The German Question, Part Sixty-Five

"Bismarck" Part 5/J "Bismarck as Chancellor & A Treaty With 'Contentious Relatives' "

"The End Of Bismarck"

Kaiser Wilhelm I, the man who appointed Bismarck to power and then stuck with him in that capacity through the years, died in 1888. His son, Friedrich III, became Kaiser (emperor), but he was dying of throat cancer, and he passed away a little more than three months after his father. Then Friedrich's son, Wilhelm, came to the German throne, as Wilhelm II. I would dare say, when many Americans hear the term "Kaiser," this is the man they think of (besides Kaiser rolls, haha), as he was the German leader during World War One. In fact, it would not surprise me in the least if some Americans think his first name was "Kaiser," as he is commonly referred to simply as "Kaiser Wilhelm," and I will use that here.

Once German unification had been achieved, Bismarck worked to keep peace in Europe often through alliances, although the very alliances he used to keep the peace, eventually led other countries into alliances, which then made war more likely if a lit match touched some powder keg. Whatever Bismarck's strengths or faults, he was able to help keep the Europeans from the throats of each other, and he worked hard to keep Germany from the possibility of a two-front war. He also sought to keep a distance from the hot issues in the Balkans, where the declining Ottoman (Turkish) Empire held large non-Turkish areas under their control, and these areas were interested in independence. Here, Russia's role as "protector of the Slavs" came into conflict with the Turks (and Austria-Hungary), as some of these areas were populated by large Slavic majorities.* Germany's closest ally, Austria-Hungary, also had large restless Slavic populations there, but Germany's treaty with Austria-Hungary did not guarantee German military involvement, unless Austria-Hungary was attacked by Russia.

Kaiser Wilhelm II was far more brash. Unlike his long-ruling grandfather, Wilhelm I, who essentially permitted Bismarck to run governmental affairs, this Wilhelm intended to take a far more active role in the governing of his country. This was bound to lead to conflict with Bismarck, the Chancellor of Germany.** The relationship between Kaiser Wilhelm and Bismarck was complicated by the fact that Wilhelm had grown up during Bismarck's time as the head of the Prussian government, and then as chancellor of a unified Germany, and Bismarck probably never thought of Wilhelm becoming Kaiser during his time in office, or perhaps even in his lifetime, but Friedrich III's terminal illness intervened. Bismarck saw Wilhelm as something of a "pupil," who could be reined in, but he was terribly mistaken. Bismarck had been in office for so long, he undoubtedly assumed that the new Kaiser would go along with the policies he, Bismarck, decided to continue or to pursue. Bismarck was 73 years old when Wilhelm became Kaiser, at the ripe "old" age of 29. Just as an example, Bismarck had not shown much interest in a large German navy, but Kaiser Wilhelm did. Big, flashy ships were a way to demonstrate German power (and the Kaiser's), but big, flashy ships also antagonized the European naval powers, especially Britain, drawing them closer together to resist growing German power, instead of keeping them apart, as was Bismarck's policy.

Domestically, Bismarck was disillusioned with workers who, in spite of his "state sponsored socialism," could not be brought into the fold against socialist political views. With growing German prosperity, Bismarck decided to quash the German socialist movement. A large strike by coal miners in 1889 brought the focus on workers.*** Bismarck basically supported the mine owners, but Kaiser Wilhelm felt the miners had valid points and he wanted mine conditions improved. Bismarck then pushed for permanent anti-socialist laws in the Reichstag, where his allies (a majority) essentially supported the legislation. One part of the law permitted the police the power to evict socialists from their homes. A bit of German democracy showed, as even some of Bismarck's supporters felt this part of the law, which had been used against political opponents previously, was too extreme, but hardliners, following Bismarck's lead, insisted on the measure. The Kaiser disapproved. Bismarck had hoped that the strict legislation would bring socialist protests and violence which then could be used as a reason for a strong crackdown on the workers' movement. Bismarck and the Kaiser had a serious disagreement over this whole matter, and the Kaiser made it clear that he did not intend to wage war on his own people. Bismarck, seeing how he had misplayed the matter, backtracked, but the well had been poisoned. Bismarck also made it quite obvious that he did not support the Kaiser's position; a dangerous thing to do, when the chancellor's office relied only upon the Kaiser's support. The whole matter made voters turn away from Bismarck's supporters in the next election, and Bismarck had to put together a new coalition among the political parties in the Reichstag. He met with one party leader without informing Kaiser Wilhelm. Unlike his father and grandfather, Wilhelm expected to be kept informed of Bismarck's actions. The two German leaders clashed heatedly. Bismarck resigned at Kaiser Wilhelm's insistence in March of 1890. He eventually moved to the Hamburg area, where he died in 1898. Bismarck and Kaiser Wilhelm never really reconciled, although the Kaiser bestowed certain honors upon the former chancellor and founder of modern Germany. (A Word History is below the notes)

Next..."Kaiser Wilhelm and World War I"

* Being seen as "protector of the Slavs" was not the only reason Russians were involved in the Balkans, as they had a longstanding interest in acquiring territory there themselves.

** Chancellor is really just the chosen German title for the head of the government, and it corresponds to the British "Prime Minister," or to the title "Premier," in certain other countries, although it bears repeating, in the governing system of Germany at that point in time, the chancellor was appointed by, and therefore beholden to, the Kaiser. He did not have to align himself with any particular political party, or have a majority in the Reichstag for that particular party, or even form a coalition with other parties, except on specific issues, which is what Bismarck did. While the German Reichstag was elected by a truly democratic vote of the German people (that is, "democratic" in those times, meaning "proper age males"), the German political parties lacked clout because of their "disconnect" with the head of the German government, the chancellor. What had developed in the British system, on the other hand, was that the Prime Minister was affiliated with a political party, that party, or in coalition with another party, was able to form a majority in Parliament, and the king/queen then "asked" the party leader (or chosen leader of the coalition) to become Prime Minister. (Note: In Bismarck's time, the British monarch was Queen Victoria, and her oldest child, her namesake daughter Victoria, was married to Friedrich, who later became Kaiser Friedrich III, but who died of throat cancer shortly thereafter. Their son, Wilhelm, became Kaiser Wilhelm II; and yes, he was, therefore, Queen Victoria's grandson.)

*** Coal was big business in industrial powerhouse Germany. The companies showed big profits, but paid low wages, implemented longer working hours, and refused to pay workers for their time spent descending into, and ascending from, the mines. Mine supervisors were known for ruthlessness and brutality. These were the main reasons for the strike.

WORD HISTORY:
Frau/Fräulein-These two German words have both come into English over time; "Frau" by the early 1800s, although "likely" earlier, but more widespread by the early 1800s, and, "Fräulein" came into English in the 1600s. The main word is "Frau" (the "au" pronounced like the "ow" in English "how"), which means "married woman," and is also the equivalent to the English title "Mrs.," but also, more generally, means "woman, lady, wife." This goes back to Indo European "pro(w)," one of the notions of which was "main, first, chief." This then gave its Old Germanic offspring "frawan," which meant "lord, master," and the feminine form "fraw(o)." Originally the word had a connection to the nobility, but then became more general. This then gave Old High German "frouwa," which then later became "vrouwe," before acquiring its modern form. (The Old Germanic form also gave Old English "frowe," meaning 'woman, lady,' which later died out.) "Fräulein" simply uses the base word "frau," and the diminutive (see note) suffix "-lein," which initially was spelled "lin," giving the German of the Middle Ages "vröuwelîn," which meant "young noble woman." Later it just came to mean "young woman, unmarried woman," and is equivalent to the English title "Miss." It is properly pronounced as if "froy-line." Low German has "Froo" and "Frölen," Dutch has "vrouw," West Frisian has "frou." NOTE: Diminutive means it makes it "smaller or less;" in this case, "less in age."

