The earliest information we have of the Germans, the peoples and the
tribes who dwelt among the dense forests that stretched from the
Rhine to the Vistula and from the Danube to the Baltic Sea, comes to
us from the Romans.
=First Contact with Romans.=--The first tribes of Germanic race to come
into collision with the arms of Rome were the Cimbri and Teutones, who
in 113 B. C. had invaded Styria, and there met with defeat from the
troops of the consul Papirius. When in 58 B. C. Cæsar began his
campaigns in Gaul, he found several hordes of Germans, mostly Marcomanni
and Suevi, settled between the Rhine and the Vosges, and even on the
western side of these hills.
Appealed to by the Gauls of those regions to free them from their German
oppressors, Cæsar inflicted a crushing defeat upon their ambitious
chieftain, Ariovistus, and chased him and his followers across the
Rhine. In the period 166-74 Aurelius was engaged in beating back a
formidable incursion of the Marcomanni and Quadi into Roman territory.
From the third century we no longer read of single tribes, but of great
confederations of tribes, as the Goths, Alemanni, Franks, Frisians,
Saxons, Thuringians, and others. Of the history of Germany itself we
learn little more that is authentic until we come down to the times of
the Franks, by whom the kingdoms of France and Germany were subsequently
formed.
Henceforward, till the time of Charlemagne, Germany was occupied by a
number of chieftains, who were perpetually at war with one another,
except when invasions from without forced them into transitory alliance.
=Charlemagne=, or Charles the Great, the Frankish king, was crowned
emperor of Rome by the pope in 800, and after his death his empire was
partitioned among his four sons, and the result of the family struggles
which followed was the separation of Germany from Gaul and of both from
Burgundy and Italy by the Treaty of Verdun in 843. (See history of
France; also Empire of Charlemagne.)
A separate kingdom of Germany was then formed under Lewis the German. A
temporary reunion of the dominions of Charlemagne--with the exception of
Burgundy--was effected under Charles the Fat in 884, but he was deposed
in 887 and the final separation into the East and West Frankish kingdoms
was accomplished.
The inroads of the Norsemen were checked in 891 by Arnulf, but they were
followed by the savage attacks of the Hungarians during the reign of
Louis the Child, with whom ended the race of Charlemagne in 911.
=Under Feudal System.=--The royal power had now almost vanished, and the
system of granting fiefs had resulted in the formation of a class of
powerful local rulers--the dukes of the great groups or confederations
of tribes. The maintenance of central authority at all was probably due
only to external danger from Slavs, Norsemen, and Magyars, and even this
could not prevent constant warfare between the great feudal lords.
Conrad of Franconia, elected by the leading nobles, was unable to
enforce his authority, and was, at his own suggestion, succeeded by his
great enemy, Henry, Duke of Saxony.
[Illustration: =THE BRANDENBURG GATE=
at the western terminus of the Unter den Linden, was erected 1789, at a
cost of three hundred and seventy thousand dollars, after the Propylæa
of Athens, and is regarded as the finest archway in Europe next to the
Arc de Triomphe at Paris. The Quadriga or four-horse car of Victory, by
Schadow, was taken to Paris by the French in 1806, and returned 1814.]
=Henry I. Establishes Order.=--A born leader of men, statesman and
general, Henry I. (919-936) introduced a new civil and military
organization. He created the burgher class by the foundation of towns,
compelling every tenth freeman to labor on buildings, and these towns he
made the centers for judicial administration, ceremonies and festivals,
markets, and trade. He broke the power of the Magyars, subdued Danes and
Slavs, and before his death private war had ceased.
=Otto the Great Revives the Holy Roman Empire.=--His son, Otto the Great
(936-973), consolidated the royal power, and reduced the great Duchies
to submission, keeping them in his own hands or in those of members of
his family. In 951 he entered Italy to settle the affairs of the Lombard
kingdom, but returned to cope with a revolt terminated only by the vital
danger of an invasion by the Magyars, whose power was finally crushed in
955. Crowned Emperor by the Pope in 962, he set an example to subsequent
German kings, who claimed the Imperial and Lombard crowns as of right;
but the precedent led also to the continued absences of the German
rulers in Italy and the severance of their interests from those of their
own proper dominions. The sense of German nationality grew in his reign,
yet this was accompanied by a weakening of central authority and the
development of the power of the great vassals, dukes, and princes,
ecclesiastical and secular.
