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Durham Chronicle (1867), 4 Jan 1923, p. 5

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In the extreme suuthwostvrn cor- nor of Germany just north of Swit- zerland lies the old German duchy of Suabia with its famous Black For- est. There not far from the head-‘ waters of the Rhine the Danube takes its rise; and there also many of the great ruling families of Ger- many began their long careers. Tow- ard the north is the castle of Hohen- staufen; at the south is the castle of Hapsburg. Midway between them some time in the Middle Ages anoth- er great German family built a stronghold commanding the roads through the high valleys that lead up in Switzerland. It was known as Hohenznllernâ€"the High Tollsâ€"and from it after the fashion of their time its master»; levied tribute upon the traders who made their way be- tween Italy and Germany. There for some generations they lived un- distinguished from their fellows. But some time about the year “70 â€"â€"the year in which Thomas ,a Beck- et was murdered in England, and about the time Saladin, the great antagonist of Richard 1., became Sultan of Egyptâ€"a certain younger son of the house of Hohenzollern, Conrad by name, finding no prospect of bettering his condition at home, set out to serve with the great Ger- man emperor, the Hohenstaufen Frederick 1., Barbarossa, he of the red beard. famous in history and le- gend. tlonrad found favor with the emperor. He found still more. favor with a lady of the court, the. heiress of the house of Vohurg, whom he married; and through her family’s claims to the burgraviate. or city countship. of Nureniburg, which was (mo uf lhr rhiol' commercial cnnlres of dso-rmany. ln- bvramr lhr rule-r of lraolo-rs upon whom his family had low.' lrviml tolls at Hohanzollern. Thus hr {Minded the tortunrs of his house-z fur the burgraves of Nurem- berg \\'N'P by lhrir Hll‘irr princos of the Mimi“): and Conrad‘s daughter mm-riml hrr cousin Frederick ll. of lhn nlrlvr llnlwnznllvrs lim- and su krpl llm inlu-rilanrr in tlw family. That. was, the first. step in the prn- gress of tin» Hutwnzollvrus. who thenrot'nrth playml a runsidvrahln part in (to-rmau ati'airs. 'l‘hvy PX- tc-mto-«Vt tin-ir lands and influvnrv in the region round tlwm, amt titty yvars latvr auottwr Conrad t'wcamP the guardian «if the son of Empvl‘ur! Fro‘ilo‘l'it‘k ll. Conrad's sun Fri-dor- ick marriml Elizahvth thn sistvr mt" tho. [Duko- Hf Moira". anal nu tlw «truth «if that prim-o- arquirml as his shan- nt‘ thv Mnran inhvritam-v Bayrvuth and snmi' aoljamrnt, lii‘fs. It, was thin FrMIvrirk who ln'uught almut ttw. c-lo-Ctiuu (if his unclo. Rudolf of Hamburg. in tho' imperial tlirnne; and it. was his son. Frederick I".. who. lighting first. for Albert of gapsâ€" burg and lwlpim: tn makw him‘vm- pH'OI'. wont ovo'l', on Albert's (loath. to Ludwig of Bavaria and assistmi him tn dut‘vat Frmlvrick Hf Hapshurg -â€"an'act. that ("ausml him‘ to lw vall- Hl "tiw saviur of tin- empire.“ \V‘ .-\t. ”In hvgiuning nt‘ thv tit‘tomnth «wntury thnsu qualitivs met with a still grv-atrr reward. Frmlvrirk of thvnznllnrn mntrihntml mnrh tn fhP vlm‘tinn nf tho Empm'ur Sigis- mund: he mntrihutetl mhrv tn his support. and Sigismund was nut un- grali‘ful. H0 nt‘t‘dt'tl man like? Prod- erirk. for it. had fallen to his lot to suppress the hillnwvrs of Jnhn Huss and the Hussitn heresy in Bohemia. He had taken upon himself the set- tlement or the great. schism 0f the church. which for the greater part 0( a century hall divided Catholic Eurnpe into the adherence of two and sometimes three popes. And in “15. when the Council of Constance was held to put an end to the scan- 6.1 of the church and to provide a new basis for the allegiance of the faithful. among the various results of that. great conference was the hatowal‘of a new dignity on the him. at Molten-n. Frederick of flunk), Jana t. «a. THE