All of the independent German states, with the exception of the Teutonic Order, belonged to the Holy Roman Empire up until Napoleon’s dismemberment of the Empire in the 19th century. The Holy Roman Empire was a loose confederation of states united under an Emperor.
The Empire was divided into three kingdoms; the German Kingdom, the Italian Kingdom and the Burgundian Kingdom. The Kingdom of Bohemia was also part of the Holy Roman Empire but did not fall under the jurisdiction of many of its laws. Because only lands that resided within these three kingdoms were considered Imperial territory, new conquests by member states were not incorporated into the Empire. For example, Austria’s expansions into Hungary were not included into the Empire, because Hungary had not been a part of any of the three kingdoms.
In 1495, the Holy Roman Empire was also divided into six Imperial Circles; this was increased to ten in 1512. These were formed to be used for administrative purposes - such as gathering Imperial taxes and raising men for the Imperial army - and for allowing different regions of the Empire to form some common ties, such as military alliances. Bohemia and - with the exception of Savoy - Italy were not included in the Circles. The heads of the Circles would oversee the enforcement of the Imperial Court within their respective territories of jurisdiction.
The supreme legislative organization was the Imperial Diet (Reichstag), which allowed the individual members of the Empire to meet together and decide on internal issues. After 1663, the Diet was permanently seated at the Imperial City of Regensburg. In 1356 the Diet drafted the Golden Bull, which was signed by Emperor Charles IV. The Golden Bull affirmed the method of electing the Emperor: seven electors (the heads of Mainz, Trier, and Cologne, which were ecclesiastical territories, and the heads of Bohemia, the Palatinate, Saxony, and Brandenburg , which were all secular states) would meet to elect the Emperor. The Bull also secured the indivisibility of the electorate states. The Diet had the right to dispose the Emperor. Members of the Diet, called Imperial Estates, were considered part of the Holy Roman Empire and had to pay taxes and provide manpower for the Imperial army. The Bull also established the Imperial Vicars.
The Imperial Chamber Court (Reichskammergericht), formed in 1495, was the most powerful judicial body within the Empire; however it took the court a very long time to settle any cases brought before it and was generally ineffective in resolving conflicts.
Prior to the Golden Bull, an individual required coronation by the pope to become Emperor. Persons that were elected as Emperor but remained uncrowned were not considered emperors. Hence, during interregnums, there were individuals that ruled as German Kings; they simply did not also have the Imperial title. The Golden Bull established that an individual could be crowned Emperor on German soil without papal consent. Nevertheless, being crowned by the pope was considered by the German princes to be a necessary step toward becoming a proper Emperor until 1508.
Because the states within the Empire were technically fiefs of the Emperor, there were no kings, with the exception of the King of Bohemia. Instead, there were a variety of titles bestowed upon the heads of state. For ecclesiastical territories, archbishops or bishops would be the head of state. For secular states, an archduke, duke, prince, landgrave, count, or margrave would rule. The recognition of imperial authority was demonstrated when Friedrich I of Brandenburg-Prussia became King of Prussia; because he still held lands within the Empire, he was called King in Prussia, and he was considered an elector, not a king, within the Empire. As they were technically not independent, until 1648 the individual states were not supposed to have any diplomatic relations with foreign countries.
The position of Emperor was at times more symbolic than anything else; he had little direct control over the individual states within the Empire. From 1438 to 1740 and from 1745 to 1806, the Austrian Hapsburgs controlled the position of Emperor. The only non-Hapsburg Emperor during this time was Charles VII of the Bavarian Wittlesbach family, from 1742-1745. The position of Emperor was not hereditary; the electors determined who would become Emperor. Until 1508 the Emperor-elect traveled to Rome to be crowned. Charles V was the last Emperor to be crowned by the Pope in 1519. In theory, any adult of noble status could be elected Emperor, and several rulers from outside Germany held the title. The Emperor was the head of all three kingdoms within the Empire and all the individual states acknowledged him as their overlord. He was the head of the Imperial Army and portions of Imperial taxes were given to him.
Elections for a new Emperor could be made before or after the death of the Emperor holding office. If someone was elected before the Emperor had died, that person became the King of the Romans and was second only to the Emperor in rank. Although this was not traditionally done during the Middle Ages, the Hapsburg Emperors would often have their successors elected within their lifetimes to ensure a trouble-free succession and avoid an interregnum. If there was no King of the Romans and the position of Emperor was held by someone underage or otherwise unable to rule, leadership of the Empire fell upon two Imperial Vicars. The Vicars, consisting of the Elector Palatine and the Elector of Saxony, were to rule jointly until a qualified Emperor took the throne.
After 1648 the Emperor had little power over the individual states. His two most important tools were the Imperial Ban and the Imperial War. An Imperial Ban would eject a person or state from the Imperial Diet and he would be forbidden from setting foot within the Empire. If a state fell under the Ban it was expelled from the Empire. Imperial War was used often to unite the individual states under a common banner. While Imperial War could only be called by the Diet, the legislative body typically passed any requests for it by the Emperor, and the major states usually complied.
Economically, the territories of the Holy Roman Empire could not compete with the colonial nations. Although certain regions of the Empire, such as northern Italy, remained strong, economic dominance was on the decline. The Hanseatic League, which many of the North German states belonged to, was virtually irrelevant by 1618 and was discontinued in 1669. The Hapsburgs were often forced to rely on the Spanish for financial and military aid, because of Spain’s economic dominance.
In 1400 Emperor Wenceslaus was deposed and Rupert III, Count Palatine, was elected as King. He never managed to be crowned as Emperor, however, as Wenceslaus continued to claim the title until after Rupert’s death. He was succeeded as King by Sigismund of the Luxembourg dynasty, King of Hungary, Margrave of Brandenburg (1411-1417), and King of Bohemia (after 1419). In 1433 he was crowned Emperor by the pope. Upon his death in 1437, he was succeeded by Albert II of Hapsburg, beginning a string of Hapsburg Kings and Emperors. Albert II, who became King in 1438, was Duke of Austria, King of Hungary, and King of Bohemia (after 1438). In 1439 Albert died and Frederick III, Duke of Austria (Archduke after 1453) was elected King. He became Emperor in 1452, and was the last Emperor to be crowned at Rome. During Frederick’s lifetime, his son Maximilian I (Archduke of Austria after 1493) was elected King of the Romans in 1486. Frederick died in 1493 as Emperor.
In 1495 the Imperial Diet at Worms brought out a series of proposals known as the Imperial Reform (Reichsreform). This was one of the last attempts to strengthen the Empire as an institution. The Imperial Reform created the Imperial Circles, the Imperial Chamber Court, and an Imperial Regiment (Reichsregiment). The Imperial Regiment consisted of representatives from major states within the Empire, who were subservient to the Emperor. This was an attempt to consolidate the powers of the Emperor and hopefully bring about a more unified German state. Neither Maximilian I, who had been Emperor during the Imperial Reform, nor his successor Charles V, lent much support to it and it was dissolved in 1531.
In 1507 King Maximilian I attempted to travel to Rome to be crowned Emperor. He failed, however, to make his way through the Venetian Terra Ferma and was forced to turn back. In 1508 he had himself crowned as Emperor-Elect at Trent, with papal consent. This set a new precedent, where one who was elected as King of the Romans would automatically be considered a full Emperor, at least upon the death of the current Emperor. In other words, the papacy recognized that the Emperor did not need to be crowned at Rome. When Maximilian died in 1519, however, the electors threatened to not vote for his grandson Charles V, King of Spain and Archduke of Austria, because Maximilian had never been “properly” crowned. They considered voting for King Francis I of France. A huge spending war ensued, with candidates throwing around huge amounts of cash and gifts to ensure election. The electorate ended up voting for Frederick of Ernestine Saxony, who declined. Only afterwards did Charles become Emperor-Elect.
The Reformation, brought out by the priest Martin Luther, was one of the most important events in the history of the Holy Roman Empire. Despite Luther’s trial by the Imperial Diet at Worms in 1521, and the subsequent Imperial Ban placed upon him, many of the German princes turned toward Protestantism. They did so in order to stop paying papal dues but also it gave them a degree of independence from the Emperor. Emperor Charles V’s failure to crush Protestantism assured that the German princes would be able to choose their own religion despite the will of the Emperor. Despite this, four of the electorates (Mainz, Trier, Cologne, and Bohemia) remained Catholic and a Protestant was never elected Emperor.
In 1530, Charles decided not to repeat the mistake of his grandfather and was crowned Emperor by the pope at Bologna. He was the last Emperor to be crowned by the pope. In 1531 he had his brother Ferdinand I, King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, elected as King of the Romans.
In 1555 the Peace of Augsburg brought a temporary solution to the religious conflict within the Empire. Despite this, problems remained. The Peace of Augsburg only recognized two religions within the Empire: Catholics and Lutherans. Radical Protestants, such as Calvinists and Anabaptists, were excluded from the Peace. Due to a breakdown in relations on both sides, the Protestant Evangelical League was formed in 1608 under the command of Frederick IV of the Palatinate. In 1609, the Catholic League under Maximilian I of Bavaria, was formed to counter the Evangelical Union. The resulting war, the Thirty Years War (1618-1648) proved to be a disaster for the Holy Roman Empire, with foreign powers entrenching themselves into Imperial territory and the power of the Emperor further reduced. Switzerland and the Netherlands, which had in practice been independent of the Empire for years, were granted official independence. The Emperor would be forced to turn to the Imperial Diet for decision making, and the individual states of the Empire were allowed to have foreign relations. By this time there were more than 300 states within the Holy Roman Empire.
