A History of Germany from the Earliest Times to the Present Day

by Bayard Taylor

When Napoleon entered Berlin in triumph, on the 27th of November, he found nearly the whole population completely cowed, and ready to acknowledge his authority; seven Ministers of the Prussian Government took the oath of allegiance to him, and agreed, at once, to give up all of the kingdom west of the Elbe for the sake of peace! Frederick William III., who had fled to Königsberg, refused to confirm their action, and entered into an alliance with Alexander I. of Russia, to continue the war. Napoleon, meanwhile, had made peace with Saxony, which, after paying heavy contributions and joining the Rhine-Bund, was raised by him to the rank of a kingdom. At the same time he encouraged a revolt in Prussian Poland, got possession of Silesia, and kept Austria neutral by skilful diplomacy. England had the power, by prompt and energetic action, of changing the face of affairs, but her government did nothing.

Pressing eastward during the winter, the French army, 140,000 strong, met the Russians and Prussians on the 8th of February, 1807, in the murderous battle of Eylau, after which, because its result was undecided, Napoleon concluded a truce of several months. Frederick William appointed a new Ministry, with the fearless and patriotic statesmen, Hardenberg and Stein, who formed a fresh alliance with Russia, which was soon joined by England and Sweden. Nevertheless, it was almost impossible to reinforce the Prussian army, and Alexander I. made no great exertions to increase the Russian, while Napoleon, with all Prussia in his rear, was constantly receiving fresh troops. Early in June he resumed hostilities, and on the 14th, with a much superior force, so completely defeated the Allies in the battle of Friedland, that they were driven over the river Memel into Russian territory.

1807. THE PEACE OF TILSIT.

The Russians immediately concluded an armistice: Napoleon had an interview with Alexander I. on a raft in the river Memel, and acquired such an immediate influence over the enthusiastic, fantastic nature of the latter, that he became a friend and practically an ally. The next day, there was another interview, at which Frederick William III. was also present: the Queen, Louise of Mecklenburg, a woman of noble and heroic character, whom Napoleon had vilely slandered, was persuaded to accompany him, but only subjected herself to new humiliation. (She died in 1810, during Germany's deepest degradation, but her son, William I., became German Emperor in 1871.) The Peace of Tilsit was declared on the 9th of July, 1807, according to Napoleon's single will. Hardenberg had been dismissed from the Prussian Ministry, and Talleyrand gave his successor a completed document, to be signed without discussion.

Prussia lost very nearly the half of her territory: her population was diminished from 9,743,000 to 4,938,000. A new "Grand-Duchy of Warsaw" was formed by Napoleon out of her Polish acquisitions. The contributions which had been levied and which Prussia was still forced to pay amounted to a total sum of three hundred million thalers, and she was obliged to maintain a French army in her diminished territory until the last farthing should be paid over. Russia, on the other hand, lost nothing, but received a part of Polish Prussia. A new Kingdom of Westphalia was formed out of Brunswick, and parts of Prussia and Hannover, and Napoleon's brother, Jerome, was made king. The latter, whose wife was an American lady, Miss Patterson of Baltimore, was compelled to renounce her, and marry the daughter of the new king of Würtemberg, although, as a Catholic, he could not do this without a special dispensation from the Pope, and Pius VII. refused to give one. Thus he became a bigamist, according to the laws of the Roman Church. Jerome was a weak and licentious individual, and made himself heartily hated by his two millions of German subjects during his six years' rule in Cassel.

1808.

Frederick William III. was at last stung by his misfortunes into the adoption of another and manlier policy. He called Stein to the head of his Ministry, and allowed the latter to introduce reforms for the purpose of assisting, strengthening and developing the character of the people. But 150,000 French troops still fed like locusts upon the substance of Prussia, and there was an immense amount of poverty and suffering. The French commanders plundered so outrageously and acted with such shameless brutality, that even the slow German nature became heated with a hate so intense that it is not yet wholly extinguished. But this was not the end of the degradation. Napoleon, at the climax of his power, having (without exaggeration) the whole Continent of Europe under his feet, demanded that Prussia should join the Rhine-Bund, reduce her standing army to 42,000 men, and, in case of necessity, furnish France with troops against Austria. The temporary courage of the king dissolved: he signed a treaty on the 8th of September, 1808, without the knowledge of Stein, granting nearly everything Napoleon claimed,—thus compelling the patriotic statesman to resign, and making what was left of Prussia tributary to the designs of France.

At the same time Napoleon held a so-called Congress at Erfurt, at which all the German rulers (except Austria) were present, but the decisions were made by himself, with the connivance of Alexander I. of Russia. The latter received Finland and the Danubian Principalities. Napoleon simply carried out his own personal policy. He made his brother Joseph king of Spain, gave Naples to his brother-in-law, Murat, and soon afterwards annexed the States of the Church, in Italy, to France, abolishing the temporal sovereignty of the Pope. Every one of the smaller German States had already joined the Rhine-Bund, and the Diet by which they were governed abjectly obeyed his will. Princes, nobles, officials, and authors vied with each other in doing homage to him. Even the battles of Jena and Friedland were celebrated by popular festivals in the capitals of the other States: the people of Southern Germany, especially, rejoiced over the shame and suffering of their brethren in the North. Ninety German authors dedicated books to Napoleon, and the newspapers became contemptible in their servile praises of his rule.

1809. REVOLT OF THE TYROLESE.

Austria, always energetic at the wrong time and weak when energy was necessary, prepared for war, relying on the help of Prussia and possibly of Russia. Napoleon had been called to Spain, where a part of the people, supported by Wellington, with an English force, in Portugal, was making a gallant resistance to the French rule. A few patriotic and courageous men, all over Germany, began to consult together concerning the best means for the liberation of the country. The Prussian Ex-minister, Baron Stein, the philosopher Fichte, the statesman and poet Arndt, the Generals Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, the historian Niebuhr, and also the Austrian minister, Count Stadion, used every effort to increase and extend this movement; but there was no German prince, except the young Duke of Brunswick, ready or willing to act.