HOUSE OF HOIIENZOLLBRN title of electorâ€"which meant that. he was one of the seven men who chose the emperorâ€"and was created archchamberlain of the empire. With that circumstance the Hohen- zollern dynasty entered on a new and more important stage of its career. ‘ The Acquisition of Prussia. The mark of Brandenburg lay in what was then the extreme north- eastern corner of Germany. The Wends, mm of the many heathen tribes that lived in the Baltic lands and along the eastern border of Ger- many, had originally inhabited it; A-.. I- but as the German people began to expand during the Middle Ages they set up on their eastern border what were. known as “marks”, or marches, to protect themselves from the bar- barians. The mark of the Bitlungs was on the north; the North Mark was just south or it; an'd the East Mark and the mark of 'I‘huringia ian East Mark, which became the Duchy of Austria, was farthest south of all. The marks of Carinthia, of Carniola and of Istria which had come into the hands of the house of Hapsbuig, completed a long chain of hmder states, which were granted to \arious leaders with the prhilege of holding all the land that they could conquer. Little by little as the adjoining lands \1e1e subdued and colonized they new added to the empire. Among them was the mark of Brandenburg, the so-ealled Middle Mark. which had been granted to a Thuringian family of the house of Ballenstedt. Its greatest tignre had been a certain Albert the Bear. who had finally Subdned the Wendy: and had added their territory to the lands that. owned the authority of the empire. He had died at almost prerisely the same moment that. Conrad of Hohenzollern had set out. on his adventure that led his family to Albert's inheritanre: and when the house of Ballenstedt. became ex- tinet that important outpost of the empire. the lllttll‘k 'ot' lh'amlenbnrg'. which had passed through various hands. was tinally granted or. as some ill-natured people suggest. sold to the house of llohenzollern. It was a grvat acquisition t‘m- tlmm nut nnly in itsvlt‘ but. twcausv of its pussihilitivs- nt' o'xlmnsinn. But at first it, hail a minibus i'vsnlt. Like must uthm' tit'i'man hunsvs. thn HHâ€" twnzulli-I'ns [u'msvssmt o-xtt'mmlinal'â€" tl)‘ tliVitlt‘t‘i it‘l't'ilfll'it‘Sâ€"-l[t_)hvltltillt‘l‘n [tt'npt'R Nurvmhm‘g. and MW Bramâ€" tlt‘lthltt'g. \Vitlt'LV St'pat'attrtl l'l'nm «mo mmttu‘“ 11ml tint always vmitinumls own in thvmsnlvcs. Amt it was truâ€" ly said ut‘ tlw m'vat stutt- Hmt Hwy: vamv tn i'lilt' in later )‘wau's that. wiwruw n'mst states began with a centre 01' euro, and O‘Xltfllltlt'ti nut-l ward. Prussia hegan with frontiers and tilted them in. Fur that nwthnd nt‘ eniansinh the whnlr flllSll'H‘)’ (if (he llnl'wnznllern family had prepar- ed them. and with the arqnisilinn ul‘ lh'amlvntmrg.r they rentinnecl it on a much greater scale. Fur the lime lining. lmwewr. the first result was to divide the family intn twn hran- rhvs. that. of Franceni:1 and that of “I'dlltlt‘lllllll‘g. 'l‘lie successive parti- tion Hf its lands among the rhildren armrdim: tn the elder German cus- tnm weakened the li‘ranc-nnian branch: its territories. increasing sc‘imewhat thrmigh the years. fell partly into the hands. of the Branâ€" .tentmrg branch and partly into the hands «if its nwn three main divi- siuns until by the middle. «if the nineteenth century all except, mie .iiVisinn llfltl «tisal‘ieparetl. The great t't'irtiines nf the family. lay with the Brarntenlmri.r brunch. t'niike their kinsmen. the heads of it dict not divide their lands amen: their children but adonted the law «it primngenitnre. which gave the “little tn the eltlest sun unit 80 [Wear St‘l'Vt‘tl the lands intact. By war and specially by marriage. they incrgiseii their inheritance. and at, the begin- ning nt‘ the sixteenth century an extraordinary circumstance gave them a substantial addition to their territory. It happendd that some