=Under the House of Franconia.=--After his death constant civil war
increased their power until their growing independence was checked by
Conrad II. (1024-1039), the first of the Franconian Emperors, who
rendered the mediate nobles, vassals of the great lords, less dependent
on their feudal superiors, and formed a close alliance with the towns.
His son, Henry III. (1039-1056), further strengthened the royal power,
put down private war, and in 1043 proclaimed a general peace.
=Struggle with the Papacy.=--His attempted reformation of the Papacy and
appointment of four German popes in succession commenced the long and
fierce struggle between the Emperors and the Popes. During the minority
of his son, Henry IV., the great nobles recovered much of their power.
His opposition to the famous decree of Pope Gregory VII. in 1075 against
the marriage of the clergy and their investiture by laymen was followed
by his summons to Rome, his deposition of the Pope through a synod of
German bishops, his excommunication and complete humiliation at Canossa
in 1077. The dispute was only settled under his son, Henry V., by a
compromise, the “Concordat of Worms,” in 1122, but the power of the
Papacy had been enormously strengthened. It had attempted to dispose of
the Imperial Crown, and Innocent II. even claimed to have granted it to
Lothar of Saxony (1125-1137) in 1133 as to a vassal.
=Famous Hohenstaufen Line.=--With Conrad III. of Franconia (1137-1152)
commences the line of the famous Hohenstaufen Emperors. The two great
parties supporting the Pope and the Emperor now first became known as
Guelfs and Ghibelines (Welfs and Waiblings). His successor, the great
Frederick Barbarossa (1152-1190), was occupied in Italy during long
years with the now permanent struggle against the Popes and the Italian
cities supporting them. In Germany Teutonic power was extended over the
Slavonic countries along the Baltic by Henry the Lion of Saxony and
Albert the Bear, to whom was granted the Mark of Brandenburg. Under
Frederick II. (1212-1250) the struggle with the Papacy was continued.
Sentence of excommunication was launched against him, and a rival king
was elected, and his continued absence in Italy led to the utmost
anarchy in Germany. Meanwhile the conquest of the Slavonic lands now
forming a great part of Prussia progressed steadily under the Knights of
the Teutonic Order and of the Order of the Sword.
The period of the Hohenstaufens was one of great brilliancy. Chivalry
was promoted in the Crusades, literature was in full bloom in the works
of the Minnesänger, Gothic architecture received its finest
developments, the towns increased in prosperity, many serfs were freed,
and codes of local customs and usages were compiled, such as the
Sachsenspiegel and the Schwabenspiegel. On the other hand, the greater
vassals became practically independent, and the principle of inheritance
was applied to their lands and offices. The privileges usurped by the
ecclesiastical and secular princes were confirmed by Frederick II. in
the “Pragmatic Sanctions” of 1220 and 1232, and the right of electing
the Emperor was confined to the Seven Electors.
=The Interregnum.=--The period of anarchy culminating in the “Great
Interregnum” (1250-1273) is marked by the formation of the Rhenish
Confederation of some seventy leading cities for mutual defense, and of
the powerful Hanseatic League.
=Beginning of the Hapsburg Line.=--Rudolf of Hapsburg, elected in 1273,
revived the royal authority and strictly enforced justice, but his rule
was unfavorable to the growing privileges of the towns. In this respect
his policy was reversed by his successor, Adolf of Nassau (1291-1298),
and by his son, Albert I. (1298-1308), who even befriended the serfs and
the Jews. The long struggle between the Empire and the Papacy
practically ended under Louis IV. (1314-1347), by the formal declaration
of the Electors in 1338 that the Papal sanction was not needed to the
election of the emperor. Public peace was encouraged under Louis IV.,
and his friendship to the towns was constant. Industry and trade
flourished more and more in the cities, and their government was now
becoming more democratic through the victory of the craft-guilds over
the old patrician families.
=House of Luxemburg.=--Charles IV. (1347-1378), the first emperor who
retained his hereditary lands on election, by the “Golden Bull” in 1356
regulated the method of election and confirmed the complete sovereignty
of the Electors in their own territories. In 1396 the foundations of
Swiss independence were laid in the victory of the “Eidgenossen” over
Duke Leopold of Austria at Sempach.