In 1556 Charles abdicated as Emperor and his brother Ferdinand became Emperor. In 1562 Ferdinand’s son Maximilian II, King of Hungary, Bohemia, and Archduke of Austria after 1564, was elected King of the Romans. In 1564 Ferdinand died and Maximilian became Emperor. After having his son Rudolf II, King of Hungary, Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, elected in 1575, Maximilian died in 1576. Rudolf was succeeded by his brother Mathias, King of Hungary, Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, upon his death in 1612. In 1619 Mathias’ cousin Ferdinand II, King of Hungary, Archduke of Austria, and King of Bohemia after 1620, was elected to replace him. Ferdinand died in 1537 and his son Ferdinand III, King of Hungary, Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, was elected.
From 1648 until its dissolution in 1806, the Empire served little more than a ceremonial tool. France, long an enemy of the Empire, further expanded east at the Empire’s expense by inheriting Lorraine in 1766. However, the members of the Imperial Diet did still acknowledge submission to the Emperor, and some of them did carry out the orders for Imperial War made by the Emperor. The majority of the states within the Empire were small, so they relied on the Emperor to preserve their sovereign status and remained loyal to him. Prussia’s military efforts in the 18th century were especially damaging to the Empire, as it destroyed the monopoly of power that Austria had over the other German states.
Emperor Ferdinand’s eldest son, Ferdinand IV, King of Hungary and Bohemia, was elected King of the Romans in 1653 but died in 1654 before Ferdinand III did. When the emperor died in 1657, his other son Leopold I, King of Hungary, Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, was elected. In 1690 Leopold’s son, Joseph I, King of Hungary, King of Bohemia and Archduke of Austria after 1705, was elected King of the Romans. He became Emperor when Leopold died in 1705. Joseph’s brother Charles VI, King of Hungary, Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, was elected Emperor in 1711 after Joseph died. Charles died in 1740 and a two year interregnum occurred. In 1742 Charles VII, Duke of Bavaria, was elected Emperor. When he died, Francis of Lorraine, wife of Maria Theresa of Hapsburg, became Emperor. In 1761 Francis’ son Joseph II was elected King of the Romans. Joseph, who became King of Hungary, Bohemia, and Archduke of Austria in 1780, became Emperor in 1765. Joseph’s brother Leopold II, King of Hungary, Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, was elected Emperor upon the former’s death in 1790. Leopold’s son Francis II, King of Hungary, Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, was elected Emperor when Leopold died in 1792.
Napoleon proved to be the final nail in the coffin for the Empire. Austrian and Prussian alliances against him failed to check his eastward expansion. In 1805 he began granting independence to various German states from the Empire, and he created a new Confederation of the Rhine to lessen the influence of the Emperor. Fearing that Napoleon would attempt to seize the crown of Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II dissolved the Empire in 1806.
After Napoleon’s defeat, the Congress of Vienna created a German Confederation to replace the Holy Roman Empire. This confederation had 38 states, as opposed to the more than 300 than the Empire had, and did not include Italy. It was dominated by Austria and Prussia. The revolutions of 1848, however, upset the balance of power within the Confederation. Austria was greatly weakened while Prussia emerged as a competitor in dominating Germany. In 1867 Prussia crushed Austria and by 1871 the Prussians had unified Germany, without Austria, using force or utilizing nationalism to convince states to join voluntarily. Individual States Austria
Austria, member of the Austrian Circle, had been ruled by the Hapsburgs since 1278. The Hapsburgs were also Holy Roman Emperors intermittently until 1452, at which point they held the throne until 1806, except for 1740-1745. The Hapsburg family originated from Switzerland, but those lands were lost in 1315. Through a system of marriages they managed to inherit Carniola (1335), Carinthia (1335), Tyrol (1363), and Görz (1500). Duke Rudolf IV ordered the Privilegium Maius (1359) to be forged; this document gave Austria rights similar to those enjoyed by the electors - indivisibility of territory and automatic succession of the first son, among others. It also raised the title of the duke to that of an archduke. This document was not recognized by the Holy Roman Empire until the Hapsburg Emperor Frederick ratified it in 1453. In 1477 most of Burgundy was inherited by Maximilian I of Austria, and the death of Louis II Jagiello in 1526 in the Battle of Mohács against the Ottomans led way for the inheritance of north Hungary and Bohemia by Charles V. Württemberg was bought from the Swabian League and held from 1519-1534.
The Austrians became a forerunner within the Empire for the Catholic cause following the Reformation, and made sure that the majority of the Counterreformation planning took place within the Empire, notably at Trent. The Hapsburgs held the title of Holy Roman Emperor from 1438 to 1806 with only one exception. They also held the title of Elector of Bohemia from 1526. In 1556, Charles V decided that the Hapsburg Empire was too large to be run effectively, and the Burgundian and Dutch possessions went to the Spanish. The Austrians looked to the small states of the Empire for support, promising them protection in return for loyalty. Lusatia was given to Saxony in 1635 by the Peace of Prague. The French gained Sundgau in 1648 by the Peace of Westphalia. Ottoman Hungary minus Banat, as well as Transylvania, was gained in 1699 in the Treaty of Karlowitz. In 1703 the Hungarian Magyars took advantage of the new territories, as well as the start of the War of Spanish Succession, to revolt. Led by Ferenc II Rakoczy, Hungary and parts of Austria were attacked and Rakoczy was elected Duke of Transylvania. With several French defeats in the War of Spanish Succession, however, hopes for foreign intervention were dashed and the rebels ended their revolt in 1711.
In 1713 a peasant revolt over taxes occurred in the County of Görz and the Army was forced to put it down. Prussia conquered Silesia during the War of Austrian Succession. In 1736 Maria Theresa married Francis, who inherited Tuscany the following year and brought it into the Hapsburg realms. A series of peasant revolts (Transylvania 1751 and 1759 , Hungary 1753, Slavonia 1755, Eisenburg 1762 and 1765/1766, Austrian Silesia 1766) forced the monarchy to implement tax reform for the peasantry. Additional revolts occurred in 1744 (Transylvania, over Orthodox peasants’ right to practice), 1775 (Bohemia, over peasantry conditions) and 1784 (Transylvania, over peasants’ agitation against the nobility).
Austria benefited from the First Partition of Poland (1772), gaining Galicia, and the Third Partition (1795), gaining Little Poland.
As extreme enemies of liberalism, the Austrians actively participated in the Napoleonic Wars against France, but they were unable to prevent the French from overrunning the Empire, and Francis II declared the Empire as dead. In an attempt to fill this new power vacuum, he elevated the Archduchy to an Empire. When the German Confederation was formed, Austria was still the head of the German states. However, the nationalistic revolutions of 1848 tore the Austrian Empire apart, and Prussia removed Austria from German affairs. In 1867 Austria was split into the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, in which the Magyars controlled their own state and the Emperor had rule over both halves. This failed, however, to solve the nationalistic agitations of the minority Czechs, Poles, Croats, Serbs, Ruthenians, and Romanians. Brandenburg/Brandenburg-Prussia/Prussia
Brandenburg, of the Upper Saxon Circle, was initially a relatively worthless margravate, with few natural resources and relatively far from German politics. However, the status of Brandenburg as an electorate gave it some worth within the Empire. In 1415 the Hohenzollerns, who came from southern Germany, were appointed as rulers of Brandenburg. In 1555 Elector Joachim II converted to Lutheranism, although he had secretly professed that faith long before then. In 1614 Mark and Cleve were granted to Brandenburg. In 1569, Joachim II inherited the Duchy of Prussia with Albert Frederick of Brandenburg-Ansbach; upon the latter‘s death in 1618 the duchy passed directly to Brandenburg. However, Prussia had been a fief of Poland since 1466, and upon the inheritance of Prussia the electors of Brandenburg-Prussia became fiefs for their Prussian territory. This only ended in 1660 when Poland granted Prussia full sovereignty. Lower Pommern was gained in 1648. In 1701 Friedrich I was granted the title King in Prussia; however he was not considered a king within the Holy Roman Empire. In 1715 the kingdom entered the Great Northern War against Sweden and gained southern Swedish Pomerania as a result. Under Frederick II the Great, Prussia greatly expanded by taking Austrian Silesia during the War of Austrian Succession in 1742, inheriting East Friesland (1744), and by organizing the First, Second and Third Polish partitions, gaining in 1772 West Prussia, 1793 Great Poland and 1795 Mazovia. Although the Congress of Vienna transferred part of Prussia’s Polish lands to Russia, the post-Napoleonic Prussia was greatly enlarged. With the leadership of the Prussian Minister Otto Von Bismarck, Prussia achieved the unification of Germany by 1871. Bavaria
The Duchy of Bavaria, of the Bavarian Circle, was ruled by the Wittlesbach family from 1180 until 1918, with the defeat of Germany in World War I. The history of Bavaria was turbulent during the late Middle Ages, and its long history as a powerful state within the Empire was in the past, as the individual familial lines fought each other while allowing their power to slip away. In 1392, Bavaria, there were four major Bavarain states: Bavaria-Straubing, Bavaria-Ingolstadt, Bavaria-Landshut, and Bavaria-Munich. The line of B.-Straubing died in 1425 and the other three branches split the territory amongst themselves. In B.-Ingolstadt, the familial line ended when Louis VIII, who had invaded and overthrown his father in 1443, died in 1445. The state then came under the rule of Henry IV of B.-Landshut. Henry’s line, however, also became extinct in 1503 with the death of George. After a short war, Duke Albert of B.-Munich took control of B.-Landshut and Bavaria was united for the first time since 1347.
