A. D.

Prus

reign of the present king, and this has been generally attri- Ch.32 buted to the genius of Otto von Bismarck-the younger son of a powerful but impoverished noble family. He was thirty-two 1848 when the Revolution broke out which made Louis Napoleon to President of the French Republic-a man of almost gigantic 1880. Rapid stature and physical powers, whose youth had been wild and growth dissipated. He was the uncompromising enemy of the of liberalism which was spreading over Europe, which forced sia. the King Frederick William IV. to make concessions he Bisnever meant to keep. His commanding ability and de-marck. spotic principles made him soon a favourite with the King, and he was sent in 1861 to Frankfort, as the Prussian representative of the German Diet. His abilities and services were rewarded with the mission to St. Petersburg, and when King William I. ascended the throne, his influence became still greater. In 1862 he was sent as ambassador to Paris, and shortly after was summoned to Berlin to undertake the government as Prime Minister. He was supported by Von Roon, the Minister of War, who had reorganized the Prussian armies, and by Von Moltke, the ablest of the Prussian generals.

marck.

He commenced his administration by a struggle with the Policy body which represented the popular interests, and which of Bisvoted supplies for the Government. So he suspended the Parliamentary Chamber, and restrained the liberty of the Press. For four years he fought this battle, denounced by the liberal portion of the nation, but the success of his foreign policy caused opposition to his measures to cease. Sustained by a vast majority of the Reistadt he governed according to law. His great aim was to make Prussia the ascendant State of Germany, and his schemes were favoured by the costly and ruinous wars in which Austria was engaged to retain her Italian provinces. His personal friendship with Gortszikoff, the Russian Chancellor, secured the neutrality of Russia.

The first event which marked his aggressive and ambitious policy was in wresting from Denmark the Duchies of

462

A. D.

WAR WITH AUSTRIA.

Ch.32 Schleswig and Holstein. This seizure was effected with the aid of Austria; but a quarrel arising as to the division of 1848 the spoil, Bismarck embraced the opportunity to expel Austria to from the German Confederation, where, for ages, she had been 1880. supreme.

Schles

wig

and

Hol

with

tria.

The result was the war of 1866, and the success of the Prussian armies, directed by Von Moltke. The superiority of stein. the Prussians was not owing so much to numbers or disciWar pline or bravery, as to a new breech-loading musket, invented by John Nicholas Dreyte, in 1865. It had been successfully used against the Danes, and was adopted by the whole Prussian infantry in the contest with Austria. “The needle-gun gave at once a great superiority to the Prussians. The battle of Sadowa, July 3, 1866, completely crushed the Austrian army, and enabled Bismarck to gain for his sovereign the supremacy for which he had been long preparing. In a few weeks the Prussians had done their work-one of the shortest

Sadowa.

War

with

campaigns of military history. In seven weeks peace was declared, but Austria had been forced to pay for the expense of the war, surrender the duchy of Holstein, and sanction the union of Venetia with Italy. By this great success Prussia absorbed Hanover, Hesse, Nassau, and Frankfort, and became the leading German State.

The Emperor Napoleon, as has been already mentioned, France looked with jealous eye on the rapidly concentrated power of Prussia. It was obvious that war would sooner or later break out with France. But Bismarck delayed the contest until he could unite Germany in his cause. When his preparations were completed, he accepted the encounter for which Prussia had been for fifty years arming. The injuries inflicted on Germany fifty years before, by Napoleon, were to be avenged.

Wil

On the close of the war, which proved so disastrous to liam, Emper- France, King William assumed the title of Emperor of GerGer- many, and ruled with still more despotic rigour as the most many. powerful sovereign of Europe. His policy seems to be that

or of

of unbounded military aggrandizement. But Prussia pays a Ch.32 heavy penalty for the ambition of her sovereign in the large A. D. standing armies which are burdensome to the people. All 1848 Prussians are trained for military service. At twenty every to young man enters the army, which is officered by the 1880. aristocracy. He serves three years, and is liable for service MiliUntil he is fifty he may be called upon in try case of invasion. In peace the army numbers about four ishhundred thousand men, and can be raised in time of war ment. to a million. And this vast force is so organized that it can be made ready for the field in fourteen days.

nine years after.

