The Banner of the Holy Roman Emperor after 1400.
Source: Wikipedia

The fall of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 had drastic consequences for nineteenth century German history. For about a millennium a loose conglomeration of several different semi-autonomous German-speaking kingdoms under the Latin name of Sacrum Romanum Imperium ¹ had controlled a vast region in Central Europe which is now composed of Germany, the Netherlands, part of France, Austria, part of Italy, Switzerland, Bohemia and Silesia.² The collapse of this empire was caused by several different factors including the French Revolution and the subsequent military victories the French had over Germany under Napoleon. Here the major consequences of the collapse of the Holy Roman Empire and the ripple effects which led up to the Revolution of 1848/9 are going to be examined. These include the Congress of Vienna, the famines of the early nineteenth century, the Carlsbad Decrees, the development of the German Zollverein ³ and the Hambach Festival which all in some way eventually led to the Revolution of 1848/9.

Map of the Holy Roman Empire 1789.
Source: Wikipedia

It is no surprise that with the end of the Holy Roman Empire came vast changes in the German-speaking states of Europe. The end was caused by many different factors. In chronological order, it would make sense to begin with the French Revolution. Although the French Revolution did not have a direct effect on Germany because of social and political reasons such as Germany’s lack of a central concentration of power and the German population’s reverence for their rulers,⁴ it did have indirect consequences. The threat of a French invasion under the new regime pushed Austria and Prussia to unite under a defensive pact despite the tension in their relationship.⁵ Most significantly are the political changes which took place after the French invaded the Rhineland in 1792. Despite the alliance, neither Prussia nor Austria were able to defeat the French military. Austria had tried and was defeated while Prussia remained neutral.⁶ The French set into motion a series of legislation which was published as the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss on February 15, 1803 and which ultimately allowed larger German powers such as Prussia and Austria to seize smaller states, free cities and other small, formerly sovereign areas.⁷

It is no surprise, then, that states began to leave the Holy Roman Empire. In 1806, the French, under Napoleon who had declared himself Emperor of the French in December 1804, setup a confederation of states called The Confederation of the Rhine (Rheinbund). This new confederation began to attract states which were formerly part of the Holy Roman Empire. These states left because they claimed the Holy Roman Empire could no longer protect them and that the system was essentially dysfunctional.⁸ This led Napoleon and his officials in France to bring the Holy Roman Emperor, Francis II, an ultimatum demanding that he either give up the imperial title or face war with the new French Empire. Francis decided it would be a wiser decision not to risk war with France and officially abdicated on August 6, 1806 -- the date on which the Holy Roman Empire officially came to an end.

This entry is part of a multi-part series. You can find all of the entries either on the Nineteenth Century German History project page or in the category of the same name.

Part 2 of "Consequences of the Fall of the Holy Roman Empire (1806-1848)" will be coming shortly.

March Revolution - March 19, 1848 - Berlin.
Source: Wikipedia

No century has played quite a role in modern Germany history like the nineteenth century. It was during this time which the area now known as Germany went from being the Holy Roman Empire which it had been for almost a millennium to what we consider to be more or less the modern boundaries of the country. It was a period of industrial and social revolution which would forever change Europe’s political landscape and have adverse effects in the first half of the following century. Socially, the German people went from being a very oppressed people to earning more freedoms through revolution and during this time life improved for the average person with the invention and implementation of many technologies made available for the first time to the general public by the increase in industry.

The nineteenth century was a time of intensive change to Germany and its people. The collapse of the Holy Roman Empire created a void which allowed the rise of a new type of German empire to rise to power which would compete with the established world powers. Revolution, war and the rise of nationalism were all parts of this time period which would contribute to a new German Empire and ultimately to a unified Germany which continues to exist to this day.

This entry is part of a multi-part series. You can find all of the entries either on the Nineteenth Century German History project page or in the category of the same name.

The German imperial coat of arms.
Source: Wikipedia

Despite having just begun another series, I am going to be embarking on a second multi-part series which has to do with nineteenth century German history. The goal of the project will be to give a survey of nineteenth century German history.

You may ask why I am going to be pursuing such a project on a blog about American history, but the answer is two-fold. First of all, I enjoy German history quite a bit and so I find this project to be different and extremely interesting all at the same time. Secondly, I will be undertaking this project for a history class which I am currently taking.

That being said, I hope you enjoy this project and can learn something about German history. You will be able to find all of the entries either on the Nineteenth Century German History project page or in the category of the same name.

A piece of Nathaniel Bryceson's journal

The other day I stumbled upon a very interesting website put together by the City of Westminster, London. It is a digitalization of the journal of Nathaniel Bryceson, an early Victorian clerk. The journal was written in 1846 when Nathaniel was nineteen years old. The online version as posted on the website for the City of Westminster, London is updated everyday 164 years after the entries were written.

