Thus, after an interruption of three years, the old machine was put upon the old track, and a strong and united Germany seemed as far off as ever. A dismal period of reaction began. Louis Napoleon's violent assumption of power in December, 1851, was welcomed by the German rulers, all of whom greeted the new Emperor as "brother"; a Congress held in London in May, 1852, confirmed Denmark in the possession of Schleswig and Holstein; Austria abolished her Legislative Assembly, in utter disregard of the provisions of 1815, upon which the Diet was based; Hesse-Cassel, with the consent of Austria, Prussia and the Diet, overthrew the constitution which had protected the people for twenty years; and even Prussia, where an arbitrary policy was no longer possible, gradually suppressed the more liberal features of the government. Worse than this, the religious liberty which Germany had so long enjoyed, was insidiously assailed. Austria, Bavaria and Würtemberg made "Concordats" with the Pope, which gave the control of schools and marriages among the people into the hands of the priests. Frederick William IV. did his best to acquire the same despotic power for the Protestant Church in Prussia, and thereby assisted the designs of the Church of Rome, more than most of the Catholic rulers.
Placed between the disguised despotism of Napoleon III. and the open and arrogant despotism of Nicholas of Russia, Germany, for a time, seemed to be destined to a similar fate. The result of the Crimean war, and the liberal policy inaugurated by Alexander II. in Russia, damped the hopes of the German absolutists, but failed to teach them wisdom. Prussia was practically governed by the interests of a class of nobles, whose absurd pride was only equalled by their ignorance of the age in which they lived. With all his wit and talent, Frederick William IV. was utterly blind to his position, and the longer he reigned the more he made the name of Prussia hated throughout the rest of Germany.
1857. WILLIAM I. REGENT OF PRUSSIA.
But the fruits of the national movement in 1848 and 1849 were not lost. The earnest efforts of those two years, the practical experience of political matters acquired by the liberal party, were an immense gain to the people. In every State there was a strong body of intelligent men, who resisted the reaction by all the legal means left them, and who, although discouraged, were still hopeful of success. The increase of general intelligence among the people, the growth of an independent press, the extension of railroads which made the old system of passports and police supervision impossible,—all these were powerful agencies of progress; but only a few rulers of the smaller States saw this truth, and favored the liberal side.
In October, 1857, Frederick William IV. was stricken with apoplexy, and his brother, Prince William, began to rule in his name. The latter, then sixty years old, had grown up without the least prospect that he would ever wear the crown: although he possessed no brilliant intellectual qualities, he was shrewd, clear-sighted, and honest, and after a year's experience of the policy which governed Prussia, he refused to rule longer unless the whole power were placed in his hands. As soon as he was made Prince Regent, he dismissed the feudalist Ministry of his brother and established a new and more liberal government. The hopes of the German people instantly revived: Bavaria was compelled to follow the example of Prussia, the reaction against the national movement of 1848 was interrupted everywhere, and the political horizon suddenly began to grow brighter.
The desire of the people for a closer national union was so intense, that when, in June, 1859, Austria was defeated at Magenta and Solferino, a cry ran through Germany: "The Rhine must be defended on the Mincio!" and the demand for an alliance with Austria against France became so earnest and general, that Prussia would certainly have yielded to it, if Napoleon III. had not forestalled the movement by concluding an instant peace with Francis Joseph. When, in 1860, all Italy rose, and the dilapidated thrones of the petty rulers fell to pieces, as the people united under Victor Emanuel, the Germans saw how hasty and mistaken had been their excitement of the year before. The interests of the Italians were identical with theirs, and the success of the former filled them with fresh hope and courage.
1861.
Austria, after her defeat and the overwhelming success of the popular uprising in Italy, seemed to perceive the necessity of conceding more to her own subjects. She made some attempts to introduce a restricted form of constitutional government, which excited without satisfying the people. Prussia continued to advance slowly in the right direction, regaining her lost influence over the active and intelligent liberal party throughout Germany. On the 2d of January, 1861, Frederick William IV. died, and William I. became King. From this date a new history begins.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
THE STRUGGLE WITH AUSTRIA; THE NORTH-GERMAN UNION.