The Bavarians were traditional enemies of the Hapsburgs, partly because the Wittlesbach claims to the Imperial throne. Some notable exceptions were the Bavarian support of Charles V’s war against the League of Schmalkaden and the alliance between Bavaria and Austria during the Thirty Years War. William IV did much to keep Bavaria Catholic during the early part of the Reformation, and Bavaria eventually became the leader of the Catholic League. Despite being on the losing side of the Thirty Years War, Bavaria was awarded the Upper Palatinate and an eighth electoral vote for Emperor. In 1742 Charles VI violated the Pragmatic Sanction and managed to be voted Emperor, however he died three years later. In 1777 the Wittlesbach line of Bavaria died out, and the Wittlesbach ruler of the Palatinate inherited Bavaria, despite Austrian attempts to annex the Duchy. During the Napoleonic Wars Bavaria fought with the French, beginning in 1801, greatly increasing its size, and Napoleon raised the duchy to a kingdom. Defecting back to the Coalition right before Napoleon was defeated, it managed to keep most of its territorial gains. It joined the North German Confederation in 1871. Saxony
The Wettin family owned the Duchy of Saxony, member of the Upper Saxon Circle, from 1423 to 1918. The Elector of Saxony was Imperial Vicar of Saxony, Westphalia, Hanover, and northern Germany. In 1485 Saxony was split into the Ernestine Electorate of Saxony and the Albertine Duchy of Saxony. The Electorate of Saxony consisted of Northern Meissen, Southern Thuringia, and Wittenburg, and it was in Wittenburg where Martin Luther posted his 95 Theses. The Saxon electors worked hard to protect Lutheranism in Germany. Frederick I the Wise protected Luther, John the Steadfast turned the state toward Lutheranism in 1525, and John Frederick worked with Philip of Hesse to create the League of Schmalkaden. The Duchy of Saxony, despite having turned to Lutheranism in 1539, had invaded the Electorate in 1546 in support of the Hapsburgs and was therefore rewarded. In 1547 the League was defeated by the Hapsburgs and Charles V weakened Ernestine Saxony by transferring much of the state and the Electoral vote to Albertine Saxony. After that, Ernestine Saxony played a minor role in German history and broke up in 1553 into Saxe-Gotha and Saxe-Weimar. Albertine Saxony was now an Electorate and the major Saxon state in Germany.
During the Thirty Years War Saxony often switched sides; despite being Lutheran, it entered the war on the side of the Hapsburgs, only to side with the Swedes in 1630, and after the Peace of Prague it once again was allied with Austria. At the Peace of Prague, Saxon loyalty was guaranteed by Austria’s cessation of Lusatia to Saxony. After the Thirty Years War, Saxony played a minor role in German affairs. In 1697 Frederick Augustus I converted to the Catholic Church and after that the Saxon electors remained Catholic, though the rights of Catholics in Saxony remained limited. After Napoleon conquered Saxony in 1806 and elevated it into a kingdom, the Saxons acted as his allies and joined the Confederation of the Rhine. As a result of this loyalty, the northern half of the state was ceded to Prussia at the Congress of Vienna. In the Seven Weeks’ War, Saxony sided with Austria and was forced into the North German Confederation, which became the Empire of Germany in 1871. Palatinate
The Palatinate, of the Rhenish Palatinate, Upper Rhine, and also of the Bavarian (before 1648) Circles, was ruled by the Wittlesbach family from 1214 to 1918. The Elector Palatine was Imperial Vicar of Franconia, the Rhine, Swabia and south Germany. It was divided into two parts. Geographically, the Lower Palatinate was situated in the west, near Lorraine, while the Upper Palatinate was located north of Bavaria. As one of the seven electorates, it was one of the more influential states within the Empire. In 1559 the line of Pfalz-Simmern inherited the electoral lands. The new elector, Frederick III, was a Calvinist and afterwars the Electoral Palatinate was subjected to Calvinism. The Palatinate became a major force for the Protestant cause, with Frederick IV leading the Evangelical League (1608). In 1618 Frederick V was elected the King of Bohemia, but the Catholic League promptly turned on him. The war devastated the Palatinate and it never fully recovered. Much of the Upper Palatinate was lost to Bavaria, and the electoral vote was transferred to Bavaria. Although the Palatinate recovered its vote in 1648, with Bavaria given an eighth vote in compensation, the state never regained its former prominence. In 1685 the Catholic line of Pfalz-Neuburg inherited the electoral lands; French claims on the Electoral Palatinate delayed this succession until 1697. In 1742 the line of Pfalz-Sulzbach inherited the electoral lands. In 1777 Bavaria was inherited by Elector Charles Theodore. In 1799 both the Rhenish Palatinate and Bavaria were inherited by Maximilian of Pfalz-Zweibrucken; after this point all of the Wittelsbach lands in Bavaria and the Palatinate were united. Hessen
The Duchy of Hessen and its spinoff states, of the Upper Rhine Circle, were ruled by the members of the many Hessen1 dynastical lines. It was a langraviate after 1130. Split in the 1400s, the Hessian states were unified in 1500, and the Duchy of Hessen was formed. Under Philip I, who became Lutheran in 1524, Hessen played a role as leader of the Protestant movement during the reign of Charles V; it was the only time Hessen played an important role in German history. After his death in 1567, Hessen was split into Hesse-Cassel, Hesse-Darmstadt, Hesse-Marburg, and Hesse-Rhenfields among his sons.
Hesse-Cassel inherited Hesse-Rhenfields in 1583 (although it reemerged as a state in 1627) and Hesse-Marburg in 1604 upon the end of the dynastical lines there. Because of this, Hesse-Darmstadt became a rival, and the Lutheran Hesse-Darmstadt viciously fought against the pro-Swedish Calvinist Hesse-Cassel during the last years of the Thirty Years War. Hesse-Cassel sent around 30,000 mercenaries to assist Britain in the American revolution. Annexed into the Napoleonic puppet kingdom of Westphalia in 1806, it reemerged in 1813. Since 1803 it was an Electorate, and after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 it was the only state to continue to use that title, up until its annexation in 1866 by Prussia as a result of allying with Austria in the Seven Weeks War.
Hesse-Darmstadt fared somewhat better through the nineteenth century. At war with France since 1793, the state made peace in 1799. The state was enlarged by the French reorganization of the Empire, although France did annex some of its territory. After Hesse-Cassel was incorporated into Westphalia, Hesse- Darmstadt was elevated to a Grand Duchy and became a member of the Confederation of the Rhine. Although it fought with the Austrians in the Seven Weeks War, it was not annexed; however it did lose Hesse-Homburg. Because Hesse-Cassel had been annexed, the state was the sole remaining major Hessian state and became known as the Duchy of Hesse. It became a member of the North German Confederation and joined the German Empire in 1871. The Hesse-Darmstadt line lost control of the state in 1918. Hanover
The Duchies of Brunswick-Calenberg-Göttingen and Brunswick-Celle (also known as Brunswick-Lüneburg after the city Lüneburg), of the Lower Saxon Circle, were formed in 1638 as a result of the breakup of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Calenburg first gained importance in 1692 when it became an Electorate in exchange for not siding with France during the War of the Grand Alliance, becoming the ninth state to hold Elector status. Brunswick-Celle was inherited in 1705 by Calenberg. After that, Calenberg was called Brunswick-Lüneburg, though its common name was Hanover, after its most important city. In 1714, George Ludwig inherited Great Britain, and the House of Hanover began its rule. Although the Hanover kings ruled from London, a separate ministry ruled the Electorate. Although there were concerns about the Hanover kings’ interests in Germany due to their origin, both Great Britain and Hanover shared common interests in their anti-French policies. In order to strike at the British, Hanover often became a target for her enemies. Despite the addition of Bremen and Verden in 1715, the Electorate could not successfully fight a powerful rival. The state suffered defeat during the Seven Years War, and was occupied by the French. During the Napoleonic Wars, Hanover was divided between France and Westphalia; after the wars, however, the state was returned to Great Britain, was greatly enlarged, and was elevated to a kingdom. Hanover was lost due to German Salic law in 1837, as the new British Queen Victoria could not lay claim to it. The kingdom suffered through the 1848 revolutions but the government kept control. Hanover was annexed by Prussia for siding with Austria in the Seven Weeks War in 1866. Mecklenburg
Mecklenburg, of the Lower Saxon Circle, was located off the Baltic coast. The rulers of the states of Mecklenburg were all dukes. By 1400 there were four duchies: Mecklenburg-Güstrow, Mecklenburg-Waren, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and Mecklenburg-Stargard. In 1425, M-Waren passed to M-Güstrow; in 1436 M-Güstrow passed to M-Schwerin; in 1471 M-Stargard passed to M-Schwerin. After this point, M-Schwerin was the only Mecklenburg duchy. Duke Magnus II (1477-1503) spent his reign attempting to enforce his authority over the cities, which had become disloyal over the previous decades. After his death, a series of dukes ruled together to prevent the duchy from splitting. Joint dukes and brothers Henry V (1503-1552, in Schwerin) and Albert VII (1503-1547, in Güstrow) were the first to do so. Henry oversaw the establishment of Lutheranism in his part of the duchy in 1524; after Albert died his son John Albert I (1547-1576) also brought the Reformation to Güstrow. After Henry died John Albert took control of Schwerin before handing administration over to his brother Ulrich in 1555. In 1576 John VII (1576-1592) and Sigismund Augustus (1576-1603) began ruling together. Upon John’s death, brothers Adolf Frederick and John Albert II ruled together with Sigismund. In 1610, however, Mecklenburg was split between M-Schwerin and M-Güstrow, with Adolf receiving the former and John the latter. The two duchies were briefly reunited when Wallenstein conquered both in 1628 during the Thirty Years War. After Wallenstein was dismissed from the Imperial Army, he became the ruler of Mecklenburg. In 1631 Swedish troops took the duchies by storm and restored the two brothers. These actions proved to take a heavy toll on the population and countryside. Territorial losses were relatively light, with only Wismar being ceded to Sweden in 1648.