The German Question, Part Sixty-Four

"Bismarck" Part 5/I "Bismarck as Chancellor & A Treaty With 'Contentious Relatives' "

"Bismarck & Foreign Policy"

Bismarck's overall foreign policy is far too involved for this series. To keep things simple, Bismarck was always on guard against France, as the French clearly wanted revenge for their defeat by Prussia (Germany) in 1870/71. As part of his overall strategy to keep France isolated, Bismarck wanted Russia on his side; thus keeping them from allying with France and putting hostile powers on Germany's eastern and western borders, but his moves to cozy up with the Russians angered the Austrians, as Russia and Austria-Hungary were competitors in eastern and southeastern Europe.* So, he signed agreements with both Russia and Austria-Hungary.** This agreement was so loose, it really meant virtually nothing, but it did symbolize the protection and preservation of monarchies ( a conservative principle in those times), as it was called "The Three Emperors League" or "Dreikaiserbund," in German.

Over the years, I have read so many books and articles about Bismarck and Austria, I know I've seen comments that, ruthless pragmatist though he was, Bismarck regretted that Austria's German population had to be excluded from a united Germany. There's no question that the common German language kept the two contentious relatives close, and the two European powers were, therefore, natural allies, but Bismarck was not one to let pure sentiment get in his way; there had to be the practical side. In 1879, he signed a treaty with Austria-Hungary which said that either country would aid the other if attacked by Russia, but that if either were attacked by "another country,"*** the other partner could remain neutral. This treaty remained in effect long after Bismarck, and kept Germany and Austria-Hungary as allies during World War One. It is usually referred to as "The Dual Alliance."****

Other European countries, like England, France and Spain, had long been involved in establishing colonies. At first, Bismarck refrained from such matters, but what was becoming Germans' collective inferiority complex shifted public sentiment toward building an overseas empire to compete in status with the British and French. Added to this sentiment was the desire by German companies for overseas resources and markets, and this prompted Bismarck to act. Africa was a prime spot. Togoland^ became a German colony in 1884 and remained as such until 1914 in World War One, when the British and French sent troops into the colony, which had virtually no German troops protecting it. It fell without combat. Cameroon also became a colony in 1884 and it too was invaded by British and French troops during World War One. There were some German troops in Cameroon, however, who were supported by even more native colonial troops. There was a fair amount of fighting, and it wasn't until 1916 that the final German outpost there surrendered. What was called "German East Africa"^^ became a colony in 1885 and remained such until the end of World War One. There were some German troops in the colony and many more colonial native troops, which together put up quite a fight against numerically superior British forces. The colony was lost at the end of the war. German Southwest Africa^^^ became a German colony in 1884, remaining such until 1915, when far outnumbered German and native troops surrendered to British and South African forces. Germany also gained some Pacific island colonies, mainly in the New Guinea area, some gained during Bismarck's time, some a few years later. All were lost either during or after WWI.

Next, the final part on "Bismarck"... (A Word History is below the notes)

*With Russia being the largest of Slavic countries, it had come to be seen as the "protector of the Slavs." Austria-Hungary had various Slavic peoples within its borders, all somewhat restless for independence.

** The former Austrian Empire had been divided between the German-Austrian part and the Hungarian part, as "Austria-Hungary," but was united under rule by the Habsburg emperor, who was simultaneously "King of Hungary."

*** At that point in time, 1879, "another country" obviously meant "France," without specifying it.

**** Italy later joined the alliance, making it the "Triple Alliance," but during World War One, Italy remained neutral at first, and then shunned the alliance and joined the Allies against Austria-Hungary and Germany, in 1915.

^ Togoland is now basically the nations of Ghana and Togo.

^^ German East Africa became the modern countries of "Tanzania," "Burundi," and "Rwanda."

^^^ Now the nation of Namibia.

WORD HISTORY:
Frolic/Fröhlich/Frog-Don't laugh, believe it or not, the first two words come from the last! Here's the story: first, I've included German "fröhlich" because of the holiday season, and because of my desire to tie in the German history articles with word histories of common origin between German and English. For those of you who know German or for those who may have had German speaking relatives or neighbors, you may have heard "Fröhliche Weihnachten," which is the German equivalent of "Merry Christmas." It is obviously very close to the English word "frolic." I didn't spend a huge amount of time checking, but I did not find a similar word in English, even going way back to Anglo-Saxon times, that took on the same meaning of "happy, merry," as the German word has.

So let's get on with "frog:" this word goes back to Indo European "preu," which had the meaning of "hop, spring upward, move hastily." This gave Old Germanic "fruska(z)," which was applied to the "hopping" animal, the frog, and simply meant "hopper" or "jumper." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "frosc" (also spelled "frox"), which then had a diminutive form "frogga." This form continued side by side with "frosc," later spelled "frosk," with the latter still in use by some English dialects in the 1800s! Eventually "frog" ahh.... leaped to the forefront (I couldn't resist that!). The other Germanic languages have: German "Frosch," Dutch "kikvors," Frisian "frosk," Norwegian "frosk," Danish "frø," Swedish has "groda" (I assume this is just a variant of the same Old Germanic word), Icelandic "froskur." "Frolic" came to English in the 1500s, likely  from Dutch "vrolijk." The Dutch form and German "fröhlich" mean "happy, cheerful, joyous" both having been derived from the respective word for "frog" with the idea of "jumping for joy like a frog!" The suffix "lic," in English, "lijk" in Dutch and "lich" in German are from a common Germanic form which gave English "like" (in the sense to be "like" or the same as someone or something).

The German Question, Part Sixty-Three

"Bismarck" Part 5/H "Bismarck as Chancellor & A Treaty With 'Contentious Relatives' "
"Fear of Average People Brings Social Change"

Bismarck was a staunch monarchist conservative, but he was always thinking about ways to undermine his (and the monarchy's) opponents, which brought him to see a certain sense of reality in the politics of his day. He was very troubled by the socialist movement in Germany, including the more radical variety, communism.* He tried suppressing the socialist movement and its major face to the German public, the "Sozialdemokratische Arbeiterpartei," or "Social Democratic Workers Party."** Laws drawn up by Bismarck were passed by the Reichstag banning the party, and a number of party officials were arrested, but the law was circumvented as the now outlawed party ran candidates as independents, with no political party label, which was a right guaranteed by the German constitution. The number of such "independents" rose in representation in the Reichstag and state legislative bodies. Bismarck feared revolution, and his fears brought him to propose state sponsored social legislation to head off the ever growing popular movement. These programs, most later amended and expanded, became the basis for modern Germany's system of social services. To "soften" the notion of "state sponsored socialism" leveled by Germany's right wing politicians, Bismarck tied the legislative initiatives to Christian principles, something some of America's "Christians(?)" seem to have forgotten. (Anyone can call themselves a "Christian" or any other religious designation, but it doesn't make it so.)

