History of Saxony-Anhalt

Grand Duchy of Baden, a former sovereign state of Germany, which was bounded to the north by the kingdom of Bavaria and the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt - to the west and practically throughout its whole length by the river Rhine, which separated it from the Bavarian Palatinate and the imperial province of Alsace-Lorraine; to the south by Switzerland, and to the east by the kingdom of Wurttemberg and also part of Bavaria.

The country has an area of 5823 sq. m. and consists of a oonsiderable portion of the eastern half of the fertile, valley of the Rhine and of the mountains which form its boundary. The mountainous part is by far the most extensive, forming, indeed, nearly 8o% of the whole area. From Lake Constance in the south to the river Neckar in the north is a portion of the Black Forest or Schwarzwald, which is divided by the valley of the Kinzig into two districts of different elevation. To the south of the Kinzig the mean height is 3100 ft., and the loftiest summit, the Feldberg, reaches about 4898 ft;, while to the north the mean height is only 2100 ft., and the Belchen, the culminating point of the whole, does not exceed 4480 ft. To the north of the Neckar is the Odenwald Range,with a meanof 1440 ft., and inthe Katzenbuckel, an extreme of 1980 ft. Lying between the Rhine and the Dreisam is the Kaiserstuhl, an independent volcanic group, nearly 10 m. in length and 5 in breadth, the highest point of which is 1760 ft. The greater part of Baden belongs to the basin of the Rhine, which receives upwards of twenty tributaries from the highlands; the north-eastern portion of the territory is also watered by the Main and the Neckar. A part, however, of the eastern slope of the Black Forest belongs to the basin of the Danube, which there takes its rise in a number of mountain streams. Among the numerous lakes which belong to the duchy are the Mummel, Wilder, Eichener and Schluch, but none of them is of any size. The Lake of Constance (Boden-See) belongs partly to Bavaria and Switzerland.

Owing to its physical configuration Baden presents great extremes of heat and cold, The Rhine valley is the warmest district in Germany, but the higher elevations of the Black Forest record the greatest degrees of cold experienced in the South. The mean temperature of the Rhine valley is approximately 5o° F. and that, of the high table-land, 43° F. July is the hottest and January the coldest month in the year.

Christopher who divided it, however, before his death in 1527 among his three sons., ,thie of these died childless in 1533, and in 1535 his remaining sons, Bernard and Ernest, ir aving shared their brother's territories, made a fresh division fc nd founded the lines, oi Baden-Baden and Baden-Pforzheim, Ii aIled~ after 1565 Baden-Durlach. Further divisions followed, ir nd the weakness caused by these partitions was accentuated by a rivalry between the two main branches of the family. xi ‘his culminated’ in open warfare, and from 1584 to 1622 Baden- w iaden was in the possession of one of the princes of Baden- ni )urlach. Religious differences added to this~ rivalry. During p he period’ of, the Reformation some of the rulers of Baden G dhered t~ the older and some adopted the newer faith, and the si ouse, was similarly divided during the Thirty Years’ War. T aden suffered severely during this struggle, and both branches fi f’ the family were exiled in turn. The treaty of Westphalia in ir 648 restored the status quo, and the family rivalry gradually b ied out. During the wars of the reign of Louis XIV. the tl ~argraviate was ravaged by’ the French troops, and the margrave cl f Baden-Baden, Louis William (d. 1707), was prominent among gi he soldiers who resisted the aggressions of France. In 1771 ai kugustus George of Baden-Baden died without sons, and his it erritories passed to Charles Frederick of Baden-Durlach, who hi bus became ruler of the whole of Baden. I Although in 1771 Baden was united under a single ruler it it id not form a compact territory, and its total area was only sc bout 1350 sq. m. Consisting of a number of isolated districts I:

ving on either bank of the upper Rhine, it was the work b’ Charles Frederick to acquire the intervening stretches of hi

