Reform from Above instead of Revolution from Below: Central Europe until 1815 Napoleon s Victories and the Re-Organization of States in Central Europe France as a Model. The French Revolution found many fans in Germany, primarily in its early years. The German poets and philosophers Schelling, Hegel, and Hölderlin planted a freedom tree in the university town of Tübingen, and were promptly rebuked by the authorities. Many educated citizens saw the French Revolution as a triumph of the Enlightenment in practical politics. In the German areas west of the Rhein ( Rhine ) river - in direct proximity to France - there arose Jacobite clubs in the French manner, in which even little people, mainly manual laborers, played a role. These clubs even proclaimed republics here and there, at a time - 1793 to 1797 -, however, in which French occupational troops supported such undertakings. The ideas of the French Revolution played a role in rural and urban uprisings of the 1790 s: protesting workers, craftsmen, laborers, and farmers adopted some of these ideas. But a revolution like France s never happened in Germany. Certain key ingredients were missing. In France, the political life of the entire country centered in Paris; Germany consisted of many large and small independent states. The citizens in Germany were, on the one hand, weaker, and on the other hand, less hostile. And in the most important German territories, Prussia and Austria, the rulers and their beaurocrats had accepted the most necessary reforms in time. As the French Revolution, in its last years, engaged more and more in cold-blooded murder and the active persecution of religion, fewer and fewer Germans remained fans of the Revolution. The Victories of the French Revolution Army Change the Map of Europe. Despite this, the French Revolution had a decisive impact on Germany. The French army ensured this. In 1792, wars began, in which revolutionary France engaged European monarchies with varying coalitions. After brief difficulties in the beginning, the attacking French troops showed themselves to be superior. They fought for the Revolution. Central Europe until 1815, page 1
Their enthusiasm was great. It happened that women disguised themselves as men, in order to be able to participate in the war. And the massive reserves of the people s army - the result of the universal draft - allowed the army to seek battles and win them despite massive casualties. In the revolutionary army, accomplishment counted, not the family s heritage; simple soldiers could become officers. Every soldier, so went the saying, carries a marshall s baton in his backpack. Especially Napoleon was a man of the soldiers: in simple clothing, he appeared in their camps, praised their accomplishments, and helped them with their work. The soldiers in the standing armies of the enemies, on the other hand, were happy if they didn t engage in battle; they also deserted in large numbers. In a few years, French victories over Austria, Prussia, and other smaller states made Napoleon the ruler of the European continent, but not of England or Russia. Under Napoleon s rule, states were torn apart and stuck together, borders were moved, and the European map was changed. The End of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. By 1801, the principalities, duchies, bishoprics and free cities west of the Rhein were occupied and annexed by France; Germany west of the Rhein belonged from then until 1813 to France. Under the brutality of Napoleon, the empire, which was old and honorable, but also weak, - the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation - was dissolved. In 1806, emperor ( Kaiser ) Franz II laid his crown down. In order to built a protective wall against powerful Austria, Napoleon built a new series of medium-sized states out of the large number of very tiny states, which had until that time constituted Germany on both sides of the Rhein. The leaders of these middle-sized states would be thankful - as Napoleon correctly saw in advance - because they gained additional territory. That was simple: one took away from the small territories their direct participation in the empire (they could then participate only indirectly, i.e., by being part of a larger territory), and one dissolved the ecclesiastical territories ( secularization ), in order to add them to the new larger states. Both happened in 1803 by means of a committee from the imperial parliament (the major imperial deputation act ). In 1806, sixteen German princes, as the winners in this territorial trading, joined together under the leadership of Napoleon as the Rhein Confederation. Their status was raised - Bavaria and Württemberg went from principalities to kingdoms -, but the citizens of the territories had to serve in the armies of Napoleon. Central Europe until 1815, page 2
