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-Six

"German Unification" Part One/B "Wars With Denmark"

I will be covering Otto von Bismarck's rise next, but first I want to finish the "Wars With Denmark." This will require in this article that I skip ahead to the time when Bismarck had already become the Minister President of Prussia. Further, as I noted in the first part of this section, the history of this whole conflict over Schleswig and Holstein is extremely complex, but the "devil is in the details," and try though I might, it is difficult to keep this simple.*

The question of Danish succession still lingered as the childless King Frederick VII grew older. The Danes believed that Schleswig was governed by Danish law and, therefore, Danish succession. The German view remained that any heir had to be male and passed on by the male line, not the female line. Holstein was not really in contention on this matter, as it was a member of the German Confederation, although it was a possession of Denmark (see further below). A complicated set of actions eventually conferred the future crown of Denmark AND Schleswig upon Christian of Glücksburg (who would become King Christian IX), but he was not a direct male heir, as he was related from the female line, and initially he had not been an heir to the throne of any country or province. King Frederick VII, whose childlessness had brought the whole matter to such a fever pitch, approved Christian as his heir. From the point of view of the Danes, the matter was settled.

Not long after the "First Schleswig War" ended, Frederick VII "granted" (decreed is a better word) a constitution that really did little to change his overall power. Later, the Danish assembly (or parliament) passed their own version of a constitution, also covering the Danish provinces outside of Denmark. This was rejected by Prussia and Austria on technicalities, and later also by the entire German Confederation, as the aim of the Germans was to continue to pry the provinces, especially Schleswig, away from any kind of Danish rule. The Danes had the opposite aim; that is, to tie Schleswig, and for some Danish nationalists, even Holstein, more closely to Denmark. There were numerous claims and counter claims during the years, but there was an agreement in London among several of Europe's powers, that Holstein and Lauenburg would have a new line of succession when King Frederick passed on, and not that of Frederick's heir. However, the two provinces would remain as Danish possessions. Schleswig, on the other hand, would be bound by the Danish succession law, but the Danes could not tie the province closer to Denmark than was Holstein.

In 1863, Frederick VII died, bringing Christian to the throne, as King Christian IX. A new Danish constitution awaited the new monarch's signature. The problem was, the constitution stipulated that parliament would govern both Denmark AND Schleswig. While Schleswig would still have its own provincial legislative body, this all amounted to an annexation of Schleswig to Denamrk. This violated the agreement between the various European powers made in London a number of years prior. This king signed on the dotted line. Frederick of Augustenburg ("Augustenborg" in Danish) was to become "Duke Of Holstein." Years earlier, when the contentious issue of Danish succession was being debated, he claimed Schleswig also, but later renounced that claim for a financial settlement. Now, here came Frederick again, claiming title to Schleswig.** In late 1863, the German Confederation, supported by Prussian Minister-President Bismarck, sent troops into Holstein to hold the province until matters were resolved (remember, Holstein was a member of the German Confederation, but a possession of the Danish crown). Bismarck got Austria to agree to resolve the Schleswig issue jointly with Prussia. Bismarck demanded that Denmark rescind its annexation, but that was rejected. Prussian and Austrian troops marched into Schleswig in early 1864. Bismarck's ultimate goal was annexation of the provinces to Prussia, as they were adjacent to Prussia, but Austria would not have participated in the war knowing that fact.

With German public sentiment strongly in favor of Schleswig and Holstein becoming independent of Denmark as a combined entity, Bismarck held the upper hand with fellow German power, Austria, whose leaders were concerned about Prussia's ever escalating power in German affairs, to the detriment of Austria. Overall German public opinion made it impossible for Austria to oppose the "public" Prussian position of independence for the provinces.

