Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/522

Rh 504 G E R M A N Y [nIsTonv. .777- emperor Joseph II. (1765-90), who, although an ardent : chief central and southern states. The welfare of the Rhenish 515- admirer of Frederick, was anxious to restore to Austria the, empire was asserted to be its object, but a body of which °0n_ft‘tl0- l0SePh greatness she had partially lost. The younger branch of Napoleon was the protector existed, of course, for no "‘t‘°“° .I. the Wittelsbach line, which had hitherto possessed Bavaria, having died out in 1777, Joseph asserted claims to part of its territory. Fre.lerick intervened, and although no battle was fought in the nominal war which followed, the emperor was obliged to content himself with a very unimportant concession. He made a second attempt in 1785, but Frederick again came forward. This time he_ formed ‘a league for the defence of the imperial constitution, and it was joined by the majority of the small states. The memory of this league was almost blotted out by the tre- mendous events which soon absorbed the attention of Germanyand the world, but it truly iudicated the direction of the political forces which were then at work beneath the surface, and which long afterwards triumphed. The forma- tion of the league was a distinct attempt on the part of Prussia to make herself the centre for the national aspira- tions both of northern and of southern Germany. The French Revolution was hailed by many of the best minds of Germany as the opening of a new era. Among the princes it excited horror and alarm, and in 1792 the emperor Leopold ll. (1790-92), and Frederick 'illiam II , the unworthy successor of Frederick the Great, met at Pill- nitz, and agreed to support by arms the cause of the French king. A more important resolution was never taken. It plunged Europe into a conﬂict which cost millions of lives, and which overthrew the entire state system of the Con- tinent. Germany herself was the principal sufferer. The structure which the princes had so laboriously built up crumbled into ruins, and the mistakes of centuries were expiated in an agony of disaster and humiliation. The states of -the empire joined Austria and Prussia., and, had there been hearty co-operation between the allies, they could scarcely have failed of success. While the war was in progress, in 1793, Prussia joined Russia in the second partition of Poland. Austria considered herself overreached, and began negotiations with Russia for the third and final partition, which was effected by the three powers in 1795. Prussia, irritated by the proceedings of her rival, did as little as possible in the war with France; and in 1795 she retired from the struggle, ceding to France her possessions on the left bank of the Rhine. The war was continued by Austria, but her power was so effectually shattered by blow after blow that in 1797 she was forced to conclude the peace of Campo Formio. Napoleon Bonaparte, to whose genius the triumph of France was mainly due, began separate negotiations with the states of the empire at Rastadt; but, before terms could be agreed upon, war again began in 1799, Austria acting on this occasion as the ally of England and Russia. She was beaten, and the peace of Luneville alded fresh hnmiliations to those imposed upon her by the previous war. France now obtained the whole of the left bank of the Rhine, the dispossessed princes being compensated by grants of secularized church lands and of mediatized imperial cities. The contempt of Napoleon for the empire was illustrated by his occupation of Hanover in 1803, and by his seizure of the duke of Enghien on imperial territory in 1804. In 1805 Austria once more appealed to arms in association with her former .llies, but in vain. By the peace of Presburg she accepted more disastrous terms than ever, and for the moment it seemed as if she ' could not again hope to rise to her former splendour. In this war she was opposed not only by France, but by I}-avaria, 'iirtemberg, and Baden, all of which were liberally rewarded for their services, the rulers of the two former countries being proclaimed kings. The degradation of Germany was completed by the formation, in 1606, of the Confederation of the Rhine, which was composed of the other purpose than to be a menace to Austria and Prnssia. Francis II., who had succeeded Leopold II. in 1792, now resigned the imperial crown, and thus the empire and the had for centuries been virtually independent, were during the next few years not connected even by a nominal bond. Frederick William III. (l797—l840) of Prussia, the successor of Frederick William II., had held selfishly aloof from the struggle of Austria with France. Alarmed by the Confederation of the Rhine, he suddenly resolved on war. Napoleon gladly accepted the challenge, and Prussia. was so ill—prepared for the contest she had invited that the first serious battle—the battle of J ena—prostrated her at his feet. Aided by Russia, the king held out some time longer; but when, after the battle of Friedlaml, in 1807, the czar was detached from the alliance, Frederick William had to sign the treaty of Tilsit, by which he was deprived of the best part of his kingdom and of more than half his subjects. In 1809 Austria made one more attempt to retrieve hr.-r fortunes, and at first not without success. After the battle of Vagram, however, Napoleon dictated peace from Vienna. annexing, in 1810, the whole northern coast as far as the Elbe. The completeness of the humiliation of Germany was the means of her deliverance. She had been taught self-respect by Frederick II., and by her great writers in literature and philosophy ; it was felt to be intolerable that in politics she should do the bidding of a foreign master. Among a large section of the community patriotism became for the first time a consuming passion, and it was stimulated by the counsels of several manly teachers, among whom the first place belongs to Fichte. The Goverrnncnts responded prudently to the national movement. Even in Austria timely concessions were made to her various popula- tions. Prussia, under the guidance of her great minister Stein, reorganized her entire administration. She abolisherl serfdom, granted municipal rights to the cities, established an admirable system of elementary and secondary education, and invited all classes to compete for civil oﬂices; and ample means were provided for the approaching struggle by drastic military reform. Napoleon had exacted an engage- ment that the Prussian army should be limited to 42,000 men. This was fulfilled in the letter, but in spirit set aside, for one body of men was trained after another until the larger part of the male population were in a position, when a ﬁtting opportunity should occur, to take up arms for their country. The disastrous retreat of the French from Moscow in 1812 I7c1i'<'r- ‘ gave Germany the occasion she desired. formed an alliance with Russia, which was ultimately joined I by Austria, and in the great battle of Leipsic the issue was virtually settled. The first peace of Paris was soon followed by the escape of Napoleon from Elba; but in the ' battle of "Waterloo he was decisively overcome, and Europe
 * had no more to fear from his ambition. The Germans

believed that by the second peace of Paris they ought to have received back all the lands which had ever been taken from them by France, but they had to content themselves with the recovery of their boundary as it had existed in 1792. labours. It was hard to reconcile the conflicting claims of so many states, and no party was fully satisﬁed with the compromise arrived at. The kingdom of “Westphalia, and _ several other states set up by Napoleon, were brought to an German kingdom came to an end. The various states, which End of Germany was now thoroughly in the grip of France, and Revival the French emperor proved how absolute was his power by ICTID In 1813 Prussia “me Of letween the conclusion of the first and the second peace Congress of Paris the congress of Vienna had met and finished its 01V‘°“““