Friedrich "Fritz" (Frederick) Helle, born in Ruthen, Westphalia in 1835, immigrated to America through the Port )f New Orleans in 1857. Katharina Krauser, born in Mosbach, Hessen-Darmstadt in 1839, immigrated to America through the Port of New York in 1858. They met in Macomb, [Illinois and were married in 1860. Born and nurtured in seperate German kingdoms, their lives were shaped by the same religious, social and political events which had transpired over central Europe for almost two thousand years. The historical overview which follows will make their story more meaningful:
The unified German nation of the first half of the twentieth century did not exist as such until 1871 only to be divided once again following World War II. The inability to become unified was the result of Germany's position in Central Europe and the Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire who were almost exclusively German monarchs from 800 A.D. With almost no seacoasts, mountains or rivers for natural ,boundaries, the area was a highway for marching tribes, armies, and traders from remote times. In their pursuit of the title Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and the universal power it promised, German rulers overlooked the chance to unify the many kingdoms into one. The common faith of Catholicism provided the only unity and it was destroyed by Protestantism.
No one group of people is predominant in Germany. In the west and southwest Celtic and Roman predominate; Germanic in the Northwest; Celtic and Germanic in the Central and Southern; Celtic and Slavic in the Southeast; Germanic and Slavic in the East; and pre-Indo-European in the Alpine and secondary mountain ranges. "No other European people s woven of so many different strands."
In the mid-century before Christ, Roman armies conquered the Cimbrians and Teutonians and established outposts to the Danube.3 In time, many of the men of these races, unconquered as well as conquered, served under the Roman flag, eventually becoming the most effective part of the Roman armies.4 As the Roman Empire weakened in the third and fourth centuries, barbaric tribes invaded from the north and from the east. The Huns from Mongolia nearly destroyed the Roman Empire in the fourth and fifth centuries. Their most outstanding leader, Attila, controlled most of Europe north of the Danube from the Caspian Sea to the Rhine River. His sudden death in 453 ended further expansion. The conquered tribes revolted and defeated the Huns and eventually absorbed into their societies the Mongoloids who remained.
Following the defeat of the Huns, Frankish leaders conquered and built an empire in France and Germany by the mid-sixth century establishing the Merovingian dynasty which ruled for over 250 years. Clovis, who ruled from 481 to 511, probably contributed significantly to German history by converting to orthodox Catholic Christianity in 496 and ordering his followers to be baptized.
The Carolingian family became the next dynasty of leaders; the most notable being Charles the Great -- called Karl der grosse by the Germans and Charlemagne by the French --who ruled from 768 to 814.~ In 798 Pope Leo was attacked and wounded in Lucina. He fled into Frankish lands, reaching Charles at Paderborn in Westphalia. The king provided an escort and sent Leo back to Rome promising to follow. Needing the protection of a powerful leader for himself and the Church and to keep the papacy in Rome, Pope Leo decided to take dramatic action. On Christmas Day 800 Charles attended mass in the basilica of St. Peter. As he knelt in prayer in sight of all, the Pope "placed upon the brow of the barbarian chieftain the diadem of the Caesars, then bent in obeisance before him."
This coronation of Charles was the most significant event of the Middle Ages transferring the seat of the Empire back to Rome, in fact re-establishing the Empire "from the world of belief and theory into the world of fact.
Charles tried to administer and reform fairly allowing each nation to retain its laws, hereditary beliefs and free assemblies. However, he could not totally establish his concepts of free spirit because of papal power and the nations of the empire were not ready for settled life. After his death in 814 internecine warfare brought about the division of the empire among his three grandsons in 843 through the Treaty of Verdun. The Frankish and German nationalities were separated forever.
By the tenth century each province of the Carolingian empire was different, each having its own institutions and problems. Eventually five great duchies arose with their military leaders assuming the title "duke." As the pressures from invasion increased, these leaders finally assumed complete authority. It took almost a century for the next German kings of the Saxon dynasty to reassert royal power. Having been exploited and dominated by the dukes, the Church welcomed re-establishment of royal power. By the end of the tenth century hereditary monarchy and divine right were well established and carried over into the Empire.
The Saxon period was a time of plenty of land; few people. No one need be hungry.12 Under the monarchy of Henry III of Saxony, crowned in 1028, Germany was unifying and firmly established as the leader of Central Europe.13 Great progress was made toward solving internal problems only to suffer disastrous political and economic strife during the Investiture Contest -- the power struggle between popes and emperors. After Emperor Frederick II of the Hohenstaufen dynasty died in 1250, one disaster after another followed and Germany was plunged into complete chaos with no strong government developing for over five centuries. 14 Feudal Germany had been a pioneer in both monarchical government and constitutional government but both attempts eventually failed because of the connection with Italy and the crushing weight of the Empire.
