Germany - free ebook by Bayard Taylor

A HISTORY OF GERMANY FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES TO THE PRESENT DAY

BY BAYARD TAYLOR WITH AN ADDITIONAL CHAPTER BY MARIE HANSEN-TAYLOR NEW YORK D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 1897 Copyright, 1874, 1893, By D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. Electrotyped and Printed at the Appleton Press, U. S. A....

21 minute read

Read Chapter

PREFACE.

When I assented to the request of the publishers that I would edit a new edition of the History of Germany, and write an additional chapter finishing the work down to the present date, I was fully aware of both my own shortcomings and the difficulty of the task. That I undertook it, nevertheless, is because I was strongly tempted to perform what I considered, in my case, an act of piety. Being naturally familiar with the aim and style of this book, I have tried to compile a new chapter in the si

2 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER I.

THE ANCIENT GERMANS AND THEIR COUNTRY. (330 B. C. —70 B. C. ) The Germans form one of the most important branches of the Indo-Germanic or Aryan race—a division of the human family which also includes the Hindoos, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Celts, and the Slavonic tribes. The near relationship of all these, which have become so separated in their habits of life, forms of government and religious faith, in the course of many centuries, has been established by the evidence of common tradition, langu

29 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER II.

THE WARS OF ROME WITH THE GERMANS. (70 B. C. —9 A. D. ) After the destruction of the Teutons and Cimbrians by Marius, more than forty years elapsed before the Romans again came in contact with any German tribe. During this time the Roman dominion over the greater part of Gaul was firmly established by Julius Cæsar, and in losing their independence, the Celts began to lose, also, their original habits and character. They and the Germans had never been very peaceable neighbors, and the possession

27 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER III.

HERMANN, THE FIRST GERMAN LEADER. (9—21 A. D. ) The Cherusci, who inhabited a part of the land between the Weser and the Elbe, including the Hartz Mountains, were the most powerful of the tribes conquered by Tiberius. They had no permanent class of nobles, as none of the early Germans seem to have had, but certain families were distinguished for their abilities and their character, or the services which they had rendered to their people in war. The head of one of these Cheruscan families was Seg

29 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER IV.

GERMANY DURING THE FIRST THREE CENTURIES OF OUR ERA. (21—300 A. D. ) After the campaigns of Germanicus and the death of Hermann, a long time elapsed during which the relation of Germany to the Roman Empire might be called a truce. No serious attempt was made by the unworthy successors of Augustus to extend their sway beyond the banks of the Rhine and the Danube; and, as Tiberius had predicted, the German tribes were so weakened by their own civil wars that they were unable to cope with such a po

30 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER V.

THE RISE AND MIGRATIONS OF THE GOTHS. (300—412.) Rome, as the representative of the civilization of the world, and, after the year 313, as the political power which left Christianity free to overthrow the ancient religions, is still the central point of historical interest during the greater part of the fourth century. Until the death of the Emperor Valentinian, in 375, the ancient boundaries of the Empire, though frequently broken down, were continually re-established, and the laws and institut

34 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER VI.

THE INVASION OF THE HUNS, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. (412—472.) The westward movement of the Huns was followed, soon afterwards, by an advance of the Slavonic tribes on the north, who first took possession of the territory on the Baltic relinquished by the Goths, and then gradually pressed onward towards the Elbe. The Huns themselves, temporarily settled in the fertile region north of the Danube, pushed the Vandals westward toward Bohemia, and the latter, in their turn, pressed upon the Marcomanni. T

27 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER VII.

THE RISE AND FALL OF THE OSTROGOTHS. (472—570.) After the death of Ricimer, in 472, Italy, weakened by invasion and internal dissension, was an easy prey to the first strong hand which might claim possession. Such a hand was soon found in a Chief named Odoaker, said to have been a native of the island of Rügen, in the Baltic. He commanded a large force, composed of the smaller German tribes from the banks of the Danube, who had thrown off the yoke of the Huns. Many of these troops had served the

27 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER VIII.

