Democrats, Bismarck agreed to the introduction of universal suffrage for men in Prussia (1867), implemented social legislation that anticipated some of the features of the welfare state.
In the 1870s, Bismarck launched a "struggle for culture" (kulturkampf) aimed at weakening the influence of the Catholic Church.
In the 1880s and 1890s, Germany took an active part in the imperialist division of the world. She acquired significant colonial possessions in Africa (German East Africa and German Southwest Africa) and the Pacific Ocean. Germany established control over New Guinea, Micronesia (Nauru, Palau, Marshall, Caroline and Mariana Islands were bought from Spain), Western Samoa. In Asia, Germany owned the port of Qingdao on the Shandong Peninsula (captured in 1897). The acquisition of colonies in different parts of the world inevitably led Germany to a conflict with the "ruler of the seas" Great Britain, which had the world's largest colonial empire, and forced the construction of a powerful ocean-going fleet (naval programs adopted at the end of the 19th century made it possible to create the second most powerful , after the British, the world's navy).
The conflict with France, which sought to return Alsace and Lorraine, also persisted. The new emperor Wilhelm II, who ascended the throne in 1888, dismissed Bismarck in 1890. He took a course on the formation of obedient governments (the governments of von Caprivi, von Bülow and others), seeking to increase his own power in the empire. In domestic politics, after a short period of liberalization (in particular, the ban on the activities of the SPD was lifted), Wilhelm II continued the repressive measures of Bismarck. He changed the country's foreign policy, proclaiming ideas of German greatness and a special role for Germany in world politics. The active militarization of the country that followed these statements alerted European leaders. In addition, William II did not renew the treaty with the Russian Empire, concluded by Bismarck, which led to the Russian-French rapprochement and the subsequent formation of the Entente. As a result, at the beginning of the 20th century, two blocs emerged in Europe - Great Britain, France and Russia, on the one hand, and Germany and Austria-Hungary, on the other.