First came health insurance in 1883. While the new law covered only a fairly small percentage of the German working population, it helped to insure most of the lowest paid workers in Germany. The costs were split between employers and employees, with employers only responsible for about a third. In 1884 came what was essentially "workers compensation," or accident insurance for workers. Not only did it pay for injured workers after exhaustion of the above insurance benefits, but it also paid workers a partial pension if they were temporarily disabled. The program was financed by employers, and eventually just came to be seen as the "cost of doing business." In 1889 came Old-Age and Disability Insurance (more commonly known in America as "Social Security"), financed by fees on workers and employers and supplemented by the government.*** Initially, pensions could be collected beginning at age 70, but this was later changed to age 65. The disability part essentially took over from the "workers compensation" program, mentioned above, for workers who were permanently disabled. An added benefit of these social programs was that fewer young Germans left the country for America, where wages were usually higher, but none of the social protections listed above were in effect. While the loss of German workers to America slowed, the growth of the socialist movement continued to climb, even with the enacted reforms. (A Word History is below the notes)

* Remember, the communism that eventually spread around much of the world was based upon the writings and ideas of two Germans, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

**For those familiar with modern German politics, the above mentioned party changed its name in the 1890s, becoming "The Social Democratic Party of Germany" ("Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands," commonly known by the initials "SPD"), which is still one of Germany's major political parties. Reports in the American media usually refer to the party as the "Social Democrats."

*** Bismarck wanted the German government involved (both financially and administratively) in these programs in the hopes of luring workers away from the socialist movement. Just as American progressives have faced tough opposition to social legislation with claims that the "government is getting too powerful," and, "government takeover," Bismarck faced the same from German conservatives, and he was forced to change his proposals, except regarding "Social Security," to which the government contributed financially and administratively.

WORD HISTORY:
Baum/Beam/Boom-All three words are closely related, and here is the "Baum" part of "Tannen(baum), from the previous part of this series. The word apparently goes back to Indo European "bheu" or "bu," which meant "to be, exist, be living" but also in that sense, "to grow." This gave Old Germanic "baumaz," meaning "a living, growing tree," which became "bauma" in West Germanic (German and English are Germanic, but more specifically "West Germanic" languages). This then gave Old High German "boum," which eventually became modern German "Baum," meaning "tree," but it can (rarely) also mean "girder," similar to the English word "beam." English "beam" is really just the same word, its early history being the same as "baum," and like its close German relative, it too meant "tree" in Anglo-Saxon (Old English). By the late Old English period, English had settled more on "tree" as the word for this woody growing plant, but "beam" did not die out, rather it took on the meaning "timber for a ship," eventually meaning the support timbers of the frame, and of course, we still use it in that sense today, although not only for ships. Further, also in the Old English period, "beam" had taken on the meaning as in "beam of light." I found a speculative reason on why this developed, but I'm not terribly convinced, so I just as well speculate on it myself: "perhaps" the notion of branches emanating from the trunk of a tree (remember, it also still had the meaning "tree" back then) gave Old English speakers the idea of "light rays coming from a common source." Hey, my speculation is as good as the one I saw elsewhere. Eventually the spelling became "bem" and "beme," before taking on the modern spelling. "Boom," not the loud sound of a crash, but the kind used in construction, is also really the same word, but English borrowed it from the Dutch, whose spelling of German "Baum" and English "beam" is "boom." The Dutch word also meant "tree," but like its Germanic relatives, it had developed other meanings, in this case, "a horizontal piece of timber or metal." Forms of these words are widespread in the Germanic languages, especially in the West Germanic languages: besides English "beam," German "Baum," and Dutch "boom," West Frisian has "beam," North Frisian has "buum" and "booam," Low German Saxon has "Boom," Letzeburgisch/Luxembourgish has "Bam," Icelandic has the rare (high style/poetic) "baðmur" (=bathmur). In all of these languages, except English, it still primarily means "tree."

The German Question, Part Sixty-Two

"Bismarck" Part Five/G "Bismarck as Chancellor & A Treaty With 'Contentious Relatives' ""Ethnic Minorities in Bismarckian Germany/German Jews"

For those who have been following this series, remember, until the founding of the actual (Second) German Empire in 1871, the individual German states each had their own laws governing such things as "citizenship." In the German state of Prussia, religious tolerance became something of a tradition going back to Friedrich Wilhelm, the great grandfather of  Frederick the Great, in the 1600s. On the other hand, certain German states, like Austria, were not as tolerant, even though the German emperor was almost always from Austria, and those emperors were at times, but certainly not always, inclined to religious tolerance. The emperors could not force other German leaders to grant religious tolerance, and even in their own Habsburg lands the local leaders, steeped in staunch Catholicism, were not always prone to follow the emperor's lead, although he was also the head of the Habsburg family. Laws and tolerance varied in the many German states over the centuries, but by the mid 1800s, more and more of the states made attempts to grant equality to all of their citizens, regardless of religious belief. Of course, "granting equality" is different from having everyone in the general population "accept" people of differing religions, but ever so gradually, German Jews became much more integrated into German society, with most eventually seeing themselves as "German," and indeed, they were German citizens. One must also consider that, just as in other religious groups, German Jews practiced their faith to varying degrees, with some not adhering to any particular religious beliefs. Then too, Jews and Germans "intermingled," just as "Germans" had intermingled with other "groups" of people, as I have shown in this series of articles, throughout their history. The later Nazi nonsense about "purity," was just that, NONSENSE, period (make that "exclamation point")!*

Over the centuries Jews came to Germany for many reasons, including wars, persecution or out-and-out terror in other lands, often coming from Poland or Russia. Orthodox Jews, by their very beliefs, did not integrate into German society as well, even with the existing German Jews who were often far more secular. These Orthodox Jews experienced far more persecution in every day life, but this was certainly not exclusive to Germany, but elsewhere, too, not that this makes it better. When the North German Confederation was established by Bismarck, religious tolerance and equality (in theory) became law.** When the Confederation became the German Empire in 1871, the same law remained in effect.*** During Bismarck's time, the Jewish population was somewhere between 500,000 and about 575,000, depending upon the year.

This doesn't mean that all Germans took tolerant positions toward Jews during Bismarck's time, as there were extremist nationalist groups that viewed Jews as "foreign." These groups eventually tried to make major inroads into the political system and establish a presence in the Reichstag (the German Parliament). They desired to enact laws repealing equality and religious tolerance. In that general era, these groups ebbed and flowed, but they never made major gains in those times. They certainly were forerunners of what was to come later. (A Word History is below the notes)

* For an interesting take on "intermingling," see my article "Hitler The Jew?": http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2010/10/hitler-jew.html

** Official government positions remained difficult for Jews to attain, and some "converted" to Christianity in order to advance (or at least that was the "take" on such conversions). Remember, Catholics had similar difficulties, and they were Christians! (Prussia, the dominant German state after 1866, was heavily Protestant.)

*** Bismarck and many Prussian officials were not as tolerant of German Catholics.

WORD HISTORY:
Tannen(baum)/Tan-This word, probably known to most of you from the Christmas song, "O Tannenbaum," technically does not mean "Christmas tree," although through repeated usage in that context, it certainly has taken on that meaning. It means "fir tree," in German, and the first part of the word is closely related to English "tan," which is what I will cover here in this Word History. I will cover "Baum," in the next part of this series on the Germans. So again you get two words "Tanne(n)" and "tan." After lots of searching around, I came up with an Indo European root for this word, "dhonu/dhanu," which certainly had to do with "trees," and "perhaps" specifically "oak trees." Several sources expressed the belief that some Germanic dialects (and perhaps Latin, too) acquired the word from Celtic,^ but that is not certain, although some old Celtic dialects had similar words with a connection to "oak" trees. Whatever the case, Old High German had "tanna," which meant "fir" (tree), and seemingly also possibly "oak" (tree) in some old dialects. Perhaps the acorns and pine cones made people use the same word, at least at times, but both German and English also have related specific words for "oak" (in German it is "Eiche," pronounced similarly to "Ike-eh"). The Old High German word then produced modern German "Tann," meaning "pine forest," and it is "der Tann," indicating that grammatically the noun is masculine, and the term is often more poetic in usage rather than as an everyday word. The same Old High German "tanna," also gave modern German "Tanne," which means "fir tree," and it is "die (pronounced like "dee") Tanne," indicating that it is grammatically feminine. Exactly when the word came into English is difficult to say, but the popular song was written in the 1820s in Leipzig, Germany, and while the word "may" have been present prior to that time with some American English speakers because of German immigrants, the song undoubtedly popularized the word, especially around Christmas. When I was a kid, the song was even taught in both English and German in my elementary and junior high school.