EUROPE, AT THE END OF THE MIGRATION OF THE RACES. (570.) Thus far, we have been following the history of the Germanic races, in their conflict with Rome, until their complete and final triumph at the end of six hundred years after they first met Julius Cæsar. Within the limits of Germany itself, there was, as we have seen, no united nationality. Even the consolidation of the smaller tribes under the names of Goths, Franks, Saxons and Alemanni, during the third century, was only the beginning of

22 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER IX.

THE KINGDOM OF THE FRANKS. (486—638.) The history of Germany, from the middle of the sixth to the middle of the ninth century, is that of France also. After having conducted them to their new homes, we take leave of the Anglo-Saxons, the Visigoths and the Longobards, and return to the Frank dynasty founded by Chlodwig, about the year 500, when the smaller kings and chieftains of his race accepted him as their ruler. In the histories of France, even those written in English, he is called "Clovis,

30 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER X.

THE DYNASTY OF THE ROYAL STEWARDS. (638—768.) We have mentioned Pippin of Landen as the Royal Steward of Clotar II. His office gave birth to the new power which grew up beside the Merovingian rule and finally suppressed it. In the chronicles of the time the officer is called the Majordomus of the King,—a word which is best translated by "Steward of the Royal Household"; but in reality, it embraced much more extended and important powers than the title would imply. In their conquests, the Franks—

41 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XI.

THE REIGN OF CHARLEMAGNE. (768—814.) When King Pippin the Short felt that his end was near, he called an assembly of Dukes, nobles and priests, which was held at St. Denis, for the purpose of installing his sons, Karl and Karloman, as his successors. As he had observed how rapidly the French and German halves of his empire were separating themselves from each other, in language, habits and national character, he determined to change the former boundary between "Austria" and "Neustria," which ran

36 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XII.

THE EMPERORS OF THE CAROLINGIAN LINE. (814—911.) The last act of Charlemagne's life in ordering the manner of his son's coronation,—which was imitated, a thousand years afterwards, by Napoleon, who, in the presence of the Pope, Pius VII., himself set the crown upon his own head—showed that he designed keeping the Imperial power independent of that of the Church. But his son, Ludwig, was already a submissive and willing dependent of Rome. During his reign as king of Aquitaine he had covered the l

43 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XIII.

KING KONRAD, AND THE SAXON RULERS, HENRY I. AND OTTO THE GREAT. (912—973.) When Ludwig the Child died, the state of affairs in Germany had greatly changed. The direct dependence of the nobility and clergy upon the Emperor, established by the political system of Charlemagne, was almost at an end; the country was covered with petty sovereignties, which stood between the chief ruler and the people. The estates which were formerly given to the bishops, abbots, nobles, and others who had rendered spe

48 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XIV.

THE DECLINE OF THE SAXON DYNASTY. (973—1024.) Otto II., already crowned as king and Emperor, began his reign as one authorized "by the grace of God." Although only eighteen years old, and both physically and intellectually immature, his succession was immediately acknowledged by the rulers of the smaller German States. He was short and slender, and of such a ruddy complexion that the people gave him the name of "Otto the Red." He had been carefully educated, and possessed excellent qualities of

26 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XV.

THE FRANK EMPERORS, TO THE DEATH OF HENRY IV. (1024—1106.) On the 4th of September, 1024, the German nobles, clergy and people came together on the banks of the Rhine, near Mayence, to elect a new Emperor. There were fifty or sixty thousand persons in all, forming two great camps: on the western bank of the river were the Lorrainese and the Rhine-Franks, on the eastern bank the Saxons, Suabians, Bavarians and German-Franks. There were two prominent candidates for the throne, but neither of them

56 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XVI.

END OF THE FRANK DYNASTY, AND RISE OF THE HOHENSTAUFENS. (1106—1152.) Henry V. showed his true character immediately after his accession to the throne. Although he had been previously supported by the Papal party, he was no sooner acknowledged king of Germany than he imitated his father in opposing the claims of the Church. The new Pope, Paschalis II., had found it expedient to recognize the Bishops whom Henry IV. had appointed, but at the same time he issued a manifesto declaring that all futur

28 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XVII.

