GERMANY UNDER NAPOLEON.
(1806—1814.)
- Napoleon's personal Policy.
- —The "Rhine-Bund."
- —French Tyranny.
- —Prussia declares War.
- —Battles of Jena and Auerstädt.
- —Napoleon in Berlin.
- —Prussia and Russia allied.
- —Battle of Friedland.
- —Interviews of the Sovereigns.
- —Losses of Prussia.
- —Kingdom of Westphalia.
- —Frederick William III.'s Weakness.
- —Congress at Erfurt.
- —Patriotic Movements.
- —Revolt of the Tyrolese.
- —Napoleon marches on Vienna.
- —Schill's Movement in Prussia.
- —Battles of Aspera and Wagram.
- —The Peace of Vienna.
- —Fate of Andreas Hofer.
- —The Duke of Brunswick's Attempt.
- —Napoleon's Rule in Germany.
- —Secret Resistance in Prussia.
- —War with Russia.
- —The March to Moscow.
- —The Retreat.
- —York's Measures.
- —Rising of Prussia.
- —Division of Germany.
- —Battle of Lützen.
- —Napoleon in Dresden.
- —The Armistice.
- —Austria joins the Allies.
- —Victories of Blücher and Bülow.
- —Napoleon's Hesitation.
- —The Battle of Leipzig.
- —Napoleon's Retreat from Germany.
- —Cowardice of the allied Monarchs.
- —Blücher crosses the Rhine.
1806.
After the peace of Presburg there was nothing to prevent Napoleon from carrying out his plan of dividing the greater part of Europe among the members of his own family, and the Marshals of his armies. He gave the kingdom of Naples to his brother Joseph; appointed his step-son Eugene Beauharnais Viceroy of Italy, and married him to the daughter of Maximilian I. (formerly Elector, now King) of Bavaria; made a Kingdom of Holland, and gave it to his brother Louis; gave the Duchy of Jülich, Cleves and Berg to Murat, and married Stephanie Beauharnais, the niece of the Empress Josephine, to the son of the Grand-Duke of Baden. There was no longer any thought of disputing his will in any of the smaller German States: the princes were as submissive as he could have desired, and the people had been too long powerless to dream of resistance.
1806. THE "RHINE-BUND."
The "Rhine-Bund," therefore, was constructed just as France desired. Bavaria, Würtemberg, Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt and Nassau united with twelve small principalities—the whole embracing a population of thirteen millions—in a Confederation, which accepted Napoleon as Protector, and agreed to maintain an army of 63,000 men, at the disposal of France. This arrangement divided the German Empire into three parts, one of which (Austria) had just been conquered, while another (Prussia) had lost all its former prestige by its weak and cowardly policy. Napoleon was now the recognized master of the third portion, the action of which was regulated by a Diet held at Frankfort. In order to make the Union simpler and more manageable, all the independent countships and baronies within its limits were abolished, and the seventeen States were thus increased by an aggregate territory of about 12,000 square miles. Bavaria took possession, without more ado, of the free cities of Nuremberg and Augsburg.
Prussia, by this time, had agreed with Napoleon to give up Anspach and Bayreuth to Bavaria, and receive Hannover instead. This provoked the enmity of England, the only remaining nation which was friendly to Prussia. The French armies were still quartered in Southern Germany, violating at will not only the laws of the land, but the laws of nations. A bookseller named Palm, in Nuremberg, who had in his possession some pamphlets opposing Napoleon's schemes, was seized by order of the latter, tried by court-martial and shot. This brutal and despotic act was not resented by the German princes, but it aroused the slumbering spirit of the people. The Prussians, especially, began to grow very impatient of their pusillanimous government; but Frederick William III. did nothing, until in August, 1806, he discovered that Napoleon was trying to purchase peace with England and Russia by offering Hannover to the former and Prussian Poland to the latter. Then he decided for war, at the very time when he was compelled to meet the victorious power of France alone!
Napoleon, as usual, was on the march before his enemy was even properly organized. He was already in Franconia, and in a few days stood at the head of an army of 200,000 men, part of whom were furnished by the Rhine-Bund. Prussia, assisted only by Saxony and Weimar, had 150,000, commanded by Prince Hohenlohe and the Duke of Brunswick, who hardly reached the bases of the Thuringian Mountains when they were met by the French and hurled back. On the table-land near Jena and Auerstädt a double battle was fought on the 14th of October, 1806. In the first (Jena) Napoleon simply crushed and scattered to the winds the army of Prince Hohenlohe; in the second (Auerstädt) Marshal Davoust, after some heavy fighting, defeated the Duke of Brunswick, who was mortally wounded. Then followed a season of panic and cowardice which now seems incredible: the French overwhelmed Prussia, and almost every defence fell without resistance as they approached. The strong fortress of Erfurt, with 10,000 men, surrendered the day after the battle of Jena; the still stronger fortress-city of Magdeburg, with 24,000 men, opened its gates before a gun was fired! Spandau capitulated as soon as asked, on the 24th of October, and Davoust entered Berlin the same day. Only General Blücher, more than sixty years old, cut his way through the French with 10,000 men, and for a time gallantly held them at bay in Lübeck; and the young officers, Gneisenau and Schill, kept the fortress of Colberg, on the Baltic, where they were steadily besieged until the war was over.
1806.