Hungarian Cheese Filled Pancakes

"Palacsinta" (pronounced as if, "palah-cheen-tah") is the Hungarian word for pancake. From what I've found, these cheese filled pancakes are called "Túrós Palacsinta" (curd cheese pancake) in Hungarian. These are a sweet crepe-like pancake. If you can't find dry cottage cheese, you can use small curd cottage cheese.

Ingredients:

Pancakes:

1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 teaspoon sugar
2/3 cup sparkling mineral water (or club soda)
1/4 teaspoon salt
oil/butter for frying (I used a mix of the two)
powdered sugar for dusting

Filling:

8 ounce package cream cheese (let warm to room temperature), mashed
2/3 cup dry cottage cheese (room temperature), mashed 
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

Mix the flour, egg, milk, sugar, salt and sparkling water together into a batter. Heat a little oil in a small to medium frying pan over medium heat. Add enough batter to just cover the bottom of the pan and shake the pan to spread out the batter to form a relatively even thin layer. Fry the pancake until it gets a little brown, then flip it over and brown that side. You will have to watch the palacsinta carefully, as they will cook quickly, with the first side likely requiring only 25 to 30 seconds and the second side needing only 15 to 20 seconds, but the cooking time will naturally depend upon how thick you make the pancakes. Remove each fried pancake to a separate plate, then fry another pancake.

Make sure to let both the cream cheese and cottage cheese come to room temperature. In a bowl, mix the cheeses and other ingredients well. Spread a heaping tablespoon or two of the cheese filling into each pancake and then roll up the pancake. Serve the pancakes seam side down and dusted lightly with powdered sugar. Alternatively, to serve the pancakes warm, you can place the palacsinta on a baking sheet (parchment paper lined helps with any clean up), seam side down, and put them into a 350 F oven for about 10 to 12 minutes. Serve immediately. 

I overfilled this palacsinta with cheese filling so it could be easily seen.

WORD HISTORY:
Callow-This word, meaning, "young, inexperienced," in modern times, goes back to Indo European "galwh," which meant, "bare, naked." There is disagreement over the next step in this word's history, with some believing there was an Old Germanic offshoot from the Indo European form, while others point to the Latin form derived from Indo European, and that this was borrowed into Germanic. I go with the latter, but it seems to me the borrowing was into the West Germanic branch of Germanic, as forms of the word were (and still are) in West Germanic, but not in the Germanic languages in general in the past.^ So, the Indo European form gave Latin "calvus," which meant, "bald." This gave West Germanic "kalwas," which meant, "bald, bare." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "calu," with the same meanings. This then became "calwe," before the modern version of "callow." The meaning gradually came to be applied (adjectivally) to young birds not yet old enough to have feathers. Later the meaning broadened to young living things in general; then, to the notion of "young," to "inexperienced." The other West  Germanic languages have: German and Low German Saxon "kahl" (bald, bare), West Frisian "keal(e)" (bald), Dutch "kaal" (bald, bare). (Karl/Charles II, the grandson of Charlemagne, and also a Frankish king and emperor, has been known to history as "Charles the Bald," which in German is, "Karl der Kahle," from Latin "Carolus Calvus.")

^ Present versions of a word don't necessarily tell much about the history of its ancestor, as words are frequently borrowed between languages; so, in this case, while English has always had a form of "callow," just knowing that English has "callow" in modern times does not mean it originally had it; thus, if Swedish had a form of "callow" in modern times, would not mean it always had it.  

Homemade Thousand Island Dressing

Besides its use for salads, this common salad dressing, which is easy to make, is also good on hamburgers and other sandwiches.

Ingredients (for about 1 cup):

3/4 cup mayonnaise (reduced fat type is fine)
2 tablespoons chopped sweet gherkins (pickles)
3 tablespoons chili sauce (not hot)
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Put all ingredients into a bowl, mix well, cover and refrigerate for a couple of ours. Refrigerate and cover unused portion, but best used within a couple of days.

My homemade thousand island dressing with sliced tomatoes and hardboiled egg.

WORD HISTORY:
Coach-This word, used both as a noun and as a verb, goes back to the town of "Kocs," ^ located in northern Hungary. The town made coaches/carriages a few hundred years ago, which the Hungarians called "kocsi szekér," meaning "carriage of Kocs," and these vehicles became widely known in Europe. German borrowed the term, which eventually became the shortened modern German form, "Kutsche," but there were various spellings originally, some beginning with the letter "c," coupled with the word "Wagen," which means "cart, wagon" (of course, English has "wagon"). French borrowed the word from German as "coche," and English borrowed it from French in the mid 1500s. The word came to be used for modern vehicles, like buses and trains, and the use of the word for an instructor, especially, but certainly not exclusively, for sports teams, comes from the notion, "transporting a person or people to some goal by leadership and teaching."

^ Pronounced like "kutsh" (the "u" like in "put").

"Is It 'Rumania' or 'Romania?' " Part 6/Final

The end of World War Two saw Rumania's eastern border set again to its status prior to the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, but the part of Transylvania lost to Hungary in 1940 was returned to Rumania. Rumanian casualties during the war are difficult to determine, although my guess would be at least 700,000 dead, including military and civilian (which includes murdered Jews).*

Rumania was occupied by the Soviet Union after the war, and many thousands of Rumanian soldiers captured during the war by the Soviets returned to their native land fully imbued with communist ideas, giving the Soviets Rumanian communist troops to help in their takeover of the country. The Soviets and Rumanian communists gradually took control of the political machinery of the country and King Michael** was forced to abdicate at the end of 1947, thus ending the monarchy, and making Rumania a totally communist country, a "people's republic." The 1960s saw Nicolae Ceausescu take control of the Rumanian Communist Party and the country. He was more open to Western Europe, an obvious departure from Soviet policy, but he also began to tighten his dictatorial control of Rumania. This continued until December 1989 when mass protests of the government took place. Within days the military had abandoned Ceausescu, and he, his wife and a couple of associates fled before being captured by police and then handed over to the army. A quick trial was held and Ceausescu and his wife were executed by some army men.

