Palatschinken, Austrian Pancakes

Generally, standard German uses "Pfannkuchen" as the word for "pancake" (the relationship between the German and the English words is clear), and "Eierkuchen" (literally, "egg cake") is another common word, but there are some other regional terms in German, like "Plinse" in Saxony (in eastern Germany), "Flädle" in Swabia (southwestern Germany), "Flädli" in Switzerland and "Palatschinke" in Austria. The fact that these terms exist and continue to be used is not uncommon in German, as dialect terms for specific dishes tend to show regional pride, and to be quite honest, there is no strong desire or societal pressure to change them. They are a part of the food history of these various regions."Palatschinken" are thinner crepe-like pancakes (but not super thin), spread with fruit jam (or sometimes with cheese) and then almost always rolled up, rather than folded over or folded into angles. The word is of Latin derivation, but came into German by way of Hungarian "palacsinta," likely with strong reinforcement from Czech "palačinka." The Habsburg family ruled Hungary, as well as Bohemia (heavily Czech populated, with a German minority in those times, but since the end of  World War Two "almost" exclusively Czech), for quite some time, and Vienna became a very cosmopolitan city from the extensive reach of the Habsburgs. 

Ingredients (4 to 6 Palatschinken, depending upon size):

1 cup flour
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon melted butter
pinch of salt
1 or 2 tablespoons sugar (optional) 
butter for cooking (about 4 tablespoons)
apricot preserves
powdered sugar for dusting

Beat the eggs. Mix the flour and milk well, then add the eggs and salt. Mix well. Drizzle in the melted butter, stirring to mix it in. I used 1/3 cup of batter per pancake, making sure to spread the batter around, so that each pancake will not be too thick (but they shouldn't be super thin, either). You can make the Palatschinken as big around as you like. Brown each pancake lightly on both sides. Spread some apricot preserves over each palatschinke, leaving a good border around the entire pancake. Roll up the pancakes and sprinkle on a little powdered sugar.

WORD HISTORY:
Pan-This word's ultimate origin is unknown. It comes from Germanic, perhaps the more specific West Germanic branch of Germanic (there "seem" to be no forms in the North Germanic or East Germanic branches long ago), but whether Germanic had a form from its parent language, Indo European (or even borrowed it from another language family), or whether Germanic borrowed the word into the West Germanic branch long ago (perhaps circa 400 AD?) from Latin, is the question. Latin had "patina," other forms of which were, "patna" and "panna," which meant, "dish, bowl, cooking dish, pan," a word that it had borrowed from Greek "patánē," which meant, "bowl, dish." Again, where Greek got the word is unknown. "A 'hollowed out' utensil or dish for serving or preparing food" seems to be the connecting meaning. Anyway, Old Germanic or West Germanic had "panna/panno," which meant, "pan." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "panne" (the ending 'e' would have been pronounced back then as "eh/ah"), and this later was shortened to just "pan." The other Germanic languages have: German "Pfanne," Low German Saxon "Pann," West Frisian "panne" (?), Dutch "pan." Swedish has "panna," meaning, "pan, kettle," but this is a borrowing from Low German a few hundred years ago. 

The German Question, Part One Hundred Twenty-Four

"Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/B"
Foreign Policy & The German Question" (Part Five/1)
"Germans In Czechoslovakia" (Part 1)

First a little background:
Czechoslovakia was formed after World War One from parts of the former "Austria-Hungary." The western areas, usually referred to as "Bohemia and Moravia," were Czech majority, and the eastern areas were Slovak majority. When Austria and Hungary agreed to share power in 1867, Hungary had ruled the Slovak areas and Austria had ruled Bohemia and Moravia. The significant thing was, the outer border areas of Bohemia and Moravia (sort of a semi-circle and much of it mountainous or hilly) were populated by Germans, some settlements dating back hundreds of years, and indeed, the area was part of the Old German Empire, and specifically became a Habsburg family possession in the 1500s. Poles, Hungarians and Ruthenians also formed smaller minorities within the nation's boundaries. When the Old German Empire was dissolved, these lands remained under Habsburg control, and thus became part of what was then called, the Austrian Empire, which later became Austria-Hungary, as noted above. When Czechoslovakia was formed, the Czechs essentially dominated the government, and although closely related to the Slovaks, both ethnically and linguistically, the two peoples did not always get along well together. The German population was upset that it then found itself as a distinct minority, with somewhat less than 25% of the population.* Later, when the Great Depression struck, the German areas were heavily hit by unemployment, which only caused further discontent. When Hitler came to power in Germany, and German nationalism surged, the German population of Czechoslovakia began to stir, and the situation was eventually set for Hitler to make claims against Czechoslovakia.

* It should be noted that some Germans also lived in the "interior" parts of the Czech lands, and also, but to a lesser degree, in the Slovak areas, but the vast majority lived in the outer edges of the Czech lands. This outer boundary area came to be called the "Sudentenland" by Germans, after the Sudeten Mountains in the area.

WORD HISTORY:
Whole-This word goes back to Indo European "koilas/kailo," which seems to have meant "healthy, unharmed, in a sound condition/state, complete/entire." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "(k)hailaz," with the same general meaning. This produced Anglo-Saxon (Old English) "hal," with the same meanings, but the meaning "complete" eventually began to dominate. That meaning comes from the notion, if you are "unharmed, healthy," you are "complete." Later it was spelled "hool" and then "hole," but by the late 1400s or early 1500s, the "w" was added to differentiate it from the word of the same spelling, but meaning "opening, orifice, or perforation." In northern England and parts of Scotland it came to be pronounced and spelled "hale," where it also retained the meaning, "healthy," and indeed, "whole" and "hale" are closely related to "health and healthy." Numerous forms are common in the other Germanic languages, although with variations in exact meaning, but all generally centering around "healthy" and "unharmed," and some even with a similar meaning to English "whole;" that is "complete:" German has "heil," Low German has both "heel" and "heil," Dutch has "heel," West Frisian has "hiel," Norwegian has "heil," Swedish and Danish have "hel," and Icelandic has "heill."

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.")

The German Question, Part Forty-Three

"Revolution....Sort Of" Conclusion

The revolutions in the Austrian Empire of the Habsburgs forced the government to flee Vienna a couple of times. Emperor (Kaiser, in German) Ferdinand I made concessions in an effort to bring calm to the situation.* By late 1848, Ferdinand I abdicated in favor of his nephew, Franz Josef, but not before he declared that Austria's non-German lands could not be separated from Austria, and that all of those Austrian lands should be included in a new German nation. This announcement essentially ended the debate over "Large Germany" versus "Small Germany" in the Frankfurt National Assembly, with "Small Germany" winning out, but with accommodations made for a future entry of Austria's "German settled lands" into a German nation.

In the end, all of the "separate" uprisings/revolutions failed in the German states and in the German possessions with non-German populations. I write "separate," because that's what they were. These uprisings all occurred at the same or similar times, but they were not coordinated, and that allowed each to be suppressed, although at times with great difficulty. Unlike the revolutionary elements, the monarchs of the German states were united in the idea of preserving the status quo; that is, keeping themselves in power; thus Prussia sent troops to help quell the uprising in Baden.** By and large, the soldiers in the various state armies remained loyal to their rulers. Without major defections from these forces, the German democrats (small "d" here Americans) faced an uphill struggle. Further, the German democrats were trying to do too many things; overthrow the absolute monarchies of the various states, create a national state, and create a constitution for that national state. Any one of these items in itself would have been difficult, but to attempt all three pretty much simultaneously was a daunting task.*** The democratic elements of German society were defeated, but they scared the monarchists enough to gain some concessions, at least at first, even though those concessions were often later withdrawn by the monarchies when they again held the upper hand. Some of the supporters of German democracy left for America, or elsewhere, rather than remain under absolutist monarchical rule, or for fear of being arrested and executed by the triumphant regimes.**** This put a dent in the core of German democratic forces, weakening the chances for democracy in any new united German nation.