=Reformation Foreshadowed.=--In the reign of Sigismund (1410-1437), who
united the dignities of King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, and Margrave
of Brandenburg, and who was the last Emperor crowned at Rome, the
Hussite war, consequent on the burning of John Huss by the Council of
Constance in 1415, foreshadowed the Reformation. The Mark of Brandenburg
now passed to the Hohenzollerns, under whom it was to grow into the
kingdom of Prussia.
The reigns of Frederick IV. (1440-1493), and Maximilian I. (1493-1519),
the husband of Mary, the heiress of Charles the Bold, last Duke of
Burgundy, bring the Middle Ages to a close. The age of chivalry was
ended by the invention of gunpowder and the use of mercenary troops; the
realities of feudalism had passed away, the Imperial authority had
dwindled to nominal control, and princes and cities had attained
independence. But the Imperial dignity was now permanently connected
with the House of Hapsburg and combined with great territorial
possessions. The semblance and, to some extent, the reality of unity
were established by the growing use of Roman law, by the constitution in
1495 of an Imperial Tribunal or Court of Appeal (the “Aulic Council”),
and by the division of Germany in 1501 and 1512 into “Circles,” each
with its own “States” charged to carry out the decisions of the Imperial
Chamber.
=Period of Charles V.=--Luther’s denunciation of indulgences was made in
1517, but the full storm of the Reformation burst after the accession of
Charles V. (1519-1555), who united to the Empire the entire possessions
of the kingdom of Spain. At the Diet of Worms in 1521 he took up the
defense of the Church, and condemned Luther as a heretic. At the same
Diet an Imperial Administrative Council was established, and a
“Matricula” drawn up, settling the contingents of troops to be raised by
the States, both of which existed until the fall of the Empire. The
Reformation now made irresistible progress; a common name,
“Protestants,” was acquired by the Reformers at the Diet of Speyer in
1529, and in common statement of doctrines, the “Augsburg Confession,”
was drawn up in 1530.
=Thirty Years’ War.=--The new and the old religions were put upon an
equality by the Religious Peace of Augsburg in 1555, in which, however,
the Calvinistic or Reformed Faith was not included. In the fearful
struggle which followed the Reformation the Imperial authority was
completely ruined. The reaction against the new doctrines, due mainly to
the zeal of the Jesuits, gave fresh strength to the Catholic party, the
Reformation was stamped out in Bohemia, and complete toleration was not
acquired by Protestants (including both Lutherans and Calvinists) until
the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.
This was at the close of the disastrous and merciless struggle known as
the Thirty Years’ war. The result of the confused period commencing with
the abdication of Charles V. in 1555 must be briefly summed up. The
Empire in Germany was practically ended and was now attached to the
hereditary dominions of the house of Hapsburg in Austria. The population
of Germany was reduced by more than one-half; industry and trade had
almost ceased to exist; enormous territorial losses had been suffered,
and France and Sweden had made great acquisitions. Switzerland and the
United Provinces were severed from the Empire, and had acquired complete
independence. Germany emerged from the war a mere lax confederation of
states, whose rulers--a race of absolute and, in most cases, coarse and
selfish despots--were recognized by the Peace of Westphalia as
independent. Even in the cities government had passed into the hands of
local oligarchies. The only bond of union was the nominal authority
remaining to the emperor, and now transferred to the Diet, of passing
laws, concluding treaties, and making war and peace. One completely good
result of the war was that amid the prevailing anarchy were laid, by
Grotius, the foundations of a system of International Law.
=Rise of Prussia to Power.=--The Thirty Years’ war was followed by the
rise of Prussia. Brandenburg had in 1611 become united to the Duchy of
Prussia, part of the possessions of the Teutonic Order, which was in
1657 declared independent of Poland, of which it had been a fief, and
received further accessions under the Great Elector, Frederick William.
It grew steadily in power during the long struggle against the
unscrupulous aggressions of Louis XIV., and in 1701 the son of the Great
Elector, Frederick I., obtained from the Emperor the recognition of the
Prussian Duchy as a kingdom. In 1713 a “Pragmatic Sanction” was drawn up
by the Emperor Charles VI. (1711-1740), providing for the inheritance of
the Austrian dominions by his daughter, Maria Theresa, and this was
ultimately guaranteed by the leading powers.
