The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Periods

THE REVOLUTIONARY AND NAPOLEONIC PERIODS After the outbreak of the French revolution, the ideas of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity also became popular among the educated classes in Germany. In Germany the proceedings of the first National Assembly were regarded as an attempt to put into practice in political life the great principles of reason ; but public opinion was sobered and disillusioned when the Reign of Terror followed and complete anarchy and insecurity of life and property seemed to be the immediate and the inevitable conse quences of revolution. As yet the lower classes were not sufficiently independent to take a lively interest in these questions. Only in the Rhineland, which was soon afterwards invaded by the French, was there any real agitation.

There was at first friction between the new rulers in France and the neighbouring German princes when the National Assem bly wished to put the decree abolishing feudal rights into prac tice in Alsace, where many German princes had extensive estates. The princes called on the emperor and the empire for help against the execution of the French law. But the farseeing prudent emperor had little desire to be involved for such a cause in a war with France. Day by day the bands of French emigres seeking refuge in Germany grew in number. They found asylum at the courts of the west German princes who permitted them to enlist and arm volunteers. The French saw in this a threat to their territory and demanded the disbandment of these troops. But even this dispute would not have led to an outbreak of war, if it had not been that the course taken by the Revolution and the attempted flight of Louis XVI. in 1791 placed the lives of the French royal house in danger. Queen Marie Antoinette was the sister of the Emperor Leopold, and long ago she had entreated her brother to support her and her husband. But Leopold con sidered that this would only be possible if concerted action were taken by all the great European Powers. He invited the sovereigns of Europe in a circular note of July 6, 1791, to make common cause with him on behalf of the French king and queen. His proposal was energetically supported by Frederick William II. of Prussia, who met Leopold at Pillnitz on Aug. 27, to discuss what further measures should be taken. The representatives of the French emigres and especially Count d'Artois, the younger brother of Louis XVI., came to Pillnitz to solicit help. They were informed that the German States could only contemplate taking measures which would permit the king to decide as to the accept ance of the new constitution in complete freedom if the non German Great Powers also promised their support. When, how ever, the National Assembly, of ter it had completed the drafting of the constitution, set the king at liberty, and when he accepted the constitution without any outward signs of intimidation, Leopold declared in a circular note of Nov. 12, addressed to all the Great Powers, that he considered the king's acceptance to have been a voluntary act and that the necessity for intervention by the Great Powers no longer existed.

Meanwhile the earlier Declaration of Pillnitz had become known in France through emigres, and had there aroused fierce resent ment. In consequence of the threatening speeches delivered in the National Assembly, and the growing influence of the extreme elements, the emperor found it necessary again to contemplate the assembling of a European congress. After he had concluded a defensive alliance with the king of Prussia for the maintenance of the integrity of their respective dominions, Leopold despatched a sharply-worded note to the French Government in which he announced that the growing disorder in France and the steadily increasing influence of the war-party, compelled him to take de fensive precautions on the frontiers of the empire. The Gironde, which had now taken complete control of the Government, demanded that the emperor should cease all military preparations immediately and abandon explicitly the European congress. But when this reply reached Vienna, the Emperor Leopold had just died (March 1, 1792). His son, Francis II., at once returned the answer that he could not grant either request until the complaints of the Alsatian princes had been settled and a Government had been set up in France able and willing to carry out treaty obliga tions. On receipt of this reply, the French Government declared war on April 20.

War with France.

It is therefore not true to say that Prussia and Austria united to make war for the purpose of crushing revolu tionary ideas; on the contrary, they desired to avoid war, whilst the Girondists in Paris were loudly demanding it. Obviously, when such a war once broke out, it would of necessity be a war for the principles of Government, for the enforcement of the ideas prevailing in the age of absolutism against the new ideas born of the revolution.

The Austro-Prussian campaign against France did not begin until the autumn of 1792. From the very outset, its progress was crippled by the fear that the Empress Catherine would seize the opportunity presented by the preoccupation of the allies in France to annex the whole of Poland. The chief command was entrusted to the old duke of Brunswick, who increased the resent ment of the French by issuing an imprudent and tactless manifesto to his armies. But since the French troops were ill-equipped and badly led, the German armies succeeded in capturing Verdun and advancing as far as the passes of the Argonne. But here the Duke of Brunswick delayed his attack so long that the French were able to bring up reinforcements for the defence of the passes. The bombardment of the Heights of Valmy (Sept. 2o) had no de cisive result. Brunswick did not dare to attempt a general assault, or to advance any further since his line of retreats might be threatened. Since moreover differences of opinion had meanwhile arisen between the Austrian and Prussian commanders and news had arrived that a Russian army had, in fact, marched into Po land, Frederick William II., who was present with the army in person, decided to order a retreat. The Allies' attack on France was thus frustrated. As Goethe rightly says Valmy marks the beginning of a new epoch in history.

