The German Question, Part Fifty-Five

"Bismarck" Part 4/D  "The Germans Unite...Sort Of-The Founding Of Modern Germany"

Historically, there was overlap between the Franco-Prussian War and political events that united the Germans. I chose to keep the two things separate, except for the treaty that ended the war and expanded German territory.

The "Treaty of Frankfurt" officially ended the war between the German Empire and France (the Germans united just prior to the French defeat; thus it was the German Empire; see below). One of the main provisions of the treaty was that France ceded to Germany the province of Alsace (Elsass, in German) and about a third of Lorraine (Lothringen, in German). Those areas were still heavily German in character in those times.* The predominately French areas were left as part of France, except as I will mention later. As part of Germany, the majority German territories were united into a province called "Reichsland Alsace-Lorraine," or simply "Alsace-Lorraine," which although incorrect, is still how many non-Frenchmen, at least many Americans, refer to the area.

When Prussia formed the "North German Confederation" after excluding Austria from German affairs in 1866, Bismarck implemented a basic constitution for member states. That constitution was essentially what became the constitution of a united Germany. Remember, Bismarck was not a democrat (small "d," Americans), but a monarchist. He understood the political realities of his times, however, and he chose to bring change, first to Prussia, and then to a united Germany, on his own terms; thus his constitution should not be thought of as comparable to that of the U.S., or many other free societies, but it did begin a process of more freedoms for Germans. It made the Prussian king the automatic "Kaiser" ("emperor") of the German Empire.** The new empire was a federation; that is, it had a national (actually, imperial) government, but also individual state governments. The state governments were still controlled by various noble families of varying titles (king, prince, grand duke, etc), so they were still "monarchical," too. The Kaiser was also the President of the Bundesrat, or "Federal Council." This council had to agree to all legislation, and it essentially consisted of representatives of the state "monarchies." Then there was a major democratic element; "the Reichstag." It consisted of representatives chosen by the people in a secret ballot, although in those times, "the people" meant "men 25 years and older." The Kaiser had the power to appoint the head of the government, the "Reichskanzler," or Chancellor, who headed a number of ministerial offices. This kept power in the hands of the Kaiser, since the Chancellor was not connected in any way to a vote of the people. German "national" citizenship was established, overriding the citizenship previously granted by the individual states. The Kaiser could declare war, make treaties, and conduct foreign policy. He was also head of the military. Most other matters were in the hands of the individual states, which also oversaw any national laws. This constitution was signed by the monarchs of the various states, including the south German states which had remained outside of the North German Confederation. On January 18, 1871, King Wilhelm I of Prussia was crowned Kaiser Wilhelm I of the German Empire in the Palace of Versailles, France (the war with France was still ongoing). The official name of the new nation was "das Deutsche Reich," "the German Empire."

So, we have come a long way since the days when a multitude of ancient Germanic tribes were roaming over parts of Europe, including those which settled in Britain and established England; thus giving the world the English language. We have seen groups thought of as "Germans" by many, gradually split off to form new nationalities; the Dutch, the Swiss Germans, the Liechtensteiners, but most painfully, the Austrian Germans. So while the Germans finally united into a modern nation, it lacked a group that had been a substantial part of German history, but this was still not the end of possible Austrian participation in Germany.*** (A Word History is below the notes)

Next, "Bismarck as Chancellor & A Treaty With 'Contentious Relatives' "

* Since the end of World War Two, both areas have become less German in character, as French has overtaken the German and German dialects of these areas, although there have been more recent local attempts to promote the dialects, perhaps more out of quaintness, and also the fact that Germany and France are far less hostile to one another these days. Hitler's crimes certainly made the people of Alsace and the "German" part of Lorraine (for lack of a better term) put distance between themselves and any association with Germany. Sources are sketchy, but just to put a number onto things, only about 35-40% of the people in Alsace still speak German fluently, and in the former "German part" of Lorraine, it is perhaps only 20%. The German dialects of the two areas are different, as the Alsatian German dialect (Elsässisch), traces back to the old Germanic tribe, the Alemanns, as do the German dialects in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, extreme western Austria and southwestern Germany. The German dialect of Lorraine traces back to the Germanic tribe, the Franks.

** Remember in the "old" German Empire (the Holy Roman Empire), the German emperor was chosen by special electors (Kurfürsten) from certain German states. While not exactly democratic, at least there was an election, and while eventually the Habsburg family of Austria came to dominate the process, they technically were not the hereditary emperors. Under Bismarck's constitution, the Prussian king was always to be the German Kaiser; no election required for either position, but rather always hereditary.

