The German Question, Part Thirty-Eight

"Aftermath of Napoleon" Part Two

Here are more of the changes brought to the map of Europe by the Congress of Vienna ("Wiener Kongress," in German):

First, in "Part One," I inadvertently left out another gain by Prussia; the part of Pomerania that had been occupied by Sweden (most of Pomerania was already part of Prussia). Pomerania was a territory in the north along the Baltic Sea.

While the Netherlands was no longer connected with Germany, since it had been a part of the German Empire for centuries, I thought I'd mention here that the Netherlands, and much of what is now Belgium (then called "the Austrian Netherlands," as it had been a Habsburg possession), were formed into a single entity called "The United Kingdom of the Netherlands," under the Dutch king. It wasn't until 1830 that the southern part, then called "Belgium" (actually Kingdom of Belgium), was granted independence.

Luxembourg had dynastic connections with Prussia, but it was divided from Prussia by other German lands. A German land, "Nassau," was a possession of the Dutch king, but the territory was located essentially east of the Rhine River, smack dab in German territory. It was decided that the Prussian and Dutch monarchs would swap these territories, giving each easier access to his own land. While Luxembourg became a personal possession of the Dutch king, it remained a part of Germany (more precisely of the German Confederation, see below).

Austria gained Tirol (a German territory, much of which lies in the Alps, with the far southern part having some local Italian majorities),* Salzburg (of "Sound of Music" fame), some lands in the Balkans, some lands in Italy,** some lands from Russia (but contiguous with other Habsburg lands in eastern Europe).

There were various other border adjustments to some of the German states (and other countries, too), but one of the more important changes was the establishment of the "German Confederation" ("Deutscher Bund") to replace the old empire, and thus keep some semblance of German unity. Instead of the hundreds, and at times even thousands, of German states that constituted the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, the German Confederation had only thirty-eight.*** In place of the former parliament, the Reichstag, there was the "Bundesversammlung" ("Federal Assembly"), which met in Frankfurt am Main, with Austria holding the presidency. The "delegates" were not elected by a vote of the people, but rather were typically appointed by the ruling prince (or whatever title used in each individual state) of each state. The French Revolution (and America's founding as an independent nation) had spread ideas of democracy throughout much of Europe, and in truth, the German ruling princes (as they were collectively known, regardless of each actual title) tried to keep a lid on such sentiments; thus the Federal Assembly was not democratically elected.

To be continued..... (A Word History is below the notes)

* Tirol had been a Habsburg possession, but when Napoleon defeated the Austrians in 1805, the territory was handed over to Napoleon's ally, Bavaria (a member of the French sponsored "Confederation of the Rhine;" see previous article). The local population eventually rebelled, led by Andreas Hofer, a famous Austrian/German hero. The rebels won many victories, taking back much of the territory, but the odds against them were too great, as besides Bavarian troops, Napoleon had French troops and troops from the Kingdom of Italy (a Napoleon created state, mainly based in what is now northern Italy, with guess who as king? NAPOLEON). Hofer was eventually captured, tried and executed by firing squad, with Napoleon supposedly telling his subordinates, "Give him a fair trial, then shoot him." (What would he have gotten with an unfair trial?)

** At that time, Italy was not a united nation, but rather a number of kingdoms and principalities, much like the German lands.

*** Like with the old empire, the number of states varied from time to time, but unlike with the empire, the number didn't vary much.

WORD HISTORY:
(After)math-This is a compound of after + math, and here we are only going to be concerned with the second part, "math." I'll deal with "after" in a separate history later. This is not "math," as in 3+3=ah, don't tell me....now to the fingers of the other hand....let's see...6! This goes back to the Indo European root "me(h)" (not connected to our word "me"), with the notion of "cutting down grass or grain." It is closely related to "mow," as in "mow the lawn." The Indo European root developed into "maetha/metha" in its Old Germanic offspring, which then gave Anglo-Saxon (Old English) "maeth," later changed to "math." German, a close relative of English, has "Mahd," which means "mowing," and also "a swathe cut through grass/or agricultural plants, and that which has been mowed," and Frisian once had "meth." So "aftermath" indicates "the result of mowing, that which is left after mowing." The modern (figurative) meaning of "aftermath" came about in the late 1400s; that is, "the results or consequences of an event."