Latin had "tannum" (which meant "oak bark," from the same Indo European source above) and the later derived verb form "tannare," which meant "to use tree bark to dye animal skins;" thus, "tan hides." This then gave Old English "tannian" (perhaps between 900 and 1000 A.D.), meaning "to tan hides," which later became "tannen" in the Middle English period, before the modern shortened version "tan," used as both a verb and a noun. The the first quarter of the 1500s brought the usage "to get browned by the sun" (the noun "tan" for the result of being browned by the sun seems to have developed from the verb in the 1700s ... mid?), and the mid 1600s brought the English expression "tan someone's hide" (that is, "beat or spank someone's backside").

^ Celtic is a branch of the Indo European family of languages, and as such, it is related to English, but further down the family tree. Celtic dialects once blanketed large parts of Europe, but in more modern times, its limited number of representatives still in existence, which include Welsh, Irish Gaelic, Scots (Scottish) Gaelic and Breton (spoken in the Brittany region of France), are fighting for survival. 

The German Question, Part Sixty-One

"Bismarck" Part Five/F "Bismarck as Chancellor & A Treaty With 'Contentious Relatives' ""Ethnic Minorities in Bismarckian Germany/West

I should have noted in the last installment: Frisians in Bismarck's Germany, while proud of their heritage, would have undoubtedly also seen themselves as "Germans," just as those in the Netherlands would have seen themselves as "Dutch," and those in Denmark would have seen themselves as "Danes." In all three cases there may well have been a few "hold outs," but it was likely much more like what we have had with so many different groups in America; that is, immigrants came to the United States, but their children and later additions saw themselves as "Americans," while some still kept alive the traditions of their ancestors in various ways. Also, in Denmark, there are very few (North) Frisian speakers (and there were not that many even dating back to Bismarck's time onward); so few in fact, that I could not find any recent data on the subject. This is just a guess, but any Frisian speakers still in existence all undoubtedly speak Danish on an every day basis, and there are no Frisian-language newspapers in Denmark. Some sources even noted that Frisian is no longer spoken in Denmark.

In the western areas of Germany, in Alsace-Lorraine, lived more than 211,000 French-speaking inhabitants (according to the 1900 census), which represented 11 1/2% of the population of the province (the other 88 1/2% spoke German). Just an assumption, but I would think nearly all French-speaking inhabitants were Catholic (the "German" population was mixed Protestant and Catholic). Also, in a fairly small area in what is now part of Belgium, in the area usually referred to as "Eupen-Malmedy," there were some 12,000 Walloon and French-speaking residents (about 29% of the region), and it is just as likely that they were all Catholic.* (The "German" population there, about 71%, was undoubtedly Catholic too.) The Catholics in both Alsace-Lorraine and Eupen-Malmedy were subject to all of Bismarck's anti-Catholic policies mentioned previously in this series. Since there was no actual "Poland" (as a nation) at that time, the Polish population in Germany was certainly different from the French-speaking population in Alsace-Lorraine, since France was very much in existence, a major power, and the ties of the French-speaking part of the population to France were strong. The French-speaking residents were always "suspect" (to the Germans), but not even all of the German speaking citizens were always solidly committed to Germany, especially those of the upper classes, where people tended to be fluent in both French and German, but where French was often preferred to German. Interestingly, the German government permitted French to be used in schools in French-speaking areas, but German was used in all governmental affairs (not that this is necessarily unreasonable).*** Perhaps the main difference between the German residents of Alsace-Lorraine and the Germans in the rest of Germany is something that is difficult to gauge, but it had to do with the fact of French rule in the area for a couple of centuries, but most importantly, the French Revolution, and the participation by many people in the area in that revolution. In the German states, their own revolutions had not been successful, and they had lived under autocratic rule, so there was more of a lighter democratic tradition in Alsace-Lorraine. Time gradually favored the German point-of-view, as younger generations did not feel the same connection to the previous French rule.****

Next, "The Jewish Minority in Bismarck's Germany".... (A Word History is below the notes)

* Take your pick, Walloon is either a separate language closely related to French, or a dialect of French, based in part of modern Belgium (the other main linguistic group of Belgium being "Flemish," see note **) Linguists have had disagreements over its official classification. Whatever the case, it is Latin-based, but it has had many influences from the nearby Germanic dialects/languages, specifically Flemish, Dutch, and German (including German dialects in the area, like Luxemburgisch). For decades now, the debate is essentially only of historical importance, as Walloon is almost extinct, with only a handful of people actually being fluent anymore, since in the early part of the 20th Century, "standard" French (I'll use that term) was used in all schools in the Walloon region.

** Belgium is one of those countries where there is more than one language spoken by significant portions of the population. As I have attempted to show in some of these articles on the Germans, until the 1800s, territories were conquered, annexed, sold, or inherited, without regard to the "background," including language, of the local population. "Nationalism" among various "ethnic groups" began to spread, especially during the 1800s, and it became a serious problem for Austria, which possessed a wide variety of non-German populated lands. "Ethnically/linguistically" modern Belgium is about 39% Walloon (French speaking), most living in the "Wallonia" southern part of the country, and about 60% Flemish, most living in the "Flanders" northern part of Belgium. There is a German minority (the area discussed in this article) along the German border, but it numbers just less than 1% of the population, and an even smaller (less than half a percent) "Luxembourgish" population, believe it or not, located on the border with Luxembourg (imagine that). The relationship between the various groups has been contentious at times over the last century or two. Some linguists in just the last decade or so have declared Flemish to be a dialect of Dutch, rather than a separate language in its own right, but not everyone agrees.

*** There were fairly strong elements of the population of Alsace-Lorraine that were very pro-German, and I don't want to lead anyone to believe that this element was not influential.

**** It also should be noted that about 100,000 "pro-France" residents left Alsace-Lorraine for France after the German annexation. As these people were obviously the most "French," that must have lessened pro-French activities in Alsace-Lorraine.

WORD HISTORY:
Lore-This word, perhaps more common in the compound "folklore," simply means "knowledge, accumulated learning." It is closely related to "learn." It goes back to the Indo European root "leis/lais," which had the notion of "to follow a track or path." This then gave Old Germanic "laizo," which was passed on to its offspring, West Germanic, as "laiza,"^ and then also with the advanced meaning of "teach, instruct." (I suppose in the sense, "teach people to follow a path or course.") This then gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "lar," with a long "a" sound, and meaning "knowledge, things that are taught." The Middle English period gave us the modern spelling. So, "folklore" means "the accumulated knowledge of the people through the course of time." German has "Lehre," Low German has "Lehr," West Frisian "leare," Norwegian and Danish have "lære," Swedish has "lära," Icelandic has "laera," and Dutch has "leren," all with the basic meaning of "teach, instruct (instruction, for nouns)." 