These states stood under the direct influence of Napoleon. Outside of the Rhein Confederation, Prussia and Austria remained as the major powers. But even these two German superpowers were decisively defeated by Napoleon: Austria in 1805 and 1809, Prussia in 1806 in the battles of Jena and Auerstädt. Prussia lost thereby two-thirds of its territory, and had to pay large sums to France, and remained occupied by French troops. From 1806 onwards, Napoleon had almost unlimited power in Germany. The revolutionary principles of the French army had shown themselves to be superior, and the absolutist states with their indifferent subjects had shown themselves to be hopelessly out-moded and weak. Primarily in Prussia, but also in other German states like Bavaria, Baden, Hessen, and Württemberg, the political leaders understood that reforms were necessary in order to meet the French challenge. Progressive officials went into motion, in Prussia Freiherr von Stein and Karl August von Hardenberg, in Bavaria the Count of Montgelas. They initiated thorough change. With reforms from above, those living east of the Rhein answered the challenges of the French Revolution. This happened a little differently in each place; we ll consider Prussian reforms (1806-1815) as an example. Prussian Reforms First, the reformers re-shaped the highest levels of state administration. Here, with the growth of Prussia and the increased scope of federal tasks, beaurocrats had gathered, whose cooperation was merely a matter of happy chance. It bothered the reformers, primarily, that the king often made decisions in an unclear manner, only following the advice of personal advisors. After the reforms, the king governed only through the officials who were responsible to him. Their tasks were re-organized according to the principle of departmentalization. There was a secretary of war, of the interior, of foreign affairs, of finance, and of justice. The higher officials won more power at the cost of the king. They could now work more effectively. That was needed, too: because much of that, which they wanted to do, met with strong opposition from powerful social groups. Central Europe until 1815, page 3
The was true primarily concerning the freeing of the peasants, which happened already in 1804 at the state s agricultural land, and in 1807 was spread to the land owned by the nobility. Most of the noble land-owners were against this. Each of the until-then born peasants could now choose his own vocation and location. If he remained a farmer, he didn t have to pay a portion of his crops or render labor for the land-owner. But it was also true that, from 1811 onwards, a payment was due to the former landlord to make up for what he had lost. Thus the final dissolution of the system lasted for decades, and put many farmers into debt. Linked to the freeing of the peasants was the removal of the nobility s privileges in economic activity. Anybody - nobleman, citizen, or farmer - could now buy or sell land. Previously, only the nobility could own large estates. Starting in 1807, anybody could choose any job. So that freedom of trade could spread, the guilds were removed in 1810. The reformers wanted to get rid of the class-based society, they wanted economic freedom, competition, and success for the individual, and well-being for everybody. They based themselves upon the system of economic liberalism, as we have seen it in the French Revolution. Prussia would become powerful again by means of this. The individual would have more participation in the state than before. The urban regulations of 1808 provided that everyone, who had the rights of a citizen and a certain minimum income, could elect city officials. The council of these elected officials of the city nominated three candidates for mayor, and the king chose one of them. However, less than half of the residents of a city were citizens. Stein planned to introduce political participation of this type for the entire state: a national representation should be formed. In order to see a better future opening before us, Stein and other reformers worked especially hard toward education and instruction. Every intellectual power should be developed from the inside out and in the course of this, every one-sided education should be avoided. The public school system was developed, the education of teachers by the state was energetically expanded, so that, bit by bit, universal compulsory education could be instituted everywhere in Prussia. At the Gymnasium (a high school for university-bound pupils), a comprehensive final examination was introduced, which gave the pupils the right to go the Central Europe until 1815, page 4
