A History of Germany Part 40

The Germans, now numbering 200,000, lost no time in planting batteries on all the heights which surround the valley of the Meuse, at Sedan, like the rim of an irregular basin. Mac Mahon had 112,000 men, and his only chance of success was to break through the wider ring which inclosed him, at some point where it was weak. The battle began at five o'clock on the morning of September 1st. The princ.i.p.al struggle was for the possession of the villages of Bazeilles and Illy, and the heights of Daigny. Mac Mahon was severely wounded, soon after the fight began; the command was then given to General Ducrot and afterwards to General Wimpffen, who knew neither the ground nor the plan of operations. The German artillery fire was fearful, and the French infantry could not stand before it, while their cavalry was almost annihilated during the afternoon, in a succession of charges on the Prussian infantry.

By three o'clock it was evident that the French army was defeated: driven back from every strong point which was held in the morning, hurled together in a demoralized ma.s.s, nothing was left but surrender.

General Lauriston appeared with a white flag on the walls of Sedan, and the terrible fire of the German artillery ceased. Napoleon III. wrote to King William: "Not having been able to die at the head of my troops, I lay my sword at your Majesty's feet,"--and retired to the castle of Bellevue, outside of the city. Early the next morning he had an interview with Bismarck at the little village of Donchery, and then formally surrendered to the King at Bellevue.

[Sidenote: 1870.]

During the battle, 25,000 French soldiers had been taken prisoners: the remaining 83,000, including 4,000 officers, surrendered on the 2d of September: 400 cannon, 70 _mitrailleuses_, and 1,100 horses also fell into the hands of the Germans. Never before, in history, had such a host been taken captive. The news of this overwhelming victory electrified the world: Germany rang with rejoicings, and her emigrated sons in America and Australia joined in the jubilee. The people said: "It will be another Seven Weeks' War," and this hope might possibly have been fulfilled, but for the sudden political change in France. On the 4th (two days after the surrender), a revolution broke out in Paris, the Empress Eugenie and the members of her government fled, and a Republic was declared. The French, blaming Napoleon alone for their tremendous national humiliation, believed that they could yet recover their lost ground; and when one of their prominent leaders, the statesman Jules Favre, declared that "not one foot of soil, not one stone of a fortress"

should be yielded to Germany, the popular enthusiasm knew no bounds.

But it was too late. The great superiority of the military organization of Prussia had been manifested against the regular troops of France, and it could not be expected that new armies of volunteers, however brave and devoted, would be more successful. The army of the Crown-Prince marched on towards Paris without opposition, and on the 17th of September came in sight of the city, which was defended by an outer circle of powerful detached fortresses, constructed during the reign of Louis Philippe. Gen. Trochu was made military governor, with 70,000 men--the last remnant of the regular army--under his command. He had barely time to garrison and strengthen the forts, when the city was surrounded, and the siege commenced.

For two months thereafter, the interest of the war is centred upon sieges. The fortified city of Toul, in Lorraine, surrendered on the 23d of September, Strasburg, after a six weeks' siege, on the 28th, and thus the two lines of railway communication between Germany and Paris were secured. All the German reserves were called into the field, until, finally, more than 800,000 soldiers stood upon French soil. After two or three attempts to break through the lines Bazaine surrendered Metz on the 28th of October. It was another event without a parallel in military history. There Marshals of France, 6,000 officers, 145,000 unwounded soldiers, 73 eagles, 854 pieces of artillery, and 400,000 Cha.s.se-pot rifles, were surrendered to Prince Frederick Karl!

[Sidenote: 1870. NEW FRENCH ARMIES.]

After these successes, the capture of Paris became only a question of time. Although the Republican leader, Gambetta, escaped from the city in a balloon, and by his fiery eloquence aroused the people of Central and Southern France, every plan for raising the siege of Paris failed. The French volunteers were formed into three armies--that of the North, under Faidherbe; of the Loire, under Aurelles de Paladine (afterwards under Chanzy and Bourbaki); and of the East, under Keratry. Besides, a great many companies of _francs-tireurs_, or independent sharp-shooters, were organized to interrupt the German communications, and they gave much more trouble than the larger armies. About the end of November a desperate attempt was made to raise the siege of Paris. General Paladine marched from Orleans with 150,000 men, while Trochu tried to break the lines of the besiegers on the eastern side. The latter was repelled, after a b.l.o.o.d.y fight: the former was attacked at Beaune la Rolande, by Prince Frederick Karl, with only half the number of troops, and most signally defeated. The Germans then carried on the winter campaign with the greatest vigor, both in the Northern provinces and along the Loire, and Trochu, with his four hundred thousand men, made no further serious effort to save Paris.