three lltlll- clrecl years before. at the same time that. the Hohenzolelrns were lweomâ€" in: hurgraves ot‘ Nuremberg. a crusading order known as the T011- tonic Knights had been founded af- ter the fashion of the time. At first it was confined to Palestine and the wars against the. Saracens; but early in the thirteenth century a band of the knights moved to a region then outside Germany, known as Prussia, which heathen peoples like the \\'ends then occupied, and in con- junction with similar ordersâ€"espe- cially the Knights of the Sword and the likeâ€"conquered the district. Those orders gradually declined in numbers and especially in pur- pose; and when the. Reformation came the Order of the, Teutonic Knights took advantage of the situ- ation to become eeeulariled; and to divide their lands am'onz themselves: It_ happened that at tgat time, £5255; if .‘i‘ Z‘.Aw“- to become segular'ued; and to Bumpean afl theirlands among themsehes. sting.” He ‘ mened that. at that 995’ 1525:501diers and the grand meter was a Hohenzol- lern. so that when he died without issue the Prussian territory thtt he had possessed reverted to the Bran- denburg branch. Thus in that our- ious fashion the house of Hohenzol- lern became possessed of the territ. ory from which it later took its ti- tle and with which it has become identified. But with another detached terri- tory their position had its dangers and its difficulties. The Prussian lands were held as ilets ot' the King of Poland, who desired to possess them himself. Between Poland and the rising power of Sweden under the house of Vasa there was greatl rivalry; and between Sweden and Poland lay most. of the territt‘vries of the house of Hohenzollern. Thus during the sixteenth and the sevenâ€" teenth centuries the rulers of Bran- denburg and Prussia were forced to walk warily. It was their great am- bition to throw off the Polish yoke and to extend ‘their possessions to the sea, from which Mecklenburg and Pomerania cut them otl'. But they were not strong enough to defy Poland, and Sweden was as ambi- tious as they to extend her power on all the shores of the Baltic Sea. which she aspired to turn into a Swedish lake. “The Great. Elector." The situation came to a head in the Thirty. Years’ War, 1618â€"48. which so profoundly atl‘ected most of the ruling houses of Germany and wrought such devastation in Central Europe. In that long conflict the Hohenzollerns with skill and1 shrewdness, it‘ not with much hero-‘ ism or\ high-mindedness, played a «tittieult and dangerous part. The Elector George William, though a Protestant, and a brother-inâ€"law of tiustavus Adolphus. tearing the check of his ambitions that Swedish success would bring. gave but little summrt to the Sweiiis'h lgng’s at.- fcmpt to rescue the German Protest- ants. lie and his son after him shifted and negotiated and, when they could not. avoid it. fought their ray into such a position that. when 27w settlen‘wnt of (,iermany came with the Peace. of \Vestphalia the ltuheuxellers acquired as their share ut' the spoil the. larger part of farther i’wmerauia -â€" the \\‘hnle of which they hail claiiuetl-mizuui t'uur hishnpries in central Herman); including.r Madge- hum. Such was Hm first zlvhivwnwnl ut' Hm Electnr Fl‘Odm'ivk \\'i||i:un.~~ of aid he permittt‘ut the elector to take the title of Kit g of Prussia in the first year of the eighteenth cen- tury, With that event the long growth of the house of Hohenzollern proved successful beyond perhaps even the dreams of its earlier mem- bers; and it advanced toward anoth- er great turning point in its career. Frederick the Great. 'l‘iw nvw pusitiun of the Hohon- mils-m state-was mun ('(Hliil'nll'ii. With tho death of the last 01' U'“ Spanish Halmliln'gs. (llial'los 11., and ”w (in-coming War of the Spanish Sm'cvssiun 10 ch'h‘wmilw tho dishaâ€" ~Hinn of his «inmininns the emperor. lnuking fnl' allie-s against. Louis Xl\'.. who had zu'rvpti-d the Spanish mew {01' his grancisun Philip \'.. 