A democratic governing system developed in Rumania and the country established closer ties to Western Europe and the United States. The Rumanian economy was gradually opened up to private investment. The beginning of the severe world economic recession of 2008 hit Rumania very hard, but it has been recovering.  

NOTE: Back in the 1990s I met some fairly recent Rumanian immigrants on a couple of separate occasions. Because I have studied World War Two extensively, I naturally mentioned that I knew something of Rumania because of its involvement in the war. Interestingly, on both occasions, the immigrants spoke highly of Antonescu, with one saying he was important to Hitler, and one of the others mentioning something about Antonescu's face-to-face meetings with Hitler put him in high standing. This certainly was NOT the "politically correct" thing for these people to say, and "perhaps" part of the explanation is, these were immigrants to the U.S., and like some immigrants from many countries, "may" have been highly anti-communist (although that is not a given). Remember too, Ceausescu had been overthrown not all that long before, and ill feelings toward him, if not outright hatred, may have colored their thoughts, and thus, Antonescu's anti-communism appealed to them, in spite of his association with Hitler. Whether these few people I spoke with represent a significant attitude held by average Rumanians, I do not know, but I thought their comments were interesting.

Likewise, I have had some medical issues over the last few years and several EKGs were taken. On two of those occasions, I had the same technician for the tests. She was from Hungary and as we chatted about my little bit of knowledge about Hungary, I mentioned Transylvania. She got very upset, told me how Rumania had "stolen" the area from Hungary. She was so worked up, I thought she was going to declare war on Rumania all by herself! So while one person's opinion does not make a trend, her impassioned feelings show how the Transylvania issue still packs some emotional punch, even for a person who no longer resides in that part of Europe. 

* It is a bit difficult to get a handle on figures for the Jewish deaths, as many Jews lived in, or moved to, the eastern districts, which then became part of the Soviet Union in 1940. Further, Jews also lived in, or were deported to, Transnistria (see Part 5 for more about this region), which was part of the Soviet Union, but was administered by Rumania after the conquest of the area in 1941. For a good explanation of all of this, please check this:  https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Romania/five.pdf

Another problem with overall Rumanian casualties is, the part of Transylvania with a substantial Rumanian population was given to Hungary in 1940, and men in this ceded area then served in the Hungarian armed forces, and their casualties would have been counted as "Hungarian," although the area was returned to Rumania after the war. Further, Rumania fought on both sides during the war, although mostly as one of the Axis nations, but it did provide military forces to the Allies to fight against Germany and Hungary from the late summer of 1944 until the end of the war. These forces were under the overall direction of the Soviets. A good place to start when researching World War II casualties is "World War II: The Encyclopedia of Facts and Figures" by John Ellis, the 1995 edition with corrections to the initial 1993 release, but understand, other sources will not necessarily agree with figures from this book. 

** As of this writing (May 2015), King Michael is still alive at the age of 93. The establishment of a democratic government after the fall of communism gradually saw Michael granted the right to visit his homeland and his public appearances have drawn large crowds, although a return of the monarchy itself to some position of power has not seemed to be particularly popular among Rumanians.        

The following were consulted for this article on Rumania: "Kingdoms of Europe" by Gene Gurney, published by Crown Publishers, Inc. NY 1982

"Romania/An Illustrated History" by Nicolae Klepper, published by Hippocrene Books, NY 2002

WORD HISTORY:
Cunning-This adjective, related to, and actually derived from, the verb "can" ("to be able to do, have the knowledge to do"), the modern meaning of which is, "shrewd, often deceptive, way of doing something." It goes back to Indo European "gnoh," which had the notion of "to have knowledge." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "kunnanan," with the same general meaning. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "cunnan," the first and third person singular present form of which was "cann." The present participle of the verb was "cunnende, which was also used as an adjective, and it later became "cunninde" (also as "kunnende"), which then became "cunning" (also "kunning"). Most of "cunning's" Germanic relatives did not develop the "shrewd, deceptive" tilt to their meanings, but rather they have remained closer to it pure meaning of "be able to do," which is the case with its German relative "könnend," but Icelandic "kunnandi" does indeed mean "cunning." 

"Is It 'Rumania' or 'Romania?' " Part 5/Fascism and War

The aftershocks of the Bolshevik takeover of Russia, and the disillusionment over the World War and its territorial settlements, brought heightened tensions in many countries, including Rumania, between strong socialist and pro-communist elements versus right wing and rising fascist movements. The Rumanian monarchy and the nation's upper classes began to turn to the extreme political right. Hitler's eventual territorial acquisitions and his anti-Soviet pronouncements led Rumania's political right to look more and more to Germany for protection against the Soviet Union and communism. The failure of  Rumania's traditional allies, Britain and France, to stop Hitler, only led the country's  rightist elements to see these nations as too weak to help Rumania against Stalin and the Soviets.

Ion Antonescu, a military man, became defense minister, and he also began a close relationship with right wing and fascist elements. The German-Soviet Pact of August 1939 put Rumania into a serious situation, as Germany and the Soviet Union essentially became allies. One of the secret provisions of the pact gave the Soviets leeway to move into the former territories of the Russian Empire, the Rumanian provinces of Bessarabia and Bukovina. This led Hungary to propose, and to enter into, negotiations with Rumania over the disputed area of Transylvania, but the negotiations got nowhere, and Germany and Italy were asked to arbitrate, which resulted in Hungary acquiring the northern portion of Transylvania. King Carol II, growing more unpopular by the day and threatened by protests, especially from rightist groups, appointed Antonescu as prime minister, but with additional powers taken from the king, who finally abdicated in favor of his son, Michael, who was left more or less as a figurehead, with Antonescu as dictator. Antonescu joined with the Iron Guard (Rumanian: "Garda de fier"), a fascist, pro-Rumanian Orthodox, anti-Jewish, political party, to rule the country, but just months later, an Iron Guard uprising against Jews and government officials was crushed when Antonescu, with support from Hitler, used the army to restore order.