The introduction to the journal explains it all:

The diary of Nathaniel Bryceson is a rare survival. It gives a fascinating insight into the daily life of a Victorian clerk, including details of his job at the coal wharf and the diverse places he visits across London as well as numerous mentions of family ailments and his assessment of the weather. Local events, especially murders, sudden deaths of famous people and the execution of criminals, feature alongside references to major London landmarks. National politics are mentioned in the context of the Parliamentary debates on the Corn Laws and the replacement of the Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel by Lord John Russell. There is even an international dimension to the diary with references to the war between the British and the Sikhs in India.

The diary

The diary runs from 1 January to 12 December 1846, and contains entries for 260 days. It was obviously not the only venture of its kind because Nathaniel refers to his ‘log book’ of the previous year, and on 12 December he purchased one for the following year. However, the 1846 diary seems to be the sole survivor. All the pages have suffered some water damage at the edges. The book was purchased by the Westminster City Archives and was formally accessioned on 20 August 1974 (reference Accession 730).

The text of the diary is written in longhand, interspersed with Pitman’s shorthand entries embracing private matters such as his financial affairs, his observations on the proprietor, colleagues and activities at Eccleston Wharf, and most of all his relationship with Ann Fox, his only regular companion. Some of the references to his sexual behaviour with her are written in surprisingly explicit language.

You can read more about the journal, a short biography of Nathaniel Bryceson and the journal itself on the website for the City of Westminster, London.

Europe in the High Middle Ages by William Chester Jordan

This week I have a new featured book called Europe in the High Middle Ages by William Chester Jordan. It is a very well-written book which details the Europe in the eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. It covers a range of topics from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, the Crusades to monasteries, the Catholic Church to the Holy Roman Emperor, and so on.

The book is written in a manner which is easy for the casual reader to understand and follow, but academic and detailed enough to be of value to the medieval field.

In continuing with interesting old videos of European monarchs of the late nineteenth/early twentieth century, I have posted a video of the Duke of York (later King George V of Great Britain). This is a longer video than the last, but nevertheless interesting. The video is from 1901. I find it quite fascinated to watch these old videos knowing that they were filmed over a century ago.

Note: If you cannot view the video above, you need to download a browser which supports the latest HTML 5 standards. Firefox is a good and free choice. You can also download the video here.

This is a very short, but interesting video showing Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria in 1910 or so. It really doesn't show much other than the emperor himself and some of his subjects.

Note: If you cannot view the video above, you need to download a browser which supports the latest HTML 5 standards. Firefox is a good and free choice. You can also download the video here.

Der Ackermann aus Böhmen

One of the research papers I am currently working on for my German literature class is about the ad hominem style of argumentation in the rhetorical dialog Der Ackermann aus Böhmen, or The Ploughman from Bohemia. While I am not going to go into the style of argumentation used in the text on this blog, I do want to discuss its historic significance.

The text was written ca. 1400 by Johannes von Tepl (or sometimes also known as Johannes von Saaz) and was first published in 1460. To sum it up briefly, the work is a Streitgespräch, or rhetorical dialog, between der Ackermann and Death. Der Ackermann is grieving for his wife who Death had just recently stolen from him which leads to an argument between the two. Of course der Ackermann argues that Death murdered his wife and thus should be properly punished, while Death argues that everyone must die otherwise there would be no room for anyone anymore on this earth. This is done between insulting each other. There are necessarily many details that I am choosing to omit here that are quite entertaining, but irrelevant for this post.

What is most fascinating about the dialog is the change of emphasis from religion and God to the direct confrontation between man and Death. It isn't until the end of the text that God finally breaks in between the two and establishes his judgement. Other interpretations place der Ackermann and Death in a court-like environment of which God is the judge, der Ackermann the plaintiff and Death the defendant. Both of these views are valid, however whichever standpoint the reader comes from, he or she must admit that the text breaks new ground in the question of God and religion. Der Ackermann aus Böhmen was written about a century before Luther's reformation, so Catholic doctrine was still the norm at the time.

I've included some links to the full text in both the original High Middle German and an English translation:

Original German
English (titled here as "The Husbandman and Death")

The Berlin Wall by the Brandenburger Tor.

Unless you've been living in a cave, you've probably noticed by now that today marks the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was on this day, November 9th, in 1989 that the Wall was breached and East Germans finally allowed into West Germany.

This was the result of a long, complicated process by which the Soviet Union and other communist states in Eastern Europe slowly collapsed throughout the 1980s. Originally, the East German government only wanted to reform -- like its Soviet counterparts -- by offering its citizens more freedom. Part of this freedom was the ability to move between the two Germanys. Once the Wall was breached, however, the reunification of Germany became possible and even became a part of official policy. After almost a year of negotiations, Germany officially became one country again on October 3, 1990.