Frederick Karl took Orleans on the 5th of December, advanced to Tours, and finally, in a six days' battle, early in January, 1871, at Le Mans, literally cut the Army of the Loire to pieces. The French lost 60,000 in killed, wounded and prisoners. Faidherbe was defeated in the North, a week afterwards, and the only resistance left was in Burgundy, where Garibaldi (who hastened to France after the Republic was proclaimed) had been successful in two or three small engagements, and was now replaced by Bourbaki. The object of the latter was to relieve the fortress of Belfort, then besieged by General Werder, who, with 43,000 men, awaited his coming in a strong position among the mountains.

Notwithstanding Bourbaki had more than 100,000 men, he was forced to retreat after a fight of three days, and then General Manteuffel, who had been sent in all haste to strengthen Werder, followed him so closely that on the 1st of February, all retreat being cut off, his whole army of 83,000 men crossed the Swiss frontier, and after suffering terribly among the snowy pa.s.ses of the Jura, were disarmed, fed and clothed by the Swiss government and people. Bourbaki attempted to commit suicide, but only inflicted a severe wound, from which he afterwards recovered.

[Ill.u.s.tration: The German EMPIRE 1871.]

[Sidenote: 1871. SURRENDER OF PARIS.]

The retreat into Switzerland was almost the last event of the _Seven Months' War_, as it might be called, and it was as remarkable as the surrenders of Sedan and Metz. All power of defence was now broken: France was completely at the mercy of her conquerors. On the 28th of January, after long negotiations between Bismarck and Jules Favre, the forts around Paris capitulated and Trochu's army became prisoners of war. The city was not occupied, but, for the sake of the half-starved population, provisions were allowed to enter. The armistice, originally declared for three weeks, was prolonged until March 1st, when the preliminaries of peace were agreed upon, and hostilities came to an end.

By the final treaty of Peace, which was concluded at Frankfort on the 10th of May, 1871, France gave up Alsatia with all its cities and fortresses except Belfort, and _German_ Lorraine, including Metz and Thionville, to Germany. The territory thus transferred contained about 5,500 square miles and 1,580,000 inhabitants. France also agreed to pay an indemnity of _five thousand millions_ of francs, in instalments, certain of her departments to be occupied by German troops, and only evacuated by degrees, as the payments were made. Thus ended this astonishing war, during which 17 great battles and 156 minor engagements had been fought, 22 fortified places taken, 385,000 soldiers (including 11,360 officers) made prisoners, and 7,200 cannon and 600,000 stand of arms acquired by Germany. There is no such crushing defeat of a strong nation recorded in history.

[Sidenote: 1871.]

Even before the capitulation of Paris the natural political result of the victory was secured to Germany. The cooperation of the three Southern States in the war removed the last barrier to a union of all, except Austria, under the lead of Prussia. That which the great majority of the people desired was also satisfactory to the princes: the "North-German Union" was enlarged and transformed into the "German Empire," by including Bavaria, Wurtemberg and Baden. It was agreed that the young king of Bavaria, Ludwig II., as occupying the most important position among the rulers of the three separate States, should ask King William to a.s.sume the Imperial dignity, with the condition that it should be hereditary in his family. The other princes and the free cities united in the call; and on the 18th of January, 1871, in the grand hall of the palace of Versailles, where Richelieu and Louis XIV.

and Napoleon I. had plotted their invasions of Germany, the king formally accepted the t.i.tle of Emperor, and the German States were at last united as one compact, indivisible Nation.