Medieval feudalism now spread across Germany except in the free cities were persons moving to them would be made burghers. Recognizing a loss of power, the princes tried, with some success, to take control of the free cities.16 Four power groups now vied for control; the Emperor, the Pope and Church, the princes, and the free cities. The princes started establishing monasteries in the Black Forest and other uninhabited areas giving each in turn a broader power base. The princes then used their broader power base in league with the Pope and Church to wrest concessions from the Emperor. This gave the popes the power they needed to excommunicate emperors. Since the emperors also claimed investiture rights, they retaliated by excommunicating uncooperative popes and appointing new ones. In one instance this chain of events resulted in a 29-year civil war in Germany. This dispute continued through the reign of Frederick I --
Barbarossa (1152-1189) and his successors through Frederick 11(1212-1250) who found it impossible to avoid, Paradoxically, Frederick II was excommunicated for not going on a Crusade, reinstated and then excommunicated because he did. Re-instated again, he concluded an advantageous peace in Jerusalem and was excommunicated a third time for returning to Italy. The German kingdom broke down beneath the weight of the Holy Roman Empire which staggered on until 1806 becoming "neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire."
The Church of the Middle Ages was an historical institution in the medieval time frame and basically met the needs of that society. The noble families of Germany provided the high clergy resulting in a form of birth control amounting to "race suicide" of some noble families. In time more and more men of common origin became bishops and abbots. The art of war and the handling of civil, political, social and economic affairs became the responsibility of the clergy.
By the fourteenth century the Church was in need of reform. Time after time an effort was made only to have the problems shelved. 20 Meanwhile, a new type of lay piety resulted in the people being dissatisfied with traditional religious practices and brought about a clash with old ideals.
The sale of indulgences and a simple act calling for a debate provided the catalysts which changed forever the religious foundation of the Western world. Promising easy forgiveness, indulgences provided easy funds for the clergy and the Church. When Frederick the Wise forbid the sale of certain indulgences in Saxony, residents purchased them in nearby Brandenburg and insisted on having this form of remission of their sins validated by their local priests. Martin Luther of Wittenburg wished to clarify doubtful points on the matter. As was the custom in medieval times, on October 13, 1517, he posted 95 theses on the door of the court church inviting scholars to debate them. But for political considerations, Luther might have been quietly dismissed or excommunicated. However, the fear of the Turks had caused the pope to call for a sacred war and he needed Frederick the Wise to lead the Holy War. In addition, Emperor Maximilian had died and the Pope wanted the French king or Frederick on the Emperor's throne. Therefore, the Pope had to soft pedal the Luther case in order to have the cooperation of Frederick the Wise.
As the years passed Martin Luther's life of introspection had led him to conclude that man could only comprehend God inwardly and by himself; but only if he understood God's word. Luther expected this new concept of God to work within the framework of the existing Church and worked toward that end for many years.23 In Switzerland Zwingli, who believed the gospel alone should rule faith and practice, and Calvin, who believed God's Will was the source of everything, added fuel to the spreading fire of the Reformation.
The sixteenth century found the German kingdoms divided within and without by three religions; Lutheran, Calvinist, Catholic. Sometimes they co-existed but more often than not they clashed with each other and in all instances each was used by the prince of an area to help him enforce his authority. It was not unusual for successive rulers of a kingdom to be of first one religious persuasion and then another.
Inspired by Luther and the ideas of the Reformation, the peasants revolted in 1524 expecting Luther to endorse and support them. When he spoke to a group of those revolutionaries, he declared both the peasants and princes wrong. Almost slain by the angry peasants, he escaped and advised the princes to "end the revolution in a blood bath." The torture, mutilation and slaughter which followed is a shameful chapter in German history. The masses were alienated and the Reformation was no longer for all classes. 26 German institutions were not greatly affected by the Reformation. Most important for the future of Germany was that many functions once performed by the Church and clergy be-came the responsibility of the political community.
Faced with the rapid spread of Protestantism, the Catholic Church finally started reforming and the revitalization was eventually responsible for the Counter Reformation which was most effective in Spain and Italy but also returned much of Protestant Germany to the Catholic fold.
