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 4:02 BAVARIA against their Prankish sovereigns. The last re- volt, under Thassilo II., in 777, was effectually suppressed by Charlemagne, whose descendants ruled Bavaria as kings till 911, when the Carlo- vingian line became extinct. From this time for a century and a half the country was con- vulsed with troubles, partly arising from inter- nal dissensions, and partly from contests with the Magyars, and later from the crusades. In 1180 the count palatine Otto von Wittelsbach became duke, and his descendants have gov- erned the country to the present time. One of these, Louis the Bavarian, was emperor of Germany from 1314 to 1347. Maximilian, duke of Bavaria, the head of the Catholic league in the 30 years' war, was made an elec- tor in 1C23, in lieu of the proscribed elector palatine Frederick. During the middle ages the Franconian part of Bavaria had become a centre of trade, industry, and art. Augs- burg and Nuremberg rivalled Venice, Genoa, and Milan as mercantile entrepots. The Swa- bians raised Gothic architecture to its high- est perfection, and excelled in poetry. In painting the Franconian school produced Al- bert Durer, Lucas Cranach, and Hans Holbein. The minnesingers and mastersingers had their original homes in Franconia and Swabia. There originated the idea of a confederation of the free cities of Germany. The reformation found both stanch adherents and violent ene- mies in Bavaria, and within its limits Gustavus Adolphus fought both Tilly and Wallenstein. The discovery of America transferred the seat of the world's commerce to the Atlantic shore, and resulted in the decay of the free cities of Franconia and Swabia. Nuremberg, which in the 16th century had a population of 100,000, declined to a quarter of that number. It still, however, retained much of its old industry, and within the last 30 years has greatly pros- pered. In 1702 the elector of Bavaria took sides with Louis XIV. of France against Aus- tria, England, and Holland, in the war of the Spanish succession. The French and Bavarian forces were defeated at Blenheim by the duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene in 1704 ; the elector was put under the ban of the em- pire, and Bavaria was for ten years governed by imperial commissioners. In 1742 the elec- tor Charles Albert was chosen emperor by a majority of the electors, and commenced hos- tilities against Austria ; but the empress Maria Theresa, aided by England, defeated him and seized the electorate. Maximilian Joseph, the son and successor of Charles Albert, was re- stored to his possessions upon renouncing all claims to the imperial dignity. In December, 1777, the direct reigning line became extinct, and the succession devolved upon a collateral branch, governing the Palatinate. But the succession was claimed by the house of Aus- tria, which took military possession of a part of Bavaria. Frederick the Great of Prussia supported the elector, and Austria resigned her pretensions upon receiving a small strip of dis- puted territory. In the early part of the wars growing out of the French revolution Bavaria furnished her contingent of troops to the Austrian army. In 1796 Moreau at the head of a French army entered Bavaria and took possession of the capital ; a separate peace was concluded, the elector withdrew his contingent from the Austrian army and fell more and more under French influence; and when the war of 1805 broke out between France and Austria, Bavaria was a firm ally of the former. The victories of Ulm and Austerlitz enabled Napoleon to dictate terms of peace. He re- warded his ally by giving him considerable additional territory, and raising the elector to the royal dignity under the title of Maximilian Joseph I. The king, now the leading member of the Rhenish confederation, took part with France in the war against Prussia, which was decided by the battle of Jena (1806), and at the peace of Tilsit, 1807, Bavaria pained still mure territory. In 1809 Austria, emboldened by the absence in Spain of a great part of the French army, declared war against France. The Ba- varian troops formed the main body of the army with which Napoleon won the battles of Eckmilhl and Wagram, and the king was rewarded by still further acquisitions of terri- tory. The Bavarian troops formed part of tho force with which Napoleon in 1812 invaded Russia. By this time Bavaria, like all the other German states, had become weary of the French domination. In 1813, when Napoleon fell back from Leipsic toward the Rhine, Maximilian declared war against him, and en- deavored to cut off the retreat of the French ; hut the Bavarian army, under "Vrede, was de- feated at Hanau. From this time Bavaria acted vigorously with the allies against Napo- leon, and by the treaties of 181 4-' 15 was con- firmed in most of her acquired territories; receding, however, her possessions in Tyrol to Austria, hut receiving equivalents in Fran- conia and on the Rhine. "When the Germanic confederation was formed in 1815, Bavaria occupied the third place. Louis I. ascended the throne in 1825. Bavaria was little aft'ected by the liberal movements of the next 20 years, but by 1848 general disaffection had arisen, which reached its culmination when the king fell under the influence of Lola Montez, find he was forced to abdicate in favor of his son Maxi- milian II., whose reign lasted till 1864. Maxi- milian's chief political aim was to hold the balance of power between Austria and Prussia. The present king, Louis II. (born Aug. 25, 1845), succeeded to the throne March 10, 1864. Un- til recently he followed the general policy of his predecessor. When in 18(ifi the war broke out between Prussia and Austria, Bavaria took part with the latter, suffered severe defeats, and was obliged to conclude a separate peace, ceding to Prussia a small tract of territory, 213 sq. m., with a population of about 34,000. In 1867 Bavaria joined the North German Zollverein. When the emperor Napoleon de-