After Adolf died (1658), M-Schwerin was split again, between itself, Mecklenburg-Mirow, Mecklenburg-Grabow, and Mecklenburg-Strelitz. M-Mirow passed to M-Grabow in 1675. In 1692 Christian Louis of M-Schwerin died childless; the succession was disputed between his nephew Frederick William of M-Grabow (whose line was known as M-Schwerin after 1692) and his brother Adolf Frederick II of M-Strelitz. In the midst of this, M-Güstrow passed to the line of M-Schwerin. By the Treaty of Hamburg (1701), most of Schwerin passed to Frederick William; the rest went to M-Strelitz. Schwerin and Strelitz had a common legislative body and were closely related. In Schwerin, Duke Charles Leopold (1713-1747) spent his reign fighting the estates; peace was made only in 1755 to the victory of the estates. This defeat of ducal power was rare in an era of absolutist monarchs. From 1759-1764 both duchies were occupied by Prussia In 1803 Sweden pawned Wismar back to M-Schwerin in exchange for a loan; this transition proved permanent. In 1806 the two duchies were forced to join the Confederation of the Rhine; they turned against the French in 1813. In 1815 the two duchies were raised to grand duchies. In 1867 both grand duchies joined the North German Confederation. Württemberg
Württemberg, of the Swabian Circle, was a county in south-central Germany. United until 1441, the county was split into Württemberg-Urach and Württemberg-Stuttgart. In 1495 Emperor Maximilian I granted the title of duke to Eberhard I of Württemberg-Urach; the following year however, Eberhard died and W-Urach was inherited by Eberhard II of W-Stuttgart. Württemberg’s next duke, Ulrich I, made the duchy prominent early in his reign. He assisted Maximilian in resolving the Bavaria-Landshut succession in 1504 and received additional territory as a reward. He also assisted the Imperial Army in its invasion of France in 1513 during the War of the Holy League. Ulrich’s expensive projects were funded by oppressive taxes on the peasantry; in 1514 they revolted and were put down only after Ulrich made concessions to the estates. Württemberg’s troubles, however, continued. Ulrich had made enemies out of members of the Swabian League and Bavaria; relations further deteriorated in 1515 when the duke murdered a noble whose wife he desired and Ulrich’s wife - who was related both to the Emperor and to the duke of Bavaria - fled. In 1516 the Imperial Ban was declared against Ulrich; when he refused to appear before the Diet in 1518 the Ban was renewed. In 1519 the Swabian League and Bavaria invaded and conquered Württemberg. After returning to power in 1534, Ulrich, who had converted to Lutheranism in exile, promptly spread its teachings throughout Württemberg. After joining the League of Schmalkaden in 1536, the duchy was overrun in 1547 by Spain.
In 1590 Württemberg’s vassal status to Austria was cancelled in exchange for monetary compensation. The duchy became a home for Protestants fleeing from Austria. During the Thirty Years War, Württemberg-Stuttgart sided with Sweden in 1633 but Imperial troops occupied the duchy in 1634 and held it until 1648. The duchy attempted to recover; however, the Estates limited the power of the duke and prevented him from maintaining key functions. In 1688 and 1693 Württemberg-Stuttgart was invaded by France. In 1699 the Waldensians, Lutheran refugees fleeing from Piedmont, were allowed to enter the duchy. In 1733 the Catholic Charles Alexander became duke; fears that he would revert Württemberg to Catholicism were ended in 1737 upon his death. In 1757 Württemberg joined the Imperial War against Prussia during the Seven Years War. After being defeated in the War of the First Coalition against France and losing Mömpelgard in 1796, the duchy signed a treaty with France in 1802. In return, Napoleon granted an electoral title to Württemberg along with territory to its south and several free cities. In 1805 the duchy sided with Napoleon during the War of the Third Coalition and was raised to a kingdom; in 1806 it joined the Confederation of the Rhine. Switching sides in 1813, the kingdom came out of the Congress of Vienna greatly enlarged. In 1871 it joined the North German Confederation.
Württemberg was split twice after 1495; none of the spinoff states played any major role on their own. In 1617 Württemberg-Stuttgart was split between itself, Württemberg-Mömpelgard, Württemberg-Brenz-Weiltingen, Württemberg-Neustadt, and Württemberg-Neuenburg. Württemberg-Brenz-Weiltingen itself was split between Öls and Württemberg-Weiltingen in 1635. Both W-Neuenburg in 1622 and W-Neustadt in 1641 reverted to W-Stuttgart; however W-Stuttgart was split again in 1649 and the two became independent again. W-Neuenburg in 1671, W-Weiltingen in 1735, and W-Neustadt in 1742 were returned to W-Stuttgart. W-Mömpelgard was under the control of France from 1684-1697; after returning to W-Stuttgart, W-Mömpelgard permanently came under French rule in 1796. Baden Pommern Lorraine
The Duchy of Lorraine, of the Upper Rhine Circle, was one of the most western Imperial estates. From the capital at Nancy, Lorraine was ruled by the House of Ardennes (1047-1453), the House of Anjou (1453-1473), the House of Adamant (1473-1737), and the House of Leszczyński (1737-1766). Lorraine was mostly French-speaking; German majorities were restricted to the north. As a result, events in the rest of Germany had a minimal effect on the duchy. Lying between France and Germany, it was of great strategic importance. In 1431 Isabelle came to power; she managed to retain power throughout her life. She was married to Rene I of Anjou and Bar; upon his death in 1480 the Duchy of Bar passed to Lorraine, although portions of the inheritance were also fiefdoms of France. Lorraine initially attempted to ally with Burgundy; this made the duchy a virtual satellite state. Attempting to reverse the course of events, Duke Rene II formed an anti-Burgundian alliance with the Swiss. The Burgundians attempted to take Lorraine in 1475.
Lorraine remained Catholic throughout the Reformation and the Counterreformation was implemented. During the Thirty Years War and the Franco-Spanish War, the duchy was occupied by France (1634-1641, 1644-1661). In 1670 Lorraine was again taken by the French; King Louis XIV considered the duchy to be safely in French hands, but as a result of the War of the Grand Alliance he was forced to surrender it. Louis remained committed to taking Lorraine; he offered Duke Leopold Joseph Spanish Milan if he would abandon Lorraine and Bar. The deal was forgotten once the War of Spanish Succession broke out, and Louis ended up occupying Lorraine through force (1702-1714). During the War of Polish Succession, Bar (1735) and Lorraine (1737) were given to exiled Polish King Stanislas Leszczynski. In exchange, Duke Francis Stephen was given precedence in the inheritance of Tuscany; he was also the husband of Austrian monarch Maria Theresa, and he eventually became Holy Roman Emperor in 1745. Stanislas was the father-in-law of French King Louis XV and Lorraine pursued pro-French policies during the War of Austrian Succession and Seven Years War. After the death of Stanislas in 1766, Lorraine passed to the French king. Lorraine became a part of the German Empire in 1871 as a result of the Franco-German War. Cologne (Archbishopric)
The Archbishopric of Cologne, of the Rhenish Palatinate Circle, was an ecclesiastical territory situated on the left bank of the Rhine. The archbishop, who was both temporal ruler of the territory as well as the religious leader of the northwestern portion of the Empire, was appointed by election via religious officials. The archbishop also had an electoral vote in determining the Emperor. The archbishop was also Duke of Westphalia. In 1449 the city of Soest was lost to Kleve-Mark. In 1475 the actual city of Cologne (Köln) was officially proclaimed an imperial city and temporal rule by the archbishop over the city was abolished; in reality the city had been quite independent of the archbishopric for some time before that. In 1546 Archbishop Hermann V of Wied was suspended for actively encouraging the spread of Protestantism. In 1582, Archbishop Gebhard II Truchsess of Waldburg converted to Calvinism and attempted to secularize the archbishopric; the resulting war left the house of Wittelsbach in control. The Wittelsbaches held on to Cologne until 1761. The Wittelsbach archbishops maintained a pro-French policy in the eighteenth century, siding with them during the Spanish and Austrian Wars of Succession. In 1742 the archbishop voted for his brother Charles VII of Bavaria as Emperor. From 1585-1650, 1683-1688, and 1723-1802 the archbishop also controlled the Bishopric of Münster. Particularly after 1761, the archbishops were actually hostile to the pope and the church in general, as a result of Enlightenment philosophies. In 1794 the French occupied the archbishopric and thereafter suppressed the church there; after the loss of Münster to France in 1802 the archbishop was left without any territory. In 1815 Cologne was transferred to the Kingdom of Prussia. Salzburg
The Archbishopric of Salzburg, of the Bavarian Circle, was an ecclesiastical territory situated between Austria and Bavaria. The archbishop was both temporal ruler of Salzburg as well as religious leader of a significant portion of southeast Germany. The Cathedral Chapter of Salzburg was responsible for electing the archbishop. Peasant revolts over taxation occurred in 1458, 1462, and 1463; the former was successful in bringing reform, the latter two failures. The Ottomans conducted raids in 1478, 1480, and 1483. The archbishopric was heavily affected during the Peasants War; it took over a year of conflict and Austrian intervention to quell the uprisings. The Lutherans made gains in Salzburg and this led to further conflict. The Counterreformation was implemented in Salzburg in 1569 in order to stop the spread of Protestantism. Lutheran peasants and miners revolted in 1601; they were defeated in 1602.