Throughout the sixteenth century and into the seventeenth century as the Counter Reformation continued to spread across Europe, tensions mounted resulting in the Thirty Years' War -- 1618-1648. "Morally subversive, economically destructive, socially degrading, confused in its causes, devious in its course, futile in its result, it is the outstanding example in European history of meaningless warfare." For Germany the war was a "catastrophe"; for Europe "catastrophic." It solved no problem; only caused men to reject religion as a reason for fighting and the final Peace Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 produced only "a rearrangement of the European map for the next war."
Superstition, always a part of Central European societies, plagued Europe devouring innocent victims for two centuries after Pope Innocent VIII issued a bull authorizing an inquisition against witches in 1484. Coming from the people themselves as well as the clergy, any natural event became grounds for accusation and almost certain execution. Martin Luther believed in witchcraft and recommended witches be put to death with no legal recourse. Persecution by Protestant and. Catholic alike reached warlike proportions by the end of the sixteenth century becoming most heinous and fierce during the Thirty Years' War. Women and children were the majority of the victims.
The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 was a turning point for the structure of the Holy Roman Empire; the Emperor was no longer sovereign.32 The consequences of the war were most devastating to the German kingdoms. Salzburg, the Black Forest, Austria north of the Danube and Northwestern Germany suffered no or very little destruction. Population dropped by two-thirds in some parts of the Rhenish Palatinate, Wurtemberg, Thuringia, Silesia, Mecklenberg, East Pomerania; and by one-half in parts of Brandenburg, Bohemia, Hesse, Trier, Franconia, Bavaria and the Upper Rhine valley. Generally, destruction was the greatest along the roads the armies traveled. Rural areas suffered most as wails provided some protection for cities. Miles of fields and vineyards were destroyed. There were large numbers of refugees with the ever-present misery and exploitation and disease. Capital was depleted, arteries of transportation were destroyed, and, paradoxically, large holdings increased because the successful generals could buy the cheap land.
Germany still faced the dilemma of disunity -- by 1715 there were 365 principalities. 34 Brandenburg - Prussia gradually became the most dominant and powerful granting religious tolerance for all religions. The growth of this state, its efficient government and well disciplined army were the result of the successful diplomacy and leadership of four successive kings -- The Great Elector Frederick William (1640-1688), Frederick I (1688-1713), King Frederick William I (1713-1740), and Frederick the Great, "der alte Fritz" (1740-1786).
The eighteenth century was a continuation of the same problems which had now become so common to Central Europe. Religious intolerance persisted throughout. Some people wandered to German states, where they were welcome, or immigrated. Between 1756 and 1766, 200,000 German peasant men immigrated to North America and Russia. 36 Sweden attempted to expand bringing twenty years of warfare, largely in northern Germany, ending in 1721. The conflict between France and England over the Mississippi Valley drifted into war in 1756. Prussia was drawn into that Seven Years, War because of an alliance with Britain. Once again the marching armies plundered and destroyed parts of Germany; other districts were drained dry of men and money to support the troops and the fighting.
By the latter half of the eighteenth century it was common practice of the leaders of the German kingdoms of Bayreuth, Brunswick, Hesse-Kassel and Wurtemberg to raise revenues, often for personal use, by providing troops -- "mercenaries" for the stronger kingdoms and countries of Europe. Recruits were procured by conscription and frequently by kidnapping. Once trained, the troops were rented "for good if not excessive payment," the most lucrative fees from the Dutch and English who used the mercenary troops for their colonial wars.
Austria, ruled jointly by Maria Theresa and her son Joseph II who had succeeded his father as Emperor, had been growing in power. In an attempt to be the greatest power in Central Europe, Austria allied with France, Sweden, Spain and Russia to overpower Prussia. With only England to help, Prussia escaped the threat allowing Frederick the Great to "play imperial politics."
The French Revolution in 1789 and its aftermath made Germany a war theater once again and another twenty-five years of conflict began; once again the marching armies trooped through Germany and fought most of their battles there. Prussia and Austria each expected to expand their territories but the Allies began to quarrel and French troops continued victorious -- "Old Europe trembled and tottered and the Holy Roman Empire creaked on its hinges." By the time the Reign of Terror ended in France, the combatants were weary of war and anxious for peace. However, the Peace of Basel in 1795 merely set the stage for further conflict. Napoleon Bonaparte entered the theater in 1797.41 The lack of unity among the German states, the intrigue, the bribery and the selfishness of the leaders allowed Napoleon no limits to his principle of divide and conquer. Napoleon quickly redrew the boundaries of the German states; most notably giving the Westphalian bishoprics to Prussia and retaining the left bank of the Rhine for France.42 The Holy Roman Empire died at the hands of Napoleon in 1806 and was finally buried at the Congress of Vienna in 1815.~3 A way of life which had endured for centuries had ended.
