Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/531

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' rman 1 pire. I _)eriul TH E GEIIBIAX EM l‘Il1E.] he might trust to the aid of Austria and Italy, and his] diplomatic agents in South Germany had left no doubt in his mind that the South Germans would hail his approach as that of a deliverer. He was cruelly undeceived. After his * first reverses, Italy and Austria resolved to hold aloof; and the South Germans did not for an instant hesitate; they loyally kept their engagements with Prussia. The French emperor did not realize how bitter, in South as well as 111 North Germany, were the memories of the sufferings caused by his uncle. However energetically the various states might fight among themselves, in the presence of “the hereditary enemy” their disputes were forgotten; they re- mcmbered only their common origin and their common speech. There is no parallel in German history to the en- thusiasm called forth by the French declaration of war. Its absolute universality was a new phenomenon, and its I intensity probably could not be surpassed. The course of the war went far beyond the expectations of the most sanguine patriots. In battle after battle the i armies of France were smitten to the ground; her strong places, one after another, delivered themselves to the enemy; and her brave sons were sent by hundreds of thousands as prisoners to Germany. At last, on the 1st September, after the disastrous battle of Sedan, the emperor yielded his sword to the Prussian king. It was the opinion of many impartial observers that the war ought now to have stopped, and there were Germans who had the courage to express this conviction. But the nation as a whole wished to see France thoroughly humbled, and applauded the advance on Paris. In vain M. G-ambetta sought to infuse into his countrymen his own impulsive and vigorous spirit; they did what they could, but the German armies were irresistible. On the 28th January 1871 Paris surrendered, and on the 10th May the peace of Frankfort was signed. By this treaty France engaged to pay the enormous indemnity of five milliards of francs, and to restore to Germany Alsace and the German portion of Lorraine. _ Amid the glowing pride of the Germans in the un- surpassed achievements of their armies the difliculties which had hitherto prevented complete unity seemed altogether to vanish. In the autumn of 1870 negotiations were opened between the southern Governments and the 11ortl1ern confederation; and in the course of November tre-aties were signed by which the North-German confeder- ation became the German confederation. Bavaria insisted upon some highly important reservations, such as the main- tenance of her own diplomacy, of her postal, telegraph, and railway systems, of her military administration, and of cer- tain valuable taxes. Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, and Wiirtem- berg also maintained special rights. But all this was thought of comparatively little moment; and the treaties were readily sanctioned both by the confederate parliament and by the southern parliaments. Thus Germany became a united state. The king of Bavaria then proposed to the other German sovereigns and to the free cities that the head of the confederation should be declared emperor. The suggestion was approved; and on the 18th January 1871, in the Hall of Mirrors in the palace of Versailles, the king of Prussia was proclaimed, in presence of a brilliant assem- bly of German princes and officers, emperor in Germany. On the 21st of March 1871 the first diet of the empire met in Berlin. The constitution of the northern confeder- ation was extended so as to be applicable to the changed circumstances of Germany, but no alteration was made in its essential character. Since the conclusion of the treaty of Frankfort Gerinany has been at peace, but as she believes that the French may one day seek to regain their lost provinces and to avenge GERMANY their recent humiliations, she has nlaiatained the vast. I 513 military system to which her victories have been due. to have been to isolate France. England, he has assiduously cultivated the friendship of Austria and of Iiussia. In 1872 the czar and the Austrian emperor visited Berlin, and during their stay the three emperors concluded an alliance, the exact limits and conditions of which are not known. Soon afterwards Victor Emmanuel, the Italian king, also ‘visited the German capital, and the emperor William went for a short time to Italy, where he was received with manifestations of hearty friendship. It is understood that after the reopening of the Eastern question in 1875 Prince Bismarck made repeated attempts to enter into close relations with England; but in his public acts, both before and after the signing of the treaty of Berlin in 1878, he mainly supported Iiussia. He also encouraged Austria to extend her influence in the east by occupying Bosnia. In her home politics the attention of Germany was for church some years mainly occupied with a great struggle between and After the close of the State‘ the state and the church in Prussia. I"ranco-German war—i11 the course of which the dogma of papal infallibility was proclaimed—Prince Bismarck per- suaded himself that the empire was imperilled by ultra- montane intrigues; and with his usual promptitude he took vigorous precautions against his supposed enemies. He be- gan in 1872 with the expulsion of the Jesuits. This was followed in 1873 by the famous May Laws, introduced by Dr Falk, the energetic minister of public worship. By these laws it was required that candidates for the clerical oflice should undergo a certain amount of secular training at the universities, and that every ecclesiastical appointment should receive the sanction of the secular authorities. A royal tribunal for ecclesiastical matters was also set up. This legislation, which the pope denounced as invalid, was disregarded by the Catholic bishops; and Prince Bismarck, supported by Dr Falk, imposed penalty after penalty in order to establish the supremacy of the state. Refractory bishops were imprisoned, deposed, and banished; the con- tributions of the Government were withdrawn from the clergy who incurred its displeasure; religious orders were dissolved; the administration of church property was taken from the clergy and invested in bodies of laymen. It may be that these stern measures were rendered necessary by facts of which the world is insufficiently informed; but they have alienated from Prince Bismarck, and from the empire founded by him, the sympathies of the vast majority of the German Catholics. The period which has followed the war with France has Socialism. been remarkable, not only for the ecclesiastical struggle in Prussia, but for the rapid growth of socialism throughout the empire. Socialism first became a power in Germany through the labours of the ardent scholar and publicist, Ferdinand Lassalle. He began his brief and noisy public career by addressing large audiences of workmen in Berlin and Leipsic in 1862, and in less than two years he had formed a party which regarded him with boundless reverence and admiration. He himself was a man of for- tune, with luxurious habits; but he had in an unusually intense degree the desire, shared by all truly modern men, for the elevation of the depressed and suffering masses. The theory of which he had convinced himself was that, with existing social relations, workmen as a class can never improve their position; that their sole chance is to form productive associations which shall enable them to secure the whole benefit of their labour; and that it is the duty of the state to provi-le such associations with capital, to see that justice is done to thei=_' members, and to regulate the markets of the world. After the death of Lassalle., this theory became a sort of evangel among his followers; but X. --- 65 _ _ . The 1870-78. n1a1n 0l)_]CCli of Prince Bisn1arck’s foreign policy appears Foreign While not unfriendly to P0503’-