El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-08-11

/
| ~ of Holland and Belgium eastward
! over the valleys of the Rhine, of the
| Weser. of the Elbe and of the Oder, sur
| rounding and engulfing other German
! Kingdoms and principalities, still east
J ward on over the grave OF Poland TO
the borders of giant Russia, lies the
, kingdom of Prussia. The territory of
| this kingdom is large as that of
Missouri and Iowa together, and it has
a population of S. 000, 900, or more than
! six times as much the two middle
! American states may boast Every foot
| of this territory is conquered territory.
Every one of these 100000 inhabi-
tants is the vassal subject of an abso-
lutte monarch who is unwilling to admit
that they have any rights whatever
! except such as he is pleased to vouch
safe to them out Of his royal grace.
This is the kingdom Of Prussia which
controls and rules the great German
1 empire, the most powerful state of con-
ttnental Europe, and the rival OF Great
| Britain for absolute supremacy among
the nations of the world.
The Great Kaiser.
William II. the reigning king of Prus-
| STA, is one of the most remarkable men
now living in the world. Outsiders gen
orally, and Americans especially know
| him best as the German emperor. 1t
| is in that capacity that he appears when
discussing problems OF international
politics. But il Is as the king of Prus-
/ STA that he rules his people most eff
fectively 1t is as the king Of Prussia
| that he claims to be the representative
and vicar of God. A cartoonist in Prus-
STA dares not lampoon the German en-
peror, because he knows he would be
punished for the crime of lese majestic
| against the Prussian king. Bavarian
newspaper may carfcature the kaiser In
| perfect safety, because in the kingdom
| of Bavaria the king of Prussia is not
| sovereign, although Bavaria is part
| of the German empire. AS a matter
| Of fact Bavarian newspapers do most
mercilessly lampoon the august emper-
or, and all that the imperial house
! hold can do is TO forbid officers to buy
the paper. This seemingly trifling cir
cumStance illustrates the puzzling fact
| that while Prussia dominates and rules
| the German nation, the non-Prussian
German states still retain a great deal
I! of their POLITICAL independence. as well
as their separate institutions and their
peculiar local customs.
But since the union in 1871 Prussia
has been able to stamp out many Of the
ancient and classic German traditions
and to substitute for them the distinc-
tive Prussian ideals The old Germany
the Germany of poets and philoso-
piers, Of pamphleteers and professors,
/ of students and singers passing
away. The Germany of the popular
| imagination of a half century ago is
now to be found in Austria more than
in the German empire. - Germany has
become Prussianized.
The House of Hohenzollern.
The kaiser is fond of referring to the
prospective world supremacy of his en-
pire as the mastery of the Hohenzol-
lern world power" In his eyes, at
least, Prussia is not a nation-it is
nothing more than the vassal appanage
of the HohenzolIern family. The Hoh-
enzoilerns trace their origin TO count
ThaSsilo of Zollern, one of the gener-
ais Of Charlemagne. His successor,
count Frederick l. built the castle of
Hohenzollern, near the Danube, in the
year $50. Count Frederick III Of this
line was made prince of the Holy Ro-
man empire in 1878 and became the
Burggrave of Nuremberg. His great
grandson, Frederick VI. was given the
province of Brandenburg by the kaiser
Sigmund in 1415. and two years later
obtained the rank of electOr of Bran
denburg.
Prussia's Conversion.
While the HohenzolIern family was
making its way upward from the pos
session of al insignificant county to
the control of the electorate Of Bran
denburg Prussia was being converted
from savagery and heathenism by the
evangel of the sword TO the religion
of the Gentle Nazarene. Prussia was
a country comprising the great plain
sioping from the Silesian mountains TO
the Baltic sea, on both sides of the
River Vistula. inhibited by a mied
breed of Goths. Slavs and Let's, semi
savage in their domestic life and who'll
L
siders, and especially to the Christian
religion.
At about the>beginning OF the 18th
century a Pomeranian monk establish
ed an extensive chain OF missions in the
country, but the heathenS ragged and
put the Christian converts TO death.
Rome then gave its sanction to the
plan of conversion by coercion, and
after some failures, the task of Christ
ianizing Prussia was assigned to the
Order of Teutonic knights. This or
der had been Instituted for the purpose
of succoring German pilgrims in Pal
estine, but now that cruSading had
become unpopular they were, in the
year 1899, authorized by the pope TO
invade and convert Prussia For a
half century the Teutonic knights con-
Quoted a remorseless war against the
comparatively defenseless Prussians.
They conquered the country and ruled
It henceforth, but long after Columbus
discovered America many Prussian peo-
pie were at heart still heathens, and
never did they give their hearts to
Rome.
Creation of the King.
century after the head of the Hob
enzollern family became elector of
Brandenburg, the TeutOnic Knights in
1911 elected the Margrave Albert. a
younger son OF the Hohenzollern fam
fly. to the post of grand master of the
order. True to the instincts of his an
cestors, as well as OF his descendants,
the Margrave Albert gave the mOribund
knightly order it's death blow and con-
stituted himself the hereditary prince
OF Prussia The male line of Albert
soon died out and the province OF Prus-
STA passed to the elder Hohenzollern
line Of the electors of Brandenburg.
When John Sigismund elector Of Bran |
denburg, espoused the cause of Protest
antism, acquired new territory in CEN
trail Germany and united Brandenburg
and Prussia into a duchy, he laid the
broad foundations for the future great