* Ferdinand I suffered from epilepsy and mental "slowness." His father recognized his son's potential for only limited rule, as his Will allowed for a counsel of advisers to provide assistance to Ferdinand. Speculation is that while Ferdinand married, the marriage was not "fulfilled," or "consummated," as the term goes, so there were no children. By the way, "technically," Ferdinand was the head of the German Confederation, but a "deputy" actually sat in his place in Frankfurt. This was not necessarily due to his limitations, as other monarchs sent "deputies" in their places, too, but it just was not practical, especially with uprisings still occurring in many places. Ferdinand's medical problems and his initial support for concessions to the revolutionaries were what led to his abdication, as the conservative monarchists wanted a stronger emperor, and one with no ties to compromises with democratic elements.

** This then gave Prussia a southern German state as an ally; something that was quite different, as the southern German states had traditionally supported Austria as the leading German state.

*** Remember, Americans, or more correctly, the American colonists, defeated the British, allowing a new nation to be formed, and THEN came a constitution. In the interim, any substantial British military forces were far away, and the changed situation, American independence, posed a major supply problem for any attempt by the British to return large forces to America, unless they came from Canada. In France, the revolution wasn't about "founding" a French nation, France already existed as a unified nation.

**** There are often comments by American politicians regarding the lack of "capital punishment" in Europe, and indeed, the repugnant view of capital punishment by many Europeans, including Germans. We need to remember that Germans and other Europeans lived under repressive regimes for centuries, where death penalties were arbitrarily meted out and often with little, or any, appeal for commutation. Germans (and Europeans) are much more aware of how "capital punishment" can be abused. America has had a system based upon a constitution and basic rights for over two hundred years now, even though some people have been treated less than equally under our laws, like Irish (Catholic) immigrants in the 1800s, Chinese laborers in the 1800s, and black Americans pre and post slavery, for example. Still, in more recent decades, except for a few "haters," most Americans are appalled when the legal process is not properly applied. I hope that continues to strengthen. (NOTE: 8-6-22: The January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol Building has brought the arrests of hundreds, but it remains to be seen if any of the leaders and instigators of this attack will be held to account.)

WORD HISTORY:
Gesundheit-This word, exclaimed when someone sneezes, is a borrowing from German. One source (other sources are vague about its entry into English) indicates that it came into English in the early 1900s, but my "guess" is, it was well before that, and more than likely came to English from German immigrants to America. Whether this exclamation is even used much, or at all, in England is unknown to me. Its Indo European ancestry is uncertain (although some linguists believe it has ties to Slavic and Indo-Iranian, which are Indo European languages related to English further down the family tree), but it goes back to Old Germanic "swintaz/sundas," which had the notions of "strong, sturdy, safe." This gave the West Germanic offshoot "gasundaz" (English, German, Dutch, Frisian, Yiddish are all "West Germanic"). This then gave Old High German "gisunt," followed by Middle High German "gesunt," which then gave German the noun form "Gesundheit," which means "health, healthiness." By the way, the West Germanic form gave Old English "gesund," with the "ge" prefix later being dropped and the spelling changing to "sound," as in "strong, safe" ("The bridge is sound") and also "healthy, good health, well" ("sound in body and mind"). Other Germanic languages have: German and Low German have "gesund" and Dutch has "gezond," Danish has "sundt," Norwegian has "sunt," Swedish has "sund." and West Frisian has "sûn." Apparently Icelandic does not use a form of the word. Further, and just for fun here, a variation of the Old Germanic word also gave German "Geschwind," which means "fast, quick," and is part of the German word "Geschwindigkeitsbegrenzung," or "speed limit." Say that real fast three times! German is known for its combinations of words into one "word," or maybe "paragraph" might be a better term! Until next time...."Ahhhhhhh choooooooo!!!"

The German Question, Part Forty-Two

"Revolution...Sort Of" Part Two

Street demonstrations in Berlin (the capital of Prussia) brought about counter measures from the Prussian government, which led to armed conflict in the barricaded streets. There were hundreds of casualties, including many dead. The Prussian military was pulled back and the king, Friedrich Wilhelm IV, promised a constitution with some basic rights and an elected Prussian assembly, and he offered support for a "national" German parliament.

Matters calmed down for awhile, and a National Assembly ("Nationalversammlung," in German) met at the "Paulskirche" (Paul's Church, which still exists, although it virtually had to be rebuilt after destruction in World War II) in Frankfurt to attempt to work out details for the establishment of a truly unified German nation with a constitution. The Archduke of Austria, Johann,* was made a sort of temporary leader, and eventually the Prussian king was offered the position of "emperor," but he turned it down, as the position was not being offered to him by the German princes, whom he viewed as the legitimate representatives of the German states, but rather by constitutionalists and revolutionaries. The assembly battled over all sorts of things, but the main problems were about how a united Germany would be ruled; that is, by an emperor (Kaiser, in German) whose position would then be hereditary (passed on to sons or other eligible relatives), or by election. The real main issue was the question of Austria. Over the centuries Habsburg rulers had acquired so many non-German territories, that many Germans saw this as unacceptable for inclusion in a "German" nation. Would the Habsburgs separate their German lands from their Hungarian, Czech, Slovak, Italian, and a multitude of other ethnic groups? The issue was thornier than a brier patch, with the inclusion of German Austria being called the "Grossdeutschland" (Large Germany) solution, and the exclusion of Austria being called for some strange reason the "Kleindeutschland" (Small Germany) solution (Hmm, what a coincidence! "Large and small"). The "Small Germany" solution would have given German leadership to Prussia, since Austria would have been outside the new nation. This issue cannot easily be seen without now moving on to what was happening in the Habsburg lands during the Revolution of 1848.

In "Part One," we learned that Germans took to the streets prompted by the abdication of the French king. In Vienna, the demonstrations brought about the resignation of long time Habsburg adviser and leading government minister, Klemens von Metternich. The Habsburg emperor,** Ferdinand I, in an effort to stabilize the situation, appointed new government ministers, in theory, men more acceptable to the general populace, as they didn't have the very conservative reputations of their predecessors. The problems grew, however, as Austria's non-German possessions began to go into revolt. The Hungarians wanted a separate country, but with the Habsburg ruler as their king. Similar feelings were expressed by Polish and (Western) Ukrainians (also known as Ruthenians) minorities,***and many of the Habsburg Italian possessions wanted to join a united Italian nation.**** In Bohemia/Moravia, where Czechs were a significant majority, but often dominated by the German minority (which was largely middle class), the German population wanted the region to be a part of any new German national state, but this was based not upon the ethnic make up of the area, but rather the historical fact that Bohemia had long been a part (and a significant part, at that) of the old German Empire. The Czechs saw this very differently, desiring a separate Czech nation. Slovaks, close kin to the Czechs, were in a different struggle. Hungarian moves toward independence from the Austrian Empire left the Slovaks in a position of being dominated by the Hungarians, as what we now call "Slovakia," was considered a part of Hungary in those times. Further unrest developed in the Serbian, Croat and Rumanian areas, but this unrest was largely directed, as was the Slovak uprising, against the Hungarians, which in turn then helped the Austrians against the Hungarians. ***** Put simply, it was a MESS!