=Frederick the Great and the Seven Years’ War.=--But his death in 1740
was the opportunity of Prussia, where Frederick II., better known as
Frederick the Great, had just ascended the throne. He immediately
occupied Silesia. Maria Theresa met with enthusiastic support in
Hungary, and in 1745 her husband was elected emperor as Francis I.
(1745-1765). An interval of peace was followed by the Seven Years’ war,
at the conclusion of which, in 1763, Prussia was confirmed in the
possession of Silesia, took rank as a great Power, and became definitely
the rival of Austria in German politics.
In 1765 Joseph II. succeeded to the imperial crown, becoming at the same
time co-regent with his mother of the Austrian hereditary dominions. He
joined with Russia and Prussia in the first partition of Poland (1772).
He was succeeded by his brother Leopold, who, having died in 1792, was
succeeded by his son, Francis II., who joined in 1793 in the second
partition of Poland. He took the command of his army against the French
in 1794, concluded the peace of Campo Formio with Bonaparte (1797);
joined the second coalition against France in 1799, and concluded the
treaty of Lunéville (1801).
In 1804 Francis took the title of hereditary emperor of Austria,
renouncing two years later that of head of the German Empire, which,
indeed, had ceased to exist, owing to the conquests of Napoleon. The
latter’s secularization of the ecclesiastical states, overthrow of
Austria at Austerlitz (1805) and of Prussia at Jena and Auerstädt
(1806), and formation of the Confederation of the Rhine, completed the
extinction of the Holy Roman Empire.
=The German Confederation.=--The states of Germany were again united by
the treaty of Vienna (1815), in a confederation called the German
Confederation (_der Deutsche Bund_). In 1818 a general commercial
league, called the Zollverein was projected by Prussia, and was
gradually joined by most of the German states, exclusive of Austria.
Revolutionary outbreaks caused great disturbances in various German
states in 1830 and 1848, particularly the latter. The German Diet was
restored in 1851 by the efforts of Prussia and Austria, who were
latterly rivals for the supremacy in the confederation.
=Beginning of Bismarck’s Power.=--In 1861 William I. succeeded to the
throne of Prussia, and the conflicts between the liberals and his
ultra-reactionary government led in 1863 to the entrance into the
ministry of Otto von Bismarck, who soon after became its president and
the minister of foreign affairs. On the death of Frederick VII. of
Denmark, Prussia and Austria disputed the claims of Christian IX., his
successor, to the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, and the war which
followed (1864) resulted in the cession of Schleswig-Holstein, and
Lauenburg to those powers jointly.
By the treaty of Gastein, Austria and Prussia agreed to a joint
occupation of the Elbe duchies; but to prevent collision it was judged
prudent that Austria should occupy Holstein, and Prussia Sleswick.
=Contest Between Prussia and Austria.=--Already a difference of policy
had begun to show itself. Prussia was believed to have the intention of
annexing the duchies; while Austria began to favor the claims of Prince
Frederick of Augustemburg. In the meantime, both nations were making
ready for the struggle; and Italy, looking upon the quarrel as a
precious opportunity to strike a blow for the liberation of Venetia, had
secretly entered into an alliance with Prussia.
On July 3, 1866, was fought the decisive battle of Sadowa, in which the
Austrians were routed. Not till the victorious Prussians had pushed
forward towards Vienna was a truce obtained through the agency of the
Emperor of the French, the Peace of Prague (August 20). Italy, though
more than half-inclined to stand out for the cession by Austria of the
Trentino, as well as Venetia, reluctantly agreed to the armistice
(August 12).
A brief campaign sufficed for the defeat of the minor states of Germany
that had joined Austria, viz.: Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and
Hesse-Darmstadt; and, after peace had at last been arranged, some of
them were forced to submit to a certain loss of territory.
=Independence of Austria and Union of Germany.=--The war completed the
dissolution of the Confederation, and secured the reconstruction of
Germany on an entirely new basis. Austria was excluded from Germany, and
a new confederation, the North German, was formed of the states north of
the Main, under the headship of the king of Prussia. Schleswig-Holstein,
Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, Nassau, and Frankfort were incorporated with that
kingdom. Efforts to secure a further consolidation were opposed by the
South German states, but the final solution of the question was at
length brought about by France, whose demands resulted in the War of
1870. (See under France.)
In this war Germany acquired Alsace and a part of Lorraine, and south
Germany now waived any further opposition to a consolidation of all the
German states under the leadership of Prussia.
