The German Question, Part Fifty-Three

"Bismarck" Part 4/B   "Crisis Over Spain"

Now, you may wonder what Spain has to do with Germans, Frenchmen, and German unification. Myself, when I first studied German history a few decades ago (you didn't think I was going to say "many decades ago," did you?), I wondered, "What does Spain have to do with Germans, Frenchmen, and German unification?" (Hm, that line sounds familiar.) First, you have to realize that, over the centuries, the various noble families of Europe had gradually become entwined through marriages, often, but not always, done for the purpose of gaining territory, or gaining potential military alliances. As people became more and more aware of genetics, and the potential hazards of close relatives marrying one another, these noble families often sought mates in other regions or other countries.* If you have been following this series, you may recall how the Habsburgs gained all sorts of lands due to marriages to foreign mates (see earlier articles on this subject). While this is a bit ahead of our story here, it shows how some of the families were connected at high levels: Queen Victoria of England was the grandmother of Kaiser Wilhelm II, who ruled Germany during the First World War period (we will be coming to this in the not too distant future). Not only that, she was the grandmother of the Empress Alexandra of Russia (of "Nicholas & Alexandra" fame), and the grandmother of King George V of England. These grandchildren all played prominent roles in the World War One period, 1914-1918 (Queen Victoria died in 1901).

So, the throne of Spain was vacant and it was offered, in 1870, to one of the Hohenzollerns, Leopold, who was Catholic (Spain was an overwhelmingly Catholic country) and who had Spanish family connections. His cousin was King Wilhelm I of Prussia.** Now, geography is important. Prussia and the other German states essentially border France to the east; Spain borders France to the south. France's Napoleon III*** may have made some foreign policy blunders, as I've noted here earlier, but he could read a map. Two Hohenzollern rulers on France's borders was not acceptable. Bismarck encouraged Leopold to accept the Spanish throne, knowing full well that it could provoke a war with France. The French made it clear that they were willing to fight Prussia to stop a Hohenzollern from becoming King of Spain.**** The French public was very much on the side of Napoleon III in this matter.

Out of Bismarck's presence, a French representative asked King Wilhelm not to give his consent to Leopold, and Wilhelm, not all that interested in the subject, agreed. So it appeared that war had been averted, but the French press rubbed salt into Wilhelm's decision by portraying it as a humiliation of Prussia, which was also Bismarck's opinion. With the French public ready for war, Napoleon III and French officials decided to press King Wilhelm to make it clear that he would not give his consent to a Hohenzollern ascending the Spanish throne in the future either. When the matter was put to Wilhelm, again without Bismarck's presence, he refused. The king sent a telegram to Bismarck in Berlin about what had happened and asked if Bismarck thought it best to release the information to the press. Bismarck released the telegram to the press, but in a heavily edited version, which showed the French demanding that the King of Prussia do as they wanted, but also showing Wilhelm as having insulted the French representative; that is, a representative of Napoleon III.***** Of course, the edited telegram succeeded in simultaneously stirring public emotions on both sides, which made war much more the likely outcome.

The German public was now angered, and the French public remained ready for war. On July 19, 1870 Napoleon III declared war on Prussia. This brought the south German states to Prussia's defense as Bismarck had envisioned in the secret treaties he had made with their rulers. Not that the treaties may have even mattered, as the German public rallied to Prussia. It was now GERMANS, not just Prussians, against France. (A Word History is below the notes)

* I'm using the term "nobles" and "noble families" so as not to only limit the matter to the various monarchies. Some noble families rose to prominence, and some did not.

** Just a reminder, the Hohenzollern family had ruled Prussia for centuries.

*** Napoleon III's wife, Eugénie, was born in Spain to a Spanish noble and his part Spanish wife.

**** King Wilhelm's position as King of Prussia, and the prestige that title carried, gave him much say in Hohenzollern family matters, and his advance consent was pretty much needed for Leopold to take Spain's throne. It seems though that Wilhelm did not especially see the matter in the same light as Bismarck; that is, that Prussian prestige was on the line.

***** For one thing, both the initial approach by the French representative to the king, and his subsequent approach, were beyond the usually accepted diplomatic customs. An ambassador usually spoke to another country's ambassador, a prime minster spoke to another prime minister, a ruler spoke to another ruler. In this case, the French bypassed this protocol.

WORD HISTORY:
Spiel-The ultimate origins of this word are uncertain. Presently I cannot trace this word back further than Old High German "spilon," which seems to have meant "dance, pass the time pleasantly." Old English (Anglo-Saxon) had "spillian/spilian," with the same general meaning, but also "play," which became a meaning in German. The English word may well have been borrowed from its Old Saxon (Low German) relative, a development which seems to have taken place centuries ago with Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. The word later died out in English. Both the German and Old English forms meant "to play." The German form eventually became "spielen," the verb form, and "Spiel," the noun form. Like our word "play," which was also present in Old English, and which overtook the Old English "spillian" in all meanings, the German word can mean "to play music," "to play games," etc. A "Spielzeug" is the German word for "toy." In English, "spiel" can be used in reference to music, "play a little spiel," but also "fast talk" or "sales pitch;" as in, "The sales lady gave me this spiel about how great her products were."