Early in the 17th century the archbishopric came into conflict with Bavaria. In 1606 the Cathedral Chapter declared that neither people of Hapsburg or Wittelsbach origin could be elected archbishop in order to prevent the territory from falling into the hands of Austria or Bavaria. Duke Maximilian of Bavaria, however, negotiated with the pope, who then ordered the declaration invalid. In 1611 Bavaria doubled import dues on goods, which damaged Salzburg’s economy. The ensuing Salt War resulted in the removal of archbishop Wolf-Dietrich. Salzburg participated neither in the Catholic League (due to the Salt War) and participation in the Thirty Years War was minimal. As a result, the state was relatively unaffected, while much of the rest of the Empire was devastated. In 1675 a witch-hunt began and lasted until 1681. In 1731 a purge of all Protestants was initiated, causing more than 26,000 to flee the archbishopric. Many of them settled in Prussia. Having an inferior army, the archbishopric attempted to stay out of wars in which Austria and Bavaria fought each other, although on occasion trrops were allowed to pass through Salzburg. In 1803, Salzburg was secularized and turned into an archduchy. Ferdinand, former Grand Duke of Tuscany, came to rule. The Abbey Berchtesgaden and part of the Bishopric of Passau were given to the grand duchy. In 1806, however, Salzburg came under Austrian administration; after a period of Bavarian rule (1809-1815), Salzburg permanently came under the rule of Austria at the Congress of Vienna. Würzburg
The Bishopric of Würzburg, of the Franconian Circle, was an ecclesiastical territory centered around the Main River. The prince-bishop had both temporal and religious authority. The city of Würzburg was once the capital of the Duchy of Franconia, and after 1441 the prince-bishops used the title “Duke of Franconia”. The struggle between the bishops and the Würzburg city leaders ended in 1400, when the city finally submitted, ending the hopes of becoming a imperial city independent of the bishopric. In 1476 a seemingly minor event in the bishopric eventually enabled the Peasants War to happen. In Niklashausen, the preacher Hans Boeheim claimed to have a vision of the Virgin Mary and attracted tens of thousands of followers. Boeheim used these followers to plan a revolt. However, forces of the prince-bishop arrested him and the revolt partially collapsed. Some of his followers did march upon the city of Würzburg and demanded the release of Hans. After being promised of his release, they began to disband. The prince-bishop’s army, however, seized several of the other leaders and broke up the rebellion. This event, while a failure, inspired religiously-zealous peasants to fight for themselves. The Peasants Revolt itself had a heavy effect on Würzburg, although, as in elsewhere, it eventually failed. Intermediately after 1609, the bishop was also the bishop of Bamburg. Würzburg joined the Catholic League in the years before the Thirty Years War. This cost the bishopric when Swedish forces occupied the state (1631-1634). In 1801 French troops occupied Würzburg. In 1802 the bishopric was secularized and given to Bavaria. However, in 1806 Würzburg was reestablished as a grand duchy and given to Ferdinand, former Grand Duke of Tuscany. It then became a member of the Confederation of the Rhine. Upon the reversal of French fortunes, Würzburg was returned to Bavaria in 1814. In 1837 the area was renamed to Lower Franconia. Major Hanseatic League Participants
Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hanover, Holstein, Magdeburg, Mecklenburg, Münster, Pommern, Prussia.
Military History of the German States
In 1419 the Church, with the support of the Emperor Sigismund, ordered the execution of the heretic Jan Hus. As a result, the Bohemian Hussites revolted by killing seven government officials in the First Defenestration of Prague in that year. Portions of Bohemia, which was to be inherited by Sigismund, rejected his authority, and the Emperor went to the Church for support. In 1420 the pope ordered a crusade against the Hussites, and Europe responded in an effort to crush the heretics and restore Sigismund. However, the Hussites were victorious, and they gained control most of Bohemia by 1421. Several more crusades were launched and the Hussites were eventually defeated in 1436.
During the 15th century, the archbishop of Cologne attempted to increase his authority over the city of Soest, which nominally respected his authority. In 1444 the city changed its allegiance to Kleve-Mark, which had the support of Burgundy. Several towns around Soest fell to the anti-Cologne forces. In 1447 the archbishopric attempted to reassert its authority but the effort failed. The conflict ended in 1449, with Soest becoming an autonomous part of Kleve-Mark.
In the 1460s, relations between Emperor Frederick V of Austria, King George Podebrady of Bohemia (an advocate of the Hussite movement), and King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary had gone cold. In 1467 the nobles of Austrian Styria launched a revolt. Supported by Matthias, the nobles staged an attack on Marburg, then Graz in 1469. Bohemian mercenaries in the service of the Emperor went unpaid and plundered Austrian towns. The rebellion was put down only in 1471. Following the excommunication of George in 1469, Austrian and Hungarian forces invaded Bohemia, and Matthias took Moravia and Silisea. In 1472, the archbishop of Salzburg placed portions of his lands under the protection of Matthias. Direct warfare between Austria and Hungary became inevitable.
In 1479, Hungarian and Austrian forces began fighting each other. In 1482 Hungary formally declared war on Austria. Several Austrian cities fell to the Hungarians, and the Austrian army was defeated at Leitzersdorf (1484). In 1485 Vienna fell after being subjected to a siege, and Matthias took up residence in the city. Most of Lower Austria was captured. Ferdinand recruited Saxon mercenary forces under Duke Albert of Saxony, but before the Austrians could fight the Hungarians again, a truce was declared (1487) and the mercenaries left. Lower Austria stayed under Hungarian control. A definitive peace could not be made, as Hungarian forces continually violated the truce. In 1490, however, Matthias died and Vladislav II of Bohemia was elected as Hungarian king. Vladislav had to cement his rule in Hungary; as a result, the Hungarian armies in Austria were left unorganized. Things further improved for Austria when the pope declared the people of Lower Austria free of Hungarian rule, which caused many to declare their loyalty to the Hapsburgs. Under Maximilian I, King of the Romans, the Austrians recaptured Lower Austria and advanced into Hungary, capturing Szekes-Fehervar (1491). In 1491 peace was made with Hungary, with Austria gaining minor Hungarian territories.
In 1477, Duke Charles of Burgundy was killed and his heir Mary married Maximilian I of Austria that year. King Louis XI of France, however, seized the Burgundy proper, as well as the Burgundian possessions Hainaut, Artois and Picardy. The French were defeated in 1479 and expelled from Hainaut but the estates of the Low Countries made a separate peace (Treaty of Arras, 1482) with Louis, which Maximilian was constrained to accept in 1483 (Mary having died in 1482). The Duchy of Burgundy was transferred to France, and Maximilian’s daughter Margaret was to marry Louis’ son Charles VIII, whereupon the Free County of Burgundy (Franche Comté) and Artois were to be added to France. In 1491, however, Charles married Anne of Burgundy instead, violating the treaty. In 1492 Austrian troops expelled the French from Artois. In order to prepare for an invasion of Italy, Charles signed the Treaty of Senlis in 1493, which restored Artois and Franche Comté to Austria.
In 1503, Duke George of Bavaria-Landshut died without a heir. Both Duke Albert of Bavaria-Munich and Count Rupert, son-in-law of George and in line to the Electoral Palatinate, laid claims upon the duchy. Early in 1504, Rupert, who had the support of the Bavarian nobility, took control of much of B-Landshut. Albert, however, had the support of Emperor Maximilian and the Swabian League. In September, Hapsburg and B.-Munich forces defeated B.-Landshut and Bohemian mercenary forces loyal to Rupert. That same year Rupert died, and Maximilian brokered a peace by granting B.-Munich control over B.-Landshut in exchange for minor Bavarian territories to the Palatinate and Austria.