Germany supplied military advisers to help modernize the Rumanian military, and the presence of actual German military units in Rumania continued to increase. Rumania had substantial oil and refining facilities, extremely important to oil-dependent Germany's increasingly motorized and mechanized military forces. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Rumanian forces joined in the attack, as Rumania sought to recover the lost territories of Bessarabia and Bukovina, and to even gain additional lands in Transnistria.* In mid November 1942 the Soviets launched a massive offensive directed at Rumanian military forces located deep within Russia. The Rumanians were bolstered to some degree by German troops on either side of the German Sixth Army in the Soviet city of Stalingrad. The Soviet forces broke through the Rumanian lines and proceeded to encircle German and Rumanian forces in Stalingrad and vicinity. The result was a devastating defeat for the Germans and the Rumanians and the surrender of these troops brought a pronounced increase to the prospects of an Axis defeat in the war. With Allied bombings of the Rumanian oil fields at Ploesti, of Bucharest (the capital), and the with the approach of Soviet forces, Rumanians, led by King Michael, overthrew Antonescu in August 1944. Rumania then changed sides in the war. Antonescu was arrested and then after the war he was put on trial, found guilty of various charges, including his complicity in the murder of hundreds of thousands of Rumanian and Soviet Jews. He was executed by firing squad.

More in the next part ...

* Transnistria was a poorly defined region roughly between the Dniester River and the Southern Bug River. The term literally means "across or beyond the Dniester," but the area's boundaries were vague, depending upon who was doing the defining. The region exists today, but is not recognized by all nations as a separate country. Of course, it has a defined border today. During World War Two the Germans and Rumanians defeated the Soviet forces there and it was under Rumanian control, with administration directed from the city of Odessa. In this case, "the area" was defined by the Rumanians. Of course the Soviets reconquered "the area" later in the war.

The following were consulted for this article on Rumania: "Kingdoms of Europe" by Gene Gurney, published by Crown Publishers, Inc. NY 1982

"Romania/An Illustrated History" by Nicolae Klepper, published by Hippocrene Books, NY 2002

WORD HISTORY:
Car-This noun goes back to Indo European "kers," which had the notion of "run, move swiftly." This gave its Old Celtic offspring "karros," which meant "chariot, wagon, wheeled vehicle." This gave Gaulish (a Celtic language) "karros," with the same general meaning. This was then borrowed into Latin as "carrus," seemingly with the main original meaning being "chariot," but later also "wagon, cart." This gave Old Northern French "carre," with the same meaning, and this was carried to England by the Normans where it was borrowed by English in the early 1300s. Later it came to be most often used in railway terminology, but by the late 1800s it was applied to the early models of vehicles powered by the internal combustion engine. 

Stalingrad Movie Depicts Horror Of War, Part One, Historical Background

A little historical background: Stalingrad was a massive and famous World War Two battle, which came to symbolize, along with El Alamein in North Africa, the turning point in the war against Hitler and Mussolini. In the summer of 1942, a year after ordering his forces to invade the Soviet Union, Hitler concentrated his forces in the southern part of the Soviet Union in a strategic move to capture the oil fields of the Caucasus region, and to breach the Volga River, thus halting Soviet river traffic northwards. As the summer proceeded, Hitler divided his forces, sending one branch southward to take the oil fields, and keeping the other branch focused on the Volga at the city of Stalingrad.* The Soviets were determined to fight for the city, and German efforts to completely capture it were thwarted in August through October of 1942, bringing a street to street and building to building struggle for the remaining part of the devastated city still in Soviet hands.** In an effort to capture the last part of the city, the Germans sent in combat engineer battalions to try to gain control (the movie deals with a group of these combat engineers).*** As the slow, but brutal fighting took place, the Soviets mustered substantial forces outside the city for an offensive of their own.

With the bulk of his forces in the area tied down in and around Stalingrad, Hitler relied on his allies for forces to protect the flanks of his forces in the immediate Stalingrad area. These Italian, Hungarian and Rumanian troops were largely ill equipped to face the Soviet forces, especially to face Soviet tanks, but Hitler entrusted them with this important mission anyhow, believing the Soviets to be too weak to launch any major offensive operations, although German intelligence had reported Soviet troop concentrations on either side of German forces in the Stalingrad area, an area defended by Rumanian troops. In mid November the Soviets struck. While some Rumanian forces fought hard, the presence of large numbers of Soviet tanks eventually spread panic among their ranks and the front line collapsed. The Soviets raced to the rear of the German forces in the Stalingrad area (their 6th Army), trapping about a quarter of a million German troops, along with some Rumanian and Croatian forces.**** Hitler refused to allow a breakout attempt by the 6th Army, and a relief attack from the south was halted by Soviet resistance and winter weather. Attempts to supply the surrounded forces by air failed to adequately deliver enough supplies to keep the army going and repeated Soviet attacks gradually whittled down the size of the 6th Army. Although forbidden by Hitler to surrender, Colonel General (Generaloberst) Friedrich Paulus, then promoted to Field Marshal by Hitler as the end neared on January 30,***** decided to surrender his remaining 91,000 men to the Soviets in early February 1943. Only about 6000 of these men ever returned to Germany after the war. Prior to that time, the Soviets had attacked the Italians and the Hungarians, inflicting devastating casualties on these German allies, including many thousands killed. After the war, Italian-Soviet diplomatic relations were poor for decades, as the Italians said the Soviets had never given a full accounting for the Italian prisoners they had taken during the Stalingrad battle. "As I recall," the Soviets said the Italian prisoners, unfamiliar with the harsh winter conditions in Russia, had consequently suffered a high death rate in captivity, but the Italians felt the Soviets had mistreated their Italian prisoners, causing their deaths, or had executed many of them. The Rumanians and Hungarians, both under Soviet domination in the postwar era, could not offer any protest about their Soviet held prisoners of war until their communist governments were ousted and they were able to ask questions decades later.