While it was yet winter the French took the offensive, and occupied Speyer, Worms and Mainz, but failed to obtain more than a temporary grip upon Frankfurt-on-Main. Wherever the French troops came they set up Jacobin clubs and sought to win over the population to revolutionary ideas. In this they were at first successful; but it was soon clear that the Paris Government was more concerned in plundering the financial resources of the occupied districts than in their liberation. As soon as the in habitants realized this public opinion turned against the French. The threatening advance of the French on the Rhine again forced the two German Powers to take vigorous steps. During 1793 the French were again driven out of Belgium, the greater part of which they had occupied. Mainz was recaptured and the German troops entered Alsace. It was not until the following year that the French were able by their victory at Fleurus to reconquer Belgium, to regain possession of Alsace, and to advance on the Lower Rhine even as far as Aix-la-Chapelle and Cologne. They were able to do this chiefly because Prussia had virtually retired from the war because Polish affairs demanded her whole attention.

The Second and Third Partitions of Poland.

In the autumn of 1792 negotiations were initiated between Russia and Prussia for a new partition of Poland. On Jan. a treaty was signed by which Prussia obtained Danzig, Thorn, Posen and an important share of Poland ; Russia receiving the greater part of Lithuania. Austria obtained nothing but was promised assist ance in reconquering Belgium. The Emperor Francis felt that he had been cheated ; and his distrust of Prussia steadily increased from that time. Of the former Polish kingdom, only a small and unimportant part remained in existence. The opposition dis played by the Poles to the occupation of the partitioned districts was forcibly crushed by Russia and Prussia. Both these States henceforth believed that the only security against a repetition of such occurrences lay in a complete partition of Poland. But this time Austria had to be given a share of the plunder, and, after lengthy negotiations, the Third Partition Treaty was signed, in Aug. 1795. Prussia obtained the Polish capital, Warsaw with the district up to the Bug and Memel ; Austria got West Galicia and Cracow ; and Russia received all eastern Poland together with Courland. The treaty was immediately put into force, and thereby the old Polish kingdom erased from the map of Europe without any attempt having been made to consult the wishes of the inhabitants. The partition was a simple act of violence char acteristic of the Kabinetspolitik of the 18th century.

Basle, Campo Formio and Luneville.

Shortly before this Frederick William of Prussia had signed at Basle (April 5, a separate peace with France in order to leave him free to deal with affairs in the East. By this treaty the left bank of the Rhine was given over to France, while Frederick William reserved the right to demand in compensation for Prussia's possessions that North Germany, north of a line drawn from the Rhine to Silesia, should be declared neutral; the French troops were not to enter this area, in return for which Prussia guaranteed to use her influence to prevent the North German princes from sup porting the emperor against France. Thus Prussia once more resumed the anti-Austrian policy which she had for some years abandoned to make common cause with Austria against France.

Austria continued to carry on the war, with the financial sup port of England, for a further two 'ears until she was compelled, as a result of Napoleon's masterly Italian campaign, to conclude the Peace of Campo Formio (Oct. 1797). The emperor was forced to surrender Lombardy and Belgium to France and re ceived in return Venetia, Istria and Dalmatia. He was also forced to agree to the cession of the left bank of the Rhine to France. The German princes who suffered a loss of territory in conse quence of this cession were to be compensated on the German right bank of the Rhine, and their claims were to be dealt with individually by a congress which was to meet at Rastadt.

This congress actually met. But before it had completed its labours, war had broken out anew. On the death of the Empress Catherine II. (1796) her son Paul I. had succeeded to the throne; he was a bitter enemy of the revolution. Since Austria, too, was eager to throw off the hard terms of the treaty of Campo Formio, the English minister, Pitt, was able to build up a new alliance against France. The greatest of the French generals, Bonaparte, had embarked on his expedition to Egypt, and the moment therefore seemed specially favourable for a renewal of the war. Under the leadership of the Russian General Suvarov, the allied army drove the French out of Italy in 1799; but an attempt to expel them from Switzerland miscarried. Before Suvarov had arrived with Russian reinforcements, the Austrian army had been defeated near Zurich. The French were also victorious over the English troops in the Netherlands, and, when Napoleon returned from Egypt in the autumn of 1799 and took over the supreme command, the French armies again resumed the offensive. By their victory at Marengo (June 14, 1800), they won back Italy. They also advanced victoriously into southern Germany. Under these circumstances, the allies decided to treat for peace with Bonaparte, who had in the meantime become head of the French republic as first consul. By the Peace of Luneville (Feb. 9, 18o1) the cession of the left bank of the Rhine to France was confirmed. Peace between France and England was signed in the following year at Amiens.

