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 PRUSSIA

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PRT7SSIA

in the wars between Napoleon and England, being desirous to annex Hanover if possible. For a consider- able length of time Napoleon tempted Prussia by holding out the hope of this acquisition, and in 1806 by the plan of a North German Confederation of which Pnissia was to be the leader, Frederick William

11 even sought to gain territorj' in southern Germany. By an agreement made with the HohenzoUern Lino of southern Germany he obtained in 1791 the Prin- cipalities of Ansbach and Bayreuth; in 1796 he made an unexpected attack upon Nuremberg but soon vacated it. None of these undertakings were con- ducted with much energj' or with any clearlj'-defined end in view, for at the same time the political plans of Prussia in Eastern Europe exceeded her strength. Not only did Prussia obtain Danzig and Thorn in the Second Partition of Poland (1792), but in the Third Partition (1795) she acquired the central basin of the ^'istula, with Warsaw as its capital. Prussia now in- cluded the entire basins of the Oder and Vistula. But it was no longer possible to make the eastern terri- tories the preponderating part of the State. Besides the country was now half Slavonic, and the majority of its inhabitants were henceforward to be Catholic. The old Prussian territories had by this time been brought to a higher state of culture and had become m some measure capable of meeting the demands made upon them. The State now undertook another ta.sk: this was to bring the demoraUzed Polish prov- inces into order, to organize them, bring them to economic prosperity, and give them ci\il officials and teachers. In 1806 Prussia became involved in a war with Napoleon, which made e\-ident the confusion of its internal affairs, and its lack of strength. Its army, led by the grey-haired Ferdinand of Brunswick, was cut to pieces in the battles of Jena and Auerstadt, fought on the same day (14 Oct.), after a skirmish at Saalfeld; Prince Louis Ferdinand died 18 October. Most of the fortresses capitulated without any real resistance. The bureaucracy of government officials lost its head and acted in a cowardly manner. The people were apathetic. The king, however, made some resistance, ^\-ith the aid of Russia. Napoleon wished to make an end of Prussia as a State, and only the intercession of Russia preserved for the HohenzoUern dynasty a part at least of its territories. By the Peace of Tilsit, 9 July, 1807, Prussia lost the Franconian provinces and all those west of the Elbe, as well as the Polish acquisitions outside of Polish Prussia. Moreover, French troops were garrisoned in the dis- tricts still remaining to it, and an enormous war in- demnity was demanded (Convention of Konigsberg,

12 July, 1807).

However, Prussia's terrible humiliation, notwith- standing all its mournful results, finst opened the way for the exercise of those energies of the country that had been until now suppressed. The king showed great endurance in his misfortunes. His wife Louise made herself the intermediary between him and the men from whom the restoration of the country was to come. During the war Scharnhorst the future re- organizer of the Prussian army had had his first opportunity to distinguish him.self at the battle of Eylau, 7-8 February, 1807. In the winter of 1S06-O7 the philosopher Fichte delivered his celebrated "ad- dresses to the German nation" at Berlin. In the spring of 1807 the king appointed Count Hardenburg, a native of Hanover, minister of foreign affairs, but was obliged to dismiss him in July at Napoleon's bidding; the count, however, still continued to advise the king. Shortly after the Peace of Tilsit Scharn- horst was given charge of military affairs. From this time the army consisted only of natives of the king- dom, the soldiers were better treated, a thorough edu- cation was required from those desiring to become officers, and the people were gradually accustomed to the idea of universal military service, until it was in-

troduced by the law of 3 Sept., 1814. On 5 October, 1807, Freiherr von Stein, a native of Nassau, was placed at the head of all the internal affairs of Prussia. With his appointment the real reform minister came into power. He was able to retain his position only a year, but this sufficed to impress on the legislation of the time a character of grandeur, although he could not control its details. Stein found the kingdom re- duced in reality to the present province of East Prussia, and there the liberal officials were already preparing radical changes. The law of 9 Oct., 1807, was already enacted, according to which the peasant serfs were declared free ; every Prussian was authorized to hold landed property and to follow any occupation he chose. Stein only signed the decree. The law made it necessary to readjust all peasant holdings and the taxes upon them. This readjustment dragged on during a number of years, and was not finally com- pleted until the middle of the century.

.\fter Stein's retirement this measure frequently proved the economic ruin of the peasants. Another consequence of this law, iis completed by the law on trade taxation, Oct., 1810, and by the Edict of 7 Sept., 1811, was the adoption by Prussia of liberty of occu- pation. Prussia led the way in this reform in Germany. Stein's chief personal interest was in the reform of the constitution and of the administration. His desire was to create a union between the Government and the people that was then lacking, to awaken in the Gov- ernment officials a spirit of initiative and responsibil- ity, to enkindle in Prussia popular sentiment for Germany. The lesser offices in Prussia were to be di\-ided into two classes; the former following the historical and geographical di\-isions of the country (pro\dnces, circles, communes); the second deter- mined wholly by the needs of the Government (Regie- rungsbezirke). The duties of the former were to be performed by administrative bodies, who were to act as the representatives or as the deputies of the people; the latter by government officials. With the admin- istrative body, in some cases, a government official was associated (provincial president); in other cases certain government duties were confided to their heads (Landrat, Burgenneister). On the other hand repre- sentatives of the people were to have a share in the Go\'ernment, and in the course of time, as a counter- poise to the ministerial bureaucracy, the members of the national diet were to be elected from the pro- vincial diets. Stein substantiall.v gave the franchise only to land owners. He desired that the people in general should be prepared for taking part in the Government by the schools and universities. Freedom of action was to be restored to the state officials by putting an end to cabinet government, and giving each minister the independent administration of his own department. Personally, Stein was only able to initiate these reforms by the municipal legislation of 19 Nov., 1808, and the "laws on the changed constitu- tion of the highest administration of the realm" of 24 Nov., 1808. His fiery temperament and his strong German sympathies made him too impatient. To- gether with Scharnhorst he planned measures to rouse the German people for a war against Napoleon. Con- sequently he was obliged to resign. Moreover, he did not sufficiently gauge the peculiarities of Prussia, par- ticularistic, dynastic, and bureaucratic. His work, however, did not perish.

In 1810 the LTniversity of Berlin was founded as the great national centre of education; in 1811 the Uni- versity of Breslau. In 1810 Hardenberg re-entered the Government and a chancellor carried on the work of reform systematically until his death in 1822. He skilfully managed the king and accommodated him- self to the peculiarities of the Prussian character: like Stein he thoroughly believed in the necessity of a com- plete reconstruction of the State. He made special efforts to reform the system of taxation, but he was