Before World War I and at the end of the nineteenth century, the order of the European world was already very chaotic.
This period was the lowest point for the Holy Roman Empire to maintain the feudal order in the European world.
The Holy Roman Empire is becoming increasingly declining, and internal princes are constantly quarreling. This civil war between the Holy Roman Empire gradually spreads into a melee across Europe, known in history as the Thirty Years of the War in Europe.
The war ended with the defeat of the Habsburg dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire and the signing of the Peace of Westphalia, indicating that Habsburg is no longer able to undertake the maintenance of the order of Holy Roman, and thus promoted the formation of a nation-state.
In other words, the Westphalia Treaty is the parent body of a nation-state.
After the French Revolution, the nation-state system developed to its highest peak.
France sacrificed the world system for the development of the nation-state, so it took the biggest advantage.
After the Napoleonic Wars and the Vienna Conference , with the support of Britain, the German Confederacy was established. As the successor to the Holy Rome, the German Confederacy returned to Austria in the spirit of restoration.
Britain played a big role because the interests of Britain were to avoid Europe from forming a continental power and maintain maritime hegemony.
00000000s after the end of the Holy Roman Empire after the Thirty Years' War, Germany did not shelve its ambition to assume Roman order.
But after the end of the Napoleonic War, the view at that time was all about worrying that France would make a comeback. In the future, Europe will be France or Russia to compete for hegemony on the continent.
Because Germany suffered serious losses, and the German Confederacy is very loose, it is impossible to participate in the world competition.
No one can see at this time. Prussia will grow into a terrible military power in the future.
The first thing Germany needs to solve is the loose problem within the federal government.
At that time, German was divided into three factions: Prussian faction, Austrian twitter and pure German twitter.
pure German is Bavarian , Saxony and other German states . These states all speak German and do not have Slavic territory.
Prussia has part of Poland's territory, while Austria has Hungary, Slavic, and Italy's territory, so their diplomatic forms are different.
The adjustment of the Vienna Conference had a very big impact on Prussia, which was equivalent to dividing Prussia into two halves: East and West Prussia.
East Prussia is the place along the Baltic coast, which originally expanded into the Slavic region.
The west is all Catholic, and at the same time, the military strength is not strong and can only rely on the protection of East Prussia.
If Prussian army wants to fight against France, it must cross dozens of central states, so it is necessary to expand their alliance system and achieve military and economic docking, and a new customs alliance must be established.
The takeoff of the Prussian economy was achieved through the customs alliance in the decades after the Vienna Conference.
Customs Alliance first abolished the collection of consumption tax and domestic tariffs in the alliance, and goods were freely transferred.
The benefits of the customs alliance are very obvious. These small central states cannot form an independent economic system themselves, but through trade between the north and the south, they can drive themselves.
Customs Alliance
In the following decades, Prussia's foreign policy revolved around these regions, and in the diplomatic system of Greater Europe, Prussia basically rarely took action.
This created an illusion for Britain, France and other countries, thinking that Prussia is not a powerful country at all and there is no need to take them seriously.
What the Austrians hope is to maintain the state of the German Federation and not make any changes, which is in line with Austria's interests.
Pure Germans, some hope to form an alliance with Austria, some hope to maintain an alliance with France, and some hope to form an alliance with Prussia based on the theory of reviving Germany.
The 1848 revolution in Europe, and the 1848 revolution in Europe was a series of revolutions that were influenced by the French Revolution and opposed the monarchy.
Europe's 1848 revolution
When the 1848 revolution began, Bismarck was just an inconspicuous conservative Prussian nobleman, who was preparing to lead the peasants in his territory to Beijing to serve the king.
According to the experience of the French Revolution, the peasants were conservative and the reliable support of the king, while the citizens were radical and the main group of the revolution.
Therefore, he led the peasants to Beijing to serve the king, hoping to rescue the king from the mobs and Whigs affected by the French Revolution.
When Bismarck entered Beijing, the cabinet told him that constitutionalism itself means the king. The king negotiated well with the people. It is completely trustworthy between the two sides, so Bismarck doesn't need to meddle in other people's business.
Bismarre was not the Machiaferian at this time, and when he heard this, he returned to his territory.
Bismar met with Prussian King Frederick William IV
Bismar's first half of his life can be said to be the representative of conservatives. After this setback, he became a Machiaferist in the second half of his life.
With this rescuing the king, Glach, Bismarck's mentor and supporter in his early years, and other conservative nobles felt that he was a conservative agent. But after he entered the palace, a series of diplomacy made the radical Whigs think he was a pragmatist rather than a conservative.
Bismarck's major achievement was the formation of The Second German Empire , which is the Confederacy of North Germany, which obviously excludes Austria and Bavaria.
The reason is also very simple, that is, Austria has no interest in joining, so he wants to maintain the status quo without making any changes, and Prussia has no hope that he can join.
North German Confederacy was originally just an extension of the customs union. The Prussians felt that it would be economically beneficial to everyone if the small customs areas of the central German states could be merged.
But some states are worried that if this tariff area is established, it will be bullied by the largest Prussians. But Bismarck's plan was mainly to sacrifice Prussia to accommodate the small vassal states.