*** Lest we forget, while most of the inhabitants of the new German Empire were indeed Germans, or at least declared themselves to be Germans, there were still a fairly substantial number of people of Polish heritage in the eastern areas, and some people of French heritage in the western areas; namely Alsace, Lorraine, and the Saarland area. A few people of Danish heritage were in the north, in Schleswig, and while many people likely considered the Frisian population in the north to be "German," many linguists and ethnographers (people who study ethnic groups), but not necessarily all, saw them separately, at least at that point in time, and into the near future, although they gradually "became Germans." Further, a group of Slavic people, usually referred to as "Sorbians," resided somewhat south of Berlin, down near the border with what is now the Czech Republic" (the area known as "Lausitz," in German, or usually rendered as "Lusatia," in English). In those times they retained their own Slavic language and culture, although I believe many, if not most, also spoke German. Today, the number of fluent Sorbian speakers has diminished quite significantly, and all also speak German.

WORD HISTORY:
Mustard-Germans have various types of mustard, including sweet, which tends to be more common in Bavaria. I know several Americans who were stationed in Germany during the Cold War, or otherwise lived there for a period. They all swear by German mustard being the best in the world. While I like mustard, I'm more of a ketchup guy, so I'll defer to these people. Anyway, Germans generally call mustard "Senf," a word which traces back to Latin ("sinapi(s)," and Latin got it from Greek (transliterated "sinapi(s)"). Its history prior to that is uncertain, with some suggesting that it is not derived from Indo European, but a borrowing from perhaps North Africa or the Middle East. In the northeastern part of Germany (including Berlin), there is a tendency to use the word, "Mostrich," which is related to the word "mustard" (at least the first part, see below).

The English word "mustard" goes back to Indo European "meus," which meant, "wetness, dampness." This gave Latin "mustum," which meant "new wine." Long ago, the seeds of the mustard plant were crushed and mixed with new wine to form an old form of mustard, and this passed to Old French as "moustarde." English borrowed the word in the 1200s. "Mustard" is related to "must" (NOT to the verb, as in, "You must not do that") which usually refers to grape juice, as does German "Most," which tends to be southern in usage and can also still mean new wine, but also cloudy fruit juice or cider, not necessarily just grape juice.

The German Question, Part Fifty-Four

"Bismarck" Part 4/C "The Defeat Of France"

There are numerous sources for those interested in the actual battles during the Franco-Prussian War, but my dealings with such will be very limited.

In the war between France and the Germans, the French had a slight advantage in rifles, as their guns were of more modern design than the German guns. The Germans certainly had a big advantage in artillery, as the French artillery pieces were still muzzle-loaded, which took time, and the German guns were the new and much more rapid fire breech-loading guns. The Germans eventually also had a numerical advantage in manpower, as they were able to mobilize more than a million men (about one and a quarter million, by most sources), while the French eventually had slightly less than a million men, although their initial forces seemingly were a bit larger than what was available to the Germans. The Germans mobilized their forces far faster than thought possible by the French commanders. Further, the French thought the south German states would join the war AGAINST Prussia, as the secret alliances between Prussia and these states had indeed remained beyond French knowledge.

By early August, the French had taken the German city of Saarbrücken,* which lay just over the border. The French thought they were on their way to a march into the heart of Prussia and a quick victory, but the Prussians and the other Germans, especially Bavarians, were already converging on the area with substantial forces. The French withdrew back across the border, but German forces ended up surrounding them. Some French troops were able to flee toward the main body of the French army in the region, but the others were either killed or captured. Things would only get worse for the French. Two more German victories in the area within just days forced the French forces back, with high causalities; about 24,000 killed, wounded, and captured/missing (total for both battles), with the German forces, which were not only Prussian and Bavarian, but also from other German states, suffering more than 13,000 killed, wounded, missing/captured.

Large forces of the French army retreated to the city of Metz, which was a fortress. The Germans besieged the fortress on August 19, turning back all attempts by the French to break out. By October 27, the French forces surrendered the city, along with at least 180,000 men! It was a decisive German victory. In the meantime, French forces, with Emperor Napoleon III also present, tried to break the siege of Metz from the outside on September 1. They were trapped by German forces near the city of Sedan and defeated, with Napoleon III and his primary commander both being captured. The French suffered the loss of more than 120,000 men (most surrendered) and the Germans lost something over 9000. With Napoleon III's capture,** France again declared itself a republic, and the French leaders, after brief peace negotiations with Prussia, decided to continue the war. This brought the German armies right to Paris, where they initiated a siege.