THE REIGN OF FREDERICK I., BARBAROSSA. (1152—1197.) Konrad left only an infant son at his death, and the German princes, who were learning a little wisdom by this time, determined not to renew the unfortunate experiences of Henry IV.'s minority. The next heir to the throne was Frederick of Suabia, who was now thirty-one years old, handsome, popular, and already renowned as a warrior. He was elected immediately, without opposition, and solemnly crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle. When he made his "royal

38 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE REIGN OF FREDERICK II. AND END OF THE HOHENSTAUFEN LINE. (1215—1268.) A story was current among the German people, that, shortly before Henry VI.'s death, the spirit of Theodoric the Great, in giant form on a black war-steed, rode along the Rhine presaging trouble to the Empire. This legend no doubt originated after the trouble came, and was simply a poetical image of what had already happened. The German princes were determined to have no child again, as their hereditary Emperor; but only o

48 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XIX.

GERMANY AT THE TIME OF THE INTERREGNUM. (1256—1273.) The end of the Hohenstaufen dynasty marks an important phase in the history of Germany. From this time the character of the Empire is radically changed. Although still called "Roman" in official documents, the term is henceforth an empty form, and even the word "Empire" loses much of its former significance. The Italian Republics were now practically independent, and the various dukedoms, bishoprics, principalities and countships, into which G

28 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XX.

FROM RUDOLF OF HAPSBURG TO LUDWIG THE BAVARIAN. (1273—1347.) Richard of Cornwall died in 1272, and the German princes seemed to be in no haste to elect a successor. The Pope, Gregory X., finally demanded an election, for the greater convenience of having to deal with one head, instead of a multitude; and the Archbishop of Mayence called a Diet together at Frankfort, the following year. He proposed, as candidate, Count Rudolf of Hapsburg (or Habsburg), a petty ruler in Switzerland, who had also p

50 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXI.

THE LUXEMBURG EMPERORS, KARL IV. AND WENZEL. (1347—1410.) Although the German princes were nearly unanimous in the determination that no member of the house of Wittelsbach (Bavaria) should again be Emperor, they were by no means willing to accept Karl of Bohemia. [B] Ludwig's son, Ludwig of Brandenburg, made no claim to his father's crown, but he united with Saxony, Mayence and the Palatinate of the Rhine, in offering it to Edward III. of England. When the latter declined, they chose Count Ernes

34 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXII.

THE REIGN OF SIGISMUND AND THE HUSSITE WAR. (1410—1437.) In 1410, the year of Rupert's death, Europe was edified by the spectacle of three Emperors in Germany, and three Popes of the Church of Rome, all claiming to rule at the same time. The Diet was divided between Sigismund and Jodocus of Moravia, both of whom were declared elected, while Wenzel insisted that he was still Emperor. A Council held at Pisa, about the same time, deposed Pope Gregory XII. in Rome and Pope Benedict XIII. in Avignon,

42 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE FOUNDATION OF THE HAPSBURG DYNASTY. (1438—1493.) The German Electors seemed to be acting contrary to their usual policy, when, on the 18th of March, 1438, they unanimously voted for Albert of Austria, who became Emperor as Albert II. With him commences the Hapsburg dynasty, which kept sole possession of the Imperial office until Francis II. gave up the title of Emperor of Germany, in 1806. Albert II. was Duke of Austria, and, as the heir of Sigismund, he was also king of Hungary and Bohemia;

36 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXIV.

GERMANY, DURING THE REIGN OF MAXIMILIAN I. (1493—1519.) As Maximilian had been elected in 1486, he began to exercise the full Imperial power, without any further formalities, after his father's death. For the first time since the death of Henry VII. in 1313, the Germans had a popular Emperor. They were at last weary of the prevailing disorder and insecurity, and partly conscious that the power of the Empire had declined, while that of France, Spain, and even Poland, had greatly increased. Theref

29 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXV.

