Evening star., 1923-10-26

to battle and Austria went to defeat
at Sadowa, after a seven-week war
| tiSob). Prussia dominated all Ger
! many. This victory pointed directly
( 10 permanent unification of German
/ states. Al first II resulted only in
a union of north Germany with Prus-
F.; sia Austria was excluded.
Wurttemberg and Bavaria and some
or the smaller units remained inde-
pendent, with the right to form a
south German federation or to Join
the north German union at their
pleasure. Even then there was a Sc
cret agreement that in case of for
eign war the armies of the south
should be "at the disposal of Prus.
! sia."
. 1t was that secret agreement which
proved the fatal trap for Napoleon III
of France in 1870. The French mon
! counted on the support of south Ger
| many when France became belliger-
ent toward Prussia, but south Ger
many remained true to Its secret
treaty and put its armies "at the dis
posal of Prussia" against France.
Victory over France (1S70), the ira
ditionai enemy Of Germania, brought
north and south Germany into mutual
sympathy and developed the party of
the national liberals. who proposed to
forget differences Of religion and To-
cal interests. and to unite all under
the crown Of the Prussian king as
Emperor OF Germany-"Deutschla
ueber aIles!"
Bavaria was the last Of the south
ern states to hold out against Prus-
sian dominance. consenting only on
condition that she should retain the
conduct of her teiegraphic. postal and
railroad systems, her own diplomacy
with foreign nations and the COM
mand of her army. Other southern
| states also made certain reservations
These terms were all accepted by
Prussia, and, at the capture of Paris,
King William was made Emperor
William ! of the German federation
! u871), even by the ceremonial invita-
| tion of the Bavarian king, Louis II.
The constitution OF the north Ger.
man union became that of the en-
pire, with slight notifications. but in
| the component kingdoms there was
little change.
| In 1870 the ecumenical council at
Rome declared the infallibility of the
the Jesuits from Prussia in 1872, but
the church pre-eminence was general
ly recognized and accepted In the
southern states.
Under the leadership of Ferdinand
La Sale. socialism gained great force
but Bismarck. the statesman, adopted
some of Its principal demands and so
undermined its opposition to the EN-.
peror.
The conflict between church and
state continued one of the great is
sues throughout the reigns of Will
liam I and William ii. Prussia main
tained its dominance in the empire
for in the bundesrath (senate) Prus-
sia had seventeen votes, against Ba-
varia's Ave and one or two each for
the other states. according to their
Importance. The seventeen Prussian
votes were always a unit. for the
emperor was still King of Prussia
and all legislative measures were pro-
posed by the ministry, of which Bis.
ways sustained the administration oi
their king.
II 10 predicted by some observers
that the German nation will now
break into three parts-north Ger.
many Prussia, Saxony and some oi
the smaller states), south Germany
(Wurttemberg and Bavaria) and &
Rhineland republic of the states ives,
of the Rhine. This Rhineland re.
public contains the iron Of northeast
Lorraine-not the Lorraine which was
ceded to France in 1919. 1t Is pos
sible that the Ruhr will join the
Rhineland republic, bringing it's great
coal mines and its Krupp works into
union OF material and industry.
There is also danger OF complete
bankruptcy and collapse of German
money, to be followed by socialistit
or soviet revolt of the hungry masses
Anything is possible In such a chaos
i Copyright, 1928. By Paul v. oolitnsl