Monday, May 24, 2004

Sieg Heil.
Part 1- The Holy Roman Empire

WARNING: LONG AND BORING ESSAY, READ AT YOUR DISCRETION.

The Holy Roman Empire, which lasted from 962 to 1806

The HRE was a successor state to the empire founded by Charlemagne, the guy who revived the title of the Roman emperor in the western section. According to the Carolingian [a frankish dynasty of rulers that included Charlemagne] theory, the Roman empire had never ended- it was merely suspended when the last emperor abdicated.

Thus it was that Charlemagne recieved the title of the Roman Emperor in the west in 800 AD from Pope Leo III. From the death of the last Carolingian in 899 intill the German king Otto I took the title in 962, varying rulers took over the title- even a few italians.

The HRE worked by the various German states electing one of themselves to hold the Kingship of Germany, the title of Emperor of the HRE. Of course, the papacy had to flex what little muscle it had over the powerhouse of germany and "approve" of the Emperor.

The Empire's boundries varied over the years, but it usually included Germany, Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, pieces of north Italy, Belgium. Intill 1648, Switzerland and the Netherlands were considered part of the Empire too.

The dissolution of the HRE was finished by Napoleon, but started with the Thirty Year War and the Reformation, which pitted the protestant German princes against the highly Catholic Emperors that were elected into power. Thusly the protestant Princes, allied mainly with Sweden and France, were pitted against the power of the HRE and the Hapsburgs, who were allied with the Catholic princes and Spain.

To make it a short story, I'll tell you the aftermath of the war- devestation of German commerce, agriculture, population, everything. The HRE became nothing more than a ghost for the next few centuries, compared to what it had been due to the Peace of Westphalia, which recognized the sovereignty of all the states inside the empire. The only limitation was that the princes could not make alliances directed against the empire or the emperor. The Hapsburgs, the ruling house of Austria from 1282-1918, also lost a great deal of power due to this war- setting the tone for what was to come.

With that the imperial title was largely honorific- but, the Emperor's still had their herditary lands and were still somewhat powerful and the situation that was caused by the Reformation was evened out- but it started a trend of particularism and absolutionism within the various German states.

It was not nearly over, for there were three wars with Louis XIV that further destroyed the HRE's prestige.

Then, again, internal conflict- the last male of the Hapsburg line, Charles VI, died and caused the Austrian War of Succession. Maria Theresa, daughter of Charles VI, defended her Hapsburg inheritence against the amibtionious claims of Bavaria, Saxony and Prussia in said war of Succession.

Maria defended her inheritence, losing only Silesia to Prussia, and her husbund, Francis I, was declared the Emperor- so it was a successful war for her. However, due to this war, Prussia emerged as the leading German power, under King Fredrick II- which set the tone for later events, as we will see.

The successor to Francis I was Joseph II, and, being in the age of Enlightenment, tryed to rationalize the administration of the imperial government. But, he failed in the face of resistance by the particularist princes, especially Frederick II of Prussia.

And the end comes, soon- The French Revolutionry Wars began. The revolution in France alarmed many monarchs around Europe- they were afraid republican ideas and revolutions could spread to their countries, and, watching what happened in France, it was obvious they didn't want that.

When the Girondists [a group of moderate republicans] obtained control of the ministry AND the Emperor Francis II acceded in Austria, war was on the horizon for sure.

On April 20th, 1792 France declared war on Austria. The French, disorganized from the Revolution, were trampled by the allied Prussians and Austrians- they marched ever closer to Paris, and threatened to raze the city to the ground if the Monarch was hurt in any way.

This pissed off the French. Both the generals of the Northern Sector and the Central Sector resigned and were replaced by much more able-bodied generals [Dumouriez and Kellermann]- who turned the tide on Prussia and Austria.

Dumouriez advanced on the Austrian Netherlands [Belgium] and siezed it after the Battle of Jemappes, while a general named Custine marched on Frankfurt.

In late 1792, a decree was issued by France offering assistence to all people's wishing to recover their liberty. This decree along with the execution of Louis XVI and the opening of the Scheldt estuary caused Great Britain, Holland and Spain to join Austria and Prussia in their war.

Sardinia had already declared war after France had occupied Savoy and Nice. On Febuary 1st, 1793, France declared war on Britain and Holland, and on March 7, on Spain. Things rapidly turned against France. Dumouriez, defeated at Neerwinden on March 18th by the Austrians and deserted to the enemy. Revolt broke out in the Vendée and Custine lost Mainz to the Prussians on July 23.

In the emergency the first Committee of Public Safety was created on April 6th, and a levée en masse (a draft of able-bodied males between 18 and 25) was decreed in August. The Committee, inspired by the leadership of Lazare Carnot, raised armies of approximately 750,000 men. Revolutionary commissioners were attached to the commands and defeated generals, like Custine, were executed “to encourage the others".......

By the end of 1793, the Allies had been driven out of France..

Part 2- soon to come.
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