The new government of France mobilized new armies in other parts of France. The intention was to relieve Paris with simultaneous attacks from various directions. The Germans sent relatively small forces (don't forget, they were besieging both Metz and Paris at that time) to try to disperse these new French troops before they could actually concentrate for an attack. Initially the French were successful against these German forces, but once the original French forces surrounded in Metz surrendered on October 27, the German forces that had been besieging the fortress came to the rescue. Eventually the Germans were victorious. Each German victory released those German troops to support military operations elsewhere. With food supplies low in Paris, and with little hope of any remaining French armies being able to successfully advance on the capital, the French surrendered. During surrender negotiations, Bismarck promised food would be supplied to Paris.

Next, "The Germans Unite....Sort Of-The Founding Of Modern Germany" (A Word History is below the notes)

* While Saarbrücken literally means "Saar Bridges" in modern German; the city being located on the Saar River, "supposedly" this simply evolved into that meaning, as the inhabitants prior to Germanic people were Celts, who called the area "Sarabriga," which meant something like, "large rock/boulder above flowing water," again supposedly from the cliffs above the river and wetlands below. "Some" say the second part, "briga," then was translated into Germanic as a form that is related to modern English "brook" and modern German "Bruch" (meaning "wetland, bog, swampy area"). When bridges were finally built, the pronunciation then followed suit, eventually becoming the modern form. By the way, if you didn't already notice, English "bridge" and German "Brücke" are related. The "n" at the end of the German form makes it plural, "bridges."

** Napoleon III was later released by the Germans and he, his wife and son went to England, where he died a couple of years later.

WORD HISTORY:
Folk-This goes back to Indo European "pel," one of the meanings of which was "multitude, abundance." This gave Old Germanic the offshoot "folkam," which meant both "people" and "group of warriors." This gave Old English "folc," with the more extended meaning "nation, tribe, people, military personnel." Later English adopted the "folk" spelling which has endured into modern times. English borrowed the Latin derived word "people," which then took over as the primary word, but "folk" has lasted, usually with the connotation "common people," evident in the derived adjective, "folksy." Its various forms are used throughout the Germanic languages: German, Low German and Dutch have "volk" (German spells it with a capital "V," but it is pronounced "f"), West Frisian, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian have "folk," Icelandic has "fólk." Besides meaning "people," the more extensive meaning "people of a nation" is also a part of many of the Germanic languages. Americans likely best know the German form from "Volkswagen."

NOTE: The Indo European form "pel" (variant form "ple") gave Greek "plethos," meaning "multitude," and Latin "plebs" meaning "people," so you can see the relationship to the Germanic form. Both Greek and Latin are Indo European languages related to English further down the family tree.

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."

The German Question, Part Fifty-Two

"Bismarck" Part Four/A "Prelude To War With France"

After Prussia's defeat of Austria and the formation of the North German Confederation, Emperor Napoleon III of France was in a bit of a precarious situation. There were rumblings in France from people who wanted more liberties, thus keeping the possibility of a revolution very much on Napoleon III's mind. Foreign policy blunders, including an attempt to install a French-backed ruler in Mexico (which failed), gave continued hope to French revolutionaries. After much damage to his prestige, Napoleon III needed a success to gain the support of a solid majority of the French people.

While Prussia's position strengthened greatly with the defeat of Austria, the south German states remained outside of Prussia's control, although Bismarck secretly signed alliances with these states, which guaranteed mutual assistance in any war, the importance of which would soon be realized.

There were numerous and complex diplomatic maneuvers in the time between the Austro-Prussian War and the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War; too many to go into here, but just briefly, Napoleon III wanted allies against Prussia to help tie down Prussian forces. He used Austria's humiliation at the hands of Prussia to try to lure her to side with France in a war against Prussia, and further, to try to get Austria to have the south German states follow Austria's lead. Austria wanted Italy drawn into any alliance against Prussia, but Italy wanted all French troops withdrawn from Rome, where they stood guard in protection of the Papacy. A French withdrawal would have given Italians control of their designated capital, which still remained outside of the new Italian nation. This demand put Napoleon III in a bind. With unrest in France so prevalent, he did not want to stir the pot further by permitting Italy to occupy Rome and antagonize French Catholics (France was an overwhelmingly Catholic country). Also working against Napoleon III was the fact that Bismarck had worked out agreements with Russia, essentially guaranteeing that Russia would remain neutral in a Prussian war with France, or that Russia would actually go to war with Austria, if the Austrians sided with France.