^ These forms with 'z' came to be rendered with 'r' due to rhotacism; that is, a tendency to convert some consonant sounds, usually 'z,' to 'r.' This happened with the Germanic forms "laizo/laiza" that took the course about "teach, instruct," but another branch maintained the "z" sound (altered a bit to the similar 's') and the basic meaning "track, path," which gave German what eventually became modern "Gleis," the rails of a train track. This same Old Germanic form gave English some forms of "last," including the verb meaning "to endure, hold out" (from the notion of "continue on a path").      

The German Question, Part Sixty

"Bismarck" Part Five/E "Bismarck as Chancellor & A Treaty With 'Contentious Relatives' ""Ethnic Minorities in Bismarckian Germany/"Northwest/Frisians"

Since the Polish areas of eastern Germany (prior to World War I) have been mentioned in some of the previous articles in this series, for those interested, "Anna Anderson," the woman who claimed to be "Anastasia," the daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, was from that area. I did four articles on her. Here are the links, in sequence:

http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2007/07/we-all-love-mystery.html

http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2007/07/some-additions-to-we-all-love-mystery.html

http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2007/10/update-on-mystery.html

http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2008/11/mystery-solved.html

The Frisians were an old Germanic tribe that settled along the northwest coastal areas of Europe (modern Netherlands, Germany, Denmark). Their language is close to English, and indeed they live in the same general area of the old Germanic tribes the Saxons, the Angles and the Jutes. These were the main Germanic elements which participated in the invasion of Briton, and historians believe that a fair number of Frisians were also counted among these invaders. Not all Saxons participated in the invasion, and their Germanic dialect, now referred to as "Low Saxon," or "Low German Saxon," flourished in that general northwest area of Europe, what is now the Netherlands and Germany. No question that over time, "Low German" (English, Frisian and Low German are all close relatives) made big inroads into the Frisian speaking population in the region. The 1900 census of Germany shows 20,600 Frisian speakers. How much that would have changed (downward) from Bismarck's time, I don't really know, but probably at least some. Not only was Frisian losing speakers to Low German, but by Bismarck's time, his promotion of standard German in schools would have made many Frisians bi-lingual, if not tri-lingual (Frisian, Low German, and standard German), and in somewhat rarer cases, multi-lingual (Frisian, Low German, standard German, and a dialect of Danish).* Today, Frisian, specifically "West" Frisian** is spoken in the Netherlands, adjacent to Germany, where there are approximately 350,000 (West) Frisian speakers.*** In Germany, our main concern in this article, "East" Frisian has been in decline for quite some time, and there are only about 2,000 remaining speakers of a dialect of East Frisian called "Saterland," in the German state of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen, in German). "North" Frisian has about 10,000 speakers in the German state of "Schleswig-Holstein," where it is also spoken not only on the mainland, but on some German islands off the coast. In all cases, these East and North Frisian speakers also speak standard German, something that was undoubtedly not so true in Bismarck's time. The main thing about Bismarck and the Frisians is, he promoted the teaching of standard German in schools throughout the country, which gradually made Frisian and German dialects less and less important, although even today, Frisian is still used as an every day language by some in Germany, as are some German dialects, with standard German being used to communicate with German speakers from other areas.

(A Word History is below the notes)

* Low German speakers too were increasingly bi-lingual, being taught standard German in school. Today, Low German speakers have dwindled considerably, as standard German is used more and more. Low German has declined so much, that efforts have been made to promote the teaching of Low German in schools as a second language to keep it from further decline.

** Linguists break Frisian down into three dialects, "West," "East," and "North."

*** I am only using an approximation, and according to several sources, there are many more people of Frisian heritage in the Netherlands who understand West Frisian to varying degrees, but who are not considered fluent in the language, with some of these also being able to read and write some basic Frisian.

WORD HISTORY:
Schnell-This is one of the words frequently heard in movies or on TV when Germans, usually in a World War Two setting, are involved. You may be surprised to know that English has its own very similar word, although it is now archaic. I cannot find an Indo European root for this word, so I can only start with Old Germanic, which had "snellaz," meaning "quick, active." (There seems to have been a secondary meaning of "bold," and I found this additional meaning for both English and German.) This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "snel/snell," with the same basic meaning, and Old High German "snel," again with the same meaning. The word fell out of common usage in English at some point in the Middle Ages. The German word, eventually spelled "schnell," is still very much in use. In German, a "Schnellzug" is an "express train." Low German has "snell," Dutch has "snel." A form of the word was borrowed into some of the Latin-based languages from Frankish ''snel."

The German Question, Part Fifty-Nine

"Bismarck" Part Five/D "Bismarck as Chancellor & A Treaty With 'Contentious Relatives' "
"Ethnic Minorities in Bismarckian Germany/"East/North Addendum"

I found some very good information about minorities in Germany since I published the last few articles on this subject as part of this series. The info is from a census from December 1900, which is a bit ahead of our story, but I would certainly believe it gives a pretty good representation of what things were like in Germany a couple of decades prior. It is a breakdown of minorities by "language," not by what people considered themselves to be ethnically. In some cases, I believe this might skew the numbers. How? Let's say your parents came to America from country "XYZ." They wanted their kids to grow up being purely Americans, so you don't really speak the language of "XYZ,"....ah..."XYZan," I'll call it. When the census is taken and one of the questions is often about your ethnic background, you check "XYZ." Under the system in this German census, you would not be counted as a minority, because you don't speak "XYZan." Now, if that's not as clear as mud, I can try again. (What's that loud "No" I hear? Just because you can't speak "XYZan," no need to get hostile!)

So here are some numbers for minorities already covered in the last few articles: there were more than 3 million Polish speakers in Germany; most would have been in the far eastern areas, although some in the Ruhr (which is in the west), as industrial workers. "Masurisch" and "Kassubisch" (Masurian and Kashubian) had 142,000 and 100,000, respectively.* Danish speakers accounted for 141,000, almost all in Schleswig. Lithuanian speakers, 106,000, in the (then) far northeastern corner of  Germany. Wendish (also called "Sorbian") speakers, 93,000, in the "Lausitz" region, down near and along the modern Czech border. There were 100,000 speakers of Czech and Moravian, I would believe mainly in the Silesia region (again, near the modern Czech border).** (A Word History is below the notes)

* Masurian is a Slavic language closely related to Polish that was spoken in the eastern areas of Prussia, also known as "East Prussia." The speakers of Masurian were mainly Protestant Poles (most Poles remained staunchly Catholic), and they fit in nicely with the mainly Protestant German population in the area. Eventually, most came to consider themselves as "Germans." Kashubian is another Slavic language (or Polish dialect, depending upon point of view) that was spoken along the Baltic Sea coast, including the area in and around Danzig (Gdansk, in Polish). A majority of Kashubians were Catholic, which brought them into conflict with Bismarck, although as far as I am aware, they all spoke German, too, and probably some even  spoke Low German, as that was common in that area. Further, their predominant religion and close linguistic relationship with Polish made many Kashubians "suspect" in the eyes of German nationalists. Many Kashubians never fully integrated into "German society." Their homeland has been a part of Poland since the end of World War Two. The Kashubians figured somewhat in the rather famous novel "The Tin Drum" ("Die Blechtrommel") by German author Günter Grass, as the novel is set most often in and around Danzig. Grass was part Kashubian from his mother's side. 