This overall gigantic "Battle of Stalingrad" brought staggering casualties of at least three quarters of a million Axis troops killed, wounded or missing, and at least a million Soviet killed, wounded or missing. In addition, perhaps as many as fifty thousand Soviet civilians died.

* Stalingrad had been known as "Tsaritsyn" under the Tsars and into the early years of Soviet rule, when it was then renamed in honor of Soviet ruler Joseph Stalin. It was renamed "Volgograd," circa 1961, as Soviet leaders tried to distance themselves from Stalin's rule. Stalin had died in 1953.

** German air and artillery bombardment had left many structures in partial to total ruin, but these ruins then provided the remaining Soviet troops with excellent hiding places to ambush German units, slowly bleeding the German forces and leaving their units in a weakened state. The fighting was often confusing for the opposing forces, as later reports indicated examples where German forces would control certain floors of a building, while Soviet forces controlled other floors of the same building.

*** The movie has a scene using an actual preserved recording of Hitler giving a speech to long time Nazi Party members in Munich in November 1942. The movie has the exhausted men, who had just fought to capture a Soviet factory, sitting around and listening to the speech, which had been broadcast on radio all over Germany, and to the troops on the Eastern Front. In the speech, Hitler says he wants to take the remaining part of Soviet held Stalingrad "mit ganz kleinen Stoßtrupps" ( "with very small assault detachments"), in reference to the combat engineers. Some of the men look at each other in astonishment, as they have already suffered high casualties just taking this one factory.

**** Croatia had been established as an independent state, although with foreign policy tied to Italy and Germany, after the defeat of Yugoslavia in 1941. It was a fascist ruled nation which provided some military forces to Germany, although these forces were technically part of the "German" armed forces (Wehrmacht). Another small unit was part of the Italian military. Their other forces remained as part of their own Croatian military to combat insurrection forces in the Croatia-Serbia region, often, but not always, organized by communist leaders, most prominent of whom was Josef Tito, who later became the head of postwar Yugoslavia.

***** Essentially, German general ranks had been copied from the French long ago. Typically the Germanic languages (which includes English) place adjectives before the noun they describe, as in, "the blue car." The Latin based languages, which includes French, typically place adjectives after the noun. In the British and American armies of World War Two, there was the rank of Major General, for instance, but the Germans use the French form, "General Major" (Generalmajor, in German). Neither the British nor American armies had the specific German rank of "Colonel General" (Generaloberst) in World War Two, but it was equivalent to a four-star general in the U.S. Army. Hitler had promoted Paulus to field marshal (Generalfeldmarschall) just a couple of days before the end, with the thought that Paulus would commit suicide, rather than surrender.   

Word History:
Freeze-This word goes back to Indo European "preus," which meant "to freeze, to frost over." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "freusan," as the Indo European "p" often became "f" in Old Germanic. This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "freosan," which then became "fresen," before the modern version. The figurative sense, "to remain motionless, to stop in one tracks and remain motionless," may well have developed in Old Germanic and was passed on to a number of its offspring, including English. The noun form meaning, "a period of cold temperatures in which crops freeze," came from the verb. The other Germanic languages have: German "frieren," ^ Low German "fresen," ^^ Dutch "vriezen" West Frisian "frieze," Danish and Norwegian "fryse," Swedish "frysa" and Icelandic "frysta" and "frjósa."

^ Note the change of "s" or "z" to "r," a common change (sound shift) which developed in High German centuries ago, although the "s" sound continued in this case, as Old High German had "friosan;" and it wasn't until later that that sound shift took place. Another example is, English has "I was," but German has "Ich war" (not pronounced like English "war," but rather it rhymes with "far").

^^ Low German, under influence from German (standard German is heavily based on High German), also has "freren," a borrowing with the "r" from standard German. Low German was once the general dialect of northern Germany, but the teaching of standard German in schools has brought a serious decline to Low German, although it still is used, but less than in times past. Low German is very closely related to English, as northern Germany is the ancestral homeland of Anglo-Saxon.

I'll Have The Goulash

This was published in August 2012, more as a general article, but I added the actual recipe November 29, 2016.


I got into my cooking mode a couple of days ago, and I fixed two great dishes, which lasted for a couple of meals. I made "goulash" and bacon dumplings (German: "Speckknödel" *). There is some disagreement about the history and preparation of goulash, but it developed among Hungarian herders** who fixed a thick soup of beef, peppers, onions, chopped tomatoes,*** paprika (a Hungarian specialty), and perhaps some other items, especially caraway, but also garlic, potatoes, or carrots, and typically thickened with flour. Hungary was ruled for quite some time by the Habsburg dynasty, and later it gained a large degree of equality in an agreement in 1867, making the former Austro-German dominated Austrian Empire into a shared empire called Austria-Hungary, or the Austro-Hungarian Empire. With Vienna (German: "Wien") the capital city of the multi-ethnic empire, lots of different peoples and foods influenced the culture of the city, and the Viennese picked up goulash from the Hungarians, albeit with their own version,**** which made it into more of a real stew, rather than a thick soup. The stew became something of a Viennese specialty, typically accompanied by bread dumplings (German: "Semmelknödel"), a close cousin to the bacon dumplings I made.