=Restoration of the German Empire.=--On December 3 the king of Bavaria
invited the king of Prussia to restore the dignity of German emperor.
Most of the other states gave their assent and the North German
Reichstag on December 10 adopted a motion for the establishment of the
German empire under the king of Prussia. On January 18, 1871, the
restoration of the imperial dignity was solemnly proclaimed by William
I. at Versailles.
Subsequently the empire was largely organized under the vigorous
administration of Prince Bismarck. The parliament of the new empire soon
met at Berlin, and adopted the new constitution. The main result of his
foreign policy was a cordial alliance with Austro-Hungary; an alliance,
in 1872, between the emperors of Germany, Austria and Russia, in which,
subsequently, Italy took the place of Russia, forming what is known in
European politics as the Triple Alliance.
In domestic affairs many difficulties were encountered. With the birth
of the new Empire commenced the long struggle of Prince Bismarck with
the Papacy. The Jesuits were expelled in 1872, and in 1873 the famous
“Falk Laws” imposed secular restrictions on all ecclesiastical
appointments. The strict enforcement of these laws led to intense
discontent and ill-feeling among Catholics. The contest ended with the
grant of many concessions and the confession by Prince Bismarck in 1887
that his policy was practically changed. The democratic movement known
as Socialism, aiming at the regulation and organization by the State of
labor and production, grew rapidly in strength and importance, and
inaugurated an era of “labor policy” by legislation compelling employers
to institute a system of insurance in favor of their work-people, since
followed by the adoption of an important state-aided scheme of insurance
against death and old age.
In 1888 Emperor William I. died, and the premature death, after a reign
of three months, of the beloved Crown Prince, who succeeded him as
Frederick III., disappointed the hopes of those who had anticipated a
Liberal policy on the part of the Crown.
=Accession of William II.=--His son and successor, William II., took a
strong view of his functions as emperor and king. His reign was
immediately characterized by the further development of the labor policy
inaugurated by Prince Bismarck. The emperor was not, however, generally
in accord with the views of the great Chancellor, whose resignation was
accepted in 1891.
Caprivi now became chancellor, and managed to negotiate a series of
commercial treaties, in 1892-1894, with the countries of Central Europe
(Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy), and later with Servia and
Roumania, the purpose of which was to lower the import-duty on corn on
condition that the foreign states favored German manufactures. These
treaties at once induced the peasants to combine and in 1893 a great
agricultural union was formed, called the _Bund der Landwirte_, with
which an older association, the _Deutsche Bauernbund_, almost
immediately coalesced.
=Commercial and Colonial Expansion.=--But the great features of recent
German history have been the growth of German trade and commerce, the
great colonial expansion in Africa and Polynesia, and the rapid increase
of her navy.
[Illustration: =MONUMENT OF VICTORY, BERLIN=
Erected in the Königs Platz at the conclusion of the Franco-Prussian war
of 1871. It consists of a circular temple surrounded with a colonnade of
sixteen pillars, standing upon a square base or pedestal, and surmounted
by a cylindrical shaft bearing a colossal gilt bronze Victory, winged
and holding a wreath. The total height is one hundred and ninety-four
feet. It may be ascended by an interior staircase. Upon the base are
elaborate reliefs of the various campaigns commemorated.]
In 1905 Germany intervened to disturb the French policy in Morocco,
resulting in a conference of the powers interested at Algeciras. In 1911
Germany again intervened by sending a warship to Agadir for the
protection of German property and German subjects. The action occasioned
a complication of the European situation, and all but resulted in war.
Germany’s claim for territorial compensation was not entertained by
France, and Great Britain, as ally of France, claimed the right to be
consulted if territory were to be conceded. The net result, after months
of diplomatic intercommunication, was a readjustment of frontiers. (See
German Colonial Possessions.)
The history of the German Empire since 1914 is chiefly that of the
leading Teutonic power in the great European war of 1914-1917.
[Illustration: =ST. PETER’S, ROME=
St. Peter’s is the largest church in the world, covering two hundred and
forty thousand square feet. It cost over sixty million dollars, took one
hundred and seventy-six years to build; contains many vast and beautiful
chapels, tombs of the popes, many paintings by great masters, and
sculptures by Bernini, Michaelangelo, Canova and Thorwaldsen.]