** Moravian is a dialect of Czech.

WORD HISTORY:
Leber/Liver-"Wurst" was covered earlier, as was "Brat," so here is "Leber," as in Leberwurst, or liverwurst. As you can already see, "Leber" and "liver" are closely related. They go back to the Indo European root "leip," which had the notion of "adhere, stick, be sticky," with references to blood and to fat." Indo European "leip" is also the ancient ancestor of "live," which in German is "leben."^ In ancient times, many people believed the liver produced blood, probably due to its reddish-brown color; thus the tie to "live" and also "life," the related word in German is "Leib," which tends to mean "(living) body," as opposed to dead body/corpse, "Leiche." The Indo European root gave Old Germanic "libra/libera." This then gave Old English "lifer" and Old High German "lebara." The Old English form then became "lyver(e)," before the modern form. There are various forms throughout the Germanic languages: standard German "Leber," Low (Saxon) German has "Lebber," West Frisian, Dutch, Swedish, Danish and Norwegian all have "lever," Icelandic has "lifur," and Luxemburgisch (a German dialect to some, a language to others) has "Liewer."

^ Liver is also distantly related to "lipo," when it refers to "fat," as in "liposuction." "Lipo" is from Greek.  

The German Question, Part Fifty-Eight

Bismarck" Part Five/C "Bismarck as Chancellor & A Treaty With 'Contentious Relatives' "

"Ethnic Minorities in Bismarckian Germany/(North)West"

In the western part of Germany, there were tens of thousands of Danes living in the northern part of Schleswig, called "Nordschleswig," in German, and "Sønderjylland," in Danish; that is, "South Jutland" (see earlier articles in this series about Schleswig). The region borders on Denmark, and the main city in the area was Flensburg. Danish language newspapers were common in the area, and as it had not been all that long since this area came under Prussian rule (then a few years later under a united Germany), there was still strong pro-Danish sentiment among the Danish minority (in some local areas, there was a Danish majority). Just as it was with other minorities, these Danes were now German citizens and were protected by the German Constitution.* Former Danish inhabitants of Schleswig with strong pro-Denmark feelings came back over the border into Schleswig (now we're talking about non-German citizens NOT protected by the constitution), some taking jobs with the Danish language newspapers.** As part of the crackdown by Bismarck and his government, they were often expelled from Germany or arrested. Gradually, German became the only language of instruction in schools, but Danish did not falter as much as German officials had hoped, and North Schleswig remained Danish in character, although German settlers from other parts of Germany began to be more of a presence in Danish areas. While this is getting ahead of sequence, just to sort of tie this up, after World War One, a public vote was held in the northern and central regions of Schleswig to determine if the border between Denmark and Germany should be altered (southern Schleswig was heavily German, and no vote was needed). The vote in the north was 75% for return to Denmark (the 25% shows the inroads Germans had made, however), while in the central area, which included Flensburg, it was 80% for remaining with Germany. In 1920, the northern region was ceded by Germany to Denmark, along with a fairly small German minority. It has remained this way ever since, although eventually both Germany and Denmark both permitted their respective minorities to use their own language without persecution. (A Word History is below the notes)

* When I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, the United States had many people who had come here as immigrants, especially from Europe. Some came here as far back as around 1900, give or take a few years. There was a tendency to use the term "nationality" in reference to a person's "background," but often this term was incorrect, at least as to how it was often meant back then. A person's "nationality" simply means the country (nation) where you have citizenship. A little later, the term "ethnic background" became more popular, and this was often what many Americans had previously meant when they used "nationality." In the previous segment, I covered the Poles living in Germany. Their "nationality" was "German," as they were German citizens, but their "ethnic background" was "Polish." In a country as large as the United States, and with most people having come here of their own free will (with the huge exception during the time of slavery) it is easy to forget that in other parts of the world, like Europe, national borders were seldom set by "ethnicity," and often many different "ethnic groups" lived relatively close to one another, even overlapping. "King XYZ of Pneumonia" wanted the iron ore of "Prince ABC of Diphtheria," and he got possession of it by a deal or by war. The population's "ethnic background" was immaterial, and they became "citizens" of "Pneumonia" (what's that deep cough I hear?). Hm, I wonder what the "Duke of Tuberculosis" had? (Hey, there's a hacking cough.) During the 1800s and later, "ethnicity" began to matter much more to people in Europe, as we saw in the fairly recent articles I did in this series about the Austrian Empire, where its minorities wanted either independence, or, like the Italian minority, wanted to become part of Italy. All in all, the term "nationality" is still misused at times.

** When Prussia took control of Schleswig, many thousands of Danes chose to move into Denmark. Later some of these people, unhappy with their situations, crossed back into Schleswig. Who knows how many, but it certainly would not seem to be unreasonable to assume "most" hoped for a return of Danish rule to Schleswig.

WORD HISTORY:
Schön/Sheen-Since I did "Danke" in the last segment, this word is often paired with it, and in fact, there was a famous American song by Wayne Newton called "Danke Schön" (pronounced similarly, but not exactly, like "shane," and it can also be spelled "Schoen"). Many of you may already know that it is the German equivalent to "Thank you very much." Anyway, you get two words again (Hey, I'm going to have to start charging double...let's see...what's 2 x 0?"). There are differing opinions about the ultimate origin of these words. Some believe them to be related to "shine" ("Schein" in German, for all practical purposes pronounced just like its English cousin), and certainly "sheen/schön" are similar in appearance and meaning to "shine." For those unaware, "sheen" means "lustre, gleam, glistening beauty." Its German relative, "schön," means "beautiful (of objects, and also for women), handsome (for men), nice, pretty." The German word is still used far, far more than we use "sheen" in English, and it is used in many expressions, just like "Danke schön," to add emphasis ("danke schön," literally "thanks beautifully," but really, "thanks a lot"). Other linguists feel there is no connection between "sheen/schön" and "shine," except coincidence. You can take your pick, but I tend to favor the idea that there is a relationship, but that's just my opinion. It seems Shakespeare is given credit for using "sheen" (then spelled "sheene") in the noun form, circa 1600. Both "sheen/schön" go back to Old Germanic "skaunaz/skauniz," which then gave Old English "sciene/scene" (the "sc" being pronounced as modern "sh"), and Old High German "sconi/skoni." Later in English the spelling became "shene," while in German it became "schoen." All sources agree that the Old Germanic form came from Indo European, but which root is the question. I prefer "skeu." "Skeu" had the notion of "look at, pay attention to, be aware of." It is the original source of "shine" and "show," which, by the way, in German is "schau(en)," in the verb form ("Schau" as a noun). The idea is, a person would be "aware of, pay attention to," something that "shines, glistens, is beautiful." There are various forms in the Germanic languages besides English "sheen" and German "schön:" Low German has "schöön," "Dutch has "schoon," Norwegian has "skjønn," Swedish has "skön," Danish has "skøn." I could not find a form in either Icelandic nor West Frisian (although Old Norse had "skjoni" and Frisian once had "skene"). By the way, "sheen/schön" are related to English "scone," the cake/cookie, which seems to have come from Scottish English from Dutch "schoonbroot," or "fine, glistening bread." Of course, in this case, English uses the hard "c" sound. Hey, now that's THREE words! What's 3 x 0?