Napoleon and the German Princes.

Negotiations now be gan in Germany for the compensation of the German princes who had incurred losses on the left bank of the Rhine. The Reichstag appointed a special commission for this purpose, but the settle ment really lay in the hands of the great Powers, especially France. Napoleon came to an understanding with Russia and Prussia to divide up the ecclesiastical states and the majority of the imperial cities among the injured princes. Bavaria, Wurttem berg, Baden and Hesse were won over by promises of especially large compensation ; finally, Austria was drawn in, since although she was reluctant to assent to such a great diminution in the Catholic elements in the Reichstag she gave up her opposition as unavailing. On Feb. 25, 1803 the results of the negotiations were embodied in the final decision of the commission (Reichsdeputa tionhauptschluss) : 112 states were apportioned, out of which in the first place certain foreign princes who had sustained losses elsewhere, had to be compensated. Thus the hereditary Stad holder of the Netherlands who had been driven from his domin ions, was given the abbacy of Fulda and certain adjoining dis tricts; the duke of Modena the Breisgau; and the grand duke of Tuscany, the archbishopric of Salzburg. Prussia was indemnified by the bishoprics of Munster, Paderborn and Hildesheim in addi tion to Erfurt and a number of imperial cities in central Ger many; Bavaria received the bishoprics of Wurzburg, Bamberg, Augsburg and Freising with a number of South German imperial cities; Wurttemberg, Baden, Hanover and Oldenburg were simi larly greatly increased in area. The map of Germany was entirely altered by these political changes which marked only the begin ning of a transformation that was to be carried still further three years later.

The Confederation of the Rhine and the Fall of the Empire.—Meanwhile war had again broken out between France and England. Russia and Austria made common cause with Eng land; Prussia remained neutral. Napoleon's great victory at Austerlitz on Dec. 2, 1805 decided the war in his favour. The tsar withdrew to Russia, and Prussia. which in consequence of a viola tion of its territory by French troops was on the point of declaring war on France, again entered into an understanding with the emperor. Austria, however, was forced to sign the unfavourable Peace of Pressburg on Dec. 26, 1805, to surrender Venetia to the kingdom of Italy recently founded by Napoleon, Tirol to Bavaria, and her remaining Suabian lands to Wurttemberg and Baden. As compensation, she received only the archbishopric of Salzburg; its former possessor, the grand-duke of Tuscany, being compensated by Wiirzburg. The emperor was also forced to recognize the elevation of Bavaria and Wurttemberg to the status of king doms. Napoleon set up in the Rhineland a new grand-duchy of Berg for his brother-in-law General Murat.

Napoleon now resolved to unite the States which he had created, or enlarged, in a permanent confederation, and on July 1806 he founded the Confederation of the Rhine, which, apart from some small states, included Bavaria, Wurttemberg, Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, Nassau and Berg. The territories of the counts and knights of the empire, which lay between these states, were divided up among them. Thus, the boundaries of the South German States were laid down by Napoleon much as they exist in the 2oth century. Their rulers feared therefore lest Napoleon's defeat would involve them in the loss of all that they had gained. The States of the Confederation of the Rhine remained independ ent for internal administration, but could not pursue an inde pendent foreign policy and were required to place their troops at any time at the disposal of Napoleon, who had been nominated the official protector of the Confederation. The members of the Confederation informed the emperor and the Reichstag that they regarded themselves as having ceased to be members of the em pire, and that this had ceased to exist (Aug. 1, 18o6). The emperor therefore laid aside the German Imperial crown on Aug. 6, having already assumed the title of emperor of Austria in 1804. The old German empire, in existence for almost i,000 years, wholly dis appeared, and the complete independence of the individual States which had grown up on its territory was legally recognized. Germany became a geographical expression, and lacked any political unity.

Napoleon's War with Prussia.—Napoleon now thought that his day of reckoning with Prussia had come. Thanks to his too cautious and wavering policy, Frederick William III. found him self without support before the might of the French emperor. Frederick William was indeed able to conclude a defensive alliance with Russia, when Napoleon's threatening speeches left no doubt as to his intentions, but, except for Russia, Prussia had as sup porters only electoral Saxony and certain small North German States. When Napoleon occupied certain Prussian districts on the Rhine in order to hand them over to the grand-duchy of Berg, and when he demanded that Prussia should recognize as valid this act of violence and completely disarm, Frederick William replied with an ultimatum in which he required Napoleon to evacuate Southern Germany. As Napoleon naturally refused. to comply with this demand, war broke out between France and Prussia in Oct. 18o6.