Lnd, and so to give territorial unity to his country. Beginning o~ reign in 1738 and coming of age in 1746, this prince is the pi

fost notable of the rulers of Baden. He was interested in the a~ evelopment of agriculture and commerce; sought to improve

lucation and the administration of justice, and was in general L wise and liberal ruler. His opportunity for territorial aggrand- le izement came during the Napoleonic wars. When war broke ti at between France and Austria in 5792 the Badenese ‘fought for ni ustria; consequently their country wasdevastated and in 1796 11 ~e margrave was compelled to pay an indemnity, and to cede s1 is territories on the left bank of the Rhine to France. Fortune, cr owever, soon returned to his side. In 1803, largely owing to the o ood offices of Alexander I., emperor of Russia,’ he received the p ishopric of Constance, part of the Rhenish Palatinate, and other a~ naller districts, together with the dignity of a prince elector, it hanging sides in 18o5 he fought for Napoleon, with the result 1 hat by the peace of Pressburg in that year he obtained the ci reisgau and other territories at’ the expense of the Habsburgs. sI Li 18o6 he joined the Confederation of the Rhine, declared ti imself a sovereign prince, became a grand-duke, and received

ther additions of territory. The’ Baden contingent continued tl ~ assist France, and by the peace of Vienna in 1809 the grand- a’ uke was rewarded with accessions of territory at the expense 0 I the kingdom of Wurttemberg. Having quadrupled the area a

Baden, Charles Frederick died in June 1811, and was suceeded by his grandson, Charles, who was married to Stephanie pe Beauharnais (d. 186o), an adopted daughter of Napoleon. Charles fought for his father-in-law until after the battle of Leipzig In 1813, when he joined the Allies. ;

In 1815 Baden became a member of the Germanic confedera- I ion established by the Act of the 8th of June, annexed to the ci rinal Act of the congress of Vienna of the 9th of June. In the ~ urry of the winding-up of the congress, however, the vexed tI uestion of the succession to the grand-duchy had not been si ettled. This was soon to become acute. By the treaty of the ~ 6th of April 1816, by which the territorial disputes between C Lustria and Bavaria were settled, the succession to the Baden ~ ‘alatinate was guaranteed to Maximilian I., king of Bavaria, in

he expected event of the extinction of the line of Zahringen. ti ~a a counterblast to this the grand-duke Charles issued in 1817 a p )ragmatic sanction (Hausgesetz) declaring the counts of Hochberg, t heissue of a morganatic marriage between the grand-duke Charles c

ochberg), capable of succeeding to the crown. A controversy ~tween Bavaria and Baden resulted, which was only decided favour of the Hochberg claims by the treaty signed by the ur great powers and Baden at Frankfort on the 10th of July ‘9. Meanwhile the dispute had produced important effects Baden. In order to secure popular support for the Hochberg ir, Charles in 1818 granted to the grand-duchy, under article ii. of the Act of Confederation, a liberal constitution, under hich two chambers were constituted and their assent declared cessary for legislation and taxation. The outcome was ~of imrtance far beyond the narrow limits of the duchy; for all ermany watched the constitutional experiments of the southern ates. In Baden the conditions were not favourable to success. he people, belonging to the “Celtic fringe” of Germany, had lien during the revolutionary period completely under the’ fluence of French ideas, and this was sufficiently illustrated the temper of the new chambers, which tended to model eir activity on the proceedingsof the Convention in the earlier ~ys of the French -Revolution. On the other hand,’ the new and-duke Louis, who had succeeded in 1818, was unpopular, Ed the administration was in the hands of hide-bound and efficient bureaucrats. The result was a deadlock; and, even fore the promulgation of the Carlsbad decrees in October ‘p the grand-duke had prorogued the chambers, after three onths of sterile debate. The reaction that followed was as vere in Baden as elsewhere in Germany, and culminated in 23, when, on the refusal of the chambers to vote the military idget, the grand-duke dissolved them and levied the taxes on s own authority. In January 1825, owing to official pressure, fly three Liberals were returned to the chamber; a law was Lssed making the budget presentable only every three years, id the constitution ceased to have, any active existence.