Prior to the Austro-Prussian War, Bismarck had negotiated with Napoleon III (see previous articles for more detail) to keep France neutral. He offered to "consider" Napoleon's desire to take over Belgium and Luxembourg, and perhaps other (German) territory along the Rhine River.* Later, after Austria's defeat, Napoleon III's representative reminded Bismarck of his promise to "consider" territory for France. Again, Bismarck outwitted the French by skillfully getting the French representative to put the matter in writing (no recording devices in those days). Bismarck then later released this letter, which brought cries of indignation from others against Napoleon III.** As to Luxembourg, Napoleon III tried to buy it from the Dutch king, but Prussia and other German states strongly objected, bringing the parties to the point of war. A special meeting of the major European powers in London resolved the matter by guaranteeing Luxembourg's independence and neutrality, and by requiring that Prussia withdraw its troops. Napoleon III lost out on territory again.***/****

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

* Belgium was not German territory, but at that point in time, Luxembourg, a personal possession of the Dutch king, was still a member of the German Confederation. Napoleon III was also interested in other German areas on the west bank of the Rhine River. Napoleon III made a serious error (from the French point of view) by not getting Bismarck to commit to territorial adjustments, rather than Bismarck's foxy "consideration" of such. (See Note 2)

** Napoleon III had earlier guaranteed the independence of Belgium. His new attempts to take over Belgium brought him sharp rebuffs from Great Britain; thus alienating another potential ally against Prussia.

*** Luxembourg, which was granted independence after the Prussian victory over Austria and the dissolution of the German Confederation, became a member of the (German) Customs Union ("Zollverein") and had Prussian troops stationed there. If Napoleon III had succeeded in buying Luxembourg, those troops would have been removed, giving him a better strategic position in any potential war with Prussia. On the other hand, Bismarck's military advisers naturally wanted to retain their military presence in Luxembourg, which is along the northern French border.

**** Napoleon III also lost the "public relations" war, as he was seen, correctly, as trying to take over other countries. While we are now approaching the point in this series where the Germans came to be seen by much of the world as the aggressors, up to that point, and for a couple of centuries previous, France was often, but not always, seen as an aggressor nation, and this certainly was not limited to Napoleon or his nephew, Napoleon III. That does not mean that other nations didn't periodically have similar aggressive intentions,"  back then.

WORD HISTORY:
Blitz-This word is more commonly part of the World War Two era compound German word "Blitzkrieg" in English, or just "blitz" for the American football term "to rush the quarterback." In England the shortened form "Blitz" has been used for the German air attacks on the United Kingdom in 1940 during World War Two, commonly known there as "the Blitz." This word goes back to Indo European "bhleg," or some sources say "bhel," which had the meaning of "shine, burn." This spawned the Old Germanic verb form "blikkatjan," which meant "to brighten, to flash" (this also gave Old English the noun "blæcern," meaning "candle light"). This then gave Old High German "blecchazzen," with the same meaning. Later this became "bliczen," which then simply meant "to flash," with the obvious progression to modern "blitzen," and the derived noun form "Blitz," which means "lightening" (all German nouns are capitalized; thus the capital "B"). Just for your information, the meaning of the names in the Christmas story with the reindeer "Donner" and "Blitzen," is "Thunder" and "Lightening."

The German Question, Part Fifty-One

"Bismarck" Part Three/C "A Sad Parting"

France's Napoleon III now mediated between Austria and Prussia and between Italy and Austria. Napoleon III had long sought to keep some sort of power balance between Austria and Prussia and their role in German affairs. He was surprised by Prussia's decisive victory so early in the military conflict, as he had calculated that Austria would defeat Prussia in any war. Some Prussians wanted an out-and-out march on Vienna, even followed by an occupation of the Austrian capital, and former capital of the German Empire, but Bismarck and cooler heads in Prussia knew that such a move could well bring Napoleon III to side with Austria and declare war. This would have brought a two front war to Prussia, with only Italy as an ally, and as I noted in the previous part, the Italians had had a mixed record in their military operations against Austria up to that point. Further, many Germans, although undoubtedly more in the southern states, did not want to see Austria, their traditional leader, be humiliated by Prussia. Any such humiliation could have caused deep divides in the German public at a time when Prussia sought unity. An armistice limited the possibility of any such developments.

