CHAPTER XIII. THE KULTURKAMPF. Shal. What the sword and the word! do you study them both, master parson? Evans. There is reasons and causes for it. Merry Wives of Windsor, act iii. sc. 1. THE old German Empire was built on a confederation of princes and powers. It held together very loosely. The Emperor could never rely on the princes for support, and the princes were ever jealous of the authority of the Kaiser. Charles the Great, foreseeing the danger to the Empire from the rivalries of the secular princes, elevated some of the bishoprics into principalities under episcopal sovereigns, trusting that these spiritual Electors would stand by the Imperial throne, and maintain its prerogatives against the secular Kurfürsten. He looked to them as the peace- and order-loving elements in the constitution. But he left out of his calculation the fact that these prelates owed a double allegiance, and that the Emperor of Germany, as head of the Holy Roman Empire and King of Italy, was liable to be regarded with suspicion and jealousy by the Roman Pontiff, the spiritual head of these bishops. Throughout the Middle Ages the See of Rome pursued the readily intelligible policy of undermining the Empire, of sowing in its fields the tares of strife. It was the Papacy which sat under the table of the Electors and cast the apple of discord into their midst; it was the Papacy which hampered the development of a great idea, and made of the Empire a house divided against itself. It did so solely because the Emperor of Germany wore the crown of Italy, and was chief patrician of Rome. The ideal of the Papacy was the establishment of the throne of Peter as head over a temporal realm of Italy, and the fulfilment of this ideal was made impossible by the might of Germany. In France the great princes were crushed, and the King became supreme. In Germany, the Empire broke up, and the princes established their independence. In France the centripetal force prevailed, in Germany the force that was centrifugal. In France, the feudal nobles succumbed without the Pope lifting a finger to save them; but then, none of the bishops were princes, and the King of France was not King of Italy. Every German who has studied the history of his country knows that the failure in the accomplishment of the ideal of Charlemagne was due to two causes: a loose confederation of the States composing the Empire, and the interference of the Holy See. When the Imperial crown of Germany was offered to William of Prussia, at Versailles, and it became possible again to labour at the accomplishment of that ideal which had broken down finally in the Thirty Years' war, the Chancellor doubtless supposed that the two causes which had prevented that accomplishment before existed still, and must be met and overcome. But, with regard to the first, Prussia has little grounds for fear. Holding the Imperial crown, she is vastly more powerful than any of the States separately which form the union, and with the States which she can absolutely command can crush at any moment an attempt to resist too summary incorporation. Like Hermione 'She is spread of late into a goodly bulk.' 1 Population (1875):- Prussia, 25,772,562; Bavaria, 5,022,904; The Episcopal Electorates of Cologne, Münster, and Trèves have passed to her. Part of Poland has become her spoil. She exacted Silesia of Austria as the price of recognition of the right of Maria Theresa to the throne of the Hapsburgs. Grand Duchies have been absorbed in quick succession. Schleswig-Holstein has been appropriated, Hesse-Cassel secured, Nassau incorporated. Brunswick and Hanover have gone to make her round apace,' and now there is not a State in Germany which does not exist on sufferance. Hesse was allowed in '66 to linger on because of its relationship to Russia. Baden has bought a prolongation of life by marrying a Prussian princess. The Queen of Würtemberg was an Olga of Russia, and the King has no son. Prussia has, however, planted one foot in Swabia, in Hohenzollern, and she is not likely to be satisfied till she can put down the other there also. Since 1871, the policy of centralisation has been steadily pursued. Universal military service, which had previously prevailed only in Prussia, has been extended to the whole Empire, and the armies of the States are being systematically unified. The entire military force of the Empire,' says Art 63 of the Imperial Constitution, shall form one single army, standing in war and peace under the command of the Emperor. The regiments shall be numbered consecutively throughout the whole German army. The uniform shall be conformed in cut and colour to that of the Royal Prussian army; but the Sovereigns of the several contingents shall be allowed to add extra distinctions, as cockades and the like." Baden regiments are commanded by Prussian officers and may be moved where the Emperor chooses, into Lothringen, or Westphalia, or Schleswig. And though Saxony, 2,760,342; Würtemberg, 1,881,505; Baden, 1,506,531; Hesse, 882,349; Elsass-Lothringen, 1,529,408. Würtemberg soldiers remain in the kingdom, they are placed under the command of a Prussian general. All fortresses are Imperial, and the commanders of them are appointed by the Emperor. The old coinage of Baden, Bavaria, Würtemberg, &c., is suppressed; kreuzers and guldens, to the joy of travellers, have made way for Pfennige and Marken, stamped with 'Deutsches Reich;' and the Imperial Eagle, bearing the Prussian escutcheon, has supplanted the arms of the States on every coin.1 Everywhere, except in Bavaria, the post-office has passed into the hands of the Empire, which has also laid hold of the telegraphs, and appropriated the customs. Before long the railways will probably have been delivered up to the Empire, and on the carriages the black eagle will be painted over the blue and white Bavarian chequer and the gold and red arms of Baden. Thus the whole postal, telegraphic, railroad, parcelsdelivery, and customs administration, will be filled with employés of the Empire, looking to Berlin, not to Munich, Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, Dresden, and Darmstadt. At Berlin will be gathered every thread of power, and the whole of Germany will be involved in a net held by the firm hand of the Imperial Chancellor. On October 1, 1879, Baden and the Bavarian Pfalz will abandon the Code Napoléon; Bavaria, Saxony, and Würtemberg, their national codes, the growth of centuries, and will accept the new Imperial Digest. Before 1866, Southern Germany inclined to an alliance with Austria rather than with Prussia. It was not forgotten that Prussia had played a selfish game in the great In the South, on the change of coinage, it was desired to have the French decimal system, with the frank of the same value as in Italy, France, Switzerland, and Belgium. But Berlin ruled otherwise. wars with Napoleon, and that Austria had ventured all and lost vastly for the common good. Prussia was known to have the appetite of the boa, but then her administration commanded respect, whilst that of Austria was inchoate. If Prussia was poor, she was not impecunious; she could pay in silver, where Austria offered only silverpaper. There was no help to be gotten out of an Empire which issued notes for eighteenpence. Montecuculi said that for war three things are needed: first, money; secondly, money; and thirdly, money. Austria had not these requisites, and a piece of tissue-paper that dissolves to pulp in a shower is a poor substitute for hard cash.1 What redemption can come from an Empire that even in 1878 issued lottery tickets for the support of its army If eyes turned to Austria, it was only with sentiment: it was with as little thought of union as has the student who casts tender glances at the dowerless Kellnerinn Lieben, lieben will ich dich, A large part of South Baden belonged, before 1802, to Austria. The people in the Southern Schwarzwald speak affectionately of the past union, and grumble over their present political marriage, but it is the sentiment of the widow who flings the virtues of the late lamented in the face of her second husband, without the expectation, perhaps the wish to resuscitate the first. The twins born back to back never made much progress in the world, for each objected to walk backwards. Austria consists of three personalities: the thoughtful German, the plodding Slav, and the blustering Magyar, not linked as the graces, but like Samson's foxes. The Don't wade through the river with your fortune in your pocket, is a Tyrolese proverb. |