For three years he lived in the Austrian Empire, generally at but in May 1812 he received an invitation from the em peror Alexander I. to visit St. Petersburg, seeing that Austria was certain to range herself on the side of France in the forthcoming Franco-Russian War. At the crisis of that struggle Stein may have been one of the influences which kept the tsar determined never to treat with Napoleon. When the miserable remains of the Grand Army reeled back into Prussia at the close of the year, Stein urged the Russian emperor to liberate Europe.
Events now brought Stein rapidly to the front. On Dec. 30, 1812, the Prussian general Yorck signed at Tauroggen a conven tion with the Russian general Diebitsch for neutralization of the Prussian corps at and near Tilsit, and for the free passage of the Russians through that part of the king's dominions. The tsar thereupon requested Stein to act as provisional administrator of the provinces of East and West Prussia. In that capacity he con vened an assembly of representatives of the local estates, which Feb. 5, 1813, ordered the establishment of a militia (Landwehr), a militia reserve and a final levy (Landsturm). He took part in the drafting of a Russo-Prussian convention (March 19, 1813) respecting the administration of the districts which should be de livered from French occupation. During the varying phases of the campaign of 1813 Stein continued to urge the need of war a outrance against Napoleon. The Allies conferred on Stein the important duties of superintending the administration of the liberated territories. After the battle of Leipzig (Oct. 16-19, 1813) Stein entered city.
He now desired to see Germany reconstituted as a nation, in a union which should be at once strong for purposes of defence and founded on constitutional principles. His statesmanlike projects were foiled, partly by the short-sightedness of German rulers and statesmen, but also by the craft with which Metternich gained the alliance of the rulers of south and central Germany for the Austrian empire. During the Congress of Vienna Stein pressed in vain for an effective union of the German people. Austria and the secondary German states resisted all proposals in this direc tion; and Stein blamed the Prussian chancellor Hardenberg for an indefiniteness of purpose which probably resulted from the same defect in Frederick William of Prussia. Stein shared in the
desire of all Prussian statesmen at that time to have Saxony wholly absorbed in their kingdom. In that, as in other matters, he was disappointed.
Stein passed into retirement after the Congress of Vienna, and saw with pain and disgust the postponement of the representative system of government which Frederick William had promised to Prussia in May 1815. His chief interest was in the study of history, and in 1818-1820 he worked hard to establish the society for the encouragement of historical research and the pub lication of the Monuments Germaniae historica, of which his bi ographer, Pertz, became director. Stein died on June 29, 1831.
Possibly there has been a tendency to magnify the achieve ments of Stein. Research has shown that the credit for originating his reforms must be shared with Heinrich Theodor von Scholl and many others.' The king himself rendered large services to this cause, but Stein's enlightenment, insight and almost super human energy ensured the triumph of these principles.