|
East Germany The End of the Holy Roman Empire and the Rise of Prussia
The devastated and disjointed empire ceased to play a role in
European politics after the Thirty Years' War. As a result of the
Peace of Westphalia, German principalities became autonomous
territorial units, and the power of the Holy Roman Emperor was
reduced by German princes in league with France. During this
period of disintegration, Prussia (officially so named in 1807)
began to develop as a state. In 1618 the Brandenburg lineage of
the Hohenzollern Dynasty had acquired possession of the Duchy of
Prussia. Through a series of agreements, the Hohenzollerns
increased their territory by acquiring a string of principalities
in northern Germany. Frederick William the Great Elector (1640-
88) established absolute monarchical rule within this territory
by making an alliance with the Junkers, the landed aristocracy
comprising the officer corps of the Prussian army, who in turn
were guaranteed the perpetuation of an agrarian economy based on
serfdom. Originally a small and insignificant state, Prussia
required a standing army for protection. In order to maintain the
army and to ensure growth of the state, Prussian rulers
introduced centralized taxation and a bureaucratic system of
civil officials. Toward the end of the seventeenth century,
Prussia began to rise as a European military power. Prussian
expansionism led to competition with Habsburg Austria, the other
great power within the German empire. The competition culminated,
fifty years later, in the Seven Years' War (1756-63). Fought by
Prussia under Frederick II (Frederick the Great, 1740-86) against
Austria, Russia, and France, the conflict demonstrated the
superiority of the disciplined Prussian armies.
The French Revolution of 1789, in addition to ending the
ancien régime in France, aroused sentiment against absolutism in
several European countries. After the revolutionary movement had
spread, Prussia did not join in the campaigns aimed at stemming
the tide of revolution. After the defeat of the Austro-Russian
armies by Napoleon at Austerlitz in 1806, the principalities of
southern Germany withdrew from the empire and formed the
Confederation of the Rhine (Rheinbund) under the protectorship of
France; Emperor Francis II abdicated, and the Holy Roman Empire
came to an end. The German states in the confederation began to
replace the old order of social distinctions and privileges.
Prussia, which was finally forced into war by Napoleon, also met
defeat at Jena and Auerstedt. After the defeat, the reform of the
Prussian military was undertaken by Gerhard von Scharnhorst, who
emphasized the importance of moral incentives, personal courage,
and individual responsibility. He also introduced the principle
of competition and abandoned the privileges accorded to nobility
within the officer corps. Prussian generals in the War of
Liberation against Napoleon adopted the tactics of the
revolutionary armies of France; the military strategist Carl von
Clausewitz, in particular, developed new military strategy
principles in both theory and practice.
Data as of July 1987
|