So all of these "ethnic" disputes/uprisings were going on within the Austrian Empire at the same time that German Austria****** was in the midst of its own revolution, and all of these events were in some stage of development/occurrence while the National Assembly was meeting to decide German nationhood. If the Hungarians had succeeded in breaking away from Austria's hold, and they made the strongest moves of the non-German regions to do so, this may well have led to success for some or all of the other non-German areas. With such a development, the "Large Germany, Small Germany" question would have been solved, and German Austria's inclusion in any new German nation pretty much assured.

One more "part" in this segment to tie up some things.... (A Word History is below the notes)

* Archduke Johann was a member of the Habsburg family, but not the leading member. He was more liberal in outlook than most of the family, thus putting him in opposition to many of the other Habsburgs at times. 

** The Habsburg ruler, Franz, had declared Austria to be the "Austrian Empire" a few decades earlier (1804), thus making the ruler an "emperor," by title. The Habsburg "emperor" was simultaneously German emperor, as the German Empire (Holy Roman Empire) was still in existence at that time.

*** (Western) Ukrainians/Ruthenians were not typically Eastern Orthodox, as many other Ukrainians were. They had their own Christian denomination, Uniate/Ukrainian Catholic, which still had ties to Rome.

**** Like the Germans, the Italians did not have a truly united nation at that time, but rather a number of independent "states." Also like the Germans, they were trying to establish a modern nation. In those times, unlike what we think of today, "Italy" was really just a geographic term, not a term for a nation.

***** To keep all of this manageable, suffice it to say that these various uprisings in the ethnic territories failed, although the Hungarians came closest to success. Austria's army and most army commanders remained loyal to the Habsburgs, giving the monarchy a distinct advantage over the rebels. Further, the various ethnic factions often had fears of one another, allowing the Austrians to use the dissension to their advantage. While these rebellions failed at that time, the contentiousness remained, and we will be dealing with it again shortly.

****** I'm using the term "German Austria" to mean essentially what had been the traditional German state of the old German Empire, and to show a distinction between this area and the non-German areas of the "Austrian Empire," as it was this "state" that most Germans wanted included in a new German nation, and not the other parts of the Austrian Empire, although there were supporters for the entire Austrian Empire to enter a new German nation.

WORD HISTORY:
Pretzel-This goes back to Indo European "mregh-u" or "mrehu," which had the notion of "short." (Note: Remember that the Indo European forms have been reconstructed by linguists, and while you may wonder how a modern word beginning with "p" could have come from a root beginning with "m" or "mr," just as today, not all sounds were made exactly the same by everyone. Even with so many people having at least some schooling in more modern times, and radio and television having given us "examples" to follow, pronunciation differences remain, and in ancient times, education was much more scant.) The Indo European form gave Old Greek "brakhion," which meant "upper arm;" that is, the "shorter" part of the arm, compared to the longer lower forearm. Latin took on the Greek word as "bracchium," but as "arm," in general. From this Latin later developed "brachitellum," which apparently meant "little arms, branches." Old High German took the word from Latin as "brezitella," which then later became "brezel/prezel" (there are those sound/pronunciation variances again; in this case "b" and "p"), and eventually "Brezel/Bretzel" in modern German (all German nouns are capitalized, and the "z" is pronounced "ts," as when we say the plural of hit; hits.). There are many different pronunciations in German dialects, including "Brezn" in Bavaria/Austria, except for Vienna ("Wienerisch") where it is "Brezerl," and around Heidelberg they say "Bretschl," but there are other pronunciations, too. German bakers used the crossed dough patterns to simulate "folded arms," supposedly for religious purposes; thus the relation to the Latin form for "arm." English got the word from German in the mid 1800s, if not earlier.

The German Question, Part Thirty-Nine

"Aftermath of Napoleon" Conclusion

For quite some time, right up into and through the end of World War Two, the Germans have been noted for their military prowess. Some of this is exaggerated, as prior to true German unification, a point which we are now approaching in this series, not all German states had efficient military forces. Some of you may recall from your history class days, that during the American Revolution, the British brought German troops from "Hessen" to help suppress the rebellion in the Colonies, but they didn't really perform well in America. Certainly part of the reason for their poor performance was that they were mercenaries, and therefore they weren't fighting for anything except money. For most people, it's one thing to risk your life for your own country, but it's another matter entirely to risk your life purely for money.

The competitive situation between the German states, as well as, powerful non-German neighbors; typically, France (west), Russia (east), Sweden (north), and the Turks (south) out of the Balkans, made having viable military forces pretty much of a necessity for survival for many German states. Remember, even when the Holy Roman Empire (the German Empire) was in existence, the German emperor was actually dependent upon the states to provide "imperial forces," a situation which increasingly fell to Austria as the centuries passed. The Prussian kings finally began to organize and train their armies in an effort to keep their (initially small) kingdom from being nibbled away by other German states. As Prussian forces improved, Prussia became a northern competitor with Austria (southern) for influence within the German Empire. This all ended when Napoleon defeated both Prussia and Austria on the battlefield, thus giving him control of Germany. This control proved only to be temporary, as some Prussian officers saw the need to reform Prussia's army, having learned some lessons from their walloping by Napoleon, and indeed it was Prussia that helped lead the Germans in their effort to remove Napoleon's hold over Germany.

This era began the march to a time when many people in Europe and America saw the Germans as having disciplined and efficient armies. Prussia established military schools and a "general staff" composed of highly trained military officers, whose whole life revolved around military matters and what might be termed "the science of warfare." These officers studied and developed plans and theories, not only in what most people see as "strategy and tactics" for the battlefield, but also in those most necessary functions not considered by the average lay person, like how to supply forces in the field and how to keep a pool of trained replacements available to step in for the inevitable casualties. All of this "devotion to duty" gradually came to personify "German military efficiency," but it certainly wasn't true of all Germans, as for instance, Austria did not reform its military in the same way as Prussia, a failure which eventually brought about Austria's defeat, a point we will be dealing with shortly.*

Napoleon exposed how weak the German Empire really was, since the hundreds of German states at that time were not under any central government, but rather the true power was in the hands of the individual states. By the time of Napoleon, the German emperor was merely a figurehead, and even in that role he could not rally Germans in a united effort to keep the French from overrunning German territory. Without reforms and giving ALL Germans a stake in a truly national government and a united country, German unity remained elusive. The forces of reform were gathering strength, but could they bring about changes in a system dominated by nobles of many titles?

* Austria's military had numerous problems, not the least of which was that the Habsburg possessions  contained so many non-Germans.

WORD HISTORY:
Federation-This goes back to the Indo European root "bhoidh," a variant of "bheidh," which had the notion of "trust." This gave the Latin offshoot "foedus," which meant "treaty, covenant, league" (that which is formed and based upon trust), as the "bh" of Indo European was rendered as 'f' in Latin. A verb was derived from "foedus" as "foederare," meaning "to agree to a treaty or covenant," and this brought about the Late Latin noun "foederatio," meaning "alliance, two or more nations or states bound by treaty." This was taken by French as "fédération," with the same meaning and English borrowed the word in the mid 1600s, and by the early 1700s it took on the meaning "a state entity formed by treaty among independent states." Later it took on the broader meaning of "groups (of varying types, not just government) banding together in agreement to form a single entity."

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."

The German Question, Part Thirty-three

"The End Of The Old German Empire" Part One

The rickety old Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, not really much of an empire since the end of Thirty Years' War, was still dominated by the Habsburgs, when a little man from the island of Corsica* became the leader of France in the aftermath of the French Revolution. That man was Napoleon Bonaparte.

Prior to Napoleon, the empire had given both the Netherlands and Switzerland their independence, costing the empire huge chunks of territory and population, as we already learned in an earlier segment.** Over a period of more than a century, beginning in the mid 1500s, the French began to chip away at the territories of Alsace and Lorraine (Elsass and Lothringen, in German), taking control of more and more of these lands of the German Empire. Alsace was very heavily German in background, including its language, with a fairly small portion being French in character, but Lorraine was a bit more evenly split, with a large area being truly French in character and language.*** By 1700, the French essentially controlled both of these provinces.