The Great Revolution and Napoleon benefited Germany by clearing away the feudal system and antique rulerships and instilled the desire for intellectual independence and economic development. However, the masses were still suppressed, peace was still unobtained and an epoch of war unprecedented in violence had been imposed upon another generation of Central Europeans.
The old Europe could not possibly be restored at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. The principal figure of that gathering was Prince Mettemich from Austria who was determend to smother the growing signs of nationalism in the German states. A dynamic, forceful man, the fate of Europe was molded by his work and his personality. With Hardenburg and Humboldt from Prussia, Talleyrand from France, Castlereagh and Wellington from Britain, and Alexander I from Russia, a pattern was created for Europe which endured with few changes for about a century.
Politically the next thirty years were a time of repression and censorship. The emerging industrial revolution had greater impact socially and economically than any event ever before. A large middle class, free to participate in democracy, evolved. Members of the lower classes could achieve independence through hard work, good economic times, special talents or marriage. Transportation by rail required cooperation between states and countries. Population increased be-cause of medical advances, public sanitation and agricultural advances. However, all was not well. As factories produced more and more goods, handicraftsmen lost ground. Workdays were 12 to 18 hours. The financial system did not keep up with the money needs and management paid workers with goods which they could not sell or exchange for the value of their work. Women and children were employed at a far lower wage scale than the men they replaced. By 1840 laws were passed in most German states limiting working children to ten hours a day under age sixteen because factory employment had so debilitated the young male population too many were unfit for military service. Overpopulation encouraged more and more immigration.
By the 1840s, there was much unrest from the excesses of the industrial revolution throughout Central Europe. Minor riots had occurred from time to time in isolated cities of the German Confederation. Then the potato blight in 1845 and the failure of both grain and potato crops in 1846 brought starvation to countless cities from Ireland to Silesia. Hunger, disease and unemployment reached bottom the summer of 1847. Recovery had begun by the spring of 1848 but too late to prevent the short-lived Revolution of 1 848.4~ In March of 1848 riots began in Vienna, Austria, and spread sporadically to other major cities of Germany. Metternich was forced to resign. A new constitution was promised and the Frankfurt Parliament hammered one out oblivious to the real problems facing the masses. Taking ten months to prepare, the new constitution was doomed to failure for by the end of 1848 conservatism was reviving, a counter revolution had begun, and by July 1849, German parliamentarianism had ended, unable to meet the challenge. The old order was restored.
A flood of over 500,000 persons immigrated from Central Europe to America during the "Hungry Forties" and another one-half million by the end of the 1 8 50's. Their numbers rose and fell according to the economic conditions. Many also immigrated within the German Confederation; Prussia alone attracted many thousands more settlers than left. The poorest districts such as Bavaria, Wiirtemberg and Hesse-Darmstadt saw significant numbers leave. Their departure improved living conditions for those remaining. "Most forty-eighters were escaping poverty and famine, not the executioner or the jailer." The landless farmers and the unemployed crossed the Atlantic; the middle class burghers stayed home and defended their interests. Those who immigrated were hungry and tired, looking for a more secure refuge.
The foregoing political upheavals notwithstanding, the eighteen-fifties were a period of relative quiet. Frederick William of Prussia continued working toward a united Germany, making his last attempt in 1850. Inflation wiped out wage gains; charity, pauperism, vagrancy and sickness were prevalent. In spite of the drawbacks, no place in Europe was better.
The eighteen-fifties were basically peaceful for the German Confederation. A conflict broke out in Hesse-Kassel; troops were assembled but Prussia backed down when Russia threatened to get into the act. Austria was involved in the war following the proclaiming of Prince Louis Napoleon Bonaparte Emperor of France in 1852 and in the Crimean War (1854-56). In 1859 Austria and France engaged in two battles over the Austrian occupation of Lombardy in Italy. In Prussia the law made all able-bodied men subject to conscription for three years. However, the army could not handle all of the available recruits and adopted a policy of releasing the conscripts after two years until the army was modernized in the eighteen-sixties.