In 1830 Louis was succeeded as grand.~duke by his half-brother ~opold, the first of the Hochberg line. The July Revolution ci to no disturbances in Baden; but the new grand-duke from ,e first showed liberal tendencies. The elections of ‘1830 were t interfered with; and the result was the return of a Liberal ajority. The next few years saw the introduction, under Lccessive ministries, of Liberal reforms in the constitution, in iminal and civil law, and in education. In 1832 the adhesion Baden to the Prussian Zoilverein did much for the material prosperity of the country. ‘With the approach of the revolutiony year t848, however, Radicalism once mbre began to lift up 1 head. At a popular demonstration held at Offenburg on the th of September 1847, resolutions were passed demanding the inversion of the regular army into a national militia which ould take an oath to the constitution, a progressive incomex and a fair adjustment of the interesth of capital and labour. The ne’ws of the revolution of February 1848 in Paris brought is agitation to a head. Numerous public meetings were held which the Offenburg programme was adopted, and on the 4th March, under the influence of the popular excitement, it was cepted almost unanimously by the lower chamber. As in her German states, the government bowed to the storm, ~ociaimed an amnesty and promised reforms. The ministry as remodelled in a more Liberal direction; and a new delegate as sent to the federal diet at Frankfort, empowered to vote r the establishment of a parliament for united Germany. he disorders, fomented by republican agitators, none the less intinued; and the efforts of the government to suppress them ith the aid of federal troops led to an armed insurrection. For te time this was mastered without much difficulty; the inirgents were beaten at Kandern on the 20th of April; Freiburg, hich they held, fell on the 24th; and on the 27th a Francoerman “legion,” which had invaded Baden from Strassburg, as routed at Dossenbach.

At the beginning of 1849, however, the issue of a new constiition, in’ accordance with the resolutions of the Frankfort irliament, led to more serious trouble. It did little to satisfy ie Radicals, who were angered by the refusal of the second iamber to agree to their proposal for the summoning of a

constituent assembly (ioth of February 1849). The new insurrection that now broke out was a more formidable affair than the first. ‘A military mutiny at Rastatt on the 11th of May showed that the army sympathized with the revolution, which was proclaimed two days later at Offenburg amid tumultuous scenes. On the same day (i3th of May) a mutiny at Karlsruhe forced the grand-duke to take to flight, and the next day he was followed by the ministers, while a committee of the diet under Lorenz Brentano (1813—1891), who represented the more moderate R*dicals as against the republicans, established itself in the capital to attempt to direct affairs pending the establishment of a provisional government. This was accomplished on the 1st of June, and on the ioth the “constituent diet,” consisting entirely of the most “advanced” politicians, assembled. It had ‘little chance of doing more than make speeches; the country was in the hands of’an armed mob of civilians and mutinous soldiers; and, meanwhile, the grand-duke of Baden had joined with Bavaria in requesting the armed intervention of Prussia, which was granted on the condition that Baden should join the League of the Three Kings.

From this moment the revolution in Baden was doomed, and with it the revolution in all Germany. The Prussians, under Prince William (afterwards emperor), invaded Baden in the middle of June. The insurgent forces were under the command of the Pole, Ludwig von Mieroslawski (18 14—1878), who reduced them to some semblance of order. On the 20th he met the Prussians at Waghausel, and was completely defeated; on the ~~th Prince William entered Karlsruhe; and at the end of the month the members of the provisional government, who had taken refuge at Freiburg, dispersed. Such of the insurgent leaders as were caught, notably the ex-officers, suffered military execution; the army was dispersed among Prussian garrison towns; and Baden- was occupied for the time by Prussian troops. The grand-duke returned on the içth of August, and at once dissolved the diet., The elections resulted in a majority favourable to the new ministry, and a series of laws were passed of a reactionary tendency with a view to strengthening the government.