Bismarck did not seek territory from Austria. He also wanted to form a new Prussian-led confederation of the German states, BUT this time totally excluding Austria. So, without going into all of the negotiating ploys, here was the end result of the treaty process and other events:

First, the German Confederation was dissolved. Liechtenstein became independent (as it remains today).* Luxemburg also became independent, although it joined the Customs Union ("Zollverein"), giving it close ties to Prussia (and eventually the new German nation).** Italy received, and then annexed, the Italian populated region of Venetia (thereafter northeastern Italy) from Austria; Prussia annexed Schleswig and Holstein (then combined into one province "Schleswig-Holstein"); Prussia annexed other German states, or parts thereof; Prussia wanted Saxony, but it remained as an independent state (see next); Prussia formed the new "North German Confederation" ("Norddeutscher Bund"), which included Saxony, but which excluded (at Napoleon III's insistence) the southern German states, and Austria was committed to remain OUT OF German affairs. The Austrian Empire's very existence now came into question. The always present potential for ethnic unrest in the multi-ethnic empire led to a sharing of power with Hungary; thus the resulting 1867 compromise, known as the "Ausgleich," in German, brought about the "Austro-Hungarian Empire," or simply "Austria-Hungary" (also called the "Dual Monarchy"). The Habsburg ruler remained as King of Hungary, and foreign policy and military matters were run by the "Empire," but Hungary ran its own matters otherwise (it had its own legislative body which met in Budapest).***

The German population of the Austrian Empire still saw themselves as "Germans," but this began the process by which Austrians eventually would be seen separately, except for a minority point of view. More on that later. (A Word History is below the notes)

* The dissolution of the German Confederation resulted in Liechtenstein becoming an independent country, so we have another answer to our "German Question," and it does not include Liechtenstein, although its language and customs remain German in character.

** The economic relationship between Luxemburg and Germany remained, but, with Luxemburg as an independent country, Luxemburg was not obliged to follow German law nor foreign policy. So we have another "detachment" to help answer the "German Question."

*** Initially "Buda" and "Pest" were two separate cities, which did not formally unite into "Budapest" until 1873.

WORD HISTORY:
Waltz-This word came into English in the 1780s for a type of dance. It goes back to Indo European "wel," which carried the notion of "roll, turn, revolve." This gave Old Germanic "waltjanan," with the same basic meaning. This then gave Old High German "walzan," and eventually gave German the verb "walzen," and the noun "Walzer," the term for the energetic dance which involved what appeared as "rolling" or "revolving" as people danced. By the 1820s, the word began to also take on the added meaning in English of "move about nimbly," and eventually "to navigate sticky or delicate questions with adeptness." By the way, English once had the related verb "wyltan/wieltan," meaning, "to roll."  

The German Question, Part Fifty

"Bismarck" Part Three/B "The Day of Reckoning"

Now we need to go back to "Schleswig-Holstein." After the two German super powers defeated Denmark in 1864, they made an agreement regarding these two provinces in 1865. Both provinces became members of the (Prussian-run) Customs Union ("Zollverein"), although Austria herself was not a member. There were various stipulations, but basically Prussia was to administer Schleswig, the northern most province, and Austria was to administer Holstein. This left Austrian-run Holstein as the peanut butter and jelly between a slice of Prussian bread in Schleswig, and another slice of Prussian bread in Prussia proper.* Austria agreed to permit Prussian access to Schleswig through Holstein. The two powers agreed to resolve any differences over administration between themselves. Put simply, there were disagreements, and Austria called for the issues to be resolved by the German Confederation. This was a clear violation of the agreement with Prussia, although a violation that gave Bismarck his reason to act against Austria.

The overall march to war was highly complex, but essentially events began unfolding when Italy moved numerous military units to the border of the Austrian controlled Italian regions coveted by the Italians. Austria called up troops to reinforce its units in these same regions. This gave Italy cause to order a full mobilization of its army, and with Prussia committed to support Italy,** the Prussians mobilized their army shortly thereafter. Most of the representatives in the assembly at Frankfurt wanted matters to calm down, and for all sides to demobilize their forces, although most supported Austria, still the symbolic leader of Germany. The few supporters of Prussia among the German states had only small military forces, but Austria's potential to gain non-German allies was slim (Russia especially was reluctant to get involved on Austria's side, due to past differences between the two powers, although the Russians were alarmed by Prussia's growing power among the German states***). Austria agreed to the calls for demobilization of any troops that were seen as threatening Prussia, but she could not do the same with Italy, which was in no way connected with the German Confederation. Bismarck cried "Foul!" He sent Prussian troops into Holstein in response to Austria's calling the Holstein provincial assembly into session about the dispute with Prussia. Austrian troops, far from Austria (which was much further south), and sandwiched between Prussian forces, withdrew from Holstein.