The next act in German history was directed by Otto Von Bismarck whose leadership steered the flow of German nationalism to its long overdue conclusion: unification of the German states. In 1862 King William I of Prussia appointed Bismarck Minister-President of Prussia. Through the power of the Prussian state, Bismarck accomplished the unification by 1871 and in the process shaped the course of German and European history for decades to come.
The unified German nation of the first half of the twentieth century did not exist as such until 1871 only to be divided once again following World War II. The inability to become unified was the result of Germany's position in Central Europe and the Emperors of the Holy Roman Empire who were almost exclusively German monarchs from 800 A.D. With almost no seacoasts, mountains or rivers for natural ,boundaries, the area was a highway for marching tribes, armies, and traders from remote times. In their pursuit of the title Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and the universal power it promised, German rulers overlooked the chance to unify the many kingdoms into one. The common faith of Catholicism provided the only unity and it was destroyed by Protestantism.
No one group of people is predominant in Germany. In the west and southwest Celtic and Roman predominate; Germanic in the Northwest; Celtic and Germanic in the Central and Southern; Celtic and Slavic in the Southeast; Germanic and Slavic in the East; and pre-Indo-European in the Alpine and secondary mountain ranges. "No other European people s woven of so many different strands."
In the mid-century before Christ, Roman armies conquered the Cimbrians and Teutonians and established outposts to the Danube.3 In time, many of the men of these races, unconquered as well as conquered, served under the Roman flag, eventually becoming the most effective part of the Roman armies.4 As the Roman Empire weakened in the third and fourth centuries, barbaric tribes invaded from the north and from the east. The Huns from Mongolia nearly destroyed the Roman Empire in the fourth and fifth centuries. Their most outstanding leader, Attila, controlled most of Europe north of the Danube from the Caspian Sea to the Rhine River. His sudden death in 453 ended further expansion. The conquered tribes revolted and defeated the Huns and eventually absorbed into their societies the Mongoloids who remained.
Following the defeat of the Huns, Frankish leaders conquered and built an empire in France and Germany by the mid-sixth century establishing the Merovingian dynasty which ruled for over 250 years. Clovis, who ruled from 481 to 511, probably contributed significantly to German history by converting to orthodox Catholic Christianity in 496 and ordering his followers to be baptized.
The Carolingian family became the next dynasty of leaders; the most notable being Charles the Great -- called Karl der grosse by the Germans and Charlemagne by the French --who ruled from 768 to 814.~ In 798 Pope Leo was attacked and wounded in Lucina. He fled into Frankish lands, reaching Charles at Paderborn in Westphalia. The king provided an escort and sent Leo back to Rome promising to follow. Needing the protection of a powerful leader for himself and the Church and to keep the papacy in Rome, Pope Leo decided to take dramatic action. On Christmas Day 800 Charles attended mass in the basilica of St. Peter. As he knelt in prayer in sight of all, the Pope "placed upon the brow of the barbarian chieftain the diadem of the Caesars, then bent in obeisance before him."
This coronation of Charles was the most significant event of the Middle Ages transferring the seat of the Empire back to Rome, in fact re-establishing the Empire "from the world of belief and theory into the world of fact.
Charles tried to administer and reform fairly allowing each nation to retain its laws, hereditary beliefs and free assemblies. However, he could not totally establish his concepts of free spirit because of papal power and the nations of the empire were not ready for settled life. After his death in 814 internecine warfare brought about the division of the empire among his three grandsons in 843 through the Treaty of Verdun. The Frankish and German nationalities were separated forever.
By the tenth century each province of the Carolingian empire was different, each having its own institutions and problems. Eventually five great duchies arose with their military leaders assuming the title "duke." As the pressures from invasion increased, these leaders finally assumed complete authority. It took almost a century for the next German kings of the Saxon dynasty to reassert royal power. Having been exploited and dominated by the dukes, the Church welcomed re-establishment of royal power. By the end of the tenth century hereditary monarchy and divine right were well established and carried over into the Empire.
The Saxon period was a time of plenty of land; few people. No one need be hungry.12 Under the monarchy of Henry III of Saxony, crowned in 1028, Germany was unifying and firmly established as the leader of Central Europe.13 Great progress was made toward solving internal problems only to suffer disastrous political and economic strife during the Investiture Contest -- the power struggle between popes and emperors. After Emperor Frederick II of the Hohenstaufen dynasty died in 1250, one disaster after another followed and Germany was plunged into complete chaos with no strong government developing for over five centuries. 14 Feudal Germany had been a pioneer in both monarchical government and constitutional government but both attempts eventually failed because of the connection with Italy and the crushing weight of the Empire.