Well, many years ago in Frankfurt, Germany, there was a little restaurant called "Servus" (pronounced "zair-voos"). The word is known throughout the German-speaking lands, but it is more typical in southern German lingo; that is, more so in Bavaria and especially in Austria, and it is used as either a greeting or farewell, depending upon circumstance; thus it means "hello" or "goodbye." Wow did "Servus" have good food! It was owned by a fairly young couple, and I went in so many times, the lady asked me why I had become such a good customer. Well, one of the reasons was the goulash, or "Gulasch," in German, and the other was "Zwetschgenknödel" (plum dumplings). Now, the standard German word for "plum" is "Pflaume," a close relative to the English form, as centuries ago Old Germanic borrowed a form from Latin, giving both English and German forms of the word. For the history of the words "plum" and "prune," see my article at this link:  http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2013/04/plum-pudding-and-plum-cake.html    However, many German dialects use forms of "Zwetsche"***** for "plum." There are numerous spellings and pronunciations, including "Quetsche" in much of Hessen, the German state where Frankfurt is located, and "Quetschkuche," or "plum cake," is common in that area.

Anyhow, the lady proceeded to tell me she was from Austria and that her husband was Hungarian. Alas, the old empire was recreated. When I asked her where she was from in Austria, she got a bit nervous, even saying I would have never heard of it. Finally she told me, and I certainly understood her anxiety about how I might react. She was from Braunau, a little town right across the border from the German state of Bavaria. In fact, during certain times in the past, the town had been part of Bavaria. So why was she so nervous? Because Braunau was the birthplace of Adolf Hitler. The full name is actually "Branau am Inn;" the "am Inn" meaning, "on the Inn (River)."

Germans, the ethnic group, and not just the specific nationality from Gerrmany, love dumplings, and they make them out of flour, potatoes, or even stale bread or rolls. They come in all shapes and sizes, sweet or savory, and with various added ingredients. "Speckknödel" are made from stale rolls, which are sliced and soaked in warm milk. Small strips of bacon and sausage (usually smoked) are lightly fried together and then added to the bread. Today most of us would pour off the fat before adding the meat to the bread, but that was not the case in the past, when bacon and sausage fat added flavor to the dumpling mixture, along with a substantial dose of cholesterol. A little salt and some parsley are mixed in, and egg and flour help to bind the dough, which is then rolled into dumplings somewhere about the size of ping pong balls or golf balls. A little coating of flour helps to keep the dumplings from falling apart. Ten to fifteen minutes in some salted, lightly boiling water and you're ready to go. Any leftovers can be sliced and fried lightly in butter for a snack or even served with eggs for breakfast, which is not uncommon. I don't waste anything, as the water will have residue from the cooked dumplings, giving you something on the order of a thick porridge.

Vienna-Style Goulash (Gulasch, Wiener Art) Recipe (this is my own version):

Typically this dish is cooked on the stove top, but I prefer to bake it at relatively low heat for a couple of hours. In the past, the beef would not have had the fat trimmed off of it.

2 pounds beef stewing meat (bite-sized pieces)
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil or sunflower oil
3 onions, chopped
3 tablespoons mild paprika (Hungarian, if you have it)
1 tablespoon hot paprika ("hot" paprika tends not to be terribly hot)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon sugar (this helps to smooth out some of the acidity, use a little more, if needed)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried marjoram (or you can substitute oregano)
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar (or cider vinegar)
1/4 cup beef stock (I suppose you could substitute beef bullion, but don't be surprised if the Viennese put a curse on you, where you hear 24 straight hours of waltz music)
1 or 2 teaspoons salt (your preference; I use seasoned salt)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

I use a heavy duty pan with a lid to make goulash. I add the oil first, then I add all of the other ingredients, then I mix it all well. I bake it at 275 degrees (F) for an hour, then I stir it, then I turn the heat down to about 250 (F) and let it bake for another 90 minutes. Check to be sure the meat is tender, giving the meat as much time as it needs to bake. The relatively low heat isn't going to hurt it, and your patience will be greatly rewarded with a delicious goulash.
 
If you want the goulash very thick, as I do, mix 1 tablespoon flour with 2 tablespoons water, making sure the flour is well mixed in. Stir the mixture into the goulash near the very end of cooking, and return it to the oven for about 5 minutes. Since I fix my goulash in an oven safe pan, I simply put the pan on the stove (low heat) and add the flour/water mixture, stirring until it is thickened and the flour taste is cooked out, which only takes a couple of minutes. Remember to remove the bay leaf before serving. I must admit, on occasion over the years, I have used bullion instead of real beef stock and nothing ever happened to me ... Hey! What's that music? Do I hear a waltz?  

* Also called "Tiroler Speckknödel."

** The Hungarian word for "herder, herdsman," "gulyas," lies behind the word "goulash."

*** I once read a recipe for goulash by a lady whose Hungarian mother or grandmother, I now cannot remember which, was adamant that "real Hungarian goulash" did NOT have tomatoes in it. I'll stay out of the argument, except to say that everyone has their own recipes for various foods, and goulash is no exception, including in Hungary. Just a possible explanation though: the passing down of recipes for goulash could likely date from a time before tomatoes were accepted as being safe in Europe. Tomatoes came from the New World, and they were originally thought to be poisonous, thus it is not out of the question that early recipes for the dish did not include tomatoes, and that omission was retained by many people, as the recipe was passed down.