This prompted Austria to call for the German Confederation to mobilize forces against Prussia, a process that began. Prussia declared that such actions dissolved the German Confederation (saying it, did not truly make it so), but the Prussians also offered new constitutional reform and reorganization for a new federation of all the German states.

Prussia pressured the other German states to accept its reform plan, but they rejected it (most favored Austria, anyhow). In mid June 1866, Prussia sent troops into the states of Saxony, Hanover, and Hessen-Kassel, and the war began. The Prussian forces dominated the forces of these states, except those of Hanover, which inflicted a defeat on the Prussian army in late June, but then surrendered to Prussia shortly thereafter, when more Prussian forces arrived.

Relatively small Prussian forces kept forces of other Austrian allies, like Bavaria, tied down and thus out of the main fighting, except for Saxony. The rapidly mobilized Prussian forces advanced into Saxony. The Saxons moved their army (relatively small) out of Saxony and into neighboring Bohemia (a Habsburg possession) to join the slowly mobilizing Austrian forces which were assembling for an eventual attack on the Prussians in Silesia.**** The Prussians struck in early July with three converging armies inflicting a devastating defeat on the Austrian forces at the "Battle of Königgrätz" (Sadowa, in Czech), with the Austrians losing 40-45,000 men (killed, wounded, captured), while total Prussian losses were less than 10,000. This one major battle brought agreement between the two German states for France's Napoleon III to begin mediation between the belligerents for an end to the war. Napoleon III accepted the role.

While the Austrians suffered at the hands of the Prussians, they enjoyed far more success against the Italians, who suffered a major defeat early on (June 24) in the Austrian held region of Veneto at the "Battle of Custoza" (near the city of Verona), although the Italians did achieve a victory in the Trentino region (about 20 miles from the city of "Trento") on July 21 against the Austrians. Peace negotiations required that the Italians yield any gains in the area.

Next, the war ends....... (A Word History is below the notes)

* You can see the almost hopeless military situation for Austrian troops in Holstein, if any war developed between Austria and Prussia. You know what happens when you press two slices of bread against a layer of peanut butter and jelly......SQUISH!

** Remember, Italy and Prussia had an agreement to support one another in a war against Austria.

*** Russia siding with Austria would then have forced Prussia to divide its forces, just as Austria was already doing, due to the threat from Italy.

**** For those who have been following this series, you may recall Austria's long held desire for more territory in Silesia going back to the wars between Austria and Prussia when led by Maria Theresa and Frederick the Great, respectively.

WORD HISTORY:
Beer-The ultimate origin of this word is uncertain. Some linguists believe it came from Latin "bibere," meaning "to drink," which then went back to Indo European "po/poi," which then had a variant "bibo," which gave Latin "bibere," and the noun form "biber," meaning "a drink." The theory is that West Germanic borrowed the word from Latin, giving Anglo-Saxon "beor," although Anglo-Saxon (and Germanic generally) used the ancestral form of "ale" as a general word for "beer," in those times. Another theory has the word derived from Old Germanic "beuwoz," a form of which meant "barley." Still another theory has "beer" coming from Indo European "beus/bheus," which meant "sediment, yeast sediment," which then gave Old Germanic "biuzan" or "biuzaz," which meant "beverage made from yeast;" thus, "beer." To be honest, I don't know, as all are certainly possible; however, the word "beer" only appears in the Germanic languages (see other Germanic forms below), except for borrowings, so perhaps the last theory is correct, that it developed in Germanic. The Latin ancestor is possible, but the problem I have with it is, most sources cite a West Germanic borrowing during the 500s (A.D.). The Anglo-Saxons had already established themselves in Britain (what would be called 'England') by that time, and while they could have borrowed it from the continental Germanic relatives (or vice versa), that makes it a little more of a stretch. Anyway, Old English "beor" later became "ber/bere," before the modern spelling. German, Dutch, and West Frisian have "Bier/bier," all with similar pronunciations to the English form (the German form has a capital "B," as all modern German nouns are capitalized), Low German Saxon has "beer," and Icelandic has "bjór." Danish, Norwegian and Swedish all use a form of "ale" for their word for "beer."

The German Question, Part Forty-Nine

"Bismarck" Part Three/A- "The Day Of Reckoning"

The events prior to, and during the "Austro-Prussian War" ("Der Deutsche Krieg," in German, "the German War"), were far more complex than what I'll write about here.