The German Question, Part Thirty-Seven

Just ever so slightly edited 8/15/2015


"Aftermath of Napoleon" Part One

When Napoleon was first sent into exile in 1814, representatives of many of the major European powers assembled in Vienna to work out the many border issues left in the wake of Napoleon's fall. By the time final agreements of this Congress of Vienna, as it was called, were signed in 1815, Napoleon was again on the march, after having escaped from his captivity on the island of Elba (off the western Italian coast). His final defeat came only days AFTER the agreements had been signed.

The Congress of Vienna changed the map of Europe, and the changes were far too numerous to enumerate here, but many dealt with the German states and what to do with them now that the Holy Roman Empire (the German Empire) had been dissolved. The negotiations and diplomatic twists and turns are also far too complex for this article. The Napoleonic creation, the Duchy of Warsaw, was divided between Russia and Prussia, with Russia receiving the largest portion (including Warsaw), but with Prussia receiving the territory in and around the city of Posen (Poznan, in Polish). This area was heavily Polish in ethnicity, with a German minority of about 25%.* Prussia also received a large chunk of Saxony (one of the German states),** Danzig,*** Westphalia (another German state), and the Rhineland, much of which had been occupied and then annexed by France during Napoleon's rule.**** Prussia came out of Vienna much larger.

To be continued.... (Two Word Histories are below the notes)

* Even after a hundred years of Prussian/German rule, about two-thirds of the population still considered themselves to be Polish.

** Saxony had been known previously as the "Electorate of Saxony" (" Kurfürstentum Sachsen," in German); that is, it had a vote in the election for German emperors, but it was given the elevated status of "Kingdom of Saxony" ("Königreich Sachsen," in German), by Napoleon. The ruler of Saxony, with the new title, "King Friedrich August I," allied himself to Napoleon. Previous family ties to the kings of Poland, which by then no longer existed (it had been partitioned out of existence-See previous parts of this series for details), had Napoleon choose Friedrich August as head of the French created "Duchy of Warsaw." The king's strong ties to Napoleon made it very difficult for him later, when other German states banded together to drive Napoleon out of German territory. He tried to have it both ways by establishing ties with his fellow German rulers, but by also remaining as an ally of Napoleon. Napoleon demanded that the king put Saxon (and Polish) military forces into the field against the other German and allied armies, but in the end, most of the Saxon forces defected and joined their fellow Germans against Napoleon. During the Congress of Vienna, the king's ties to Napoleon did him no good, and there's no question those ties helped negotiators decide to award part of Saxony to Prussia, although Friedrich August remained on the throne of the reduced kingdom, probably more out of Austrian concern that Prussia, its arch competitor in German affairs, would become too strong.

*** When the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved, Napoleon had Danzig declared a "free city," separate from other German lands. Interestingly, this sort of pattern was used after World War One when Danzig was made a "free city," under the League of Nations. I'll deal much more with this later.

**** The Rhineland area in question was overwhelmingly German in population, but the French had long coveted the region for its many resources and industries, and they sought to make the Rhine River France's eastern boundary (as they had in Alsace), regardless of ethnic make up of the area (just as we can also say how German states took over areas often with Slavic or Hungarian majorities along their eastern borders).

WORD HISTORY:
Dale-This goes back to Indo European "dhel," which had the notion of "curve;" thus also, "valley." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "dalam/dalom," which meant "valley, gorge." This then gave Old English "dael," with the same meaning, and this then became "dale." The other Germanic languages have: German "Tal," Low German Saxon "Daal," West Frisian "delling," Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Icelandic all have "dal." All these forms mean "valley, dale," in the other Germanic languages too.

Dell-Like its close relative "dale," this goes back to Indo European "dhel" (notion of  "curve," thus "valley"). The Old Germanic base "dal," then gave Old Germanic "daljo." This then gave Old English "dell," which later became "delle," before reverting to "dell." Other Germanic relatives include Dutch "delle" and German "Delle," with the meaning "depression, dent, hollow,"  A famous old childhood song is "The Farmer in the Dell."