The German emperor was greatly weakened after the Thirty Years' War, since the individual German states became much more like separate nations in the war's aftermath, and these states remained purely under a loose umbrella type of association with the empire, which truly lacked a central government organization. (A Word History is below the notes)

* Corsica is an island located some 100+ miles southeast of the French coast (at its nearest point), about 60 miles west of the mainland northwestern Italian coast and about 7 or so miles north of the Italian island of Sardinia. It was under the control of Genoa (before Italy was united as a modern nation) for a few hundred years before a brief period of independence, followed by a takeover by France in the 1760s. The ethnic composition of the island was varied in those times, as many peoples traipsed across the island at one time or another, but "likely" the population was more tilted to Italian than any other one group, and Italian and a Corsican dialect/language (closely related to Italian) prevailed as the languages on the island until French was strongly pushed by France, whereupon it became the dominant language during the mid 1800s, as it remains to this day.    

** I just want to note that the southern area of the "old" Netherlands (prior to the independence of the northern area) was not granted freedom by the ruling (and owning) Habsburgs, and was called "The Austrian Netherlands." The area was approximately 60% Flemish speaking (a Germanic language, closely akin to Dutch and some Low German dialects; and in fact, some linguists classify it as a dialect of Dutch and others classify it simply as Dutch) and 40% French speaking. This general area, which is not so much a part of our story, eventually became modern Belgium.

*** The German dialects in Alsace trace back to the Alemanns, a Germanic tribe. Interestingly, the French use their forms for the Alemanns as their words for Germany, "Allemagne," and for German, "Allemand." The German dialects of the German speaking part of Lorraine trace back to the Franks, another Germanic tribe, and the words "France" and "French" both come from the Franks.

WORD HISTORY:
Tribe-This seems to go back to the Indo European roots "trei" and "bhu." The first is the root of "three," and indeed linguists seem to believe that it was used to signify the division of Rome into "three" parts. The second root, "bhu," is the root of "be." This compound gave Latin "tribus," which denoted the "divisions of the people into groups," which then gave Old French "tribu." It was borrowed into English from French in the 1200s, often initially with reference to the biblical "twelve tribes of Israel."

The German Question, Part Thirty

"The Dismantling of Poland" Part One

While this is about German history, you might wonder why a segment about Poland is included. Well, two of the German states, Prussia and Austria, were involved in what is known to history as "The Partitions of Poland," and both added Polish territory to their realms. The overall politics of these partitions (there were three partitions over about a 23 year period) is far more complicated than I want to deal with here, but I'll leave it as a basic effort to maintain a certain balance of power between Prussia, Austria, and Russia. Just a little background: Poland and Lithuania had been joined in a commonwealth in the 1500s.* Initially it was very powerful, both militarily and economically, but over time its power and political stability declined. There were many reasons for this decline, but one reason was the vast diversity of its people, both ethnically and by religion. While Poles were the largest group in the commonwealth, there were substantial numbers of Lithuanians, Jews, Ukrainians, Ruthenians and Germans.** Roman Catholicism was the largest single religion, but there were significant numbers of Eastern Orthodox, Protestants (mainly Lutherans), Eastern Catholics (some referred to as Uniate members), and Jews. A decline in trade, uprisings by some Ukrainians, and out and out civil war conditions helped weaken the commonwealth, and eventually Russia became its protector.

The first partition, known by the unique name....ah..."The First Partition of Poland," was mainly engineered by Frederick the Great in 1772, even though he got the smallest amount of territory. Prussia took much of the northern parts of Polish territory, which included tacking on lands to northeastern Prussia, aka "East Prussia" (Ostpreussen, in German). It also obtained the lands along the Baltic coast and inland, thus depriving Poland of seaports (this issue would come back in the future, and I will cover it when we get to the aftermath of World War One). Much of this new land was called "West Prussia" (Westpreussen, in German). This new territory then linked East Prussia with the rest of Brandenburg/Prussia. Austria received a huge portion of what was known as "Galicia" (in southern and sw Poland) and a further part of southeastern Poland, including the town of Oświęcim, later to become infamous during World War Two, and better known by its German name...Auschwitz. Russia received large territories to the east and northeast. Russia at that time was ruled by Catherine II, better known as "Catherine the Great," who was a German by birth. Only a small rump of Poland remained at that time outside the borders of her neighbors.

The two German states together added more than three million people to their populations, although Prussia gained many people of German or mixed German-Polish background, and Austria gained many non-Germans. The fact that Austria had so many non-German populated territories was an issue that would gradually begin to disqualify Austria, more specifically the Habsburgs, from leading Germany in the eyes of some Germans.

One little humorous note, if there is anything humorous about carving up a country: While Maria Theresa's son and co-ruler of the Habsburg lands (and German Emperor), Joseph, had actually helped plan the partition of Poland, Maria Theresa initially opposed the plans as detrimental to Poland. Frederick the Great later noted something to the effect that (Maria Theresa) cried (in sympathy for the Poles) when she took their land, but the more she cried, the more land she took!

* As I've cautioned previously in this series, national and geographic terms, like in this case, Poland from those times, do not always correspond to our more modern concepts of these territories, as borders changed, sometimes, substantially so.

** The percentage of the population of these various groups changed as the borders periodically changed during the time the commonwealth lasted.

WORD HISTORY:
Court-This goes back to the Indo European root "gher," which meant "enclose/fence or wall in." This gave the Latin offshoot "cohors/cors," which meant "an enclosed area surrounding a house or building." From this, Old French, a Latin-based language, got "cort/curt," which took on the the more specific meaning of "king's or noble's enclosed yard around his residence." This came to English in the latter part of the 1100s from Anglo-Norman, but is more commonly rendered in modern English as the compound "courtyard" ("yard" is from the Germanic roots of English). This basic notion, perhaps associated then with the similar Latin word "curia," which meant "sovereign's assembly/personnel," gave us this further meaning, perhaps seen as "king's personnel assembled in the court(yard)." Further still, association with "curia," which meant "council," gave the term the more legalistic sense that we still use, as in "court of law," as originally, a king/ruler literally sat at the head of a council (or by himself) to decide legal matters of the citizenry. It seems some linguists believe that the verbal meaning "pay court to someone," came from the Italian form "corteggiare" (pay honor to someone) of the above Old Latin word. Others seem to feel it just came from the same path as "court" itself, simply meaning "to behave in a proper manner in court, or to behave as if in court." The verb seems to have come into English usage in the 1500s.

The German Question, Part Twenty-Nine

"An Empress & Queen Of The Germans" Part Two of Two

When Frederick the Great first invaded Silesia, he offered a deal to Maria Theresa, that if she would give up most of the province to him, he would then side with her to defend her rights as a female ruler. Maria Theresa was advised to accept the offer, even initially by her husband, but she declined, preferring to fight for her territory. Her husband then went along steadfastly with her decision. While she did not succeed in recovering Silesia from Prussia, her determination showed that she was a force to be reckoned with, and that she would not just let her lands be taken over without a fight because she was a woman. She attempted, without success, to regain her lost Silesian territory even after the war ended (see Part 26 for a brief sketch of the "Seven Years' War," which included Maria Theresa's unsuccessful attempt to regain control over Silesia. Here is the link to Part 26: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2010/07/german-question-part-twenty-six.html ).