**** The more typical Viennese style (German: "Gulasch, Wiener Art") uses beef, onions, some tomato puree or paste, paprika, salt, pepper and caraway, although some cooks add garlic, and/or, a bit of vinegar. I improvised a bit, using some tomato paste and about a heaping tablespoon of thick ketchup, which provided just a tad of vinegar. It should be slowly braised (a slow cooker is good for this) and end up rather dark in color, somewhat on the order of dark red wine. A variation of this is served with a fried egg on top, as well as one of the famous Vienna-style sausages ("Wieners," to Americans; German: "Frankfurter Würstl"), and a pickle, which in restaurants has one end cut into a fan shape. This is then called "Fiakergulasch," or "Cabbie's Goulash," with a "Fiaker" being the name for a two-horse carriage used as a cab long ago. The name was also used for the cab driver. 

***** The various forms of Zwetsche are not native German words, but another borrowing, "perhaps" from a non-German dialect from the alpine border area of northern Italy and eastern France.

WORD HISTORY:
Cook-This "seems" to go back to Indo European "kekewo," "perhaps" a variant form of "pekwo," which seems to have meant "to ripen;" the notion being to prepare inedible raw food until it is 'ripe;' that is, ready to eat. Latin had "coquus," which was borrowed into Old Germanic as "kukaz," a noun form. This gave its Anglo-Saxon (Old English) offspring "coc," which later became "cook." The Latin verb form "coquo" was likewise borrowed by Old Germanic as "kokanan," which then gave Old English "cocian," as well as "gecocsian," both meaning essentially "to cook." The latter died out or merged with the former, which then became "coken," before the modern form. Noun and verb forms are common throughout the other Germanic languages: German has "Koch" and "kochen" (meaning "cook, boil"); Low German Saxon "Kock" and "kaken/koken;" Dutch has "kok" and "koken;" Danish has "kok" and "koge;" Icelandic has the noun "kokkur" ("chef"); Swedish has "kock/kocken" and "koka;" and Norwegian has "kokk(en)" and "koke" ("boil"). Apparently Frisian does not use a form of the word in modern times, but it once had "koka."

The German Question, Part One Hundred Fifty-Six

"Hitler & The German Question" Part Two

Hitler's increasingly violent racism certainly excluded German Jews as being "Germans," first with legal measures and later by mass murder.

As in Poland, Germans were forcibly expelled from Czechoslovakia immediately after the end of the war, and those expulsions continued for more than a year, but some Germans remained, in some cases being "retained;" that is, not permitted to leave by the Czech government, because of special work skills. The numbers were relatively small compared to the prewar German population. There were deaths among the German population during the expulsions, and the number of casualties is very much in dispute, but 15,000 to 20,000 is a likely minimum.

The Soviet military began arresting Germans in Hungary, even before the war was over. Thousands were sent to the Soviet Union, never to return. After the war, the communist government of Hungary expelled tens of thousands of Germans to occupied Germany and Austria, but even then some Germans remained as part of the national Hungarian population. In the case of Rumania too, thousands of Germans had fled the advancing Red Army, but at least a quarter of a million Germans remained, although as communism "waned" (there's that word, see previous "Word History") in the late 1980s, many left for Germany. Similar happened in the Soviet Union, although untold thousands of ethnic Germans died in Soviet prisons or labor camps, or when they were forcibly moved from their home areas to Siberia or to other remote regions.

As the war wound down in Yugoslavia, many Germans fled, but many were killed by communist resistance or military units, or sent to Soviet labor camps. Quite a number of the Germans from northern Yugoslavia eventually emigrated to the United States in the 1950s, with many coming to Cleveland, where their presence, more so now their descendants, is still evident.

Austria was reestablished as an independent nation, although a pro-German unification party remained on election ballots, with an ever decreasing share of the vote as the years ticked by. I must admit, I regret the separation of Austria from Germany, and I often wonder if things would have been different, if Austria had become part of Germany after World War One, as was likely before the Versailles Treaty forbade it. Would the Germans still have gone berserk under Hitler or some other right wing leader? Maybe, as let's not forget where the chief nutcase came from... Austria!

It is my "intention" to finish this series in three more articles: the next one about the western boundaries, one about the positive German contributions to the world (especially after all of this nasty period of Hitler and the Nazis), and one with a basic bibliography. I'm not guaranteeing it will be just three articles, but let's see if I can do it.

WORD HISTORY:
Wax-This is the now archaic verb, not the substance made by bees or used for candles, and it is most commonly used in modern times in the expression "wax and wane" (see previous article for "wane"), and it is related to English "eke," as in "eke out a living." It goes back to Indo European "wegs, weks," and the related Indo European "aug," which had the meaning "to increase." This gave Old Germanic "wahksijan," with the general sense of "to increase, to grow." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "weaxan," with the same "increase, grow" meaning. This later became "waxen," before the modern version. Common in the other Germanic languages: German has "wachsen," Low German Saxon and Dutch have "wassen," West Frisian has "waakse," Danish and Norwegian have "vokse," Swedish has "växa," and Icelandic has "vaxa;" all with the same general meaning of "to grow."

The German Question, Part One Hundred Twenty-Nine

"Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/B"
Foreign Policy & The German Question" Part Seven
"A Possible Turning Point; Hitler Takes Czechs Into The Reich"

NOTE: I forgot to mention that during the "Sudeten German crisis," the German public was highly apprehensive about going to war, according to the many correspondents there. The hysterical crowds at the 1938 Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg and at a Hitler speech in Berlin* just prior to the Munich Conference were not really representative of the average German (from what is known). While there were no actual public opinion polls, there were many foreign reporters in Germany during that era, including Americans, and virtually all noted the downbeat mood of the German public about the possibility of war.

