I’d like to know what’s going on with the German states
Does anyone know who the presiding monarch of Austria is?
Here's a bit on the German-speaking states. The current Austrian monarch is Karl V Habsburg, who has reigned as King of Austria since the death of his father, Otto II, in 2011. I'll have a post about the monarchs of the German states (& Hungary) up at some point in the near future.
The
German-speaking states, also known collectively as simply
Germany, the
German countries, the
German nations, or rarely
the Germanies, is a geopolitical term used for grouping the seven sovereign states in Central Europe which speak dialects of the German language: Austria, Brandenburg, Hanover, Hesse, Raetia, Rhineland, and Saxony. Seven of the states are monarchies and two are republics. Although neighbouring Luxembourg, Belgium, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland also have German-speaking populations, they are not considered
German states. All seven countries cooperate on a regional level in several intergovernmental organisations, including the Frankfurt Group, and all are members of the European Union, and with the exception of Hanover, members of the Eurozone. Brandenburg, Hesse, Raetia, Rhineland, and Saxony are full members of the European Defence Organisation (also known as the Brussels Treaty Organisation), while Hanover is an associate member as part of the Common Defence Pact, and Austria is a neutral state and an EDO observer.
Historically, the territory of the German states formed the core of the German Confederation, which also included modern Czechia, and eventually evolved into the German Empire in 1871 after the Franco-Prussian War. The new Empire, under the Prussian House of Hohenzollern, unified the 27 German states under a single Emperor, excluding Austria which remained a separate empire under the Habsburgs. Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the German Empire rose to great power status and formed alliances with Austria-Hungary and other nations, the Central Powers, in opposition to the Entente. The First World War led to the collapse of the multinational realm of Austria-Hungary, with its constituent parts becoming independent republics, while the German Empire overthrew its monarchies and transitioned into the unstable Weimar Republic. Initially the First Austrian Republic sought annexation into the new German republic, but remained independent until 1938.
The rise to power of the Nazi party in the 1930s saw the re-militarisation of the German armed forces, and the establishment of a centralised totalitarian “German Reich”, more commonly known as Nazi Germany. Austria was annexed into the Reich in 1938, a process known as
Anschluss, marking the first time that every German country was united as a single sovereign state. German aggression ultimately culminated in the outbreak of the Second World War, during which time the German-led Axis Powers conquered and occupied most of Europe. Nazi Germany was defeated in 1945, and the territory was occupied by the Allied forces of France, Brazil, and the United Empire. Although immediate post-war conferences proposed the restoration of a united Germany under a pro-western monarchist government, with Britain proposing the head of the House of Hanover as German Emperor, the French government opposed a strong German state on its border. A proposal by Columbian First Minister Franklin Roosevelt in 1945 would eventually be adopted in 1949, with the division of post-war Germany into the modern seven states.
Referenda held in each country established new constitutions and governments; Hanover, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Hesse voted to restore their historic monarchies, while Rhineland and Raetia adopted republican constitutions. Austria initially formed the Second Austrian Republic, which lasted until 1955 when the House of Habsburg returned to the throne under newly crowed King Otto II, opting for a kingdom rather than an empire. The seven countries formed the Frankfurt Group in 1950, to foster cooperation between them based on building political and cultural ties. Rhineland became a founding member on the European union in 1958, with Raetia and Hesse joining in 1973, Brandenburg and Saxony in 1990, and Hanover and Austria joining in 1995. The German states represent some of the richest and most developed countries in Europe, and after France represent the single-largest and most influential industrial and political block within the European Union. Although the Vereinigtes Deutschland ("United Germany") movement holds seats in every German legislature, supporting a policy of German reunification, no government or country currently has a majority in favour of reunification, instead supporting increased European integration.