Medieval feudalism now spread across Germany except in the free cities were persons moving to them would be made burghers. Recognizing a loss of power, the princes tried, with some success, to take control of the free cities.16 Four power groups now vied for control; the Emperor, the Pope and Church, the princes, and the free cities. The princes started establishing monasteries in the Black Forest and other uninhabited areas giving each in turn a broader power base. The princes then used their broader power base in league with the Pope and Church to wrest concessions from the Emperor. This gave the popes the power they needed to excommunicate emperors. Since the emperors also claimed investiture rights, they retaliated by excommunicating uncooperative popes and appointing new ones. In one instance this chain of events resulted in a 29-year civil war in Germany. This dispute continued through the reign of Frederick I --
Barbarossa (1152-1189) and his successors through Frederick 11(1212-1250) who found it impossible to avoid, Paradoxically, Frederick II was excommunicated for not going on a Crusade, reinstated and then excommunicated because he did. Re-instated again, he concluded an advantageous peace in Jerusalem and was excommunicated a third time for returning to Italy. The German kingdom broke down beneath the weight of the Holy Roman Empire which staggered on until 1806 becoming "neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire."
The Church of the Middle Ages was an historical institution in the medieval time frame and basically met the needs of that society. The noble families of Germany provided the high clergy resulting in a form of birth control amounting to "race suicide" of some noble families. In time more and more men of common origin became bishops and abbots. The art of war and the handling of civil, political, social and economic affairs became the responsibility of the clergy.
By the fourteenth century the Church was in need of reform. Time after time an effort was made only to have the problems shelved. 20 Meanwhile, a new type of lay piety resulted in the people being dissatisfied with traditional religious practices and brought about a clash with old ideals.
The sale of indulgences and a simple act calling for a debate provided the catalysts which changed forever the religious foundation of the Western world. Promising easy forgiveness, indulgences provided easy funds for the clergy and the Church. When Frederick the Wise forbid the sale of certain indulgences in Saxony, residents purchased them in nearby Brandenburg and insisted on having this form of remission of their sins validated by their local priests. Martin Luther of Wittenburg wished to clarify doubtful points on the matter. As was the custom in medieval times, on October 13, 1517, he posted 95 theses on the door of the court church inviting scholars to debate them. But for political considerations, Luther might have been quietly dismissed or excommunicated. However, the fear of the Turks had caused the pope to call for a sacred war and he needed Frederick the Wise to lead the Holy War. In addition, Emperor Maximilian had died and the Pope wanted the French king or Frederick on the Emperor's throne. Therefore, the Pope had to soft pedal the Luther case in order to have the cooperation of Frederick the Wise.
As the years passed Martin Luther's life of introspection had led him to conclude that man could only comprehend God inwardly and by himself; but only if he understood God's word. Luther expected this new concept of God to work within the framework of the existing Church and worked toward that end for many years.23 In Switzerland Zwingli, who believed the gospel alone should rule faith and practice, and Calvin, who believed God's Will was the source of everything, added fuel to the spreading fire of the Reformation.
The sixteenth century found the German kingdoms divided within and without by three religions; Lutheran, Calvinist, Catholic. Sometimes they co-existed but more often than not they clashed with each other and in all instances each was used by the prince of an area to help him enforce his authority. It was not unusual for successive rulers of a kingdom to be of first one religious persuasion and then another.
Inspired by Luther and the ideas of the Reformation, the peasants revolted in 1524 expecting Luther to endorse and support them. When he spoke to a group of those revolutionaries, he declared both the peasants and princes wrong. Almost slain by the angry peasants, he escaped and advised the princes to "end the revolution in a blood bath." The torture, mutilation and slaughter which followed is a shameful chapter in German history. The masses were alienated and the Reformation was no longer for all classes. 26 German institutions were not greatly affected by the Reformation. Most important for the future of Germany was that many functions once performed by the Church and clergy be-came the responsibility of the political community.
Faced with the rapid spread of Protestantism, the Catholic Church finally started reforming and the revitalization was eventually responsible for the Counter Reformation which was most effective in Spain and Italy but also returned much of Protestant Germany to the Catholic fold.
Throughout the sixteenth century and into the seventeenth century as the Counter Reformation continued to spread across Europe, tensions mounted resulting in the Thirty Years' War -- 1618-1648. "Morally subversive, economically destructive, socially degrading, confused in its causes, devious in its course, futile in its result, it is the outstanding example in European history of meaningless warfare." For Germany the war was a "catastrophe"; for Europe "catastrophic." It solved no problem; only caused men to reject religion as a reason for fighting and the final Peace Treaty of Westphalia in 1648 produced only "a rearrangement of the European map for the next war."