'tm'nvi tn lh'andmibm‘g nt' assist- :zm'u. And in return fur a {)I‘omiso The son and succesmr of the first king of Prussia-Jrederick William I.â€"\\'as not. a warlike prince. but he devoted himself to two «Ivbjects each of which was related to war. The first was to accumulate a great trea- sure; the second was to have an army out of all proportion to the size of his country. He believed that if the small state of Prussia, which had two and a half million people, was to play a considerable part in European afl’airs, it should be “’11 sting." He was especially fond of soldiers and among other things do- THE DURHAM CHRONICLE cided to have a regiment of giants. His agents scoured all Europe for recruits for the organization, which soon became famous. and no man above six feet six inches was safe from them. The agents hired or even kidnapped the men they want- ed wherever they found them. and the Potsdam Giant Regiment of Grenadiers with some two thousand four hundred men was one of the sights of EurOpe. Of course the soldiers were too splendid and too expensive to tight; and as a matter of fact Frederick. William I. engaged in only one war and that was a minor conflict. He died in 1740, the same year in which the Czarina Anna and the Emperor Charles VI. died. His son. Frederick 11.. called in later years Frederick the (treat. succee‘ded him. The new king was twenty-eight years old and had spent his youth in the pursuit of literature and musicâ€"writing bad. poetry and playing still worse on the fluteâ€"and in quarreling with his stern father after the Hohenzollern manner. He had shown little apti- tude or taste either for war or for politics. But scarcely was he on the throne when, taking advantage of the weakness of the Hapsburg mon-e larchy under the Archduchess Maria lTheresa, he mobilized his armty and, invading the province for Silesia, which joined his territories on the south, began the so-called Wars of the Austrian Succession, or the Si- lesian Wars, which lasted more than twenty years, and raised the little kingdom of Prussia to the rank of a first-rate European power. In that. unscrupulous design, on- tered upon, as he deolared, from de- siro to increase his “dominions and to make himself famous, ho was at, tlrst successful. Franco, Bavaria, and Spain declared war against Aus»i tria and so contributed to his plans. The first Silesian War, which lasted two years. left him in possession of the. territory that ho had soizgd. But he had invoked a spirit that he could not. control. All Europe and pros- ently America were. drawn into tho confliot: and in the third Silosian \Var, or tho, so-callod Schn Ycars’ War. li‘l'cdorick almost mot destruc- tion. The intexwontion ot‘ ling-land. whon was thou lighting.r Franco for tho control of Ame-Pica. saved him. and the poaco of 1763 lcl't hini Silosia and a reputation for military skill and diplomatic shrowdnoss un- matched in Europe. 'l‘houg‘h thi- war Inf! Prussia among tho first-rain puwvrs n!” the- mnthwnt. it was weak and mum- vrishml I'i-nm tho hing strain. Frml- vrii'k «h-Vntml his lati-I' yvars in rusâ€" luring his vuunll'y in m'nsiwrily and iw hi-camv vmini-nt amnng lhusv "0n- lig‘hii‘ni‘il ih'spuis" whu slwni thvil' unvrg'ivs fur thv gum! of thi'il' lwuplv. HP. vstahlishml hanks, Si‘t. Up :1 “marâ€" itimi- mmpany' in m‘umnli' mm- mom-v, «h'ainvd tho marshvs, cmlifimi ”H' la\\‘s am: gri’HVii'l'd an vli‘icivnt if stm'n adminish'aiiun. Hui thv t'a- «litiun uf groahwss fnmulml «in a Imwvrful army and NIL unscrupuâ€" lous iiiIih‘imai'yu'i-mainud. 'l‘hv parâ€" tition of Pnlaml, which lwgan during his I'viim and gaw Prussia ”in dis!- rivt «if Pusan and thv lands that simâ€" aralmi Prussia from Hl'amlvnhm'g'. sh'vnu‘thvnml ihv trailiiiun. 