Bismarck saw an opportunity for Prussia to place Austria in a sort of military vise grip. With a newly united Italy still desiring certain Italian majority provinces that were controlled by Austria, Bismarck made a pact with the Italians. The pact essentially committed Prussia and Italy to assist each other in any war either had with Austria; a war that seemed more likely to start between Italy and Austria, at that time. Earlier, Bismarck secured French neutrality in any conflict between Prussia and Austria,* with France's "Napoleon III" believing that any war between the two German states could only benefit France's territorial desires along the western areas of the German states (like Luxembourg), and further, he believed that Austria would defeat Prussia in any war.**

Prussia enjoyed several advantages over Austria. The Prussian army was large, well trained, well led, well equipped***, had a significant number of well trained reservists, and individual regiments had their personnel located close by, for quick mobilization. By this time, 1866, railways had developed throughout the German states, although somewhat unevenly, but Prussia's railways were especially well developed, giving Prussia's army the ability to quickly move troops from one location to another, and then to also quickly supply those troops. On the other hand, Austria faced the prospect of a two-front war; against Prussia in the north, and against Italy in the south. Further, the unrest of her many non-German subjects, and their resentments, made many of Austria's infantry units, where there were numerous non-Germans, a bit suspect in terms of reliability. Austria's cavalry and artillery forces, however, were renowned for their prowess. The threat of unrest also made the Austrians choose to keep many military personnel far from their regimental commands in an attempt to prevent armed organized uprisings. This meant it took time for Austria to mobilize its army, as many troops had to travel considerable distances to join their units, and Austria's railways were somewhat less well developed in certain parts of her vast territories than Prussia's.

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

* France was ruled by Napoleon's nephew, "Napoleon III." Bismarck and Napoleon III had a one-on-one meeting, at which time Bismarck secured France's neutrality.

** Luxembourg was a member of the German Confederation and the Zollverein (the Customs Union, led by Prussia), close to Prussian territory, and actually had, at times, Prussian troops stationed there. Any Prussian defeat could have helped France in their desire for Luxembourg. France also was interested in Belgium.

*** Prussia's infantry were equipped with bolt-action, breech-loading guns, which allowed their infantry to lie down and fire, making them more difficult targets. They could also fire at a faster rate than Austria's muzzle-loading guns, which pretty much required infantrymen to stand to reload. While the Austrian military leaders saw the effectiveness of the Prussian guns during their joint-effort with Prussia in the war with Denmark, they seemingly did not grasp the significance of the more modern gun, or Austria's strained financial resources may have forced them to abandon any plan to re-equip, as thousands of new guns would have been costly.

WORD HISTORY:
Stone (Stein)-For those of you who have been following this series on the Germans, you probably have noticed my tendency to do words which were borrowed into English from German, or words that we associate with Germans. While "stone" was NOT borrowed, its Germanic ancestor also gave German "Stein," which besides having the same meaning as the English word, also means "stone/ceramic beer mug," but only in certain regions of the German-speaking world. It is a shortened form of German "Steingut," or "stoneware." "Stein" is a word very much present in English. It is perhaps more prevalent in American English from the large number of German immigrants who came here.

This word goes back to Indo European "stai," which meant "stone." (Note of interest: It also had the meaning, perhaps the original meaning, of "hard substance, solidity," which gave some of our more distant relatives; that is, further down the "family tree," words associated with that concept, such as Greek "stear" which means "tallow;" that is "solidified fat," and Latin "stiria," which means "icicle." The Old Germanic offshoot was "stainaz," which then gave Old English "stan," with a long "a" sound, unlike the modern short form for "Stanley." Later it was spelled "ston," before acquiring its modern form. The verb form, as in "to stone someone to death," developed in English during the 1100s. It is VERY much present in the Germanic languages: as noted above, German has "Stein," Low German has both "steyn" and "steen," Dutch has "steen," Frisian has "stien," Danish and Swedish both have "sten," Norwegian has "stein," and Icelandic has "steinn." The term "Stone Age" originated in the 1830s from Danish archeologist Christian Jürgensen Thomsen.

The German Question, Part Forty-Eight

"Bismarck" Part Two "Prelude To Austrian-Prussian Reckoning"

German unification came about with what many historians call, "The (German) Wars of Unification," a series of three wars. I've already covered the war carried out jointly by Prussia and Austria against Denmark in Parts 45 and 46, in this series. Now I'll get into the real crux of the matter; that is, the day of reckoning between Prussia and Austria over political dominance of German affairs. I suppose I'd have to say that the long build up to a major showdown between the two German "super states" is more important than even its aftermath, since this confrontation set in motion the inevitability of German unification (in my opinion).