Superstition, always a part of Central European societies, plagued Europe devouring innocent victims for two centuries after Pope Innocent VIII issued a bull authorizing an inquisition against witches in 1484. Coming from the people themselves as well as the clergy, any natural event became grounds for accusation and almost certain execution. Martin Luther believed in witchcraft and recommended witches be put to death with no legal recourse. Persecution by Protestant and. Catholic alike reached warlike proportions by the end of the sixteenth century becoming most heinous and fierce during the Thirty Years' War. Women and children were the majority of the victims.
The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 was a turning point for the structure of the Holy Roman Empire; the Emperor was no longer sovereign.32 The consequences of the war were most devastating to the German kingdoms. Salzburg, the Black Forest, Austria north of the Danube and Northwestern Germany suffered no or very little destruction. Population dropped by two-thirds in some parts of the Rhenish Palatinate, Wurtemberg, Thuringia, Silesia, Mecklenberg, East Pomerania; and by one-half in parts of Brandenburg, Bohemia, Hesse, Trier, Franconia, Bavaria and the Upper Rhine valley. Generally, destruction was the greatest along the roads the armies traveled. Rural areas suffered most as wails provided some protection for cities. Miles of fields and vineyards were destroyed. There were large numbers of refugees with the ever-present misery and exploitation and disease. Capital was depleted, arteries of transportation were destroyed, and, paradoxically, large holdings increased because the successful generals could buy the cheap land.
Germany still faced the dilemma of disunity -- by 1715 there were 365 principalities. 34 Brandenburg - Prussia gradually became the most dominant and powerful granting religious tolerance for all religions. The growth of this state, its efficient government and well disciplined army were the result of the successful diplomacy and leadership of four successive kings -- The Great Elector Frederick William (1640-1688), Frederick I (1688-1713), King Frederick William I (1713-1740), and Frederick the Great, "der alte Fritz" (1740-1786).
The eighteenth century was a continuation of the same problems which had now become so common to Central Europe. Religious intolerance persisted throughout. Some people wandered to German states, where they were welcome, or immigrated. Between 1756 and 1766, 200,000 German peasant men immigrated to North America and Russia. 36 Sweden attempted to expand bringing twenty years of warfare, largely in northern Germany, ending in 1721. The conflict between France and England over the Mississippi Valley drifted into war in 1756. Prussia was drawn into that Seven Years, War because of an alliance with Britain. Once again the marching armies plundered and destroyed parts of Germany; other districts were drained dry of men and money to support the troops and the fighting.
By the latter half of the eighteenth century it was common practice of the leaders of the German kingdoms of Bayreuth, Brunswick, Hesse-Kassel and Wurtemberg to raise revenues, often for personal use, by providing troops -- "mercenaries" for the stronger kingdoms and countries of Europe. Recruits were procured by conscription and frequently by kidnapping. Once trained, the troops were rented "for good if not excessive payment," the most lucrative fees from the Dutch and English who used the mercenary troops for their colonial wars.
Austria, ruled jointly by Maria Theresa and her son Joseph II who had succeeded his father as Emperor, had been growing in power. In an attempt to be the greatest power in Central Europe, Austria allied with France, Sweden, Spain and Russia to overpower Prussia. With only England to help, Prussia escaped the threat allowing Frederick the Great to "play imperial politics."
The French Revolution in 1789 and its aftermath made Germany a war theater once again and another twenty-five years of conflict began; once again the marching armies trooped through Germany and fought most of their battles there. Prussia and Austria each expected to expand their territories but the Allies began to quarrel and French troops continued victorious -- "Old Europe trembled and tottered and the Holy Roman Empire creaked on its hinges." By the time the Reign of Terror ended in France, the combatants were weary of war and anxious for peace. However, the Peace of Basel in 1795 merely set the stage for further conflict. Napoleon Bonaparte entered the theater in 1797.41 The lack of unity among the German states, the intrigue, the bribery and the selfishness of the leaders allowed Napoleon no limits to his principle of divide and conquer. Napoleon quickly redrew the boundaries of the German states; most notably giving the Westphalian bishoprics to Prussia and retaining the left bank of the Rhine for France.42 The Holy Roman Empire died at the hands of Napoleon in 1806 and was finally buried at the Congress of Vienna in 1815.~3 A way of life which had endured for centuries had ended.