'l‘hv vasim'n hmmilai'ii's “mm mm lilh-il 1n. Three years after the (loath of Frei‘lerick the’tireat the French Heyâ€" olutiou broke out. Like all absolut- ist, monarchs. the llohenzullerns na- turally were opposed to the move- ment and joined Austria in sending: an army against the reyulutinnaries. 'l'hat, army was defeated in the Bat- tle ot' Valmy: and thereafter Prussia looked on with imlitl'ereuce \Vllllt' the French undt'r Napoleon's leader- ship in'errau the rest. of Europe. Folâ€" lowing: the tradition of the great days of Frederirk the Great. Prussia was confident in the ability of its diplomacy and of its army. 'l‘liat eon- fitteure “'85“ shaken in 1806 when by his (liplomary Napoleon isolated Prussia and then m'ertlu'my its army in four hours at, the Battle. of Jena. Thereafter the Hollenmllerns were punished for their weak and selfish policy. In.fact they were almost eliminated as a European power. But the ability of three great. min- isters. none of whom were Pruesmns â€"â€"Stein. Scharnhorst and Harden- bergâ€"saved the country. The whole Prussian system was reorganized; serfdom was abolished; a national spirit was roused. and, most import- ant for the future. a new system of military training was introduced. It was the un'versal, compulsory, short term servic by which all able-bod- ied men were passed through the army. In later years all Europe ad- opted the system. which became the main characteristic of Prussia. When Napoleon’s Russian expedition failed the Prussians were the first to desert his cause. Hohenqulern. Hamburg and Roman'ov joined with England to overthrow his power; and when they had succeeded Prus- 's'i; received its reward. °It gained Swedish Pomerania, the greater part of Saxony and territories (long the Rhineâ€"ao-called Rhenish Prussiaâ€" um brought it. to the borders of France. though the north Germw sates separated the territories from Brandenburg. But in all of those events the weak and vacillaing Ho- henzolelrn king. Frederick William III. plnyed little part; nor were his siccessors of much more account than he. The greatness of Prussia there- after depended chiefly upon its minâ€" isters. its oti‘icials and its army. In them it. was fortunate: under their lead it began to make itself the dom- inant power in north (lei-many. It. established a customs union that bound the lesser states to it; it un- dermined the power of its rival Aus- tria and began the unitieation of Germany under the house of Hohen- wllern rather than unller the flaps-- burgs or the German Liberals. When the Revolution of 1868 broke out Frederick “’illiam IV. was obliged to grant a constitution to his peonle: but it was his troops that. tinally crushed the Liberal movement. “The Policy of Blood and Iron. t With the conclusion of the Revo- ; lution of 1848 there came to the front the great German statesman Bis- , marck. who entered on his policy of “blood and iron" to unify Germany under the Hohcnzollern dynasty. First, in defiance of the peoxile's will he increased the size of his army: then he carried on a joint war with Austria against Denmark by which ’Prussia occupied Schleswig; then he picked a quarrel with Austria in 1866 and defeated it. and the German states that were allied with it. Then he established the North Hermanl Confederation with Prussia at the head; it was composed of states that! Prussia had conquerell. including“ Schleswig and Holstein. Hanover. Hesse, Nassau and Frankfort. Thus Prussia filled in its boundaries on the west. Finally Bismarck round grounds for a war with France and with the aid of the south German states ilei'valt'd it in 1870-71. He [let'- suaded the Herman princes to offer the imperial title to William I. of Prussia. who was crowned l-anerur of Germany in the Palace of \‘er- sailles on January 18, 1871. An im- perial parliament at Frankfort ad- opted a constitution for the new em- Hiire and the tom: t‘areel‘ of‘the Ho- ht‘lthlllt'l‘ll family thus came to a fetimax. lt is :iiiparrnt that, this final sur- ccss was owing loss