Although the Prussians account for two-thirds of the North German Confederacy economically, Bismarck retained only 17 seats for Prussia in the Confederate Parliament.
There are about 40 seats in total, and less than half of the seats in Prussia are, which will relieve the suspicion of states like Saxony and be willing to form an alliance with the Prussians on tariffs.
In this federation, Prussia also paved the way for the later Franco-Prussian War and the Second German Empire.
Bismar, Ron, Moltke
Bismar's series of actions made Prussia quickly break the balance of Europe. France realized the threat of Prussia's rise to its status, so it immediately launched the French-Prussian war with Prussia, which ended with a great victory in Prussia.
After the war, King William I of Prussia was crowned emperor at the Palace of Versailles in France, establishing the German Empire , replacing France's overlord status on the European continent.
When Bismarck and King William attempted to establish the Second Empire, internal problems were more complicated than diplomatic issues.
The Second German Empire is a replica and expansion of the North German Confederacy, with Prussia at its core. The Kingdom of Prussia provided the General Staff and Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the German Empire.
The German Empire had no Ministry of Foreign Affairs, only the Secretary of State.
The German Empire's army was the Prussian army, while the German Empire had only a navy.
Prussia does not have a navy because although Prussia looks like it has a coastline, from the perspective of the fleet, it is no different from the landlocked countries.
Until Germany's reunification, no decent navy was developed.
This seems to the UK that Prussia does not have any threat, and the UK is happy to see the strength of the Prussian army, so it can fight against France.
The weakness of the navy is Bismarck's diplomatic capital. The Imperial Navy was established after the unification of the Second German Empire.
So the Prussian army became the most powerful army in the empire except Bavaria, and all other states had to rely on Prussia's protection.
And the southern states such as Bavaria and Württemberg were the ones who joined the Confederacy after the French-Prussian War. After France failed, Germany replaced France's hegemony on the European continent.
These states were very alienated from the Prussians and the empires, and lacked integration while retaining their own army.
These armies are not like the armies of the North German states, commanded by the Prussians, and only supported Prussia in wartime according to the alliance treaty. At the same time, Bavaria also retained independent diplomacy.
In other words, the German Empire was not a federal state, but a form between the Confederacy and the Federation, and also had some contractual situations under feudalism.
Bavaria and Prussia are states under the Second German Empire, but they also need to send diplomats to each other.
And there seems to be more disputes between them than those with France.
Many contradictions combined have led to Bavaria's withdrawal from the empire.
This is something Bismarck never thought of, and there is no federal country now that likes to make independent states.
After Bavaria joined the empire, it was more unfavorable to the empire than outside the empire.
It was impossible for him to defeat Prussia as an enemy country before joining the empire. After he joined the empire, he cheated Prussia miserably through his special status.
Bismarck made a fatal concession in order to win Bavaria's accession to the empire, that is, in the parliament, the diplomatic members sent three permanent directors from the courts of Bavaria, Wurtemberg and Saxony.
The Foreign Affairs Committee has a total of five members, three of whom are sent by the above-mentioned states and are fixed.
The other two seats are elected by other German states.
In other words, it is very unlikely that Prussia wants to become a member of the Foreign Affairs Commission.
Bavaria, Württemberg and Saxony must be members of the Foreign Affairs Commission.
Bismar was able to serve as prime minister because of his diplomatic ability. However, the foreign committee that led him was all his political enemies.
In this case, Bismarck was able to survive for more than 20 years. It can be seen that his diplomatic ability is really not ordinary.
The diplomacy of the Second German Empire was far from a simple foreign policy like France.
Bismar must handle all states, and at the same time, handle the Vienna court and the Pope, otherwise it will be impossible to deal with Bavaria.
In this way, he can reach a barely consensus on foreign policy and then deal with France and Russia on this extremely fragile basis.
In this case, he actually became a diplomatic leader for twenty years. After Bismarck retired, no one could do this.
Bavaria's attitude in the empire can be seen from the Franco-Prussian War.
Although Bavaria basically did not play any role in the Franco-Prussian War, he insisted on dividing up the territory of Alsace- Lorraine .
scrambled for a long time, but no one got it. In the end, Arthas-Lorraine became the direct state of the empire. Before World War I, Germany's identity as a challenger to order became increasingly obvious. William II began to implement naval and colonial plans and strive to expand its arms.
Its threat to Britain has exceeded that of France and Russia.
Britain has reason to believe that Germany's purpose is to re-establish the Holy Roman Empire system centered on China and Europe.
Britain's countermeasure is to fight back hard. Britain's strategy is to always support the weaker side of the great powers, so it abandoned its traditional allies and joined France to jointly check and balance Germany. After the outbreak of the First World War, how to deal with the occupied territories of France and Belgium caused great controversy again.
The empire hopes to adopt a flexible attitude and not make excessive demands to the French and Belgians, otherwise the cost of ending the war will be expanded.
And the British joined the French side, and it became much more difficult for France to surrender and it was not advisable to make excessive demands.