The grand-duke Leopold died on the 24th of April 1852, and was succeeded by his second son, Frederick, as regent, the eldest, Louis (d. 22nd of January 1858), being incapable of ruling.i The internal affairs of Baden during the period that followed have comparatively little general interest. In the greater politics of Germany, Baden, between 1850 and 1866, was a consistent supporter of Austria; and in the war of 1866 her contingents, under Prince William, had two sharp engagements with the Prussian army of the Main. Two days before the affair of Werbach (24th of July), however, the second chamber had petitioned the grand-duke to end the war and enter into an offensive and defensive alliance with Prussia. The grand-duke had from the first been opposed to the war with Prussia, but had been forced to yield owing to popular resentment at the policy of Prussia in the Schleswig-Holstein question (q.v.). The ministry, now at one, resigned; Baden announced her withdrawal from the German confederation; and on the I7th of August a treaty of peace and alliance was signed with Prussia. The adhesion of Baden to the North German confederation was presrented by Bismarck himself, who had no wish to give Napoleon III. so good an excuse for intervention; but it was the opposition of Baden to the formation of a South German confederation that made the ultimate union inevitable. The troops of Baden took a conspicuous share in the war of 2870; and it was the grand-duke of Baden, who, in the historic assembly of the German princes at Versailles, was the first to hail the king of Prussia as German emperor.

The internal politics of Baden, both before and after 1870, centre in the main round the question of religion. The signing on the 28th of June 2859 of a concordat with the Holy See, by which education was placed under the oversight of the clergy and the establishment of religious orders was facilitated, led to a constitutional struggle, which ended in 1863 with the victory

- ‘1 Frederick assumed the title of grand-duke on the 5th of September 1856.

of Liberal principles, the commune’s being made responsible for education, though the priests were admitted to a share in the management. The quarrel between Liberalism and Clericalism was, however, not ended. In 1867, on the accession to the premiership of Julius von Jolly (1823—1891), several constitutional changes in a Liberal direction were made; responsibility of ministers, freedom of the press, compulsory education. In the same year (6th of September) a law was passed to compel all candidates for the priesthood to pass the government examina. lions. The archbishop of Freiburg resisted, and, on his death in April 1868, the see was left vacant, In 1869 the introduction of civil marriage did not tend to allay the strife, which reached its climax after the proclamation of the dogma of papal infallibility in 1870. The “Kulturkampf” raged in Baden, as in the rest of Germany; and here as elsewhere the government encouraged the formation of Old Catholic communities. Not till 188o, after the fall of the ministry of Jolly, was a i’econciliation with Rome effected; in 2882 the archbishopric of Freiburg was again filled up. The political tendency of Baden, meanwhile, mirrored that of all Germany. In 1892 the National Liberals had but a majority of one in the diet; from 1893 they could maintai1i-~themselves only with the aid of the Conservatives; and in 2897 a coalition of Ultramontanes, Socialists, Social-democrats and Radicals (Freisinnige), won a majority for the opposition in the chamber.