The two German powers defeated Denmark, with their forces actually entering Denmark itself. The war ("The Second Schleswig War") was over by August 1864, with a treaty signed in Vienna in October. Denmark renounced claim to the provinces, and it ceded control of the provinces, plus even more territory, to the administration of Austria and Prussia. Denmark lost approximately one million subjects, with as many as two hundred thousand being Danes. With Schleswig and Holstein detached from Denmark, German unification took another step forward. (A Word History is below the notes)

* I think back to my American History class in college, where the instructor (then in the process of earning his doctorate), when he came to the Civil War, was asked why he didn't get into the details of the war. He said it was all too complex, but that he could simplify it in three words, "The South lost." Of course in college, there was a separate class for those interested in just the Civil War.

** Frederick was pro-German, although he had been born in Copenhagen, Denmark. His pro-German position "might" have been taken because the Germans were more than willing to support his claim on Schleswig, an issue very sensitive to Denmark and to the Danish monarchy. Let's see, first he took a payoff to renounce his initial claim from prior years, now he's back renouncing his former "renouncement." You don't think Frederick was after anything or everything he could lay his hands on do you? Na, I can't believe that.

WORD HISTORY:
Throne-This goes back to Indo European "dher," and an alteration "dhrono," which had the notion of "support." The idea of support gave Greek "thronos," meaning "a seat, chair," which seems to have also developed the meaning "elevated seat, seat of honor;" thus, "throne." Latin borrowed the term from Greek as "thronus," which then passed to Latin-based Old French as "trone," and then in the 1200s, English borrowed the word as "throne." Just a note, German also borrowed the word from Old French and modern German has "Thron" (it is masculine; so, "der Thron").

The German Question, Part Forty-Five

“German Unification” Part One/ "Wars With Denmark"

First: The history of Schleswig-Holstein is far more complicated than what I will write about here, so if your background traces back to one of these areas, or to Denmark, I hope you won't feel slighted. Even with my generalizations, I hope no one will become too confused, as it is quite complex. Second: Remember the basics of feudalism; the lower level, vassals, pledged fealty and service (often militarily) to the upper level, a lord, who provided some sort of protection or basic living conditions. That lord's property, or area of control, was called a "fief" (no "To Catch a Fief" or "Fief Of Baghdad" jokes, please). This system had many levels, with lower level nobles/landowners pledging service to higher nobles, and at times, those nobles then doing the same with even higher nobles, even eventually reaching to the level of kings or emperors.

In the far northern part of what is now Germany (and near Denmark), there were two provinces, Schleswig and Holstein (now most commonly referred to in the combined "Schleswig-Holstein"), that were a center of controversy. Both regions had long, but somewhat varied, associations with Danish kings, who also carried the titles of (Danish) "Duke of Schleswig" and (German) "Count of Holstein" (Count=Graf, in German).* Centuries before, Schleswig had been considered a part of Denmark, but that changed during the Middle Ages, when it was a fief of the Danish king. Holstein, while a possession of the Danish king, was a fief of the German emperor (as mentioned about feudalism in the opening above), and it was a part of the Old German Empire (Holy Roman Empire), and later, it was a member of the German Confederation (the era where we are now in this series). Holstein was almost exclusively German in background (language and custom), but while Schleswig had a German majority, there was a minority of the population that considered themselves to be Danes, and a somewhat smaller percentage that were Frisian.** To complicate matters, in the 1400s, there had been an agreement between the Danish king and a number of German nobles stipulating that Holstein could not be annexed to Denmark, but giving the king the title of "duke," regarding Schleswig. It seems that the German nobles felt that with the separate title of duke, the province would retain some independence of the Danes, and indeed that happened, although it took a couple of centuries (see Note 2, below). Further, the two provinces were declared to be "forever undivided."*** (Separate note: There was actually a third province, (German) Saxe-Lauenburg, involved in some of these disputes, but only at times. It was a part of the German Confederation, but it too was a possession of the Danish king. It had been the king's possession since being handed over to Denmark by Sweden, which had gotten it from Prussia, following Napoleon's first defeat, in 1814. The province was exclusively German in population. [Told you, this stuff is confusing. No wonder they fought so many wars.])