Once Württemberg and it’s duke Ulrich were placed under the Imperial Ban, the duchy’s situation became precarious. In 1519, Ulrich favored King Francis I of France for the crown of Holy Roman Emperor, and mobilized troops against the Free City of Reutlingen. The Swabian League, as well as Bavaria, intervened and conquered the duchy, and then turned it over to Emperor Charles V for 220,000 gulden. Charles then turned the duchy over to his brother Ferdinand I. Ulrich attempted to retake Württemberg during the peasant’s revolt, which heavily affected the duchy, in 1525, but failed. His conversion to Protestantism, however, did make an ally out of Philip I of Hesse, who with the French helped Ulrich take back the duchy in 1534. The populace, worn out by the peasant’s revolt, Reformation, and oppressive Austrian rule, provided no resistance.
In 1529, following the annexation of Hungary, the Ottomans launched an invasion of Austria. They attempted to take Vienna but failed. The war continued until 1533, ending in a stalemate. Afterwards, Austria invaded Ottoman Hungary in 1537, 1554, and 1566, but they failed to hold it for long and were forced to pay tribute to the sultan for the portion of Hungary that they occupied.
As a result of the Edict of Worms in 1521, which ousted Martin Luther as a heretic and forbade his teachings, a more radical group known as the Anabaptists helped to launch a revolt. Led by a former disciple of Luther, Thomas Müntzer, the revolts consumed much of the Holy Roman Empire and Prussia in 1524/1525, notably Strassburg, Baden-Durlach, Salzburg, Württemberg, Würzburg, Inner Austria, Austrian Tyrol, Prussia, and numerous smaller territories. Nearly everyone, from Charles V to Martin Luther, condemned the uprisings, and most were put down by May of 1525 with hundreds of thousands of peasants dead. Nevertheless, the Anabaptist presence in Germany was not crushed, and in 1534 a group of them led by John Bockelson seized the Bishopric of Münster. The former Prince-Bishop, however, regained his territory by forming an alliance with the Lutheran landgrave Hesse by 1535 and had all of the revolt’s leaders tortured to death.
Neither were the Lutherans weakened by the defeat of the peasant’s war. In spite of negotiations and alliances meant to stop the spread of Lutheranism, more states turned away from the Catholic faith. To protect themselves, they created the League of Schmalkaden in 1531, led by Hesse and, to a lesser degree, Saxony. Charles V took his time with the league, managing to convince France to abandon any military support for the League and gaining Bavarian support. In 1546 Maurice of Ducal Saxony invaded Electoral Saxony. Elector John Frederick defeated the invaders, and then occupied Ducal Saxony. He then led his army into Bohemia, in the hopes that the Bohemian Protestants would support him. This never happened, however, and the Imperial army crushed John Frederick’s force completely in the Battle of Mühlberg in 1547. John Frederick and Philip I were imprisoned, and Ulrich of Württemberg was forced to pay tribute. As a result, the Emperor could now exercise a large amount of power over the princes of the Empire. This strength, however, coupled with an attempt to reunify the church, prompted both Catholic and Lutheran states to form alliances against him. In 1552 Maurice of Saxony changed sides and allied with Henry II of France, then marched on Augsburg and Innsbruck. Charles V was forced to release John Frederick and Philip I. Meanwhile, the German Protestants arranged for France to take control of the bishoprics of Toul, Metz and Verdun as Vicar of the territories, and the Emperor could not dislodge the pro-French garrisons. Charles’ brother Ferdinand I eventually signed the Peace of Augsburg (1555). War between Austria and France continued until 1559.
The Peace’s failure to recognize Calvinists led to both the Dutch revolt and to a lesser extent, the Thirty Years War. Upon Charles V’s abdication as Archduke of Austria, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain and Burgundy in 1556, Phillip II of Spain took that throne. Holland, which up until then had been predominantly Catholic, came under intense pressure from Calvinist followers who were having less success in other parts of the Empire. Because of Phillip’s contempt for the Dutch and his taxation of them, they began converting to Calvinism and burnt several Catholic churches. Phillip sent the Duke of Alva in 1567 to quell the Dutch, but his ruthless methods only further united them against Spain. In 1581 the Dutch in the north Netherlands declared themselves independent of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire as the United Provinces of the Netherlands.
In 1582, Archbishop Gebhard of Cologne converted to Calvinism and carried out measures to move the archbishopric to Protestantism. As the archbishop had an electoral vote for Emperor, these moves captured the attention of the Catholics in the Empire. In 1583 Gebhard was put under the Imperial ban and the Catholic chapter elected Ernst von Wittelsbach as a successor. Gebhard attempted to reassert his authority but received scant authority from the Protestant princes, most of whom were Lutheran. In 1584 Spanish troops on their way to the United Provinces occupied the territory and then defeated Gebhard in the Netherlands. Gebhard fled to Württemburg and Ernst became archbishop. The war firmly established that ecclesiastical leaders who converted to Protestantism would have to step down.
In 1611, Duke Maximilian of Bavaria doubled the import dues on all goods coming into and passing through Bavaria. This greatly hurt Salzburg’s export economy, mostly salt. In protest, Archbishop Wolfgang Dietrich von Rattenau ordered the occupation of the neighboring Abbey of Berchtesgaden, also a salt producer. Bavaria then invaded Salzburg and captured Wolfgang Dietrich in retaliation. Wolfgang was deposed in 1612 and remained in captivity until he died in 1617. The occupation of Salzburg ended in 1612.
A continuing struggle between Catholics and Protestants for domination of the Empire led to the breakdown of the Peace of Augsburg. In 1608 the Evangelical League, led by a Reformed Palatinate under Frederick IV, was formed. In 1609 the Catholic League under Maximilian came into existence. Both sides, however, wished to avoid a war. In 1609 the Duke of Jülich died without a successor; his territories became up for grabs. Both Count Wilhelm of Pfalz-Neuburg, which was Catholic, and Elector Johann Sigismund of Brandenburg, which was Protestant, had legitimate claims on the territory. Emperor Rudolph II was also interested in the lands of Jülich, as they bordered the friendly Spanish Netherlands, and the Imperial Army occupied the city of Jülich. This concerned both the Dutch and the French. However, in the interest of keeping peace, all of the sides eventually worked out agreements. Austria dropped her claims on the territory besides the city, and in the Dortmund Recess Pfalz-Neuburg and Brandenburg agreed to jointly rule the territory. Palatine, Dutch and Brandenburg troops jointly expelled the Imperial Army from Jülich in 1610. However, the people of Jülich rejected the agreement, especially concerning being ruled by the Lutheran Hohenzollern. Because of this, the Treaty of Xanten in 1614 split the territories of Jülich; Jülich and Berg went to Pfalz-Neuburg and Kleve, Revensburg and Mark went to Brandenburg.
In 1618, King Ferdinand of Bohemia ordered the destruction of several Protestant churches. In revolt, the Bohemians threw two Imperial governors out a window in the Second Defenestration of Prague. They then declared Ferdinand deposed and elected Frederick V of the Palatinate as King. However, in 1619 Emperor Mathias died and Ferdinand took possession of the Imperial crown and the lands of Austria as Ferdinand II. Unable to defeat the rebels himself, he negotiated with Maximilian of Bavaria and Phillip III of Spain to provide him aid, and gained the support of Saxony as well. He put Frederick under Imperial Ban and declared war against him. The defeat of the Bohemians at White Mountain in 1620 convinced the Evangelical League to stay out of the affair, and it dissolved itself in 1621. The Palatinate was occupied by 1624. Bavaria received the electoral vote of the Palatinate as well as the territory of the Upper Palatinate.
In 1625 one of the Imperial Circles, the Lower Saxon Circle, declared war against Austria and the Catholic League. That same year Denmark joined the war. The Imperial and Catholic League Armies, under the command of Wallenstein and Tilly, defeated both, occupied several German states, and drove Denmark out of the Jutland peninsula. The Catholics made peace with Denmark and most of the German states, while continuing to occupy the Palatinate, Mecklenburg, and Magdeburg. In 1629, however, Ferdinand II made a fatal mistake by releasing the Edict of Restitution. This greatly hampered the gains made by the Lutherans after 1555 and the Emperor’s issuance of it demonstrated that he was attempting to greatly increase his power. Catholic and Protestant states alike opposed the Edict and Ferdinand lost much support due to it. Nevertheless, by 1629 all of the German states had been subdued.
Gustav Adolphus of Sweden was interested in protecting Protestants’ rights in Germany and gaining German territory. He feared that there were no German states strong enough to oppose the Emperor anymore. He decided to declare war in 1630. He and his army landed in Pommerania and he managed to create an alliance with Saxony. What followed was two years of Swedish armies ravaging the Empire, invading Bohemia, Bavaria, Brandenburg and anyone that did not submit to them. Tilly was killed in 1632 at Lech. At the battle of Lützen, the Swedes defeated Wallenstein but Adolphus was killed. The Swedes then began to stall and were eventually defeated at Nördlingen in 1634. They also lost German support, due to Adolphus’ desire for German territory and to become Holy Roman Emperor. Successfully portraying the Swedes as a foreign aggressor, Ferdinand managed to create the Peace of Prague in 1635, which allied all the German states with him, or at least gain assurances that they would not ally against him.