Amid all these contests the wise and statesmanlike moderation of the grand-duke Frederick won him universal esteem. By the treaty under which Baden had become an integral part of the German empire, he had reserved only the exclusive right to tax beer and spirits; the army, the post-office, railways and the conduct of foreign relations were placed under the effective control of Prussia. In his relations with the German empire, too, Frederick proved himself rather a great German noble than a sovereign prince actuated by particularist ambitions; and his position as husband of the emperor William I.’s only daughter, Louise (whom he had married in 1856), gave him a peculiar influence in the councils of Berlin. When, on the 20th of September 1906, the grand-duke celebrated at once the jubilee of his reign and his golden wedding, all Europe combined to do him honour. King Edward VII. sent him, by the hands of the duke of Connaught, the order of the Garter. But more significant, perhaps, was the tribute paid by the Temps, the leading Parisian paper. “Nothing more clearly demonstrates the sterile paradox of the Napoleonic work,” it wrote, “ than the history of the grand-duchy. It was Napoleon, and he alone, who created this whole state in 2803 to reward in the person of the little margrave of Baden a relative of the emperor of Russia. It was he who after Austerlitz aggrandized the margravate at the expense of Austria; transformed it into a sovereign principality and raised it to a grand-duchy. It was he too who, by the secularization on the one hand and by the dismemberment of Wurttemberg on the other, gave the grand-duke 500,000 new subjects. He believed that the recognition of the prince and the artificial ethnical formation of the principality would be pledges of ;ecurity for France. But in 1813 Baden joined the coalition, and since then that nation created of odds and ends (de bric el le broc) and always handsomely treated by us, had not ceased to take a leading part in the struggles against our country. rhe grand-duke Frederick, grand-duke by the will of Napoleon, has done France all the harm he could. But French opinion itself renders justice to the probity of his character and to the ardour of his patriotism, and nobody will feel surprise at the homage with which Germany feels bound to surround his old age.” He died at Mainau on the 28th of September ioo~, and was succeeded by his son, the grand-duke Frederick II.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.—DaS Grossherzogtum Baden in ge~graphischer Hinsichi dargesleilt (Karisruhe, i885); Wielandt, Des Steatsrecht des Grossherzogtums Baden (Freiburg, 1895); F. von Weech, Badische Geschichte (Karlsruhe, 1890); Die Zahringer in Baden (Karlsruhe, 1881); Baden unter den Grossherzëgen Karl Friedrwh. Karl Ludwig (Freiburg, 1863); Geschic-hte der badischen Verfassung (Karlsruhe, I868); and Baden in den Jahren 1852 bis 1877 (Karlsruhe, 1877); C. F. Nebenius,and F. von Weech, Karl Friedrich von Baden (Karlsruhe, 1868); L. H. Häusser, DenkwiArdigkeiten gut Geschichte der badischen Revolution (Heidelberg, 1851); L. Muller, constituent assembly (ioth of February 1849). The new insurrection that now broke out was a more formidable affair than the first. ‘A military mutiny at Rastatt on the 11th of May showed that the army sympathized with the revolution, which was proclaimed two days later at Offenburg amid tumultuous scenes. On the same day (i3th of May) a mutiny at Karlsruhe forced the grand-duke to take to flight, and the next day he was followed by the ministers, while a committee of the diet under Lorenz Brentano (1813—1891), who represented the more moderate R*dicals as against the republicans, established itself in the capital to attempt to direct affairs pending the establishment of a provisional government. This was accomplished on the 1st of June, and on the ioth the “constituent diet,” consisting entirely of the most “advanced” politicians, assembled. It had ‘little chance of doing more than make speeches; the country was in the hands of’an armed mob of civilians and mutinous soldiers; and, meanwhile, the grand-duke of Baden had joined with Bavaria in requesting the armed intervention of Prussia, which was granted on the condition that Baden should join the League of the Three Kings.

From this moment the revolution in Baden was doomed, and with it the revolution in all Germany. The Prussians, under Prince William (afterwards emperor), invaded Baden in the middle of June. The insurgent forces were under the command of the Pole, Ludwig von Mieroslawski (18 14—1878), who reduced them to some semblance of order. On the 20th he met the Prussians at Waghausel, and was completely defeated; on the ~~th Prince William entered Karlsruhe; and at the end of the month the members of the provisional government, who had taken refuge at Freiburg, dispersed. Such of the insurgent leaders as were caught, notably the ex-officers, suffered military execution; the army was dispersed among Prussian garrison towns; and Baden- was occupied for the time by Prussian troops. The grand-duke returned on the içth of August, and at once dissolved the diet., The elections resulted in a majority favourable to the new ministry, and a series of laws were passed of a reactionary tendency with a view to strengthening the government.

The grand-duke Leopold died on the 24th of April 1852, and was succeeded by his second son, Frederick, as regent, the eldest, Louis (d. 22nd of January 1858), being incapable of ruling.i The internal affairs of Baden during the period that followed have comparatively little general interest. In the greater politics of Germany, Baden, between 1850 and 1866, was a consistent supporter of Austria; and in the war of 1866 her contingents, under Prince William, had two sharp engagements with the Prussian army of the Main. Two days before the affair of Werbach (24th of July), however, the second chamber had petitioned the grand-duke to end the war and enter into an offensive and defensive alliance with Prussia. The grand-duke had from the first been opposed to the war with Prussia, but had been forced to yield owing to popular resentment at the policy of Prussia in the Schleswig-Holstein question (q.v.). The ministry, now at one, resigned; Baden announced her withdrawal from the German confederation; and on the I7th of August a treaty of peace and alliance was signed with Prussia. The adhesion of Baden to the North German confederation was presrented by Bismarck himself, who had no wish to give Napoleon III. so good an excuse for intervention; but it was the opposition of Baden to the formation of a South German confederation that made the ultimate union inevitable. The troops of Baden took a conspicuous share in the war of 2870; and it was the grand-duke of Baden, who, in the historic assembly of the German princes at Versailles, was the first to hail the king of Prussia as German emperor.