The ouster of Napoleon from Germany inspired German nationalism, and that included German nationalism in Schleswig. The German population of the province began to make it known that they wanted to be part of any new German nation, which at that time appeared to be more imminent than it actually proved to be. The Danish population of the northern part of Schleswig (where they were a majority) likewise made it known that they didn't want to become German subjects. To keep this somewhat simple, the revolutions that erupted in 1848 led the Danish king to grant a constitution. As part of the Danish reorganization, the king and Danish nationalists wanted Schleswig to be incorporated into Denmark proper, although with a great deal of independence. This brought open challenges by the German population, which gained the support of Prussia.**** Further, there was that treaty from the 1400s, which the Germans now used to their advantage, since it stated that Schleswig could not be annexed to Denmark, and that Schleswig and Holstein could not be separated. The Danes in Denmark and the Danish population in Schleswig essentially wanted Schleswig and Holstein to be separated, with the boundary between the two provinces also becoming the boundary between Denmark and the German Confederation, or any new German state. The Germans argued that the old treaty didn't permit the two provinces to be separated, and that Schleswig should become part of the German Confederation, as Holstein already was. On their side, the Danes had a treaty from the 1700s where some European governments declared that the Danish king would always also assume the title of "Duke of Schleswig." As if these issues were not enough, there was much controversy over the succession to the Danish throne. Laws going back many centuries throughout the German states and Denmark did not permit female succession as rulers. The Danes had been debating allowing female succession, as one of their kings, Frederick VII, was childless. If the existing (traditional) law prevailed, this would have permitted a German-leaning noble to rule in Schleswig and Holstein. Danes wanted a new Danish law to prevail which permitted female succession, including in their possessions, Schleswig and Holstein, and there was a declaration of such a law by the Danes. Germans, of course, opposed the decree. This all added more fuel to the fire.

German nationalists in Schleswig and Holstein rose against Danish rule in 1848, establishing a separate government. In support, Prussia sent troops into the area which precipitated a war with Denmark (called "The First Schleswig War"). Prussia's action gave a boost to its prestige among most Germans, except mainly the Habsburgs of Austria, who wanted to see Prussia's influence over Germans diminished, so as to retain their own standing among Germans. The war dragged on for three years, including numerous ceasefires and negotiations (other European powers participated in the negotiations), before European powers got Prussia to agree to return Schleswig and Holstein to Danish possession, with Denmark essentially agreeing not to annex Schleswig. This was basically a Danish victory, but the actual issues remained unresolved.

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

* For those who have been following this series, and just for example, remember that the kings of England were also hereditary rulers of Hanover (Germany), but Hanover was not a part of England. Hanover was entitled to a vote in the election of the German emperor, so you had the King of England voting on who became German emperor. Remember too, King George I of England did not speak English, rather German, but his successors did speak English. In the case above, the King of Denmark had a seat in the German Confederation due to his possession of Holstein, which was a German state. Confused yet?

** The population of Schleswig had been becoming more and more "German" in nature. The spread of Lutheranism brought German language religious services to much of Schleswig, and also, over the course of a couple of centuries, German officials tended to run many of the local bureaucracies. Gradually, Low German overtook Danish in what had been majority Danish speaking parts of the province, but again, the province seems to have had at least a scant German majority for much of its history, even before this advance by German. While population patterns may not always work out this way, in the case of Schleswig, it was very reasonable, with increasing percentages of people considering themselves Danes, the closer an area was to Denmark proper.

*** This was an interesting situation. Since Schleswig was a fief of the king, his role as duke of the province made him a vassal to himself in his role as king. The "forever undivided" clause is difficult to understand (at least for me, duh!). Schleswig was considered Danish, while Holstein was conceded to be German. While both were possessions of the Danish king, they were in different spheres of influence right from the start. Since the agreement specifically forbade Denmark to annex Schleswig, the same had to be true of Holstein, simply by implication. If what happened to one, had to happen to the other, this was a controversy just waiting to develop. The text above will show how this played out.