If you think enduring war showed Maria Theresa's character, she had SIXTEEN children (three died in infancy, far from uncommon in those times), which meant that during most of the crises of more than the first half of her rule, she was in some stage of pregnancy. Two of her sons, Joseph and Leopold, became German emperors, her daughter Maria Carolina became what was then called Queen of Naples and Sicily, and her most famous offspring, daughter Marie Antoinette, became Queen of France, a position which cost her life, as she was taken prisoner and then beheaded as a consequence of the French Revolution (as was her husband, King Louis XVI).

Maria Theresa pushed for reform of the army and of the government itself, instituting a substantial standing army that showed she was ready for war with any would-be invader, and imposing taxes on the rich and the nobility, which although not entirely successful, showed that she was not afraid of society's rich and powerful. The additional revenues more than helped balance her treasury, and the surplus further helped discourage other rulers from aggressive acts, as she had cash to support her army. She brought learned and experienced people into government to advise her on all sorts of matters, demonstrating that she was not so insecure in her position that she feared such advice. She survived an attack of smallpox in the 1760s, making her determined to try to prevent large outbreaks of this serious disease which often had a mortality rate of 25%-30%, in its most virulent form. This was before Jenner's vaccine, but there was a form of inoculation (using powdered scabs blown up the nose) used to literally give people a mild form of the disease (usually a slight rash), thus preventing further, more serious, or even fatal, infection.* She had her own children inoculated and pressed others to do the same, and her example helped propel the number of inoculated children in her territories, mainly in what is now modern Austria. Maria Theresa also tried to make it mandatory for children to attend school, but the very nature of the geography (mountains, valleys, and many isolated areas), made it virtually impossible to enforce, although she wanted parents arrested and punished for non-compliance. She also tried to force her many non-German speaking subjects to learn German to "Germanize" all of her lands. Not only did this not succeed, it had the opposite effect with many non-Germans, bringing about a certain "nationalism" or "ethnic pride," especially among the Czechs.

While obviously "enlightened" in some matters, Maria Theresa was a very devout Roman Catholic, and she was not tolerant of other religious beliefs, except Eastern Orthodox believers. She openly believed that her lands should be uniform in Roman Catholicism, and even tried harsh measures to convert non-Catholics, but interestingly, at the same time, she reserved the right of appointment of all Catholic authorities in her lands for herself, and not for the Church. She had a substantial number of Austrian Protestants relocated to Transylvania, then a part of her Kingdom of Hungary. A blot on her legacy was her commitment to extreme measures against Jews living in her territories, especially during the first half of her rule. She issued exorbitant taxes on Jews, had Jewish children forcibly converted to Catholicism, and had many Jews expelled from various parts of her lands. Later, under the influence of her son Joseph, who was far more tolerant of differing religions, she began to ease her anti-Jewish measures, even eventually offering Jews some protections, and abandoning the practice of forcible conversion of Jewish children.

Upon the death of her husband, German Emperor Franz I, in the summer of 1765, Maria Theresa lost her title as "German Empress and Queen of the Germans." Their son Joseph (Josef, in German) was then elected German Emperor as Joseph II. Maria Theresa also made Joseph her co-ruler in the Habsburg lands; he thus replaced his late father. Joseph was more "enlightened" than his mother, and the two did not see eye-to-eye on many matters, but while he had an influence on some of her ideas, she prevailed in overall matters, often even regarding policies of the German Empire, although HE was the emperor! Maria Theresa died in 1780, leaving Joseph in full control of both the German Empire and the Habsburg lands. Frederick the Great, Maria Theresa's frequent military opponent, commented that Maria Theresa's achievements were as great as many men, which was quite a compliment to a woman in those days.

*This was obviously a bit risky, as some people came down with more serious infections, but from what I've read, it seems such cases were relatively rare, and the risk of death from an outbreak of the more serious form of smallpox was eventually seen as far greater (as was the risk of severe scarring for those who survived).

WORD HISTORY:
Mesh-This word seems to go back to Indo European "mezg," with the idea of "knitted or twisted." This gave the Old Germanic offshoot "masko/mesko," which in turn gave Anglo-Saxon (Old English) "masc/max," which meant "net," plus Old English had the word "maescre," seemingly derived from the same source, which seems to have actually meant "mesh." All of these forms seem to have "meshed" together (I couldn't resist that!), later giving English "mesche," before moving on to the modern spelling. Relatives in the other Germanic languages include German "Masche," Low German "Masch," Dutch "maas," Icelandic "möskvi," Norwegian and Danish "maske," Swedish "maska." Notice that the North Germanic languages of Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish all use the harder "k" sound, as compared to the West Germanic languages of English, German, Low German and Dutch using the softer sounding "sh/sch/s." I could not find a modern form in Frisian. 

The German Question, Part Twenty-Eight

"An Empress and Queen Of The Germans" Part One of Two

If you've noticed there haven't been any female German rulers, it's because women could not hold the throne of the German Empire.* They were designated as "Queen of the Germans" and "Empress,"** but it was not a ruling title, and it was given only as their title due to marriage to the Emperor and King of the Germans. The Habsburg family likewise only allowed males to assume the ruling titles of their various possessions. Kaiser Karl VI (Emperor Charles VI, in English) was of the Habsburg family, and he had only two daughters (as did his older brother). Without a male heir, the control of his lands (not the imperial throne, which was an elected position) would go to other members of his family, and not to his eldest daughter.*** To get around the Habsburg succession law of that time, Karl issued an edict, called the "Pragmatic Sanction of 1713," which permitted the Habsburg ruler to be a woman. In an effort to make the law effective if it were put into practice, Karl obtained the signatures of many of the other rulers of Europe, who agreed to recognize the law. These signatories included many of the rulers of the more powerful German states, as well as the German Imperial council, and the king of Great Britain, whose king was a German, and indeed, he held German lands in and around Hanover.

The problem was, with such vast holdings of the Habsburgs at stake, when Karl died in 1740 and his daughter, Maria Theresa (Maria Theresia, in German), took control of the House of Habsburg,**** the temptations for others were too great, and a number of signatories to the edict broke their word. This led to the "War of the Austrian Succession," as these rulers tried to grab whatever lands they could from the new "Queen of Hungary and Bohemia and Archduchess of Austria." The war became a major European war, and even had an adjunct in North America, known as "King George's War." On one side was Prussia, France, Spain, Bavaria, Saxony and some others, and on the other side was the Habsburg Monarchy, Great Britain and its allied Hanover, the Dutch Republic,***** Russia (at times), and the Kingdom of Sardinia.^ Saxony later changed sides.

In late 1740, Prussia, under Frederick the Great, invaded the Habsburg territory of Silesia (Schlesien, in German), a very important region due to its abundant coal and copper.^^ The Prussians were victorious, and they occupied the region. The French and the Bavarians took Prague in 1741, and the Bavarian ruler, Karl, soon to be elected German Emperor Karl VII, was named King of Bohemia.^^^ The Austrian forces moved into Bavaria, as it had been left sparsely defended. The war swayed back and forth, and a treaty with the Bavarians in 1745 ("Peace of Füssen") took them out of the alliance against Maria Theresa, and in the end, in 1748, Maria Theresa regained all of her lost territories, except the Silesian lands, which she lost to Frederick the Great of Prussia.

Now for intrigue, some of which coincided with the above war. Maria Theresa could not become a ruling German empress due to her gender, so she strove to get her husband, Franz Stephan, selected as emperor. In order to get him a vote as an elector, she made him co-ruler of the Austrian and Bohemian lands, and the Hungarians approved his co-ruler status about a year later. In truth, Maria Theresa kept the actual power. As part of the "Peace of Füssen," mentioned above, not only did the Bavarian elector drop any claim to become German emperor, he agreed to support Maria Theresa's husband for the position, and to secure the votes of family members (the Wittelsbach family) of two other German electors. When Karl VII died, Franz Stephan was elected German emperor, as Franz I, and this formed the House of Habsburg-Lorraine (Habsburg-Lothringen, in German). As with the Habsburg lands, Maria Theresa was the real power. She remained German Empress and Queen of the Germans until her husband's death in 1765.
To be continued ...