The Great Revolution and Napoleon benefited Germany by clearing away the feudal system and antique rulerships and instilled the desire for intellectual independence and economic development. However, the masses were still suppressed, peace was still unobtained and an epoch of war unprecedented in violence had been imposed upon another generation of Central Europeans.
The old Europe could not possibly be restored at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. The principal figure of that gathering was Prince Mettemich from Austria who was determend to smother the growing signs of nationalism in the German states. A dynamic, forceful man, the fate of Europe was molded by his work and his personality. With Hardenburg and Humboldt from Prussia, Talleyrand from France, Castlereagh and Wellington from Britain, and Alexander I from Russia, a pattern was created for Europe which endured with few changes for about a century.
Politically the next thirty years were a time of repression and censorship. The emerging industrial revolution had greater impact socially and economically than any event ever before. A large middle class, free to participate in democracy, evolved. Members of the lower classes could achieve independence through hard work, good economic times, special talents or marriage. Transportation by rail required cooperation between states and countries. Population increased be-cause of medical advances, public sanitation and agricultural advances. However, all was not well. As factories produced more and more goods, handicraftsmen lost ground. Workdays were 12 to 18 hours. The financial system did not keep up with the money needs and management paid workers with goods which they could not sell or exchange for the value of their work. Women and children were employed at a far lower wage scale than the men they replaced. By 1840 laws were passed in most German states limiting working children to ten hours a day under age sixteen because factory employment had so debilitated the young male population too many were unfit for military service. Overpopulation encouraged more and more immigration.
By the 1840s, there was much unrest from the excesses of the industrial revolution throughout Central Europe. Minor riots had occurred from time to time in isolated cities of the German Confederation. Then the potato blight in 1845 and the failure of both grain and potato crops in 1846 brought starvation to countless cities from Ireland to Silesia. Hunger, disease and unemployment reached bottom the summer of 1847. Recovery had begun by the spring of 1848 but too late to prevent the short-lived Revolution of 1 848.4~ In March of 1848 riots began in Vienna, Austria, and spread sporadically to other major cities of Germany. Metternich was forced to resign. A new constitution was promised and the Frankfurt Parliament hammered one out oblivious to the real problems facing the masses. Taking ten months to prepare, the new constitution was doomed to failure for by the end of 1848 conservatism was reviving, a counter revolution had begun, and by July 1849, German parliamentarianism had ended, unable to meet the challenge. The old order was restored.
A flood of over 500,000 persons immigrated from Central Europe to America during the "Hungry Forties" and another one-half million by the end of the 1 8 50's. Their numbers rose and fell according to the economic conditions. Many also immigrated within the German Confederation; Prussia alone attracted many thousands more settlers than left. The poorest districts such as Bavaria, Wiirtemberg and Hesse-Darmstadt saw significant numbers leave. Their departure improved living conditions for those remaining. "Most forty-eighters were escaping poverty and famine, not the executioner or the jailer." The landless farmers and the unemployed crossed the Atlantic; the middle class burghers stayed home and defended their interests. Those who immigrated were hungry and tired, looking for a more secure refuge.
The foregoing political upheavals notwithstanding, the eighteen-fifties were a period of relative quiet. Frederick William of Prussia continued working toward a united Germany, making his last attempt in 1850. Inflation wiped out wage gains; charity, pauperism, vagrancy and sickness were prevalent. In spite of the drawbacks, no place in Europe was better.
The eighteen-fifties were basically peaceful for the German Confederation. A conflict broke out in Hesse-Kassel; troops were assembled but Prussia backed down when Russia threatened to get into the act. Austria was involved in the war following the proclaiming of Prince Louis Napoleon Bonaparte Emperor of France in 1852 and in the Crimean War (1854-56). In 1859 Austria and France engaged in two battles over the Austrian occupation of Lombardy in Italy. In Prussia the law made all able-bodied men subject to conscription for three years. However, the army could not handle all of the available recruits and adopted a policy of releasing the conscripts after two years until the army was modernized in the eighteen-sixties.
The next act in German history was directed by Otto Von Bismarck whose leadership steered the flow of German nationalism to its long overdue conclusion: unification of the German states. In 1862 King William I of Prussia appointed Bismarck Minister-President of Prussia. Through the power of the Prussian state, Bismarck accomplished the unification by 1871 and in the process shaped the course of German and European history for decades to come.