The Emperor William concluded his proclamation to the German People with these words: "May G.o.d permit us, and our successors to the Imperial crown, to give at all times increase to the German Empire, not by the conquests of war, but by the goods and gifts of peace, in the path of national prosperity, freedom and morality!" After the end of the war was a.s.sured, he left Paris, and pa.s.sed in a swift march of triumph through Germany to Berlin, where the popular enthusiasm was extravagantly exhibited. Four days afterwards he called together the first German Parliament (since 1849), and the organization of the new Empire was immediately commenced. It was simply, in all essential points, a renewal of the North-German Union. The Imperial Government introduced a general military, naval, financial, postal and diplomatic system for all the States, a uniformity of weights, measures and coinage,--in short, a thoroughly national union of locally independent States, all of which are embraced in a name which is no longer merely geographical--GERMANY.

Here, then, the History of the Race ceases, and that of the Nation begins.

CHAPTER XLI.

THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE.

(1871--1893.)

The First German Parliament by Direct Vote. --The Political Factions.

--The Ultramontane Party in Opposition to the Government.

--Struggle with the Church of Rome. --"Kulturkampf." --Falk appointed Minister of Culture. --His first Success. --Animosity of the Pope. --The Jesuits expelled from Germany. --The May Laws.

--The Roman Catholic Clergy rebel. --Civil Marriage made requisite.

--The "Bundesrath." --Meeting of the Three Emperors. --Armaments.

--Peace secured by Diplomacy. --Financial Questions. --Bismarck obliged to look to the Ultramontanes for Parliamentary Support. --A conciliatory Policy towards the Roman Church. --Falk resigns. --The Social-Democrats, and the Attacks on the Life of William I. --The Exceptional Law. --Party Dissensions. --A higher Protective Policy introduced. --New Taxes. --The Opening of Parliament in 1881.

--Scheme of the Government for bettering the Condition of the Workingmen. --The Colonial Question. --War-Clouds. --France finds a Sympathizer in Russia. --The Triple Alliance. --The Military Budget. --The Dissolution of Parliament. --The Government gains a Victory by new Elections. --Ludwig II. of Bavaria and his tragic End. --The Death of Emperor William I. --Fatal Disease of the Crown-Prince. --The Latter as Frederick III. --His Death. --His Successor, William II. --Resignation of Bismarck. --General Caprivi made Chancellor. --The German-English Agreement. --The Triple Alliance renewed. --New commercial Treaties. --Withdrawal of the School Bill. --A new Army Bill rejected and Parliament dissolved.

--New Elections result in victory for the Government.

[Sidenote: 1871. FIRST SESSION OF PARLIAMENT.]

After many a dark and gloomy century, the dream of a united Germany was realized. The outer pile stood complete before the awakening nation and an astonished world; now there remained to be done the patient, painstaking work of consolidating the federation of States in all particulars, making the different parts one within as well as without.

On the 21st of March, 1871, the first German Parliament, elected by the direct vote of the people, met at Berlin, the capital of the federation, and the political parties took their stand. Bismarck, Prince, Chancellor of the Empire, acknowledged as the first statesman of Europe, saw the advantage of a liberal policy, which secured for the Government the support of the Nationals and the Liberals, and with them a sufficient majority to carry out its plans. At the same time the Chancellor had to reckon with an opposition that was threatening to German unity. Chief among it were the Ultramontanes (or Papal party), so called because they looked beyond the Alps for their sovereign guide--the Church of Rome.

They formed the Centre party, and around them all the dissatisfied elements grouped themselves--the Particularists, who still held on to their petty provincial interests; the Poles from Eastern Prussia; the Danes from northern Schleswig; the Social-Democrats; and later the representatives of Alsatia and Lorraine. On the utmost right sat the old feudal n.o.bility, which was reactionary at the outset. Although diverging far apart in aims and purposes, these different factions joined hands against the Federal Government whenever their interests were concerned, and thus at times const.i.tuted a powerful foe.

[Sidenote: 1872.]