So now Czechoslovakia was much smaller in size,** but still with problems, primarily now from the Slovaks, who wanted total independence. Hungary had received some territory with substantial Hungarian population as part of a separate agreement made at Vienna the month after the Sudetenland was ceded to Germany, but the Hungarians still harbored ill feelings toward the peace treaties and border adjustments made after World War One, especially as they applied to the rest of Slovakia, which they ruled prior to the end of the war. By March 1939, the Czechs sent troops into Slovakia and Slovak leaders were removed from their positions. The Slovaks declared independence (with Hitler's support and insistence). President Hacha went to meet Hitler in Berlin, where he was told the capital of Prague would be bombed unless he cooperated with Germany. Hacha gave in and German troops crossed into his country later that morning, and Hitler himself followed a bit later. The Czech territories were occupied by Germany and declared the "Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia," and Slovakia was independent, although with foreign policy tied to Germany (as a satellite country, in other words).

During the Sudeten crisis the previous year, Hitler had said Germany wanted "no Czechs." Further, he made the statement that the Sudetenland was his "last territorial demand in Europe."*** These two things and Hitler's signing of Chamberlain's "peace for our time" agreement were not forgotten in other countries, and Hitler, by taking Czechs into Germany, lost any credibility for just being a German patriot who wanted to unite Germans. Other European governments now began to reassess their policies toward Hitler and about how to deal with him.

* In a much anticipated speech given to 20,000 at the Berliner Sportpalast (Berlin Sport Palace), Joseph Goebbels whipped the faithful into a frenzy as he introduced Hitler. The speech was given on September 26, just three days before the Munich Conference, and I believe it was carried on radio throughout various parts of the world. No question in my mind that Goebbels, the propaganda genius, arranged everything to demonstrate German public support for Hitler's demands made on the Czech leaders. Twenty thousand Nazi Party members, however, were not the same as millions of average Germans, but in times of crisis, humans don't always think of such things, and the effect of the speech as it came across on radio with the hysterical crowd shouting "Führer befiehl, wir folgen" ("Führer command, we follow"), served Goebbels' purpose of making the world believe Germans were totally committed to Hitler's policy (although even if they weren't committed, there wasn't a hell of a lot they could do about it in a totalitarian police state).

** Technically, the official name of the country became "Czecho-Slovakia," to indicate the Slovaks had declared self government in the Slovak region, under Jozef Tiso. Edvard Beneš resigned as president of the country and went to England. He was replaced by Emil Hacha.

*** It is hard to believe that others from those times would have accepted this statement about territorial demands, as there were still several contentious issues of Germans living under non-German rule; especially, the city of Danzig, where the population was more than 90% German, and under a League of Nations Commissioner, the Polish Corridor and parts of Silesia where more than a million Germans lived under Polish rule, and in Memel and environs, where a substantial German majority lived under Lithuanian rule.

WORD HISTORY:
Hail-This is not related to "hail"=ice pellets, rather this word is used as a verb, an adjective and an interjection. This is the word used as an old greeting. It is closely related to "health," and indeed, that was the basic meaning lying behind its use as a greeting; that is, "health (to you)." Like its relatives, "health, heal and whole," it goes back to Indo European "koilos/kailo," with the general meaning "healthy, unharmed, in a sound, complete ("whole") condition." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "(k)hailaz," with the same general meaning. This produced Anglo-Saxon (Old English) "hal," also with the same meaning. It "seems" Old English "hal" was then influenced in extended meaning by Old Norse "heill," or more specifically by the Norse expression "ves heill," which meant "be healthy, have good health." This expression gave Old English "wæs hæil," with the same meaning, and it eventually was contracted into "wassail;" that is, "a toast to someone's health," that later came to also be applied to a specific drink used for such a toast. The general idea, however, remained just in the word "haeil," which came to be used as a greeting, and was later spelled "hail." The same idea lies behind the closely related German word "heil," which the Nazis used in greetings "Heil Hitler" and "Sieg heil," the latter meaning "hail to victory." By the way, before English borrowed the word "victory," English had "sige," obviously a close relative to German "Sieg."

The German Question, Part One Hundred Twenty-Seven

"Hitler Rules Germany" Part Two/B"
"Foreign Policy & The German Question" (Part Five/4)
"Germans In Czechoslovakia" (Part 4/Final)

President Beneš of Czechoslovakia was afraid that if his government ceded the Sudeten German territories of his country to Germany, Czechoslovakia might well fall apart. The Slovaks would then likely want independence, or even more likely, Hungary would want control over Slovakia, as the Hungarians had ruled Slovakia in the days of Austria-Hungary. Further, Poland was already pressing for the relatively small Tesin area of Czechoslovakia, an area with a good number of Poles. In May 1938, the Czech government called up army reservists to demonstrate their willingness to resist Hitler. Calls came from Britain for a peaceful solution to the Sudeten German issue and matters lingered over the summer of 1938.

By September, Hitler gave his closing address to the Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg, but he did not announce military action as many had expected, although rumors of an imminent German invasion persisted. The Sudeten Nazis provoked several incidents after the speech, and negotiations between them and Beneš broke down. With war seemingly moving closer and closer, Neville Chamberlain, the British Prime Minister, flew to Germany to meet with Hitler at his mountain villa at Berchtesgaden. Hitler claimed Czech terror tactics against Germans in Czechoslovakia and he demanded the Sudetenland be ceded to Germany. Chamberlain agreed, but wanted matters to be worked out after a plebiscite determined which areas would go to Germany. The French concurred, and the reluctant Beneš, too. Chamberlain returned to Germany for another meeting with Hitler to cement the agreement, this time in Bad Godesberg along the Rhine River.* Hitler then changed the terms, demanding immediate German occupation of the Sudetenland to protect Germans he claimed were being mistreated by the Czech government, AND that Poland's and Hungary's claims for territory also be settled at the same time. Chamberlain was stunned. At a further meeting the next day, Hitler agreed to wait until October 1** to occupy the Sudetenland, to give Chamberlain time to speak with the French and Czech governments. Neither was supportive of the agreement, and Chamberlain also faced opposition from people in his own government. War seemed likely.

