The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-01-13
10 German Unity Secure

10 German Unity Secure?
The letter from our Berlin correspondent
which we published on Monday. drew at
tention to the bitter newspaper war be-
tween Prussia and Bavaria. and to other in
cidents indicative Of South German dis
satisfaction with the overbearing attitude
OF the young Emperor. BISMARCK never
made the mistake OF assuming that. because
Saxons. Bavarians. and Suabans were
proud Of the collective name OF Germans.
they would be willing to be Prussianized.
He had read history too wisely to
imagine that the HoHENzoLLERNs could.
in a quarter OF a century. carry
out process Of absorption which had out
taxed the HAPsBURa resources. though
these were applied persistently for some
five hundred years. He knew that the uni
flcation Of Germany was not to be accom-
plished by the fat Of a dozen princes de-
livered in an outburst Of patriotic ardor at
Versailles: that not in one campaign. how
ever glorious. could the separatist tenden-
cies Of ten centuries be extinguished. To
render German unity indissoluble would
be. he saw. q work OF time. nd would in
volve the exercise OF conciliatory spirit in
incessant accommodations, compromises,
and concessions.
When the revolutionists OF 1S4s offered
the imperial crown to the King Of Prussia.
the tender was made In the name OF public
liberty and constitutional government. If
the conditions had been accepted and full
filled. no dynasty in Europe would have
been more firmly rooted than the house OF
HoHENZoLLERN. The offer was refused on
ho hot ho
German people instead OF the German
princes. The present claim OF the Prussian
monarch to rule over the countries included
in the German empire is based partly on in
heritance. partly upon conquest. and partly
on the free consent of sovereigns. who
when they gave it. were entirely indepen-
dent Leaving out Of view the hereditary
possessions Of WILLIAM l., the relation which
he eventually assumed toward the rest OF
Germany. and transmitted to his grandson.
was threefold. according as We look at the
countries violently incorporated with
Prussia after the Austro-Prussian war: at
those which. while retaining local autonomy.
were at that time forced to enter the North
German Confederation or. finally. at those
South German States which in 1870 were en-
tirely independent. Examples OF the first
category were the kingdom OF Hanover.
electoral Hesse (Cassel). and the duchy OF
Nassau: Of the second. the kingdom OF Sax
ony. the grand duchies Of Mecklenburg-
Schwerin and Neutrality-suspicious.. the
grand duchy OF Oldenburg. the duchy OF
Brunswick, and the several duchies OF the
Ernestine or elder branch OF the house OF
Saxony. The wholly independent South
German States were the Kingdoms OF
Bavaria and Wurtemberg and the grand
duchies OF Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt.
Where the circumstances were SO
various. the results Of the attempt
at assimilation and PrussiHcation have
naturally varied. The inhabitants OF Hesse
Cassel and Nassau seem to have ac-
cepted with resignation the loss OF their
nationality: but In Hanover. although 1t hes
been a part OF Prussia for qnarter Of q
century, the dispossessed Guelfs have many
jealous adherents. and q considerable Sec
ton OF the people resent the fact that their
obedience to the orders OF the Frankfort
Diet should have cost them their indepen-
dence. In the kingdom Of Saxony and the
Saxon duchies. the aversion to Prussia Is
unconcealed. and In the Mecklenburgs
and Oldenburg sturdy resistance Is
exhibited to the slightest encroachment
by the Prussian authorities on their re-
served rights. Moreover. the Grand Duke OF
Mecklenburg -Schwerin. recalling. perhaps
his many ties of relationship to the Car.
does not hesitate to criticise the acts and
words Of Kaiser WILLIAM H.. and the Duke
OF axe-Coburg -Gotha has shown himself
an unfiinching friend Of BISMARCK through
out the iatter's eclipse. OF the South Ger
man States. which during the Franco-Ger-
man war voluntarily combined with the
North German Confederation to form the
German empire. the grand duchy OF Baden
seems friendly to Prussia. owing mainly to
the influence OF it's ruler. who married q
daughter OF tho late Kaiser WILLIAM I. On
the other hand. the most powerful Of all.
Bavaria. has shown from 1871 to the pres
emit hour an inhexible resolve to sacrifice -
little ss possible Of Its national dignity. and