**** By this time, Prussia dominated much of northern Germany, and the German populations of both Schleswig and Holstein felt an attachment to Prussia, and therefore, both wanted any new German nation to be led by Prussia and not Austria, a south German state. This certainly gave Prussia an incentive to help with the German situation in Schleswig.

WORD HISTORY:
Brat-Not as in "you little brat," but rather the shortened form of "bratwurst," which is commonly used in American English, usually in the plural, "brats." I'm not certain about usage in the rest of the English speaking world. "Wurst" was covered in a previous Word History. "Brat" goes back to Indo European "bhreue," which had to do with "cooking, heating, boiling, burning." This then gave Old Germanic "bredon/bredan," which meant "roast meat, roast flesh." This then gave Old High German "brado/brato/praten," with the same meaning. (By the way, it also gave Old English "braede," which meant "meat" and "braed" which meant "flesh," both of which later died out. The same base also gave German "Braten," meaning "roast.") This then gave German "Brät," meaning "lean meat, finely chopped veal or swine." By putting "lean, chopped veal or pork" into casings, this gave German "Bratwurst," the sausage we all know today. "Supposedly" the word was first borrowed into English from German in the early 1900s.

The German Question, Part Thirty-Five

"Napoleon Dominant"

With the various German states subdued, Napoleon set up "The Confederation Of The Rhine" ("Rheinbund" in German). This confederation eventually consisted of all but Austria, Prussia, part of Holstein (under Danish rule), and part of Pomerania (under Swedish rule).* The confederation was highly subservient to Napoleon, providing him with many men for his army. The German princes who ruled the individual states were always looking for ways to boost their personal territories, and Napoleon and the French were more than willing to adjust state borders of the larger German states at the expense of the smaller ones. Further, at times the French granted new titles to their German allies, as for instance with Bavaria, which they renamed as a "kingdom," thus making the Bavarian ruler a "king" (prior he had been called "Kurfürst," a "prince-elector;" that is, a prince entitled to vote on who became German emperor).

With France frequently at war with Great Britain, Napoleon had implemented a trade embargo against Britain. In order to enforce the embargo, Napoleon literally sent French troops into several northern German states along the North Sea coast (naturally there were a number of German port cities there), and formally annexed these areas to France. While so many Germans seemed subservient to the dominant Napoleon, there was opposition beginning to take shape.

* Holstein, still in existence today, was/is a German state in the northern part of Germany. As I've noted before in this series, the borders of all the various German entities mentioned do not necessarily match what the borders are today. A significant part of Holstein was under Danish rule during the period of the "Confederation." "Pomerania" was a German area (formerly populated by Slavic people, who later "mixed" with the incoming (ruling) Germans, with many thus losing their Slavic identity, although in the eastern part (near Poland), Slavic dialects and identity persisted. Pomerania is located along a stretch of coast of the Baltic Sea. During the period of Napoleon, the western part was under Swedish rule, with the larger part being part of Prussia. Today, most of what was considered to be Pomerania is now part of Poland.

WORD HISTORY:
Hind-I'm just dealing with the noun in this case, not the "hind" of "behind" or "hind leg." While this is no longer a common word (at least in American English), I always encourage people to use some of our more antiquated words, or to at least get to know something about them. Famous English seafarer Sir Francis Drake named his ship "the Golden Hind."^ This means "female deer," and it goes back to Indo European "kem/kemti," which meant hornless. This gave the Old Germanic offshoot of "khindo/khinda" (then "hindo?"), which then gave Old English "hind" (then "probably" with a short 'i' pronunciation).  Germanic relatives include German "Hinde," Low German doesn't seem to have a modern form, but it once had "hind(e);" likewise, I could not find a form in modern Frisian, but it too once had "hind," Dutch "hinde," Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish all have "hind," the form passed onto them from their ancestor, Old Norse. All the Germanic forms mean "female deer."

^ When I decided to do the history of this word, I already knew of it, as back in the early 1960s, NBC ran a TV series for a short while (made in England) named "The Adventures of Sir Francis Drake," and his ship, the Golden Hind, was often shown in the series.