It soon became evident that the chief battle to maintain union and freedom had to be fought with the Ultramontanes, who were inspired by the counsel of the Vatican and upheld by the authority actually wielded in Germany by the Roman Catholic Church. The concessions made to it in Prussia by the romantic spirit of Frederick William IV. had borne their bitter fruit, and the Protestant kingdom had become even more a foothold for the Church of Rome than Catholic Bavaria. On the same day on which France declared war against Germany the Papal power sounded another war-trumpet by proclaiming the Dogma of Papal Infallibility. Germany had been the victor in the combat with France; it now had to encounter the other foe in defence of the best life of the nation--an untrammelled conscience, free schools, the sway of reason, and the light of science.

The task of fighting a state within the state, which confronted the Federal Government and the nation at the very outset, was hard and bitter on both sides. It took place in Parliament as well as in the Prussian and Bavarian a.s.semblies, and as a struggle for the preservation of the blessings of modern civilization it has been designated "Kulturkampf," a fight for culture.

In the beginning of 1872 the Chancellor knew himself sufficiently supported by the National-Liberals in Parliament and in the Prussian a.s.sembly to take up the combat with the Roman Church and its adherents in both political bodies. He caused the reactionary Minister of Culture, von Muhler, to resign his office, and invited Adalbert Falk, a statesman of keen insight and fearless energy, to take his place. Falk undertook to define the boundaries between the State and the Church by a series of laws, and his first success was in carrying through the Prussian a.s.sembly a bill that made the public schools independent of the Church, and gave their supervision to the State. The Pope's answer to this measure was his refusal to receive the Emperor's amba.s.sador, Cardinal Hohenlohe, who had been nominated for diplomatic representation at the Vatican on account of his conciliatory spirit. At this period Bismarck made his famous declaration, "To Canossa _we_ do not go!" The conflict waxed hotter, and from all parts of Germany the enlightened portions of the people sent pet.i.tions to Parliament, asking it to exclude from the precincts of the Empire the Jesuits, who were known to be the Pope's advisers, and as such were at the root of the evil. The demand was granted. A bill to that effect was introduced into Parliament, and, after much pa.s.sionate debate, became a law. Before the close of the year every member of the Society of Jesus had to leave Germany, and all inst.i.tutions belonging to that organization were closed.

[Sidenote: 1873. THE MAY LAWS.]

The year 1873 brought about the important legislation by which the lines between the competencies of State and Church were conclusively defined.

It was designed primarily to benefit Prussia, but its effect in the end was of advantage to the whole of Germany. The bills destined to restrict the undue power of the Roman Catholic Church, in spite of violent opposition on the part of the Ultramontanes and the reactionary Feudals, were carried through the Prussian a.s.sembly in the month of May, and hence are called the "May laws." They were met by open rebellion on the part of the Prussian episcopacy. The Catholic clergy closed the doors of their seminaries to the Government supervisors; they published protests of every form against legislation that had not the sanction of the Papal See; they omitted to make announcement to the provincial governments of newly appointed curates or beneficiaries, and demonstrated in every way their insubordination to the lay authorities. In accordance with the new laws, these rebellious acts were punished by the withdrawal of dotations that had been granted by the State to Roman Catholic seminaries or schools, and the latter in some instances were closed. The curates appointed without consent of the head authorities were forbidden to officiate, and their religious functions declared to be null and void.

Then the rebellious prelates were fined or imprisoned, and, as a last resort, declared to be out of office, while the endowments of their dioceses were administered by lay officials.

[Sidenote: 1874.]

In 1874 civil marriage was made obligatory by law, first in Prussia, and then, after receiving also the sanction of Parliament, throughout the Empire. With this measure a powerful weapon was wrenched from the hands of the clergy, and another blow was dealt. Other measures followed, under protests from Pope and clergy, and hot debating was continued in the legislative bodies, until, in 1876, matters of another nature and more momentous importance forced themselves to the front.

The work for organization and reform, up to this time, had progressed in various directions, and the proposed measures for cementing German unity had received more or less ready support in Parliament and the a.s.semblies of the different States. The latter had their representatives at Berlin, who were nominated by their respective sovereigns. They met in a body called the Bundesrath--the Counsel of the Federation. Any step taken by the Federal Government towards legislation affecting the whole of the Empire had to be laid before and agreed to by the Bundesrath before it could be introduced into Parliament. Thus the rights of the States were preserved, and the reigning Princes were made still to feel their importance, which tended to create harmony between them and the Empire.