But Bavaria said that they did not receive sufficient compensation during the French-Prussian War and are now fighting for the Protestants of Prussia and their French Catholic compatriots.
This sacrifice is so huge, so if he doesn't give him enough compensation, he will withdraw from the war.
The current diplomat did not have Bismarck's skill of using both soft and hard skills, and finally compromised and gave the obtained territory plus Arthas-Lorraine to Bavaria, hoping that they would not withdraw from the war. After the agreement of
is reached, the war will not end.
This clause can satisfy Bavaria, but cannot satisfy France, Belgium and the British.
In fact, Bavaria's joining the German Empire has already made it impossible for Germany to reach a reconciliation with Britain and France.
With this alone, the German Empire will definitely fail, and in the end, the blood of the Prussian soldiers must be shed.
If Bismarck survived until the end of World War I, he would definitely regret bringing the Bavarians into the empire.
Simply put, the Second German Empire was between the Confederacy and the Federation, and at the same time retained some feudal nature. Its sovereignty was not in the hands of the people, but in the states of the German Empire.
We have said that the word "empire" in German political terms is not "a country with an emperor", but "a unified country".
So after World War I, the parliament of the Weimar Republic of Germany, also called the Imperial Parliament. It was not that the Weimar Republic wanted to restore it, but that the parliament had a German-wide nature.
All German nature must add empire.
In other words, the main body of the states under the empire was the monarchy, and the representatives of the parliament were sent out by the courts of the monarchy. The identities of these "parliamentarians" were actually "diplomacy representatives", which was also inherited from the Confederacy of North Germany.
North German Federal Parliament is actually a meeting of diplomats, and Bismarck participated as a Prussian diplomat.
So the parliament of the German Federation is actually a negotiating body of diplomats. They are not responsible for the German Empire, but for the monarchs of various states.
Although the German Empire seemed to have huge economic and military resources, there were actually not many resources that could be used.
So Prussia must make sacrifices, and if it does not, the empire will not be maintained.
For the sake of interests, other states have been threatening Prussia to make various concessions at the cost of leaving the empire.
But in order to take into account the overall situation, Prussia must make concessions.
At the same time, the empire was also incomplete in terms of finance. In the early days, the taxes of each state continued to be collected by each state themselves, and the empire only levies tariffs.
And tariffs are taxes that are highly related to diplomacy, which can easily cause dissatisfaction among states.
is not like the United States, The U.S. federal government has the right to tax the American people, rather than ask for tax sharing from the states.
Taxation from the people and tax sharing from each state are completely different concepts. Direct taxation from the people requires a strong federal government.
. The tax sharing to each state symbolizes the weakness of the federal government. If tax sharing still requires consideration of federal diplomacy, it is an extremely weak federal government.
Bismarck established such an extremely weak federation.
Needless to say, it is definitely the most uncompromising Bavaria.
Bavaria is a region with a strong literary and artistic tradition, and always spends more money and less money.
You basically don’t have to think about it if you want him to support the imperial finances.
In the late stage of the German Empire, the financial situation improved mainly because of the later establishment of the Imperial Bank.
Imperial Bank is not a government agency because issuing banknotes are not subject to state restrictions.
No matter how fierce these countries are in politics, the basic role of the market economy is that everyone will use whose currency is good for currency.
Imperial Bank was formed by a private capitalist, not a government department, and the banknotes he issued were based on the North German Economic Zone.
was finally circulated across the German Empire. Before that, there were 31 central banks in Germany, each state had its own currency, and in the end only Baden, Bavaria, Saxony and Wurttemberg still had their own currency until 1935.
banknotes issued by the Imperial Bank
This provided a valuable source of wealth for the German Empire. Relying on Deutsche Bank , you can not only issue banknotes, but also issue public bonds .
If you ask for money from each state, no matter what form you take, the states are suspicious of each other and constantly negotiate diplomatic and negotiations, there will definitely be people who are dissatisfied, and the result is that you will never get the result.
But issuing public bonds outside the federal structure, on the surface, does not ask for money from any state, but in fact, each state has paid money because citizens of each state will purchase public bonds issued by Imperial Bank.
The imperial government has no money because it cannot directly impose taxes on the people like France or the United States. The easiest way is to borrow money from the Imperial Bank. The Imperial Bank issues bonds to the people of all states, and bypasses the states.
includes the Dreadnought and the Imperial Navy that later caused headaches for the British, which were created by issuing bonds.
Nassau-class dreadnought
But if you rely solely on the Imperial Parliament, you can't get a penny.
You can see from the naval budget that Germany's finances are far less than Britain's, and Germany's taxes cannot be taxed like Britain.
Deutsche Imperial Bank cannot obtain global resources like the UK, so Germany was at a disadvantage from the beginning.
The main reason for the failure of Germany's World War I was due to this, and it can be said that it was caused by insufficient autocracy.
When we looked at the German Empire, we felt that the German Empire was a very authoritarian country, but in fact the German Empire government was far less powerful than the British cabinet.
If it weren't for Bismarck's diplomatic skills and the Prussian Kingdom made special sacrifices, it would have been impossible for so long.
So who can take on the heavy responsibility of reviving Germanic?
Next time.