As the clock ticked down, a conference was called to be held in Munich (München) on September 29. The four participating nations of the conference were Britain with Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, France with Prime Minister Edouard Daladier, Germany with Hitler, and Italy with Benito Mussolini. Notice, Czechoslovakia was not even invited! By the early hours of the next morning, an agreement had been reached between the four leaders ceding the Sudetenland to Germany. Beneš was urged to sign it, which he reluctantly did. The Sudetenland was to be occupied by German troops in stages, ending on October 10, 1938.

Prior to leaving Munich, Chamberlain met with Hitler one more time. He carried a piece of paper with him that essentially said that Germany and Britain would work together to always avoid war between them, and he got Hitler to sign it. Upon return to Britain, Chamberlain, in a famous bit of newsreel, waved the paper in the air saying that it was,"Peace for our time."

* Bad Godesberg is now a part of the city of Bonn, the former capital of West Germany.

** In the previous spring, Hitler had instructed his military to prepare for an attack on Czechoslovakia by October 1.

WORD HISTORY:
Holy-Another common Germanic word, related to 'health," "heal," and "whole," and as such, it also goes back to Indo European "koilos/kailo" with the meaning, "healthy, unharmed, in a sound, complete ("whole") condition." This gave Old Germanic "hailaz," and the derived "hailaga," meaning "to be healthy spiritually." This in turn gave Anglo-Saxon "halig/haleg," meaning "holy, sacred." This then later became "holi/hali," before the modern version. As for the other Germanic languages: German and Dutch have "heilig," Low German has "hillig," and some dialects "heiljich," West Frisian "hillich," Danish and Norwegian have "hellig," Swedish has "helig," and Icelandic has heilagur. All mean "holy."

The German Question, Part Fifty-One

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The German Question, Part 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 Eleven

The Germans, along with Swedes and Danes, also advanced into the eastern Baltic areas for trade and to Christianize the various peoples there, who were to become the modern Lithuanians, Latvians and Estonians.* Gradually Germans began to settle in these areas, especially due to trade. In one area the Germans became a significant majority of the population, although I’m sure they absorbed the local, non-German population over time. This was an area centered around a German-built castle called “Memel,” and the region did indeed become part of Germany.** Further east and northeast, in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, German communities developed, but in these areas, the Germans never became anything like a majority of the population, although they tended to have high social status due to commercial interests and even military positions, essentially ruling these areas and developing large estates there. Later, when these “Baltic States” became part of the Tsarist Russian Empire, a number of these Baltic Germans, as they came to be called, joined in the Russian government or military.

Further to the south in Bohemia, in what is now the Czech Republic, Germans were invited by Bohemian kings to settle in places largely devoid of population due to the Mongol invasion. These Germans tended to settle in the northern, western and southern fringes of Bohemia, where in many places, areas became pretty much exclusively German, but many areas became very mixed, being shared between Czechs and Germans. This general area later came to be known, even in English, as the Sudetenland; so called because of the Sudeten Mountains there. Some Germans also migrated into interior Bohemia, areas that were predominantly Czech, where they established German communities, or where they were eventually assimilated into the majority Czech population.

Transylvania had been conquered by the Hungarians, but the Hungarian king invited Germans to settle in parts of the territory to help defend it against intruders. Most of these Germans were Saxons, and they came to be called “Transylvanian Saxons,” although over time, other non-Saxon Germans came to the region. The Germans were also seemingly welcomed by the Hungarian king because of their expertise in business and mining, and they held an elevated status in Transylvania, even later, when much of the region became part of Rumania.**** (A “Word History” is below the notes)

*The Estonians are closely related to the Finns, both linguistically and ethnically, and they speak a Uralic language. The Lithuanians and Latvians are closely related, and speak Indo European languages; that is, they speak  languages related to English, but further down the family tree, as these are classified as Baltic languages, or also called Balto-Slavic by some.

** Memel was located on what later became the German-Lithuanian border.

*** Parts of the Sudeten Mountains are actually in Poland and Germany. The word is pronounced as if "sue-DAY-ten."

**** The world has been full of political “hot spots” over the centuries, including in our present time, and Transylvania has been one of those areas. The territory’s “rightful ownership” has been at the center of a bitter dispute between the Hungarians and the Rumanians. The question centers around the very origins of the modern Rumanians, but that’s another subject. The overall dispute has been so bitter, that during World War Two, Hungary and Rumania, both allied to Hitler’s Germany, sent substantial military forces to fight against the Soviet Union, but the Germans had to keep these forces separated from one another, lest they attack each other rather than the Soviets. Further, the Germans accused both nations of keeping too many troops on the Hungarian-Rumanian border opposing each other, rather than sending the units to Russia.

WORD HISTORY:
Holt-While this is now an antiquated word in English, it is part of a number of place names, especially in England, and also is a family name, so I included it. It goes back to Indo European "khald," seemingly with a connection to "wood/timber/trees," from the base "kel," which had the notion of "cut" (you "cut" down trees for wood/lumber). The Old Germanic offshoot was "khulto," (with the "h" sound being more prominent) which in turn gave Old English "holt," which meant "woods, cluster of trees, grove." The spelling has remained consistent in English through the centuries. Forms in the other Germanic languages are: Dutch and West Frisian "hout" (where the "L" sound died out, meaning 'wood, timber'), German Holz (wood, timber), Low German "holt" (wood, timber), Danish, Norwegian and Icelandic "holt" (hilltop grove) and Swedish "holt/hult" (from what I understand, now only dialect, with the spelling variations, for "grove, woods"). Interestingly, the name "Holland" likely derives from "holt" and "land," thus meaning a "woodland."