While the interior growth of the latter was of a healthy and steady nature, the genius of the great statesman, Prince Bismarck, was busy likewise in allaying the fears and, in a measure, mollifying the envy and jealousies of neighboring powers. In September, 1872, the Emperors of Germany, Austria, and Russia met at Berlin, to renew a.s.surances of friendship and thus convince the world of their peaceable intentions.

The cordial relations between the reigning families of Germany and Italy were strengthened by visits from court to court, and even Denmark was somewhat pacified in regard to its loss of Schleswig-Holstein. But France still frowned at a distance, and was preparing for revenge. The meeting of the three Emperors gave her additional offence, and she strove to reorganize and enlarge her army. This called forth counter-movements in Germany, where the reorganization of the army--even before the late wars a pet project of William I.--had been agreed to by Parliament. A prudent diplomacy, and the friendly demonstrations of Alexander II. to the German Emperor and his Chancellor, dispelled for a time the rising war-clouds, and the peaceful work of interior organization was continued.

[Sidenote: 1882. REVISION OF THE MAY LAWS.]

After the Roman Church had been restricted to its lawful boundaries, the most important questions looming up were those in reference to financial matters. The income of the Empire proved insufficient to cover the enormous outlay for necessary changes and reforms to be perfected, while at the same time influences were brought about to forward a higher protective policy than had been adhered to hitherto. In order to bring about an increased tariff, and such taxation as the financial situation required, the Chancellor had to look for the support of other parties than the Nationals and the Liberal-Conservatives. He took it where it was offered, and here the Ultramontanes or Centre party saw their opportunity. The consequence was a tacit compromise with the latter. The contest with the Vatican faltered; a conciliatory policy was adopted in matters concerning the Catholic Church, and Falk, seeing his work crippled, resigned his office, in 1879, to make room for a reactionary Minister of Culture. In 1882 a revision of the May laws took place; the refractory bishops were allowed to return, the ecclesiastical inst.i.tutions were reopened, salaries were paid once more to the clergy by the State, and other rest.i.tutions were made, for all of which the Pope only acceded to the demand that new appointments of ecclesiastics should be announced in due form to the German Government.

At this period the political situation was aggravated by the agitation of the Social-Democrats, and by what seemed to be its direct outgrowth, the repeated murderous attempts on the life of the Emperor William I. in May and June, 1878. These startling events opened the eyes of the people to a danger in their very midst--a danger threatening society and all its most sacred inst.i.tutions. To avert it, the Chancellor at once caused a bill to be drawn up for an exceptional law, meant to suppress all aggressive movements of the Social-Democrats and reduce them to silence.

When it was laid before Parliament, it found no favor with the majority, and was rejected; whereupon the Chancellor, in the name of the Emperor, declared Parliament to be dissolved. The new elections did not bring about any considerable change; but a majority was obtained, and the exceptional law was established for two years and a half, which period afterwards was prolonged several times.

[Sidenote: 1881.]

The steady inner growth of the first eight or nine years had now been checked by party dissension and political discord, brought on chiefly by the financial difficulties, in which the new Empire found itself involved, and the steady demand from centres of industry and agriculture for higher protective measures. These demands, being favored by the Chancellor, were gaining the upper hand: customs were increased, a new duty was raised on cereals, and a considerable tax was put upon spirits.

All this made it easy for the Radicals to agitate and alarm the ma.s.ses of the people, and in consequence the parliamentary elections of 1881 gave a majority to the extreme Liberals in opposition to the Government.

When the new Parliament convened, the venerable Emperor, William I., opened it in person, and read a message the tenor of which was more than usually solemn, pointing with great emphasis to the social evils of the time, and the best remedies for healing them. The sequel of this message was a project of great magnitude, which the Federal Government introduced into Parliament for the purpose of bettering the conditions of the laboring cla.s.ses. To carry it out required successive bills and years of indefatigable work, incessant debating, and many a hard struggle with opposition, until at present the whole system is in working order. It comprises a series of insurances for laborers, to secure them from losses by sickness, accidents, invalidity, and age.

These insurances are obligatory, and the cost of them is borne jointly by the Government, the employers, and the laborers themselves.