The defeat sustained by the Prussian armies at Jena and Auer stadt on Oct. 14, had in fact already decided the fate of the Prussian kingdom. Napoleon entered Berlin in triumph ; Fred erick William was compelled to fly to Konigsberg. The whole of northern Germany was occupied by the French, and only a few Prussian fortresses put up a successful resistance. The elector of Saxony made peace with Napoleon and entered the Con federation of the Rhine in return for the conferment of the royal title. If the tsar had not at this moment come to her aid, Prussia would have been wholly destroyed. The bloody contests on the battlefields of West and East Prussia during the early months of 1807 failed to bring about a decisive victory. Napoleon there fore thought the moment favourable to enter into peace negoti ations with the tsar, which resulted in the Peace of Tilsit (July 7, 1807). Although Prussia continued to exist as a kingdom, she was forced to cede her entire possessions west of the Elbe in addition to the greater part of her acquisitions in the last par tition of Poland. A vast war indemnity was demanded from her, and, until it had been paid in full, she was required to consent to the occupation of her most important fortresses by French troops and to undertake not to maintain an army of more than 42.00o men. Out of the territory between the Elbe and the Weser ceded by Prussia Napoleon created the kingdom of West phalia, with which he incorporated the territory of the elector of Hess°-Cassel, who had been dispossessed. He made his brother, Jerome, king.

Germany Under Napoleon.—While the attention of Na poleon was fully engaged in the south during the next few years in dealing with the revolt of the Spaniards, Austria made another attempt in 1809 to regain her old position. As Russia refused her aid, and Prussia, after her defeat, was unable to help, the war once more ended in the total defeat of Austria (Wagram, July 6, 1809). The Peace of Vienna (Oct. 14) deprived Austria of Salzburg, Galicia, and Istria. Napoleon erected a grand-duchy of Warsaw out of the former Polish possessions of Austria and Prussia, and made the king of Saxony grand-duke, whilst Dal matia (already ceded by the Treaty of Pressburg) and Istria were united to France under the name of the Illyrian Provinces.

Although he was victor in this war, Napoleon saw with anxiety the excitement these events aroused in the whole of Germany. Bodies of volunteers were formed in various districts to offer their assistance to Austria—such as those organized by Major von Schill and Duke Frederick William of Brunswick. Despite the fact that these movements met with no success, Napoleon deemed it necessary to unite the north of Germany still more closely with France, and, in 181 o, with the exception of Holland, he annexed all the German districts lying northwest of a line drawn from Cologne to Lubeck and formed them into depart ments after the French model. He had now attained to the zenith of his power ; while his marriage with the daughter of the Emperor Francis had brought his dynasty within the circle of the ancient ruling houses of Europe. But a change came over the scene with his Russian campaign in 1812, in which the French army was almost entirely destroyed, a miserable remnant alone surviving to reach Germany in the winter.

The War of Liberation.—It was only natural that Germany should seek to utilize Napoleon's heavy defeat to shake off his rule ; but there was wanting a single directing will in a country that was governed in part by princes that were vassals of France and in part occupied by French garrisons. The population of North Germany, where the rule of the foreigner had been felt most strongly and oppressively, was filled with a wild hatred against the French; in the south, where native princes still ruled and no foreign troops or officials had penetrated, emotions were less violent. For the first time the educated classes in Germany be came inspired by a feeling of world-citizenship and learnt to understand the importance of a national state in the common life of a people. The rulers of the greater States however, still hesitated to come to a definite decision. The Emperor Francis did not wish to fight against his son-in-Iaw, and Frederick William of Prussia feared that he might lose the rest of his kingdom if the new war should prove unsuccessful. Only when the Russians seemed determined to pursue their fight with Napoleon on Ger man soil, were the German princes forced to decide on which side they would fight. At Napoleon's bidding, Austria and Prussia had been forced to send reinforcements to help him against Russia. The commander of the Prussian contingent, General York, acting on his own responsibility, concluded a treaty of neutrality with the commander of the Russian forces opposing him. But it was only under pressure from the Emperor Alexander of Russia that Frederick William finally decided to address from Breslau the "Appeal to my People" (Au f ru f an mein Volk) in which he declared war against France. This proclamation gave the signal for a general ring in Northern Germany against Napoleon. Volunteers enthusiastically rushed to arms, and the Russian and Prussian troops were already on the Saxon frontier while Austria still remained neutral.