The internal politics of Baden, both before and after 1870, centre in the main round the question of religion. The signing on the 28th of June 2859 of a concordat with the Holy See, by which education was placed under the oversight of the clergy and the establishment of religious orders was facilitated, led to a constitutional struggle, which ended in 1863 with the victory

- ‘1 Frederick assumed the title of grand-duke on the 5th of September 1856.

of Liberal principles, the commune’s being made responsible for education, though the priests were admitted to a share in the management. The quarrel between Liberalism and Clericalism was, however, not ended. In 1867, on the accession to the premiership of Julius von Jolly (1823—1891), several constitutional changes in a Liberal direction were made; responsibility of ministers, freedom of the press, compulsory education. In the same year (6th of September) a law was passed to compel all candidates for the priesthood to pass the government examina. lions. The archbishop of Freiburg resisted, and, on his death in April 1868, the see was left vacant, In 1869 the introduction of civil marriage did not tend to allay the strife, which reached its climax after the proclamation of the dogma of papal infallibility in 1870. The “Kulturkampf” raged in Baden, as in the rest of Germany; and here as elsewhere the government encouraged the formation of Old Catholic communities. Not till 188o, after the fall of the ministry of Jolly, was a i’econciliation with Rome effected; in 2882 the archbishopric of Freiburg was again filled up. The political tendency of Baden, meanwhile, mirrored that of all Germany. In 1892 the National Liberals had but a majority of one in the diet; from 1893 they could maintai1i-~themselves only with the aid of the Conservatives; and in 2897 a coalition of Ultramontanes, Socialists, Social-democrats and Radicals (Freisinnige), won a majority for the opposition in the chamber.

Amid all these contests the wise and statesmanlike moderation of the grand-duke Frederick won him universal esteem. By the treaty under which Baden had become an integral part of the German empire, he had reserved only the exclusive right to tax beer and spirits; the army, the post-office, railways and the conduct of foreign relations were placed under the effective control of Prussia. In his relations with the German empire, too, Frederick proved himself rather a great German noble than a sovereign prince actuated by particularist ambitions; and his position as husband of the emperor William I.’s only daughter, Louise (whom he had married in 1856), gave him a peculiar influence in the councils of Berlin. When, on the 20th of September 1906, the grand-duke celebrated at once the jubilee of his reign and his golden wedding, all Europe combined to do him honour. King Edward VII. sent him, by the hands of the duke of Connaught, the order of the Garter. But more significant, perhaps, was the tribute paid by the Temps, the leading Parisian paper. “Nothing more clearly demonstrates the sterile paradox of the Napoleonic work,” it wrote, “ than the history of the grand-duchy. It was Napoleon, and he alone, who created this whole state in 2803 to reward in the person of the little margrave of Baden a relative of the emperor of Russia. It was he who after Austerlitz aggrandized the margravate at the expense of Austria; transformed it into a sovereign principality and raised it to a grand-duchy. It was he too who, by the secularization on the one hand and by the dismemberment of Wurttemberg on the other, gave the grand-duke 500,000 new subjects. He believed that the recognition of the prince and the artificial ethnical formation of the principality would be pledges of ;ecurity for France. But in 1813 Baden joined the coalition, and since then that nation created of odds and ends (de bric el le broc) and always handsomely treated by us, had not ceased to take a leading part in the struggles against our country. rhe grand-duke Frederick, grand-duke by the will of Napoleon, has done France all the harm he could. But French opinion itself renders justice to the probity of his character and to the ardour of his patriotism, and nobody will feel surprise at the homage with which Germany feels bound to surround his old age.” He died at Mainau on the 28th of September ioo~, and was succeeded by his son, the grand-duke Frederick II.