university. So that the individual could shape himself with the greatest freedom, research and teaching at the universities was left free from state intervention. Further reform measures affected the military. An army reform removed the worst of the bad conditions of the old standing army, like, among others, beating as a punishment. Now even ordinary citizens could become officers. The universal draft was encouraged. Clearly, they had learned from the French. Naturally, in Prussia there were also opponents of this reform who raised their voices. An official communication from the nobles to the king stated: the equalization of all social classes makes the lower people and the uneducated people stubborn, they see only themselves and the worth of their person, and they see nobody over them, because the king is too far removed. But in view of the dire straights of the state, there was little else for the king to do, but support his reform-minded officials at first. In areas west of the Rhein, annexed by France, French laws were introduced. Here the changes happened earlier, quicker, and more radically. In Bavaria, Baden, Hessen, and in other states of the Rhein Confederation, reforms similar to those in Prussia were made. But some things happened there slower (e.g., the removal of the trade guilds), while other things there went quicker and farther: like the introduction of parliaments for the entire territory (citizen representation), the introduction of which failed in Prussia. In other German states (e.g., Austria and Mecklenburg), almost nothing changed. The Beginning of the National Movements and the End of Napoleonic Rule But not only the politics of the government encouraged the change. New things were happening among the people. To be sure, many German citizens didn t at first mind the influence of the French, because it promised new freedoms and the reform of out-moded systems. But soon the ruthless and cruel rule of Napoleon, his taxes, and his beaurocracy made themselves felt. A German national spirit - they called it at the time - arose against Napoleon. That was new. The educated people developed the concept that the principal powers of politics were nations. Central Europe until 1815, page 5
The French had shown in their wars, after all, what an army, convinced about its national matters, can achieve. A German patriotism arose, patterned after the example of French patriotism, and yet opposed to it. The Rise of National Movements. Poets and scientists now researched into German history. They drew primarily upon the history of literature, because it was, after all, the language that united all Germans across international borders. Such a nation was later called a linguistic nation or a cultural nation - in contrast to a nation-state which grew together in a delineated state s territory, e.g., as in France. Primarily students, professors, teachers, journalists, and other members of the educated class were sympathetic to these new ideas. To some of them, a unified German state already appeared as a distant goal: the removal of the fragmented statehoods of Germany. At the same time, they were in favor of liberal constitutions and citizen participation. But primarily they rejected the external Napoleonic domination, and they strove for a war against France, a national uprising. Since approximately 1808, there were other powers agitating elsewhere in Europe against Napoleon, too. The Spaniards fought the French occupational troops with a tactic which has since that time been called guerilla tactics: needle jabs at troops, who were much more numerous, by exploiting better knowledge of the local terrain, then going underground, and finally reappearing for new operations. French generals responded with terror; the occupational troops became all the more hated. In Austria, the farmers in Tirol armed themselves. The name of their leader, Andreas Hofer, remains famous; he was shot in 1810 by the French, who finally won, in Mantua. In northern Germany, too, there were attempts at an uprising. And the Prussian reformer Stein had to flee from Napoleon, because the French had intercepted a letter from him, in which he discussed revolutionary plans. The Decline of Napoleon began as he pursued war against Russia. The grand army with which he attacked Russia in 1812 had 700,000 men. There were soldiers from all of his subjugated areas in Europe. Their enthusiasm to fight for France wasn t very big. At first, the battle went as usual: advance without stopping. But Napoleon Central Europe until 1815, page 6
had not reckoned enough with the Russia s greatest allies: the immense size of the land, the cold winter, and also not with the patriotism of the people. The Russians retreated, removed all supplies so that the French couldn t provide for themselves, and finally they burned the city of Moscow as Napoleon prepared to enter it. Reinforcements were rare, because the routes were controlled by partisans - an experience which wasn t new for Napoleon, after Spain: there were nations who fought hard, even after their land was occupied by oppressors. Only retreat was left for the grand army, and in the winter. It became one big catastrophe. Soldiers froze, or drown as the crossed the Beresina. Only 5,000 of the 700,000 returned. Urged by his officers and officials, the Prussian king now joined the war against Napoleon. He called his people to war, and promised them a place in government, a representation of the people. Many young men enthusiastically answered his call, and in the hope for a free German nation-state as the result of the war. The Battle of the Nations at Leipzig in October of 1813 was decisive, in which Russian, English, Prussian, Austrian, and Swedish troops defeated the French. Napoleon had to abdicate and was banished to Elba. Central Europe until 1815, page 7