to the head (if ”lt‘ huusv than it was in Bismarck. Moltkv and Roan. \VIIH (lil'm'tml its military amt «tililnmatir «instinivs. William I. and his sun Frmlorick III. with all lllvii‘ t'Vt‘t'llt‘lli allaliiivr wrrc- not mun Hf grout ability or of aggressiw chm'arto-r: and it was hut until thv act'vssiull nl' \Villiam ll. ill 1888 that a I'Inhvnzullc-rn of «lumin- atint.r iwrsnnulity ramo tn the thronr. The result of his accession was 500" apparvnt. \\'ithin liw' mnnths \lnltkv rc-signmi as ('hiof (if stat)”; amt twn yours in a day t'rnm William ”Cs stirrvssiun Bismarck resigned as tlhzmm-llnr nt‘ thc- l-Impiru. 'l'hun thv yming vmlwrnr t'lllt'l‘t‘ti «in what hr “allml "thv iww rntirsv." its aspirin! in riwiw in his [wi‘scm thv Uri-at lil- eetor and Frederick the Great, and he devoted himself to enlarging: the place of Germany in European and in world politics. He turned his at- tention to ereating a nm'y that should rival England's: he inrreased the size of the army; he. encouraged rummeree. While striving at heme to suppress the Socialist mm‘ement. which had begun with the growth Hf inunstry in Germany, he “rattled the sword" and “shook the mailed list" in the fziee ut‘ lint-rm". In 191-5. drivâ€" en on partly hy eirrumstam'es‘ and partly by the military party. he WOC'W .‘m HENDERSON’S BAKERY Makers of GOOD BREAD To Our Customers and the General Public: We Wish All plunged the world into wit; and that gram. “venture mm H date“. then revolution 3nd I“! d)- dication. Thus ended the greatness of the house of Hohenzollern. [to him «litters in many ways from the his wry ot' the house of the Hapaburu. It came later on the stage; it pro- duced few men of eminence in mod- ern times: it. was fortunate in its ministers, who combined capacity for administration with aggressive ambition. But the persistence in the policy of the so-called “Hohen- zollern Testament," which embodied the principles and the aims of its dynastic ambitions from generation to generation. was unsuited to an age that no longer recognized divine right; and the house fell at the mo- ment of its greatest success and ;dragged with it the two other great idynasties of Hapsburg and Romanov. um TIE .012 (Toronto Globe.) A petition against betting on hofie New; from over 400 women of Essex County shows how this evil hits the home. To the Electors ot' the Townshi Bentlnck: Ladies and Gentlemeg yuu a lumpy and prosper Year and thank yuu very ind'ty fur the generous way in which you sup- [mrtmt by elertiun to the positinn n! tluuneillnr fur the 'l‘mvnship for the yet r “023. I trust tn he able to serve Lynn sn well as tu merit a continu- aum- nf yuur support. Ynurs very tyuly. ROBERT (illtlil‘aSUN. 'l'n llw Eloctm‘s of the Township of Hontinck : Ladivs and Gonllvmvn.â€"â€"I thank yuu fm' tlw generous support you gzn'v mo las‘l Monday at Um no". Al- lnw m.- (u assurv yuu that. I shall «in all in my “(New in mvril the confi- dvm‘c' ynu haw' placvd in m0. Yum's rnslwctfullv, 1LJ. leubxu lb. To the Elm'lnrs uf llw vanflnip Hf Glenelg : Ladies and Gvnllvmo‘nswl «lvsix'v M thank ynu all sincm‘oly fur lho 001;- fidmu‘o yuu haw shnwn hy lelmg m0 as Cnuncillur. I hnlw I may lo», 31110 to nwril HIM (‘flnfidonfl‘ by serving ynu faithfully and won. The unpormosl thought in my mini Mr 110 the lwsl inlvrvsts Hf llu- - COW STMYBD .“ Straved In tho promiw’ dime 29d: dm‘s :mod UH 'llld’fillily.'1 Jig a black PIIHI'II Angus II.I\\' :)\\nvr may haw samo by [or ' pI-uperty and paying: mum <03 Grim“- wmul. Durham. ' cipality. 5.3.: .69; 9:5? .93 u can.» .57" «.298; 11.3.18 .123: a :a :3. 2:575 Machine Shop REPAIRING ALL KINDS MACHINERY Farm Inchinery, Creem Sep- arators, Guns and other smell articles. All kinds of tools sharpened: saws, axes, scissors, knives and other cutlery. Machinist. Etc. Nearly apposite Post Office ELECTION CARDS F. W. MOON Durham ALEX. A. ALJUF.

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