(A Word History is below the notes)

* Allowing only males to occupy noble ruling positions was quite common among the German nobles of the various states in those times, as well as in many other European countries.  

** In German, queen=Königin (all German nouns are capitalized) and empress=Kaiserin.

*** The Habsburg ruler carried a number of titles, but I would say the main titles were "King of Hungary, Archduke of Austria, and King of Bohemia."

**** Karl VI was succeeded by Karl VII, as German emperor. This is mainly noteworthy as Karl VII was not a Habsburg, but rather from the Wittelsbach family and Prince-Elector of Bavaria, although he was married to a Habsburg. He was the first non-Habsburg German emperor in three hundred years!

***** Remember, the Dutch had been given total independence from the German Empire in 1648, but the southern districts of the former Low Countries, essentially the future Belgium, remained a part of the Habsburg possessions, and were thus ruled by Maria Theresa.

^ The Kingdom of Sardinia would eventually lead the movement to unite Italy into a modern nation, but that was not until the mid 1800s.

^^ Silesia in those times was undoubtedly heavily German, but with a substantial Polish minority and a smaller Czech minority, both of which, however, formed majorities in certain locales.

^^^ Karl VII died during the war, in 1745, and this brought about a new election for German emperor.

WORD HISTORY:
Arch-I'd say the noun form, meaning "curved, bowed," as in "arch"way, is not the same word as the adjective, meaning "main, superior, chief, principal" as in "arch"enemy (chief, main enemy), "arch"duke (main, superior duke). The adjective goes back to Greek "arkos," which had the meaning "superior."  "Supposedly" this goes back to Indo European "arkhein," with a notion of "rule, command," which, if true, would certainly tie into the idea of "main, principal, superior." How English got the word is puzzling, but German has the related "Erz," which is used in the same way English uses "arch;" for example, "Erz"feind="arch"enemy, and both may well have gotten the term from Greek or from Church use, such as "arch bishop." The ultimate origin of the noun form is uncertain, but Latin had "arcus," which meant "curve, bow," and it is also the source of "arc." This gave Old French (a Latin-based language) "arche," and this was then borrowed by English from French in the 1300s.

The German Question, Part Twenty-Seven

"In English It's Vienna, But In German It's Wien"

The area of Vienna was originally settled by Celtic tribes, who apparently named the area "Vedunia," which meant "stream," or "forest stream." When the Romans came, they called their own encampment there "Vindobona," which some linguists feel was taken from the Celtic name, while others disagree. Whatever the case, Germanic peoples came to the area in force, including none other than Karl der Grosse (English/French, Charlemagne), considered by Germans to be their first emperor, who established the "Avar March" (German:"Awarenmark") in eastern Bavaria to guard his territory against the Avars, a nomadic group of people from central Asia, "seemingly" related to the Turks. The main Germanic people who settled the area then abandoned by the Romans were the Bavarians, and at some point the city became known as "Wenia," again supposedly taken from the Celtic or Roman terminology. This later became "Wien," in German (pronounced as if Veen), and Vienna, in English. Much of the Avar March later came to be called the "Ostmark" or "Eastern March;" a "march" being a fortified border area. It comprised much of what is modern Austria.

The German "Babenberg" family ruled the area and lived in Vienna for a couple of centuries prior to the rise of the Habsburg family, who then later also made Vienna their home. When the various Habsburgs rose to almost always be chosen as the German emperors, Vienna became the capital of the German Empire (Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation) until the end of the empire.

In 1529, the Ottoman Turks besieged the city, then surrounded by walls, as were many cities of those times. The city held out under the command of Graf von Salm (Graf=count, in English) and defeated the Turks, who retreated in serious disorder. This halted Turkish expansion in Europe at the time. The Turks returned, but not until July 1683. At that time an Ottoman army of between 100-200,000 men (sources vary on the number) surrounded the city. The initial German forces had been led by the emperor himself, Leopold von Habsburg (Leopold I), but they withdrew, and Leopold tried to organize forces for a relief attack. The remaining forces were seriously under strength, numbering less than 20,000, and that included several thousand civilian volunteers. The Turks demanded surrender, but the city, under the command of Graf Ernst Rüdiger von Starhemberg, refused. The walls of the city were strong and endured bombardment by the Turkish cannons, so the Turks decided to literally tunnel beneath the walls, plant explosive charges, and demolish the walls so they could then send troops into the city. Believe it or not, to counter this, the city commander had tunnels dug to intercept the Turks digging towards the walls!

The city garrison gradually began to look like they would lose the battle, but German forces under Karl (Charles), Duke of Lorraine,* arrived near the city and inflicted a serious defeat on some Hungarian forces allied with the Turks. Then major relief forces arrived outside the city in early September under the command of the King of Poland, Jan Sobieski, known as Jan III (he had an alliance with Leopold), who had several thousand excellent Polish cavalry. Various German forces (usually called "Imperials," since they were sent due to the appeal of the German emperor) from parts of the empire (Saxony, Bavaria and Franken, to name a few) also were part of this force, which by then saw this as a religious battle, too; Christian versus Muslim. As the Turks prepared a huge explosive charge to bring down a large section of the city walls, one of the counter-tunnels dug by the defenders came upon the Turkish explosives and disarmed them. Nearby, the assembled forces of both armies clashed, and the cavalry of both German and Polish forces carried the day against the Turks, who withdrew.

The Imperial and Polish forces captured large amounts of Turkish supplies, including a beverage that would become famous in Vienna, and all of Europe (and eventually America and the world), coffee! To this day, Vienna is known for its coffeehouses, which began springing up in the aftermath of this battle. Further, the city's bakers baked crescent-shaped rolls to commemorate the victory over the Muslim Turks (their flag had a crescent design on it), and this supposedly gave us the first "croissants," at least that's what the Viennese claim.

Like the Berliners, the Viennese have their own dialect. It is based upon High German, more particularly what is termed Oberdeutsch, "upper German," and it is part of the general "Bavarian" dialect of most, but not all, south German speakers.** In standard German it is called "Wienerisch," but in Bavarian it is called "Weanarisch." Like "Berlinerisch," it is basically spoken in the city and immediate suburban area, but begins to decline the further from the city limits one goes. Also, like with "Berlinerisch," people in the countryside may have great difficulty understanding it, even though in the case of "Wienerisch," it is based upon the same southern dialect of "Bavarian," whereas in Berlin, the dialect is quite different, as it is based upon standard German, with Low German influences, and in the countryside around Berlin, the dialect is based upon Low German. Again like "Berlinerisch," "Wienerisch" has been influenced by a number of non-German languages, in Vienna's case like Hungarian, Czech, and Italian, and the Yiddish influence on the dialect has also been noticeable.