Estab

The Germans have submitted to the curtailment of their liberties for the sake of national unity. Perhaps, when the present vigorous Government is succeeded by a weaker one, they may gain Constitutional privileges. It is not likely they will submit to such immense standing armies, which crush liberty, which make liberty a mockery, unless from the pressure of great external danger, either from France or Russia. The Government, at present, is really an absolute Immonarchy, although two Legislative Chambers keep up the perialforms of liberty. The Upper Chamber is almost appointed ism. by the Emperor, as was the Senate of France under Napoleon. The members of the Lower Chamber are elected by the people, on the basis of property qualification. The people who vote for electors are divided into three classes, according to the amount of taxes paid, and each class has equal in- perial fluence in the election, so that a rich man has more political coninfluence than a poor man. Thus far, even the Lower Chamber sions.

has been subservient to the Government. Personal rule is the great feature in the political affairs of the country.

Im

ces

Results

o. Ger

Con

The war added seventeen millions of people to the Empire of William. Prussia became merged in the Empire, as the other States became merged in the monarchy of the Prussians, man Prussia controls a population of forty-three millions. Twenty- quest five States compose the Empire. About two-thirds of the population of the German Empire is Protestant, but Government

434

IMPROVEMENTS IN PRUSSIA.

Ch.32 endows partially both Catholic and Protestant churches. Education is compulsory, and all children are more or less 1848 educated.

A. D.

to Prussia has contrived to avoid a great national debt. She 1880.owes no more than forty million sterling, apart from the construction of railroads.

Tara

tion.

Rail

The expenses annually incurred are about a third of what both England and France expend. Since the interest on the national debt is small, only about ten million of pounds sterling are raised by the people in the shape of taxes. More than half the revenue comes from Crown lands, forests, railways, mines, and other industries. The expenses

of the Imperial Government are derived from custom and excise duties. About one half of the people depend upon agriculture for a support. There are about a million of proprietors of land who own less than three acres.

Prussia has ten thousand miles of railway, one half of which ways. is owned and controlled by the State. Of no country in Europe, except Russia, may it be said with more emphasis that a man belongs to the State rather than to himself. Although the Germans are better educated, as a whole, than the English or French, still they send through the post only half the number of letters which the English do; nor do they read so many newspapers. In the more advanced forms of education, the Germans stand at the head of the civilized world, for no country produces such great critics. and scholars as the German Universities.

AUSTRIA, which, for three hundred years and longer, took the lead of the German States, is now scarcely a firstclass power. At the Congress of Vienna, after the wars of the first Napoleon, the political genius of Metternich seemed trary to guarantee to Austria her ancient ascendancy. A more absolute Government never existed than under the Emperor ment. Francis from 1793 to 1833. There was no religious or civil

Arbi

Go

vern

HUMILIATION OF AUSTRIA.

465

liberty. There was a strict censorship of the press and an Ch.32 ubiquitous police. The Emperor ruled over thirty-seven A. D. millions according to his will and pleasure, but, as he was 1848 kind-hearted, the people submitted.

to

1880.

content of Aus

On the accession of the new Emperor in 1848, there was a wide and deep desire among the people for the liberty which DisUniversal discontent underwas enjoyed in other countries. mined imperial influence. The Sclav population was treated tria. with peculiar rigour. The Hungarians were on the brink of rebellion. The whole empire was ripe for revolt.

When Louis Philippe was dethroned, the people arose in ReVienna and sacked the palace of Prince Metternich,and emanci- volts. pated the press and drove the Emperor from the city. Lombardy and Venice revolted. Hungary declared herself independent. The Sclavic population of Bohemia were aroused to arms.

It has been already seen how Austria in her distress invoked the aid of Russia-how the Hungarians were conquered-how the other States returned to their allegiance. The result of the troubles was a concession to the people. In 1861 representative institutions were partially established.

Then followed the war with France, when Austria was Loss of stripped of her Italian possessions, with the exception of Italy. Venetia. The war with Prussia deprived her of Venice and the leadership of Germany.

con

tria.

Austria, enfeebled and humiliated, may, however, now be Present said to be a Constitutional State, and the population she dition controls comprises thirty-six millions, two-thirds of whom of Ausare employed in agriculture. She has more miles of railway than Prussia, but her public debt is nearly four hundred million pounds; her expenditure exceeds her revenue, and the expenses of the Government are nearly as large as those of Great Britain, chiefly on account of interest on the national debt and the vast armies which she maintains, numbering over three hundred thousand men in peace. She is now passing through a period of humiliation; but a State which controls thirty-six millions is still powerful and important.