Napoleon hastened to the defence of his German allies, de feated the Russians and Prussians at Grossgorschen and Bautzen, and forced them to retreat to Silesia. Feeling himself unable to prosecute the campaign to a final victory Napoleon concluded an armistice during which peace negotiations were opened at Prague through the intermediary of Austria. Napoleon, however, was unwilling to surrender any of his conquests, and so, after much hesitation the Emperor Francis finally made common cause with the allies and declared war on France on Aug. 12, 1813. Since England gave financial support to the allies, and the Spaniards, in conjunction with an English army, advanced from the south against France, Napoleon found himself opposed by almost the whole of Europe. After many changes of fortune, the campaign in Germany finally ended in the defeat of Napoleon at the "Battle of the Nations" at Leipzig (Oct. 16-19, 1813). The French army had to retreat over the Rhine, the allied forces followed them slowly; on New Year's Eve 1814, they crossed the Rhine and advanced into northern France. By the end of March 1814 the allies were in possession of Paris. Napoleon was compelled to abdicate his throne and appeal to the mercy of his enemies. He was banished to the island of Elba. The house of Bourbon was restored to power, and, by the First Treaty of Paris, France was forced to abandon all the conquests she had made since 1792. (See also NAPOLEONIC CAMPAIGNS, etc.) The Reconstruction of Germany.—With the removal of Lhe foreign rule of the French the difficult question of Germany's future organization arose. Austrian policy, now inspired by Met ternich, aimed at preventing Prussia from becoming too powerful and desired to draw to itself the German princes who had been allied with Napoleon. The Emperor Francis signed the Treaty of Ried with the king of Bavaria, by which the latter was assured of full sovereign rights in his former dominions, and similar treaties were concluded with Wurttemberg, Baden and the other states in the former Confederation of the Rhine. Thus it was no longer possible to regard these States as captured districts to be divided up among the victors. In northern Germany Hanover, whose ruler was the king of England, also remained intact. Moreover it seemed unjust to exclude from their territories the princes whom Napoleon had exiled whilst preserving the vassal states which he had created. Under these circumstances it became excessively difficult to find a means of giving expression to the political unity of Germany.

At the Congress of Vienna, which sat from Sept. 1814 to June 1815, the German question was one of the most difficult of the problems under consideration. Finally it was agreed that Austria should recover her former possessions in Germany, with the ex ception of the scattered territories in Suabia, and in addition Salz burg, Venetia, Milan and Dalmatia. In return she was forced to abandon Belgium and hand over to Russia all her Polish ac quisitions with the exception of Galicia. Prussia obtained in east ern Germany only West Prussia and Posen, but received as com pensation for the rest of Poland (given to Russia) Westphalia, the Rhine province and the former Swedish province of Upper Pomer ania, in addition to a considerable portion of the Saxon electorate. She renounced the South German districts of Anspach and Bay reuth, which were given to Bavaria together with Wiirzburg and the Palatinate lands lying on the left bank of the Rhine. The other territorial changes were of less moment. There now re mained in Germany 39 different States, of which four were the free cities of Hamburg, Bremen, Lubeck and Frankfurt : the re mainder possessed monarchical constitutions. The idea of a restor ation of the empire was abandoned, and the 39 states formed a union of which the constitution was laid down in the Federal Act of June 8, 1815. The common organ of the Confederation was the diet at Frankfurt-on-Main of which Austria was given the presi dency. The organization of a federal army and the construction of a number of federal fortresses was also contemplated. The chief aim of the Confederation was the common defence of the federal territory against foreign attack whilst the individual States re tained full sovereignty in their internal affairs. Even the estab lishment of a supreme court of justice for the Confederation proved impossible. As any change in these basic principles could only be effected by an unanimous vote, an extension of the com petence of the Confederation was practically impossible. The Prussian provinces of Prussia and Posen, and the Austrian terri tories in Galicia, Hungary, Milan, Venetia and Dalmatia, were not included in the Confederation. The Confederation could at the most prevent war between the German States and if necessary ward off foreign attack upon its territory, but it could never establish the principle of a German political entity.

Whilst the congress was sitting at Vienna, Napoleon escaped from Elba to France and once more sought to win back his former empire. This danger forced the States which had up to that time been allies to hasten on their union to prepare themselves for corn mon defence. Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo and his imprison ment on St. Helena set this new order of things on a firm basis. By the Second Peace of Paris (Nov. 20, 1815) France was com pelled to cede Saarlouis and Saarbriicken to Prussia and Landau to Bavaria; but she retained possession of Alsace and Lorraine.