| Theme
- Was Germany different from other European countries in a "special"
way? And if so, does that "specialness" come from long-standing, deeply
rooted traditions, or is it of much more recent origin?
- Is there (was there) a powerful German penchant for order and obedience
to authority?
Germany: What is it? -- Possibilities
- Define "state," "nation," "people" (Volk), "empire" (Reich)
- Geography of central Europe
- Tribes, dynasties:
486: Clovis in Gaul, 496 Franks Christian
751: Carolingian Pepin deposes Merovingians
771: Charlemagne (768-814=46): Lomb., Bav., Sax.
843: Treaty of Verdun: East, Middle, West
911: Conrad, Duke of Franconia, in East
918: Heinrich "I" of Saxony, son Otto I
962: Otto marries Lombard widow, anointed Holy Roman Emperor
- Welfs in Saxony
Wittelsbachs in Bavaria
Hohenstaufens in Swabia
Habichtsburg->Habsburg: Holy Roman Emperors:
1273-1291, 1298-1308, 1438-1740, 1745-1806
Hohenzollerns in Swabia, Brandenburg (1415), Prussia (1525)
- 1489: Reichstag: electors and dukes (802 Aachen, 919
Fritzlar)
1495: met at Worms; institutions: Circle Estates, Chamber Court
- 1512: "Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation:"
7 electoral "princi"palities
25 secular princes
90 ecclesiastical princes
100 countships, plus lordships, towns
Prussia
- 1226-1446: Teutonic Knights conquer, then lose eastern Lithuania
- "Mark Brandenburg," centered on Berlin
1525: Polish king allows Teutonic Grand Master Albrecht to create
Duchy of Prussia; Albrecht Protestant since 1522
--Reformation, Peasant uprisings, Turkish invasions--
1555: Peace of Augsburg: "cuius regio, eius religio"
1568: Anna marries Elector John Sigismund of Brandenburg
1600s: Catholic League and Protestant Union
1618-48: Thirty Years War, ends with 360+ "states"
1640-88: Frederick Wilhelm of Prussia, the Great Elector
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