Also in 1635, France began involving herself directly in the war. Before they had been willing to fund the Swedes but they did not feel that they were doing enough to check Hapsburg power. The French seized Lorraine and reinforced the Swedes. Eventually, Spain, Bavaria and Austria all were defeated. In the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, which ended the Thirty Years War, France annexed Toul, Verdun, Metz, Austrian Sundgau, and most of Alsace, Sweden received Stettin-Pommern, Wismar and Bremen, Brandenburg received Hither-Pommern, Bavaria kept its earlier conquests, and the title of Emperor was severely reduced in power. The results of the Peace of Prague were also incorporated into the Peace of Westphalia.
In 1663 Imperial War was declared against the Ottomans, who had invaded Austria. Despite defeating the Turks, Austria gained nothing from the war, which ended in 1664. In 1683 the Ottomans tried again, laying siege to Vienna. Austrian and Polish troops routed the Ottomans and when the war ended in 1699, the Ottomans were forced to cede all of Hungary to Austria except for Banat. In 1716 Austria was again invaded by the Ottomans, who were defeated and forced to cede Banat, Serbia, part of Wallachia (Oltenia) to Austria.
During this time, Imperial War was also declared against France in 1674, 1689, 1702, all against Louis XIV. In 1674 the Empire entered the Dutch War (1672-1679). Even before then, though, individual states had participated in the war. Cologne and Münster had sided with France; the Bishopric of Liège allowed French troops to pass through its territory. Austria and Brandenburg had countered the French efforts. Austria and France fought over the Spanish Netherlands, which dragged Spain into the war in 1673. Spanish Franche-Comté was occupied by France in 1674. In 1675 Sweden invaded Brandenburg in order to relieve pressure off the French army. Spain came to terms in 1678, ceding Franche-Comté and several towns of the Spanish Netherlands. These territories all lay within the Empire. In 1686 the League of Augsburg was formed to counter French aggression; it consisted of Austria, Bavaria, Brandenburg-Prussia, England and the Netherlands, the Palatinate, Saxony, Spain, and Sweden.
In 1688 Louis attempted to inherit the Palatinate, despite the existence of several other potential successors with more valid claims. After invading the Palatinate, France prompted nearly the entire Empire to counter Louis and the League of Augsburg (the Grand Alliance after 1689), along with the Imperial Diet, declared war. Despite ravaging the Palatinate and Württemberg, France eventually came to terms in 1697, restoring the sovereignty of Lorraine, and giving the Electoral Palatinate to the Neuburg Palatine line. In 1702 the Diet approved for Germany to enter the War of Spanish Succession and Brandenburg-Prussia, Hanover, Mainz, Pfalz-Neuburg, Saxony, Trier, and Würzburg assisted the Emperor. French and allied Bavarian forces were defeated at Schellenberg in 1703 and Bavaria was occupied. A revolt in Bavaria in 1705 was crushed by Imperial troops in 1706. In 1706 Bavaria and Cologne were put under the Imperial Ban in punishment for siding with France; this wasn‘t lifted until peace was made in 1714. Austria gained the Spanish Netherlands, Sicily, Sardinia, Milan and Naples. Sardinia was soon lost to Spain in 1717.
Duke Charles Leopold of Mecklenburg-Schwerin faced problems with the estates in his realm. In particular, the landowners who controlled a large serf population posed a threat to his power. Charles asked for Russian forces to quell the estates; after the Russians left, however, the estates appealed to Emperor Charles VI. He sent an Imperial army to support them. Charles Leopold was forced to flee (1719), but recruited help from other states, notably Prussia. Fighting continued throughout Charles Leopold’s reign, and a peace between the duke and the estates was made only under Charles Leopold’s successor Christian Ludwig II in 1755. The Convention of Rostock (1755) granted the estates a large amount of power in the lawmaking of the state.
Imperial War was again declared against France in 1734 during the War of Polish Succession (1733-1735). The French occupied Lorraine and the Austrian Netherlands. In Italy, French and Sardinian forces invaded Austrian Milan, while Spain occupied Naples and Sicily. Lorraine was forced to accept the leadership of exiled Polish king Stanislas Leszczynski. In return, Duke Francis of Lorraine was put in line to inherit Tuscany, which he did in 1737. Austria ended up ceding western Milan to Piedmont-Sardinia, and Naples and Sicily to a line of Spanish Bourbons. For its part, France recognized the Pragmatic Sanction of Maria Theresa.
Archduke Charles VI of Austria was very worried about the ascension of his daughter Maria Theresa to the throne. A war with the Ottoman Empire (1737-1739), begun by Austria’s Russian allies, was hurriedly concluded in order to free up forces to uphold the Pragmatic Sanction. Austria even ceded Oltenia and northern Serbia to the Turks. Following the death of Charles and the ascension of Maria Theresa in 1740, Prussia made clear of their intentions to gain Silesia. Frederick II offered to vote for Maria’s husband Joseph as Emperor if Austria would hand over the Silesian provinces. Following Maria’s refusal, Prussian, Saxon, and Bavarian troops invaded Austria. The following War of Austrian Succession (1740-1748) occurred in several stages. France and Spain declared war in 1741. The Prussians quickly overran Silesia, and in 1742 gained the territory by treaty. Saxony invaded Bohemia but soon withdrew. The Bavarians did better, occupying Upper Austria and Bohemia, where Duke Charles VII was crowned King of Bohemia. He also gained the Imperial crown in 1742. The Bavarians were bolstered by French troops. Bavarian fortunes reversed, however, when the Hungarians granted Maria an army. Bavarian troops were forced out of Austria, and then conquered Bavaria. Charles maintained the title of Emperor until his death in 1745.
In 1744 Prussian forces invaded Bohemia and Saxony, now Austria’s allies. Frederick’s army won several battles, but suffered high losses, and in 1745 a peace was declared, which reaffirmed Prussia’s hold on Silesia. From then on the war became a primarily Austria vs. Spain and France conflict. In Italy, the Spanish attempted to conquer Austrian Milan, which had been under Spanish ruler until 1714. Spanish forces met resistance from Savoy, which had concluded an alliance with Austria in 1742 and proceeded t fight the forces of Spain, France and their Genoan allies. The Spanish occupied Milan in 1745 but lost it in 1746. Meanwhile, France invaded the Austrian Netherlands in 1744, which drew in Great Britain and the Dutch. France defeated Austrian, British, and Dutch forces but was forced to relinquish control of the Austrian Netherlands by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, which definitively ended the conflict.
In 1756 the Seven Years War began when Prussia attacked Saxony. This drew in Prussia’s ally Great Britain-Hanover and Saxony’s allies France, Austria, Russia and Sweden. With the title of Emperor to its advantage, Austria declared Imperial War against Prussia in 1757 and most German states obeyed. Hanover was occupied by France. Prussia invaded Austrian Bohemia but was forced to withdraw after being defeated at Kolin. Prussian armies scored several victories and invaded Austria proper in 1758, but did not score a decisive victory. Forces of Hanover defeated the French the same year. Frederick of Prussia was forced on the defensive, and suffered several defeats in Brandenburg. The only large victory in 1759 came when Hanover defeated another French force at Minden. The war ended in 1763 with no territorial changes in Germany. In 1760 Hanover held off yet another French force, while the Austrian army siezed a part of Silesia. The Swedes encroached on Prussia’s Pomeranian territories. Berlin was briefly occupied by the Russians and Austrians. The next year, Spain declared war on Great Britain, while the Russians occupied part of Pommern and Austria increased its hold on Silesia. With the war in Europe going badly, Great Britain threatened to cut off its funding to Prussia and Frederick was put in a precarious position. However, the pro-Prussian Peter III became Russian czar in 1762 and almost immediately withdrew from Prussia. The Treaty of Hubertus burg (1763) ended the war.
In 1792 the First Coalition, which included Austria and Prussia, declared war on France. The French defeated the Coalition and occupied the west bank of the Rhine by 1797. The Second Coalition (1799-1801) and the Third Coalition (1805) were also defeated, and Napoleon ended up controlling most of the Empire by 1805, with a weak ally in Bavaria. Austria itself was knocked out of the war at the battle of Austerlitz in 1805 and Francis II was forced to end the Holy Roman Empire. The Confederation of Rhine was formed out of several new puppet states that Napoleon had created, and was meant to serve as an ally. After Napoleon’s defeat, his reshaping of the German states remained; for example, Baden, Württemberg and Bavaria were greatly enlarged.
In 1848, liberal and nationalistic revolutions were staged in nearly every single German state. All of them ended in favor, but not without their effects. Several states were forced to accept some liberal reforms. Austria in particular suffered from the revolutions. That year German liberals, Czechs and Magyars revolted and greatly shook the empire. Both Emperor Ferdinand I and Metternich were forced to resign. Even after quelling the revolts in Vienna and playing off the various nationalities against each other, Austrian rule was saved only when Russian troops invaded Hungary to the Hapsburgs’ relief in the spirit of upholding the principles outlined at the Congress of Vienna. The revolutions of 1848 ultimately did nothing to solve the situation in Germany, but they did present a new concept of a Prussian-dominated German Empire. The Germans, who had traditionally looked to Austria for leadership, now looked to Prussia. This was due to Frederick William IV of Prussia being offered the title of Emperor of Germany (it was refused), and Austria’s being wracked by civil war.