In the United States, one goes to a bar (neighborhood type), in England one goes to a pub, in standard German one goes to a Kneipe (pronounced knipe-eh, with the "kn" sound pronounced, as we once did in English), but in "Wienerisch" one goes to a "Beisl" (the "ei" is pronounced as a long "i"). In standard German one might drink a "Bier" (pronounced pretty close to the English word), but in "Wienerisch" it is "Bia," as if bee-ah. We have "that" and standard German has "das," which comes out "des" in "Wienerisch," just as we say "have," which is "haben" (short "a" like in father) in standard German, but which comes out "ham" (not like English meat from a pig, but with the same short "a" in father). Many, but not all, participle forms of verbs in standard German begin with the prefix "ge," and English once did similar with either "ge" or "ga" prefixes, but in Bavarian generally, and certainly in "Wienerisch," the "ge" often becomes just a barely detectable "g," with no "e" sound, so that we have "gesehen" (ge-zay-en, which means "seen") in standard German, but gsehn (no "e" sound after the "g" or before the "n" either) in "Wienerisch" and much of Bavarian. Much like in English, standard German "mein" (pronounced like our word "mine," but meaning "my") becomes simply "mei" in Bavarian, pronounced like English "my." Where English has the now archaic "thine," standard German has "dein" (like "dine"), but in Bavarian it is reduced to "dei" (like English "die"). In the north, the use of the regular past tense is common. Since I used "gesehen," above, I'll stick with the base word "sehen," =to see. In the regular past tense, English speakers would say "I saw," and in standard German it is the very similar "Ich sah" (zah), but in the south, even in standard German, they tend to use the participle form for past tense, except for the much used words for "be" and "have" ("sein" and "haben" are the infinitive forms), so it would be "Ich habe gesehen" (which can be translated a variety of ways: "I saw," "I did see," "I have seen," this last being the literal word-for-word translation).

A Word History" is below the notes....

* Charles was known as "Duke (Herzog, in German) of Lorraine (Lothringen, in German)," but in fact, Lorraine at that time was under French occupation, so he had no territory.

** In more recent times, many linguists call "Bavarian" the hyphenated "Austro-Bavarian." I'll be more traditional and retain the term "Bavarian." While the overwhelming number of Austrians and Bavarians speak this general dialect, there are exceptions, as in far western Austria and northwestern Bavaria, the dialect is Alemannic; that is, the general dialect of Swabia, Alsace and Switzerland, while around Nuremberg, the dialect is Frankish (historically the regional name of the area is "Franken;" rendered in English as "Franconia"). 

WORD HISTORY:
Tread-This word is closely related to "trade." This word's ultimate origin is hazy, perhaps going back to an expanded form of Indo European "der/dr," which meant "to walk, to step." It appears that the basic word is only present in the Germanic languages, which goes back to the Old Germanic verb form "tredan(an)," which meant "to step (on), to walk (on.)." This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "tredan," which later became "treden," before becoming modern "tread." The noun form was derived from the verb in the early 1200s, and the idea of repeated "treading" on an area creating a path, developed the sense of "tire tread," from the "groove" created by such repeated treading. Related forms in the other Germanic languages: German has "treten," Low German has "treden," Dutch has "treden," West Frisian "tree," Danish has "træde," Swedish has "träda," Norwegian has "trø" and Icelandic has "troða/trotha."

The German Question, Part Twenty-Five

"The Thirty Years' War Brings Death, Destruction & A Partial Answer To The German Question," Part Three-"Results"

The generally accepted idea is, the Thirty Years' War ended in 1648 with what is known as "The Peace of Westphalia," which included two treaties negotiated in the German cities of Osnabrück and Münster, both in the German state of Westphalia (Westfalen, in German). Other treaties were negotiated elsewhere, as the war was truly a major European conflict, involving most European nations in some way.

The casualties were absolutely devastating, as they included civilians by the droves. While no true casualty figures can be certified, historians have attempted to piece together records from various sources, and with these records to at least give us some idea of how horrible things were. Some German states seem to have suffered perhaps as much as the loss of two-thirds to three-quarters of their population, although whether all died is uncertain, as many people fled to other areas. Since many foreign soldiers were present in German lands, including a good number of foreign mercenaries, they had to survive somehow, and that usually meant taking food and provisions from the local population, leaving the civilians with little or nothing to survive on themselves. The religious nature of the war caused expulsion of large segments of the civilian population in certain areas where forces of the opposing religion took over. So thoroughly were some villages and towns pillaged and the population decimated, that for all practical purposes, they were wiped out. Thousands of such villages and small towns can be counted in this category. The incoming soldiers from various areas, even within the German lands themselves, and the refugees fleeing their own locales, helped to spread disease, which also seems to have taken a high toll on both the military forces and civilians. All in all, it was a catastrophe!

The political results were many, but the main ones were:

-The Netherlands received full independence from the German (Holy Roman) Empire, and thus it is an independent country to this day. Since those times, and for some a bit before, no Dutchman, no matter how closely related to Germans, would EVER declare themselves to be German.

-Switzerland gained full independence from the German (Holy Roman) Empire. I can only write here what I've seen and heard on this, but some, or perhaps many, Swiss Germans may have still called themselves "German," in sort of a generic, linguistic and cultural sense, but not in any "national" sense. Certainly by the time Hitler came along, that undoubtedly changed forever, as the Swiss "Germans" knew a nutcase when they saw it, and they distanced themselves, figuratively speaking.

-The above two items give us a partial answer to our question "Who/What is a German."

-While the other German states remained under the "umbrella" of the Empire, they were all given much more independence and with more clearly defined borders, making the title of "German emperor" mainly symbolic. This was a blow to the Habsburgs and to the Roman Catholic Church.

-While there had been something of a "north-south" split in the German lands for quite some time, if for no other reason than the vastly different dialects dividing the north and south, now religion also tended to play a part, too, as much of the south remained Catholic, and much of the north was, or became, Protestant. Note that I say "much," because there were exceptions. Just to point out some things, Bavaria and Austria both shared a common dialect, "Bavarian," (now called "Austro-Bavarian") and pretty solid Catholicism. Both are southern German lands. Prussia, a northern state, and Lower Saxony, also northern, shared Protestantism, and somewhat similar dialects, mainly, but not always, based on Low German. These kinds of things tended to make allies of these states (and like-minded states) against the others in future political and military matters. The key word is "tended," because nothing was totally certain in the turbulent world of German affairs.

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                           WORD HISTORY: 

Treaty-This goes back to the Indo European base "tragh," which had the notion of "pull, drag, move." This gave the Latin offshoot "tractare," and the thus derived "tractatus," which had the same notion of its Indo European ancestor, but also carried a further meaning by extension, if you move or drag something, you "handle it, deal with it." This carried on in Latin-based Old French, but as "traité," which meant "agreement/treaty" (something you've dealt with). This was borrowed into English during the 1300s, first as "tretee," before the modern spelling. By the 1400s, it had taken on the idea of "agreement between countries."

The German Question, Part Twenty-Four

"The Thirty Years' War Brings Death, Destruction & A Partial Answer To The German Question," Part Two-"The War"

Bohemia* was a part of the Holy Roman Empire, and in the latter part of the 1300s and early 1400s, a man named Jan (John, in English) Hus was a leader of a group of political and religious reformers. He was executed as a heretic, but his popularity brought together his followers in what eventually became more of a religious movement, and they were called "Hussites," and they became a Protestant sect which dominated Bohemia, much to the chagrin of the Church and of the Habsburgs, who were staunch Catholics, and emperors of the German Empire. The territory was ruled by the "King of Bohemia,"** but when one king, Louis II ("Lajos" in Hungarian, as he was also King of Hungary) was killed in battle against the Ottoman Turks in the 1500s, he left no son as an heir. His brother, Ferdinand, who was married to a Habsburg, became king, and thus Bohemia joined the growing possessions of the Habsburgs. While the Habsburgs were Catholic, there was a bit of a truce for decades, allowing freedom of religion until another Habsburg, German emperor Ferdinand II (and also King of Bohemia), wanted to establish Catholicism throughout his lands. This brought about a revolt in Bohemia in 1618.