THE REFORMATION. (1517—1546.) When the Emperor Maximilian died, a greater man than himself or any of his predecessors on the Imperial throne had already begun a far greater work than was ever accomplished by any political ruler. Out of the ranks of the poor, oppressed German people arose the chosen Leader who became powerful above all princes, who resisted the first monarch of the world, and defeated the Church of Rome after an undisturbed reign of a thousand years. We must therefore leave the s

2 hour read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXVI.

FROM LUTHER'S DEATH TO THE END OF THE 16TH CENTURY. (1546—1600.) The woes which the German Electors brought upon the country, when they gave the crown to a Spaniard because he was a Hapsburg, were only commencing when Luther died. Charles V. had just enough German blood in him to enable him to deceive the German people; he had no interest in them further than the power they gave to his personal rule; he used Germany to build up the strength of Spain, and then trampled it under his feet. The Coun

37 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXVII.

BEGINNING OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. (1600—1625.) The beginning of the seventeenth century found the Protestants in Germany still divided. The followers of Zwingli, it is true, had accepted the Augsburg Confession as the shortest means of acquiring freedom of worship; but the Calvinists, who were now rapidly increasing, were not willing to take this step, nor were the Lutherans any more tolerant towards them than at the beginning. The Dutch, in conquering their independence of Spain, gave the Cal

37 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXVIII.

TILLY, WALLENSTEIN AND GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. (1625—1634.) Before the end of the year 1625, and within three months after Ferdinand II. had commissioned Wallenstein to raise an army, the latter marched into Saxony at the head of 30,000 men. No important operations were undertaken during the winter: Christian IV. and Mansfeld had their separate quarters on the one side, Tilly and Wallenstein on the other, and the four armies devoured the substance of the lands where they were encamped. In April, 1626

48 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXIX.

END OF THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR. (1634—1648.) The Austrian army, composed chiefly of Wallenstein's troops and commanded nominally by the Emperor's son, the Archduke Ferdinand, but really by General Gallas, marched upon Ratisbon and forced the Swedish garrison to surrender before Duke Bernard, hastening back from Eger, could reach the place. Then, uniting with the Spanish and Bavarian forces, the Archduke took Donauwörth and began the siege of the fortified town of Nördlingen, in Würtemberg. Duke Be

35 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXX.

GERMANY, TO THE PEACE OF RYSWICK. (1648—1697.) The Peace of Westphalia coincides with the beginning of great changes throughout Europe. The leading position on the Continent, which Germany had preserved from the treaty of Verdun until the accession of Charles V.—nearly 700 years—was lost beyond recovery: it had passed into the hands of France, where Louis XIV. was just commencing his long and brilliant reign. Spain, after a hundred years of supremacy, was in a rapid decline; the new Republic of

34 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXXI.

THE WAR OF THE SPANISH SUCCESSION. (1697—1714.) The beginning of the new century brought with it new troubles for all Europe, and Germany—since it was settled that her Emperors must be Hapsburgs—was compelled to share in them. In the North, Charles XII. of Sweden and Peter the Great of Russia were fighting for "the balance of power"; in Spain king Charles II. was responsible for a new cause of war, simply because he was the last of the Hapsburgs in a direct line, and had no children! Louis XIV.

20 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXXII.

THE RISE OF PRUSSIA. (1714—1740.) While the War of the Spanish Succession raged along the Rhine, in Bavaria and the Netherlands, the North of Germany was convulsed by another and very different struggle. The ambitious designs of Charles XII. of Sweden, who succeeded to the throne in 1697, aroused the jealousy and renewed the old hostility, of Denmark, Russia and Poland, and in 1700 they formed an alliance against Sweden. Denmark began the war, the same year, by invading Holstein-Gottorp, the Duk

29 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXXIII.

THE REIGN OF FREDERICK THE GREAT. (1740—1786.) Few royal princes ever had a more unfortunate childhood and youth than Frederick the Great. His mother, Sophia Dorothea of Hannover, a sister of George II. of England, was an amiable, mild-tempered woman who was devotedly attached to him, but had no power to protect him from the violence of his hard and tyrannical father. As a boy his chief tastes were music and French literature, which he could only indulge by stealth: the king not only called him

2 hour read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXXIV.