Into this situation rose Otto Von Bismarck, Prime Minister of Prussia. Using the Prussian military, he single-handedly unified Lesser Germany. He started in 1864 in an alliance with Austria, by declaring war on Denmark. By 1865, Austria occupied Holstein and Prussia occupied Schleswig. Bismarck next arraigned for a military alliance with Italy. Creating border conflicts between Holstein and Schleswig, Austria was provoked into declaring war. Despite having the majority of the German states on her side, including Bavaria and Saxony, the Seven Weeks War of 1866 ended in complete defeat for Austria. Although she only lost Holstein, her German allies Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, Frankfurt, and Nassau were all militarily annexed by Prussia. The following year, the North German Confederation was founded, in which most of the Saxon states, Hesse-Darmstadt, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Mecklenburg-Strelitz,, and Oldenburg were dominated by Prussia. To persuade the remaining Lesser German states to join, Bismarck managed to provoke France into declaring war on Prussia in 1870. The war was over by 1871 with France defeated and Alsace and Lorraine occupied. The South German Catholic states, who had resisted the Protestant Prussia for a long time now, finally submitted to German nationalism. Bavaria, Württemberg, and Baden joined the North German Confederation that year, and the German Empire (2nd Reich) was formed.
Cultural History of the German States
Historically, the Germans have been more socially advanced than their neighbors at many different aspects of society. While they have never excelled in pioneering different styles of government, they have touched upon nearly everything else, from literacy to the arts to nationalism. With the exception of Italy, no nation in western Europe has a more comprehensive history in this regard, and few other nations can boast of as many advancements in societal and artistic trends.
Probably the greatest invention ever created in medieval Europe was the printing press. This was invented by a Mainz native named Johann Gutenberg. He began publishing the Guttenberg Bible in 1455 with a movable type press. Because of this invention, books could be made and distributed much more quickly and as a result, the literacy rate of Europe improved. In addition, the printing press allowed for new ideas to spread much more easily. It became much more difficult for rulers to stifle new theories, resulting in the subsequent Renaissance and Reformation.
The German states have always been the leaders of religious movements. The Hussites, a proto-Protestant heretical movement, began in Bohemia with the teachings of Jan Hus. The Czech Hus had studied the works of English theologian John Wycliffe and had recognized the need for reform within the Church. Despite the defeat of the Hussites in 1436, their ideas lived on and formed a basis for Martin Luther’s calls for reform in the sixteenth century. Luther, himself, was German and the Reformation began in Germany. The Protestant faith spread quickly among many of the German states, and quickly Germany became a patchwork of different religious faiths, such as Anabaptism, Baptism, Lutheranism, and Calvinism. The emergence of Protestantism in Germany, while leading to religious strife, also encouraged religious toleration of most faiths. Many rulers accepted the presence of both Catholics and Protestants in their realms, and this eventually was extended further to Jews or Muslims.
Some would argue that capitalism owed it’s rise to the Protestant movement in Germany. According to the 20th century writer Max Weber, the Protestant movement encouraged the individual to work for his keep. The Calvinist movements, especially, involved working to earn money and goods.
The Renaissance was a further demonstration of the Germans’ creative abilities. Several artists and scientists were from Germany during this time period. For example, Albrecht Dürer of Nuremberg often made artistic pieces of the birth of Man or of Christ. Johannes Kepler was a famous astronomer who came up with the Three Laws of Planetary Motion, of which he stated that planets’ orbits were in ellipses, not circles. Several German Renaissance figures traveled to Italy for teaching or inspiration, but they created their own original works.
During the Baroque era a few German actions stood out. Heinrich Schütz specialized in church vocal music. Johann Hermann Schein also was a musical composer and worked with both instruments and voices. In 1649, Württemburg became the first state in Germany to implement mandatory elementary schooling.
The Enlightenment was the next major step in the evolution of German culturalism. While the Renaissance had been centered in Italy, the Enlightenment was much more involved within the German states. Several philosophers, including Immanuel Kant, hailed from Germany, and others, such as Voltaire, spent much time there. Many famous musicians come from Germany, including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart from Salzburg, Joseph Haydn of Austria, and Ludwig van Beethoven from Bonn (Cologne). However, France is considered the leader of the Enlightenment.
Without a doubt, Germany was a leader in the Romantic movement. Johann von Goethe of Frankfurt inspired Darwin with his studies on human jaw bones. His most famous literary piece is The Sorrows of Young Werther (1774). Another German, Friedrich Schiller of Württemberg, wrote The Robbers (1773), but was forbidden to write any books after that. Johann Gottfried Herder of Prussia was a philosopher who is sometimes credited with creating the concept of ethnic nationalism. He looked to the past and studied German literature and poetry. Franz Schubert of Austria was considered one of the most gifted musical composers of the 19th century. Carl Maria von Weber, also a German composer, drove to create a completely German opera. During the Romantic time period many people converted to the Catholic faith. This was part of the drive of romanticism to return to the past.
One of the most famous German writers is Karl Marx. Socialism had been pioneered by a few individuals, most of them from France. However, Marx introduced a new form of socialism, called communism. The Communist Manifesto, published in 1848 and co-written by Friedrich Engels and Marx, became the outline for the ideal communist state. In it, social classes would vanish, and that private property would vanish in favor of all property being owned by the people. The communism professed was in contradiction with capitalism, which was at that time the dominant economic system in the Western world and came to be a force with the rise of Protestantism. In spite of the efforts of monarchs to stifle communism, its appeal to the working class made it a force in the 19th century. Since then, several attempts have been made to create a Marxist communist state, all of them failures.
The revolutions of 1848 were revolutions for social reform with Germany. Virtually no German state was unaffected by the revolutions, so even though the revolutions failed, many of the reforms demanded were kept in place. Many of the demands were for increased civil liberties, the establishment of a classless society, to create a weak central German state that would serve for the good of all Germans, and to create a constitution that would protect the rights of the German citizen. The revolts in Austria were also anti-German in nature, which the Austrians eventually used to unite the German factions against the revolutionaries.
One unusual characteristic of the German states is the unique form of nationalism that was prevalent from the times of the Renaissance. German nationalism rarely ever actually called for uniting into a predominantly German state. Instead, the Germans were seeking to glorify their past, under the times of the Roman barbarians and later under the empire of Charlemagne. Several sources from the time period seemed to state that Charlemagne was of German, instead of French origin. While a good portion of Italy was under the suzerainty of the Holy Roman Empire, there was an anti-Italian drive of sorts within the German states. The historical basis for this would have been the Roman attempts to subjugate the barbarian Germans, as well as the Italians’ victory over Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1176. This led to a cultural revival and was part of the reason for Germany’s intense participation in the Renaissance, Baroque, Enlightenment and Romantic periods.
Due to the nature of the origins of the Holy Roman Empire, the Germans also held a historical resentment for France and many things French. When the empire of Charlemagne was split into three, Germany was one segment and France was another. As a result of this, the two states were never able to maintain friendly terms, as each viewed itself as the true successor state to Charlemagne’s European empire.
German nationalism matured during the time of Johann Herder, who emphasized the importance of German culturalism and its uniqueness from other nations’ cultures. Despite this, nationalism in its modern form only emerged in the revolutions of 1848. While the revolution had social values at stake, it also sought to unite Germany under one ruler. Despite it’s failure, it did manage to secure the concept of a Lesser Germany into the minds of the German people.
Two concepts of a unified Germany emerged in the nineteenth century. On the one hand was the traditional Greater Germany, which composed of all the German states including Austria. Because Austria had traditionally been a leader in German politics and culture, many were not willing to see a Germany as any but one led by the Austrian Emperors. On the other hand, the concept of a Lesser Germany began to gain ground. This Lesser Germany did not include the traditional Austrian lands but formed a Germany out of all the other German states. This model was popular due to the Hapsburgs’ status as a die-hard conservative group. The Prussian rulers, while conservatives, did toy with liberalism and gave the people the illusion of being reform-minded. The Austrians did not bother to do this. The Austrian Empire also consisted of a variety of non-German nationalities, including Magyars, Czechs, Slovaks, Slovenes, Croatians, Ruthenians, Poles, Romanians, and Serbs. To include these in a German empire would dilute the German population and would ultimately cause more harm than good. The Lesser Germany approach became the ultimate victor of the two, as Austria’s inability to control the various nationalities within it during the revolutions of 1848 proved that a Greater Germany would be unable to remain culturally stable.
German nationalism emerged strongly in the 1860s. Swept up with nationalistic fever as well as a string of military victories, many of the North German states joined the Kingdom of Prussia. However, the Catholics of Germany resisted any attempt to be annexed by the Prussians. Bismarck eventually used the threat of an outside belligerent to also encourage nationalism, and the Catholic states eventually joined the Empire as well. German nationalism, however, had its side effects, and the German Empire’s constant reliance on it as a unifying tool often led to international and domestic catastrophes in the next century. Some historians state that because of the inability of the German states to unite into a German nation-state for such a long time, that upon the arrival of nationalism, it was so extreme that it caused the need for an ever-expanding German state.