The revolt in Bohemia triggered other religious conflicts within the Habsburg lands, including in certain parts of Austria, where Protestants were majorities. Certain Hungarian Protestants sought to aid the other Protestants, and later still, the Danes, staunch Lutherans, joined the military operations in northern Germany to aid the Protestant German state of Lower Saxony against advancing Imperial (Catholic) forces. Then later still, Sweden, another staunchly Protestant country, joined the action in the northern/northeastern part of Germany. One major exception to the religious reasons for the conflict was France. France was heavily Catholic, but the French hated and feared the Habsburgs, and they agreed to support Sweden financially, and then later, actually entered the military conflict by declaring war on Spain (ruled by a branch of the Habsburgs) and on the German Empire/Holy Roman Empire, which had a Catholic Habsburg as emperor. The war raged on, with Catholic armies gaining ground at times, and then Protestant armies retaking many lands. The French had a difficult time, suffering some terrible defeats, with Paris itself threatened at one time by Habsburg forces.

The Protestant forces and their French allies gradually turned the tide, inflicting some devastating defeats on the Catholic forces of the Habsburgs. Both sides were exhausted, and a series of treaties were negotiated between the various participants, but two major treaties, one signed in Osnabrück and one in Münster, two German cities in the province of Westphalia (Westfalen, in German), brought about the end of the Thirty Years' War and its companion war, the Eighty Years' War between Spain and the Dutch, which had essentially become one with the Thirty years' War. See: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2010/07/german-question-part-twenty.html

To be continued, as this will require a Part Three..... (A Word History is below the notes)

* For those unfamiliar with European geography, Bohemia later became the leading part of the new nation of Czechoslovakia after World War One. It now has a similar role in the "Czech Republic." In the time period involved in this article, while it undoubtedly had a Czech majority population (the Czechs are Slavs), it had a substantial German minority, mainly formed in a German majority populated sort of semi-circle around Bohemia, but Germans were also somewhat mixed in with the "interior" Czech population.

** The individual "states" within the German Empire (Holy Roman Empire) were more like independent "countries," with some being ruled by kings, princes, dukes, archdukes, etc. Further, it was not uncommon for some rulers to carry several titles, if they ruled a variety of states: for example, one German emperor, Rudolf, was designated "Rudolf II," as his title as emperor, but simply as "Rudolf," with no numeral, in his capacity as King of Hungary and Croatia, but again as "Rudolf II" as King of Bohemia, but as Rudolf V, in his capacity as Archduke of Austria. Initially, the ruler of Bohemia was called a "duke," but later it was changed to "king," then back to duke, before returning once again to king.

WORD HISTORY:
War-This seems to go back to the Indo European root "wers." This gave Old Germanic "werso," which seems to have meant "cause or bring into confusion," and probably also "mix," which would certainly tie in with "confusion." This gave Frankish (the Franks were a Germanic tribe) "werra," seemingly with the same basic meaning. This then passed into Old French as "guerre," but in the northern dialect of Old French as "werre," with the meaning "war" (Italian and Spanish, for example, also picked this up, but as "guerra," their word for "war"). Old English acquired the word from the northern French dialect at some point prior to the Norman Invasion as "werre/wyrre/warre," later being reduced to the shorter form "war." Interestingly, the Germanic dialects, including Anglo-Saxon, of long ago did not have a set word for "war," and English used a whole variety of forms, too numerous to get into, to express the notion of "war." Modern German has the related word (ver)wirren, which still has the meaning "confuse, bewilder," but also "tangle/entangle," which also adds the "mix" meaning.

The German Question, Part Twenty-Three

"The Thirty Years' War Brings Death, Destruction & A Partial Answer To The German Question," Part One-"The Lead Up To The War"

What I've noted so many times in this series, applies to this segment too; this is a very complex, but also a very important subject (the Thirty Years' War), and I am only going to deal with the very basics. As you can see above, I've given a subtitle to this subject, and then it will be broken into at least two parts.

Basically, the the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) was a religious war between Roman Catholics and Protestants (Lutherans and Calvinists), although there were other reasons, too, often defined by political goals of some of the antagonists. It became very extensive, involving many of the European nations of those times, with much of the heaviest fighting done in the German lands.

First, the German Empire (Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation) had been Christian; that is, with just one religion. When Luther and others (not only in the German Empire, but elsewhere in Europe) challenged some of the corruption, practices, and beliefs of the Christian rulers and system, this brought about Protestantism, from "protesters." Initially in the German lands, Lutheranism became quite popular, primarily in the northern areas. This now, for the first time, gave the empire two religions, but with the Catholic Habsburgs always as emperors. The Habsburgs (and other Catholics) didn't like the religious split, and at times tried to bring back Catholicism to the "errant" regions, like in the Low Countries, where we already covered religious strife, that then blended into the Thirty Years' War. (See Part 20) Lutherans refused to give up their new faith, and they continued to appeal to others to join them. With neither side willing to compromise, it was a disaster just waiting to happen.

John Calvin was born in France (real French name was "Jean Cauvin") and he also took up differences with Church leaders. France and its leaders remained staunchly loyal to the Church, and a backlash against Protestants caused Calvin to flee for his very life to Switzerland, then still a region of the German Empire (see Part 19). He and others in the region found fertile ground for spreading "Calvinism," as it came to be known, and it indeed spread to other areas of the empire, thus giving us three religions, and adding another element to the potential disaster.

Finally, in the mid 1500s, Emperor Karl V (Charles V), a Habsburg and a Catholic, agreed to terms that would abide by "cuius regio, eius religio," a Latin term that, fully defined, meant that the religion of the individual German princes, and NOT the religion of the emperor, determined the religion of their subjects.* So, for example, if I'm the Count of Cleveland, (hey, I had to make something up) and I've been Catholic, but I change to Lutheran, then all of my subjects must now become Lutheran too. Understand, it could be the reverse of that; Lutheran to Catholic. Subjects unwilling to change religion would be given time to move to an area where their religious preference prevailed. This whole situation weakened the already fairly weak position of German emperor,** while giving added strength to the individual states, which already were much like independent countries.

While the agreement helped cool things off for a time, no one was completely satisfied, and the Church wanted Catholic "princes" to take over Lutheran territories, thus making them Catholic again, and Lutheran rulers sought to extend their dominion over other territories (not only because of religion), sometimes Catholic, which then would have required those new subjects to change religion. There were numerous outbreaks of fighting between local rulers prior to the actual start of the Thirty Years' War, but the beginning of the disaster didn't occur until 1618.
To be continued.... (A Word History is below the notes)

* It always bears mentioning that "the German princes" was a collective term applied to the various local rulers in the empire, and it didn't necessarily mean that all carried the title of "prince," as some were kings, dukes, archdukes, counts, etc.

** The various Habsburg emperors over time were actually more important, not as emperors of the German Empire, but for the vast lands they owned and controlled within the empire, and sometimes outside of the empire.

WORD HISTORY:
Religion-This word "seems" to go back to the Indo European root "leig," which had the notion of "binding." The "re" prefix was simply an intensifier, with the basic meaning in Latin of "again," so if you do something "again," it is intensified, or solidified. The Latin offshoot was "religare," which meant "to bind tightly or hold fast." (Latin is an Indo European language related to English, but further down the family tree, although we have many words derived from Latin, many by way of French, a Latin-based language, due to the tremendous influence of the Romans.) This then gave Latin "religio," which meant "binding respect or reverence for the gods." When the Romans accepted Christianity, the term came to mean "monastic life and vows." (Of course "vows" imply "binding to certain ideas/beliefs.") "Religio" then gave Old French the word "religion," with the same "monastic" meaning. This was then taken to England by the Normans in the 11th Century and became Anglo-Norman "religiun." The idea of "monastic life and vows" developed further into "a set of religious beliefs," but while this meaning was present in English from the 1300s, it didn't completely become as common as we might think, until the 1500s!