GERMANY UNDER MARIA THERESA AND JOSEPH II. (1740—1790.) In the Empress Maria Theresa, Frederick the Great had an enemy whom he was bound to respect. Since the death of Maximilian II., in 1576, Austria had no male ruler so prudent, just and energetic as this woman. One of her first acts was to imitate the military organization of Prussia: then she endeavored to restore the finances of the country, which had been sadly shattered by the luxury of her predecessors. Her position during the two Silesi

25 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXXV.

FROM THE DEATH OF JOSEPH II. TO THE END OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE. (1790—1806.) The mantles of both Frederick the Great and Joseph II. fell upon incompetent successors, at a time when all Europe was agitated by the beginning of the French Revolution, and when, therefore, the greatest political wisdom was required of the rulers of Germany. It was a crisis, the like of which never before occurred in the history of the world, and probably never will occur again; for, at the time when it came, the people

53 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXXVI.

GERMANY UNDER NAPOLEON. (1806—1814.) After the peace of Presburg there was nothing to prevent Napoleon from carrying out his plan of dividing the greater part of Europe among the members of his own family, and the Marshals of his armies. He gave the kingdom of Naples to his brother Joseph; appointed his step-son Eugene Beauharnais Viceroy of Italy, and married him to the daughter of Maximilian I. (formerly Elector, now King) of Bavaria; made a Kingdom of Holland, and gave it to his brother Louis

57 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXXVII.

FROM THE LIBERATION OF GERMANY TO THE YEAR 1848. (1814—1848.) Napoleon's genius was never more brilliantly manifested than during the slow advance of the Allies from the Rhine to Paris, in the first three months of the year 1814. He had not expected an invasion before the spring, and was taken by surprise; but with all the courage and intrepidity of his younger years, he collected an army of 100,000 men, and marched against Blücher, who had already reached Brienne. In a battle on the 29th of Jan

36 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

THE REVOLUTION OF 1848 AND ITS RESULTS. (1848—1861.) The sudden breaking out of the Revolution of February, 1848, in Paris, the flight of Louis Philippe and his family, and the proclamation of the Republic, acted in Germany like a spark dropped upon powder. All the disappointments of thirty years, the smouldering impatience and sense of outrage, the powerful aspiration for political freedom among the people, broke out in sudden flame. There was instantly an outcry for freedom of speech and of th

27 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XXXIX.

THE STRUGGLE WITH AUSTRIA; THE NORTH-GERMAN UNION. (1861—1870.) The first important measure which the government of William I. adopted was a thorough reorganization of the army. Since this could not be effected without an increased expense for the present and a prospect of still greater burdens in the future, the Legislative Assembly of Prussia refused to grant the appropriation demanded. The plan was to increase the time of service for the reserve forces, to diminish that of the militia, and en

24 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XL.

THE WAR WITH FRANCE, AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GERMAN EMPIRE. (1870—1871.) The experience of the next three years showed how completely the new order of things was accepted by the great majority of the German people. Even in Austria, the defeat at Königgrätz and the loss of Venetia were welcomed by the Hungarians and Slavonians, and hardly regretted by the German population, since it was evident that the Imperial Government must give up its absolutist policy or cease to exist. In fact, the former

36 minute read

Read Chapter

CHAPTER XLI.

THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE. (1871—1893.) After many a dark and gloomy century, the dream of a united Germany was realized. The outer pile stood complete before the awakening nation and an astonished world; now there remained to be done the patient, painstaking work of consolidating the federation of States in all particulars, making the different parts one within as well as without. On the 21st of March, 1871, the first German Parliament, elected by the direct vote of the people, met at Berlin, the c

43 minute read

Read Chapter

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE

OF GERMAN HISTORY. The history of Germany is generally divided into Five Periods, as follows: Some historians subdivide these periods, or change their limits; but there seems to be no other form of division so simple, natural, and easily borne in the memory. While retaining it, however, in the chronological table which follows, we shall separate the different dynasties which governed the German Empire, up to the time of the Interregnum, which is removed, by an irregular succession during two cen

22 minute read

Read Chapter