First, a recap:
For centuries, Austria was the leading German state among literally hundreds (at times, thousands) of German states. The Habsburg family rulers, which ruled Austria, were also chosen for centuries as the emperors of an increasingly weak German Empire.* Over time, however, the Habsburgs expanded their holdings to areas of eastern and southeastern Europe where Germans were either a distinct minority, if even present at all. The Protestant Reformation brought the spread of Protestantism, primarily Lutheranism, to much of the northern German lands, where Protestants often became a majority. Austria and the other southern German states remained heavily Catholic. Prussia, a north German state, largely Protestant, and ruled by the Hohenzollern family, gradually became a military power, challenging Austrian power over German affairs. Napoleon defeated the Germans and dissolved their weakened empire, occupying many of the German lands, and even annexing some German territory to France. This all began to build a sense of German national patriotism, rather than the regional patriotism long in place in the German states, and culminated in the defeat and ouster of Napoleon from the German territories. While many Germans wanted a new unified German nation formed after Napoleon's defeat, the rulers of the various states sought to keep their own local and regional power. A confederation was formed among the German states, but with little power over truly "German" affairs. Austria headed this confederation. In the effort to truly unite Germans, many Germans wanted Austria to relinquish control over a large portion of their non-German lands, something which the Habsburgs refused to do. Prussia formed a "customs union" ("Zollverein") to expedite trade among an increasing number of the states, but without Austria.

The Revolutions of 1848 brought demands for German unification and constitutional law, but what looked to be a sure thing, proved to be illusory, although the ideas put forward during that time did not all die. The Revolutions, while they essentially failed, also showed the strains on the Habsburg holdings, as their non-German subjects rose in revolt in many places. While order was restored, it seemed only a matter of time before the Habsburgs would have to grant some degree of independence to their non-German subjects, giving Germans the increased hope that Austria would then either lead (mainly preferred by "South" Germans), or become a part of, a newly united Germany. Later still, Austria had to confront a developing threat from their Italian holdings in northern Italy, as Italians, like the Germans, were increasingly pressing for a unified nation, and part of what many Italians saw as that unified nation included the Austrian holdings.** This forced the Habsburgs to deploy considerable military resources in that area; a fact clearly noted by Bismarck and his advisers in Prussia. By 1861, Italians declared Victor Emanuel II (Vittorio Emanuele, in Italian) as King of Italy, although not all areas desired by Italians were included in the new nation, including, interestingly, ROME!!! The Austrian possessions also remained outside of Italian control, but Austria was well aware of Italian designs on these areas, where the Austrians continued to maintain substantial military forces.

Railroads began to develop throughout the German states beginning in the 1830s. This faster means of travel helped to further unite Germans, in both travel and trade, as many Germans began to pay tourist-type visits to areas far beyond their old regional homelands. Visits to old castles, battlefields, and other historical venues began the development of a whole new industry in the German economy, and gave Germans a sense of common pride and history.

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

* In this case, I'm not only meaning weak in military power, but also weak in structure and the emperor's ability to get Germans to act in concert with his wishes.

** This was "sort of" a reverse of the situation in northern Germany with Schleswig and Holstein, which were seen by Germans as part of Germany, but were controlled, to varying degrees, by the King of Denmark.

WORD HISTORY:
Ale-This goes back to the Indo European root "alu," which had the notion of "magic, possession, intoxication." This gave Old Germanic "alu(th)," which then gave Old English "ealu," which meant "ale," or just "beer." Interestingly, English had both words, "ale" and "beer," and they were interchangeable, or perhaps regional, but "beer" (which I'll be covering in a future Word History) did not develop a distinct meaning until the 1500s, when hops began to be used in the brewing process. Forms of the word in English's closest West Germanic relatives (German, Dutch, Frisian) have died out in the standard languages, as they now only use forms of the word "beer," although I wouldn't be surprised that forms survive in dialects, and I did find "aal" for Dutch and some Low German versions, but whether this is truly used very often in modern times, I don't know. But English's North Germanic relatives still use their own forms: Danish and Norwegian have "øl" and Swedish and Icelandic have "öl." By the way, an interesting side note; "ale" also meant "a celebration, with lots of ale." This still survives in the last part of the compound word "bridAL," which meant a "celebration of a wedding, wedding feast." Poor woman, she just got married and her husband's stewed to the gills! ("Hic!...Ah...'scuse me.")