The German Question, Part Fifty-Seven

"Bismarck" Part Five/B "Bismarck as Chancellor & A Treaty With 'Contentious Relatives' "
"Ethnic Minorities in Bismarckian Germany/East"

Bismarck and other Germans feared a repeat of what had been happening in Austria for quite some time, and the major reason Austria was no longer a part of Germany; that is, large areas of territory governed by German Austrians, but with non-German majorities (namely: Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Ukrainians/Ruthenians, Rumanians, Slovenians, Croats, Serbs, Bosnians, Italians, and some others, including Jews. I never feel comfortable listing Jews separately, but they were often seen that way by the Germans and by the various other groups I've listed above; and, that perceived "separateness" will play a major part in the ugly tragedy I will be covering in the not too distant future as a part of this series). In then northeastern Bismarckian Germany (within the state of Prussia), there was a fairly substantial Lithuanian population (more than 100,000), many of whom, unlike the solidly Catholic Lithuanians just over the border, were Lutherans. They spoke both German and Lithuanian, and they maintained their Lithuanian culture with Lithuanian language newspapers and community groups. While certainly not all agreed, from what I've read, the overwhelming majority supported Prussia, and then, upon unification, Germany, in their allegiance.* Likewise was the case with the Slavic elements in and around the city of Danzig, and other small Slavic minorities along the Baltic coastal area, and in eastern parts of Prussia (to clarify: they were minorities in the overall sense of Prussia, but they "may" have actually had local majorities in "some" communities). They too spoke their own Slavic dialects, but they also spoke German, with many using German as a first language. Many were also Lutheran, although a fairly small portion maintained their adherence to Catholicism.** Where there was a major difference was in those former Polish territories taken by Prussia in the late 1700s, early 1800s, the city of "Posen" ("Poznan," in Polish) being one of the major cities.*** Here not everyone spoke German as a first, or even as a second, language, and Polish was the every day language of a majority of the population. The region's population was around 1,750,000, and about two-thirds of that was Polish. The Poles remained Catholics, whereas the German minority in the region was largely Lutheran, with only a small percentage of Germans there being Catholic.****

Bismarck's "Kulturkampf" and later laws forbade the use of Polish in Catholic Mass. Polish language religious schools were closed, with German language schools substituted. The government then tried to buy Polish-owned land, usually farmland, and sell it to new "German" settlers. Further, Poles were forbidden to build new homes. Later, the government even tried to force Poles to sell their properties. Overall the policy failed, as too few "Germans" were willing to resettle in the region. Poles and Jews "identified" as Russian citizens were sent to Russia, and the border was closed to admitting Poles.^

The whole process only intensified Polish nationalism and the desire of Poles to see a rebirth of an independent Polish nation.

Next, "minorities in the western areas".... (A Word History is below the notes)

* Lithuania itself was then a part of the Russian Empire, which had a far less tolerant government concerning Lithuanian language and culture, and where publications in Lithuanian were suppressed. Lithuanian is a language classified by some linguists as "Baltic," and by other linguists as "Balto-Slavic." It is related to Latvian and to the now "dead language," Prussian. The last speaker of Prussian, by all accounts, passed on in the 1700s. The names "Prussia" and "Prussians" continued, but they were adopted by the German settlers to that area centuries before. Since the end of World War Two, due to other nations' strong association of Prussia with German militarism and aggression, the state of "Prussia" was abolished.

** The Wends (or Sorbs), in the region (called "Lausitz" in German; rendered as "Lusatia in English) somewhat south of Berlin, down to what is now the border with the Czech Republic, were similar. They tended to speak both German and Sorbian (a minority spoke only Sorbian) and they were a mixture of Lutheran and Catholic. A couple of the main cities of the region are Bautzen and Cottbus. Today, the number of Sorbian speakers (about 50,000 to 60,000) is quite diminished from Bismarck's time, when somewhere between 150,000 to 200,000 people spoke Sorbian as a first or second language in the region, as today most people prefer German only.

*** Silesia ("Schlesien" in German, "Śląsk" in Polish ) was another region where some areas had Polish majorities.

**** More than a quarter million Poles left the Polish areas of eastern Germany to work in the heavily industrialized Ruhr area in western Germany. There, they endured various persecutions, including special ID cards and suppression of Polish festivities, as well as the same persecutions as German Catholics, because of their staunch Catholicism. Since those times, the "mixing" (assimilation) of Poles with Germans in the region has eliminated this Polish minority.

^ In those times, the vast bulk of Polish territory, including Warsaw, was part of the Russian Empire, and thus Germany and Russia shared a common border.

WORD HISTORY:
Danke (Thanks)-This word is pretty well known in English, and it simply means "thanks." It, like its English cousin "thank," go back to Indo European "tong," which meant "to think, to feel," and yes, it is related to our word "think" and to German "denk(en)," which also means "to think." A variant Indo European form, "teng," had the notion of "being thoughtful, having grateful thoughts, to think of in a grateful way," to the act of expressing such. The Indo European form gave Old Germanic "thanka(z)." This then gave Old English "thankian," and Old High German "dancon." Later English dropped the ending, giving it the modern word. The Old High German form then became "danken," and that is still the same today. The shortened form in German, "danke," comes from "Ich danke," meaning "I thank." The 1500s saw the negative expression of blame, as in, "Thanks to you being so slow, we are now late for the concert." The noun "thank," now more commonly expressed in the plural, "thanks," is from the idea of "a thought of gratitude." Besides the German and English forms, the other Germanic languages have: Low German has "dank," Dutch has "danken," Frisian has "tank," Danish has "tak," Swedish has "tacka," Norwegian has "takk," Icelandic has "thakka." Notice that Danish, Swedish, Norwegian and Icelandic, all from the North Germanic branch of Germanic, have lost the "n" sound.

The German Question, Part Fifty-Six

"Bismarck" Part Five/A "Bismarck as Chancellor & A Treaty With 'Contentious Relatives' "

Just a note about Luxemburg/Luxembourg to start: Luxembourg remained an independent country and a possession of the Dutch throne, but it also remained a member of the German Customs Union ("Zollverein"), thus, giving it continued strong ties to Germany without being a member state.

So with a newly united nation, Bismarck set out in his mind to strengthen that unity. Germany was a nation with a predominately Protestant north, and with a predominately Catholic south.* Now that staunchly Catholic Austria was excluded from the new nation, and with Protestant Prussia having led the unification efforts, Protestantism was the favored religion, and most positions in the national government were occupied by Protestants. The Papacy had been controversial for centuries, and not only in the German territories, but within Christianity as a whole. The Catholic Church was organized to control matters and adherents of the Church, with a central authority in Rome. With such a governing system, non Catholics always feared that adherents to Catholicism would have divided loyalties between Church and state.**

Bismarck was the "Reichskanzler" of Germany ("Imperial Chancellor," or "prime minister," for a term better known to many English speaking people), but he also was still the head of the government of Prussia. In his first few years as head of the new government, Bismarck implemented policies to try to lessen the influence of the Catholic Church in Germany, and sometimes just in Prussia. Further, there were efforts to "Germanize" Jews, Poles, and Wends (Sorbians). This overall approach to lessen various influences in Germany came to be known as the "Kulturkampf," or "Culture War;" although, some historians limit the term to the attempt to lessen Catholic influence. To be brief here, over time, the laws to lessen Catholic influence: forbade clergy from discussing or preaching about political matters to congregants, under threat of imprisonment; banished the Jesuits from Germany; gave the government the right to inspect religious schools; gave the government the right to train, appoint, and discipline members of the clergy; removed marriage from religious control to that of the "civil authorities." Clergy who protested the laws were arrested. The measures and their enforcement inflamed relations between the German government and the Papacy, with Bismarck literally breaking off diplomatic contacts with the Pope. This war against the Catholic Church, instigated by German nationalists and by the German government, enforced by German police and civil authorities, was an ominous precursor to what would come a little more than six decades later.

The overall measures against Catholic influence had some success, but it also had many negatives, including the negative view of such among some foreign nations, especially those with strong Catholic traditions. Political parties were growing in Germany, and Catholics rallied to the "Catholic Center Party," which gained in popularity, and which also contained traditional conservative Catholics, something Bismarck eventually needed politically. The whole matter tarnished Bismarck's reputation to some extent, and he reconciled with the Papacy to some degree when a new Pope took over the Catholic Church in 1878.

