Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1870-08-05
wHAT IS eERMANY.

The difficulty which foreigners expert
ence in acquiring an accurate knowl
edge of this country, with its fedora
head, and its numerous political and ge
| ographical divisions, IS a source of grea
/ amusement to Americans. Yet we TAX
leave to doubt if one American in tel
can tell what Germany is, what relation
the States bear to Prussia, and explair
| what Napoleon meant when he said tha
| he was making war against Prussia, no
against Germany. This confession Is
all the more emphatic, because Germa
ny has been reconstructed under oul
very eyes, as it were, during the last foul
| years. Leaving Austria out of consider
alton, therefore, we will endeavor to ex,
plain as briefly as possible, what Germa.
ny consists of to-day.
| After Austria was defeated at Sadowa,
that nation by the terms of the treaty Oi
Prague was left out of the new German
ic Confederation, and the Emperor gave
his consent to any closer relations the
King of Prussia might establish to the
north of the river Main, and agreed to
the association of the south German
States, with a future connection with the
Confederation if desired. The Kings oi
Bavaria and Wurtemberg, and the
Dukes of Baden and Hesse Darmstadt
which constitute the South German
States, also agreed to these stipulations.
By right of conquest, Prussia annexed
the kingdom of Hanover, the Electorate
of Nassau, and the city of Frankfort
while for commercial and strategical
reasons, Bavaria yielded few small
provinces, and Hesse Darmstadt, the
upper part of its duchy. Schleswig-
Holstein was also included, with a res
ervation in favor of annexing North
Schleswig to Denmark in case the in
habitants voted in favor of such meas
ure. But Prussia has never fulfilled this
article of the treaty of Prague. This,
then, IS Prussia proper, and is the king
dom against which Napoleon declares
he is waging war. Prussia contains
about twenty-foTr million of inhabitants.
The north German Confederation, es-
tablished in 1866, consists of Prussia,
and the German States north of the riv-
er Main. The names of these States
(twenty-one in number) are: Saxony,
Mecklenburg- -Schwerein, Mecklenburg-
Strelitz, Oldenburg, Brunswick, Sake
Weimer, Saxe-Meiningen. Saxe-Alten-
burg, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Anhalt,
Schwarzburg Rudolstadt. Schwarzburg-
Sondershausen, Waldeck, Reuss two
provinces,) Schaumburg-Lippe Lippe-
Detmold, Lubbock, Bremen, Hamburg,
and Hesse Darmstadt. If any one is
provoked with the number, and length,
and insigni6cance of these names, he
will be able to sympathize with the in
telligent or unintelligent foreigner in his
attempts to distinguish thirty-seven
States, by such names as Connecticut
Mississippi. Minnesota, Michigan, Rhode
Island, Oregon, and other jargon. mean
ingless and unsuggestive to him. These
German States have a population of
about hve-and-a-half million, making a
total of twenty-nine millions in the Con-
federation. The federal laws, like ours,
are superior to the local laws. The citi-
zen of one State is a citizen of all the
States. Legislation by the Federal Coun-
ell and Diet, relates to emigration, COM
merce, money, banks, protection of
commerce and the German flag abroad,
railways, telegraphs, navigation, and the
procedure of civil and commercial law.
The Federal Council, like the United
States Senate, represents the States.
Prussia elects seventeen members, Sax
ony four, Mecklenburg-S -Schwerein two,
Brunswick two, the other States one
each. The Diet is chosen by universal
suffrage, and on the basis of the popu-
lation in each State. The King of Prus-
sia is President of the North German
Confederation. In its name he declares
war, concludes peace, makes treaties,
executes the federal laws, nominates
federal officers, commands the army and
navy, and declares martial law, if nee
essary. In time of war the chief power
passes into his hands exclusively; he ap-
points generals, fixes the number of the
army, puts it on a war footing, while
the special officers in command of the
contingent of each State are nominated
by the prince of each State. Practically,
therefore, the King to-day is in COM
mand of all the military and naval for
ces of the North German Confederation,
as much as if they belonged to him as
King of Prussia. When Napoleon says
he makes waFsagainst Prussia and not
against Germany. he simply invites any
other State of the confederation to Sc
cede, which. according to their constitu-
ton, would be treason. In case of a war
with this country, he might as we'll say
that he was at war with the United
States, not with the States outside Of the
District of Columbia. Prussia is a part
of Germany. lust as Michigan is part
of the United States.
The South German States have never
entered into a confederation among
themselves. and, with the exception of
Baden, have never taken any steps to
unite with the North German Confedera-
ton. Their commercial relations with
North Germany take the form Of a
Zollverein Parliament. consisting of the
North German Federal Council. to which
the South German States send thirteen
plenipotentiaries, and of the Federal
Diet, to which the South German States
send eighty-six deputies. They have
also adopted. by mutual agreement, the
fundamental principles of the Prussian
military system. By a secret treaty
made in 1866 with the governments Of
Bavaria. Baden, and Wurtemburg, the
armies of these states are placed at the
disposal of the King of Prussia, and he
will assume the supreme command.
The population of the South German
States is over Eight and a-half Millions.
Germany and France, therefore, are two
nations Of nearly Forty Millions each;
and for war purposes. one is, in form if
not in feeling. as solid and compact as
the Detroit Post.