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LEFT GERMANY 300 GERMANY of Charlemagne, giving it the name "The Holy Roman Empire of the Ger- man Nation." The Saxon dynasty added to the empire Lotharingia, Bohemia, and Italy; and to this family succeeded that of Franconia, which reigned from 1024 to 1137, and added the Kingdom of Aries to the possessions of the empire. The house of Suabia next succeeded, and, of this line, Conrad III., and Frederick Barbarossa, from 1138 to 1190, raised the imperial power to its utmost Tieight. On Conrad IV. 's death commenced the long interregnum from 1254 to 1273, which ended in delivering Germany from anarchy by Rudolph of Hapsburg. The Golden Bull or charter was granted to the feudatories and electors by Charles IV. in 1356, and in 1438 Albert of Haps- burg was elected emperor and became the head of the present house of Austria. Under Ferdinand II., the Thirty Years' War began in 1618, resulting in the con- firmation of the Lutheran religion. The reigns of Leopold I. and Charles VI. were occupied with long wars with Louis XIV. and XV. of France; and the death of Charles, in 1740, gave rise to the War of the Austrian Succession, which secured the throne to the husband of Maria Theresa, Charles' daughter, and thus placed on the throne a member of the House of Lorraine, Francis I. Napoleon I., who since 1799 had directed the foreign policy of the French nation, not satisfied with this reduction of the power of the empire, now conceived the idea of effecting its entire dissolution. The treaty of Pressburg, in 1805, which followed the battle of Austerlitz, gave him the means of carrying this project into effect, by forming a confederation of German princes, called the Confedera- tion of the Rhine, who, uniting into a corporate body, in 1807 placed them- selves under the protectorate of the French emperor. The wars which fol- lowed gave Napoleon the power of al- tering the territorial distribution of Ger- many at pleasure. He accordingly cre- ated for his brother Jerome the new kingdom of Westphalia, and for his brother-in-law, Joachim Murat, the grand-duchy of Berg, and raised those members of the Rhenish confederation who supported his cause to new digni- ties and an openly recognized independ- ence of sovereigns. Under the circvim- stances, the emperor, Francis II., by a solemn act, renounced the style and title of emperor of Germany, Aug. 6, 1809. The termination of the war with Russia, called in Germany the Liberation War, restored Germany to its geograph- ical and political position in Europe, but not as an empire acknowladging one supreme head. A confederation of 35 in- dependent sovereigns and 4 free cities replaced the elective monarchy, that fell under its own decrepitude. A national government was recognized in 1848, and Archduke John, of Austrra, was elected Vicar, but he frustrated all energetic moves on the part of the Parliament. In 1850 Austria and Prussia combined to restore the Diet, but in 1866, the Bund was dissolved and war broke out between these states. By the treaty of Prague, Aug. 20, 1866, Austria was excluded from participation in the new organiza- tion of German states, and was forced to pay 40,000,000 thalers for the ex- pense of the war. In 1870 the Franco- German War broke out between France and Prussia, resulting in the defeat of France, the cession of Alsace-Lorraine to Germany, and the consolidation of all the German states into the German Em- pire. On Jan. 18, 1871, William, King of Prussia, was proclaimed first Em- peror of Germany, at Versailles. An of- fensive and defensive alliance was formed between Austria and Germany in 1879, and later Italy entered, form- ing the Triple Alliance. During the dif- ficulties between the European powers with the United States and China in 1900-1901, Germany bore a conspicuous part, and Field-Marshal Count von Wal- dersee was appointed commander-in- chief of the international military forces. In the first years of the twentieth cen- tury, the keynote of the German foreign policy was a growing hostility toward Great Britain, which had for its causes commercial rivalry and resentment at the conduct of the Emperor at the outbreak of the South African War. Germany was entirely neutral during the Russo-Jap- anese War, but took advantage of the Russian defeat to antagonize France and Russia by attempting interference with the policy of France in Morocco. In the early rnonths of 1905 war with France seemed imminent, but the Anglo- French agreement held fast and Ger- many was obliged to yield at the con- ference held at Algeciras, in 1906. The annexation by Austria of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908, threatened war against Austria by Serbia and Russia, but the announcement that Russia would support Austria, prevented ^ hostilites and enabled Austria to maintain her ac- tion. Measures providing for electoral reform were passed in 1910. By a treaty made in 1911, Russia and Germany agreed as to their relative rights in the Near East. Germany's influence was to continue along the Bagdad Railway, while Russia was given supremacy in north Persia and Kurdestan. In this year there was also a second controversy with France over the question of Mor-