To be continued with Bismarck's attempts to "Germanize" the non-German population..... (A Word History is below the notes)

* Notice in both cases I used the word "predominantly." Especially in the north, there were some especially strong Catholic areas, including parts of the Rhineland, part of Alsace and part of Lorraine in the west. Then there were the staunchly Catholic Poles, and some German Catholics in the eastern part of the country. The southern areas were more uniformly Catholic, but there were some Protestants there.

** This was also the case in America. Catholic candidates, especially for high office, were often overtly and covertly thought to be puppets for the Papacy, which was trying to take control of the country. For those old enough to remember, when John F. Kennedy, a Catholic, ran for President, many Protestants openly said how the Pope would give Kennedy his orders, if Kennedy won the election. I can distinctly remember some people saying, "We're going to be controlled from 'across the pond.' " Kennedy won, and all Americans did not suddenly become members of the Knights of Columbus, don Rosary Beads, attend six o'clock Mass, or say "Hail Marys," except in reference to long, desperate passes by quarterbacks on the football field. To be honest, however, in Bismarck's time, the Church had much more direct influence on many of its members than it seemingly has in more modern times, although the Papacy had been dealt a serious blow as a result of the "Franco-Prussian War," which was just covered in the previous installments here. Because of the war, Napoleon III withdrew his troops from their protection of the Papacy role in Rome. This permitted Italian troops to enter Papal territory and for Italy to annex the territory to the still relatively new Italian nation. Rome, which had been named the capital of the new nation nearly a decade before, then truly became the seat of the Italian government.

WORD HISTORY:
Krieg-Since I did "Blitz" earlier, here is the "krieg" part of the compound. First, interestingly the Germanic languages did not seem to have a common word for "war." I could not find a lot of information on this word; thus its origin is unknown to me. It goes back to Old High German "krig," which supposedly meant "stubbornness." Old High German is a term linguists use to denote the Germanic dialect that developed not long after the Germanic elements that went to Britain left the Continent, and it is the direct ancestor of modern German. Later the form "kriec" developed, with the meaning "strain, endeavor," and this then developed into the meaning "war."

For an updated version, see:
http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2010/11/revised-word-history.html

For "Blitz," see: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2010/11/german-question-part-fifty-two.html

The German Question, Part Fifty-Five

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The German Question, Part Fifty-Four

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The German Question, Part Fifty-Three

"Bismarck" Part 4/B   "Crisis Over Spain"

Now, you may wonder what Spain has to do with Germans, Frenchmen, and German unification. Myself, when I first studied German history a few decades ago (you didn't think I was going to say "many decades ago," did you?), I wondered, "What does Spain have to do with Germans, Frenchmen, and German unification?" (Hm, that line sounds familiar.) First, you have to realize that, over the centuries, the various noble families of Europe had gradually become entwined through marriages, often, but not always, done for the purpose of gaining territory, or gaining potential military alliances. As people became more and more aware of genetics, and the potential hazards of close relatives marrying one another, these noble families often sought mates in other regions or other countries.* If you have been following this series, you may recall how the Habsburgs gained all sorts of lands due to marriages to foreign mates (see earlier articles on this subject). While this is a bit ahead of our story here, it shows how some of the families were connected at high levels: Queen Victoria of England was the grandmother of Kaiser Wilhelm II, who ruled Germany during the First World War period (we will be coming to this in the not too distant future). Not only that, she was the grandmother of the Empress Alexandra of Russia (of "Nicholas & Alexandra" fame), and the grandmother of King George V of England. These grandchildren all played prominent roles in the World War One period, 1914-1918 (Queen Victoria died in 1901).

So, the throne of Spain was vacant and it was offered, in 1870, to one of the Hohenzollerns, Leopold, who was Catholic (Spain was an overwhelmingly Catholic country) and who had Spanish family connections. His cousin was King Wilhelm I of Prussia.** Now, geography is important. Prussia and the other German states essentially border France to the east; Spain borders France to the south. France's Napoleon III*** may have made some foreign policy blunders, as I've noted here earlier, but he could read a map. Two Hohenzollern rulers on France's borders was not acceptable. Bismarck encouraged Leopold to accept the Spanish throne, knowing full well that it could provoke a war with France. The French made it clear that they were willing to fight Prussia to stop a Hohenzollern from becoming King of Spain.**** The French public was very much on the side of Napoleon III in this matter.

Out of Bismarck's presence, a French representative asked King Wilhelm not to give his consent to Leopold, and Wilhelm, not all that interested in the subject, agreed. So it appeared that war had been averted, but the French press rubbed salt into Wilhelm's decision by portraying it as a humiliation of Prussia, which was also Bismarck's opinion. With the French public ready for war, Napoleon III and French officials decided to press King Wilhelm to make it clear that he would not give his consent to a Hohenzollern ascending the Spanish throne in the future either. When the matter was put to Wilhelm, again without Bismarck's presence, he refused. The king sent a telegram to Bismarck in Berlin about what had happened and asked if Bismarck thought it best to release the information to the press. Bismarck released the telegram to the press, but in a heavily edited version, which showed the French demanding that the King of Prussia do as they wanted, but also showing Wilhelm as having insulted the French representative; that is, a representative of Napoleon III.***** Of course, the edited telegram succeeded in simultaneously stirring public emotions on both sides, which made war much more the likely outcome.

The German public was now angered, and the French public remained ready for war. On July 19, 1870 Napoleon III declared war on Prussia. This brought the south German states to Prussia's defense as Bismarck had envisioned in the secret treaties he had made with their rulers. Not that the treaties may have even mattered, as the German public rallied to Prussia. It was now GERMANS, not just Prussians, against France. (A Word History is below the notes)

* I'm using the term "nobles" and "noble families" so as not to only limit the matter to the various monarchies. Some noble families rose to prominence, and some did not.

** Just a reminder, the Hohenzollern family had ruled Prussia for centuries.

*** Napoleon III's wife, Eugénie, was born in Spain to a Spanish noble and his part Spanish wife.

**** King Wilhelm's position as King of Prussia, and the prestige that title carried, gave him much say in Hohenzollern family matters, and his advance consent was pretty much needed for Leopold to take Spain's throne. It seems though that Wilhelm did not especially see the matter in the same light as Bismarck; that is, that Prussian prestige was on the line.

***** For one thing, both the initial approach by the French representative to the king, and his subsequent approach, were beyond the usually accepted diplomatic customs. An ambassador usually spoke to another country's ambassador, a prime minster spoke to another prime minister, a ruler spoke to another ruler. In this case, the French bypassed this protocol.

WORD HISTORY:
Spiel-The ultimate origins of this word are uncertain. Presently I cannot trace this word back further than Old High German "spilon," which seems to have meant "dance, pass the time pleasantly." Old English (Anglo-Saxon) had "spillian/spilian," with the same general meaning, but also "play," which became a meaning in German. The English word may well have been borrowed from its Old Saxon (Low German) relative, a development which seems to have taken place centuries ago with Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. The word later died out in English. Both the German and Old English forms meant "to play." The German form eventually became "spielen," the verb form, and "Spiel," the noun form. Like our word "play," which was also present in Old English, and which overtook the Old English "spillian" in all meanings, the German word can mean "to play music," "to play games," etc. A "Spielzeug" is the German word for "toy." In English, "spiel" can be used in reference to music, "play a little spiel," but also "fast talk" or "sales pitch;" as in, "The sales lady gave me this spiel about how great her products were."