Chapter I
A HISTORY OF THE NORTH GERMAN WARRING STATES PERIOD
CHAPTER I
The Beginning of the North German Warring States Period
On July 19, 1870, the curtains would close on a dark era in German history, as the Treaty of Rome was signed, ending what would come to be known as the German War, a grueling, bloody affair, as France, Austria, and their South German allies slowly ground down the formidable Prussian army. The South German states of Baden, Wurttemberg, Bavaria, and Saxony would be solidifed under Austrian influence, with Austria itself talking its old territory of Silesia. The French would annex the Saarland, with the Rhineland becoming an independent state under French influence. The long-suffering Hannover, which had to suffer through a grueling subjagation, followed by a bloody liberation, would be given all of Northwest Germany as a reward for its suffering. The Danes, who had entered the war in its final months and proven decisive in breaking the backs of the Prussians, would be awarded Holstein. The Italians, for their willingness to back down from the Prussian camp, would be able to annex the short-lived Kingdom of Venice, which had been created to get the Italians to declare peace and ruled by the old Emperor of Mexico, in return for a guarantee that they would respect the sovereignty of the Papal States and drop any further claims on Austrian lands.
However, it would prove that the curtains would open on an even darker era - the North German Anarchy Period [1], where there was no real centralized authority, and the lands of North Germany were dragged back, in a political aspect, to the Dark Ages. As this period started, the question has been raised by countless people - why was this allowed by the European powers? For the most part, the answer was simple - the balance of powers. For centuries, the lands of Germany had been divided, and this would allow for a tenuous Concert of Europe to develop, which no-one wanted to break. The French and Austrian Empires, understandably, did not want anything more to do with North Germany, especially in a capacity that involved restoring the Prussians to power. The British, while their royalty had much sympathy for their Hanoverian cousins, were in a period of "Splendid Isolation". And the Russians knew that as soon as a Russian boot hit Prussian soil they would be at war with all three powers mentioned above.
The start of the North German Anarchy Period was an extremely complex affair that involved luck and circumstance more than planning. As Franco-Austrian forces finally approached Berlin in the summer of 1869, most of the government - and royalty - of Prussia - would flee eastward, to the old fortress city of Konigsberg, where they planned to remain until the war's end. When the peace was signed, the monarchs would begin to make their way back to Berlin - until word came of the Berlin Commune, a socialist revolution that had quickly gained support of a general military mutiny. Prussian King Wilhelm I, realizing that it would be impossible to take Berlin, would quickly move back to Konigsberg, electing to consolidate his hold in East Prussia than risk losing everything in Berlin.
This chain of events, combined with the mutiny of the Prussian army and the withdrawal of the French and Austrian ones, would lead to a general collapse of authority throughout Prussia. Much of Prussia, especially inland Prussia, would become splintered, as local town authorities, nobility, and communes taking after the one in Berlin would raise to fill the vacuum of authority. The general lawlessness in the area would lead many, especially former soldiers, to form gangs of bandits to steal and loot whatever they could, with some of the smarter bandits forming "bandit kingdoms", which allowed them to "tax" the populace to enrich themselves.
With this state of events, some would assume that the Berlin Commune would attempt to expand its power, perhaps to dominate all of Prussia. However, it was not to be. Disputes between the leftist bloc, led by such men as a jubilant Karl Marx, and the mutinous soldier bloc would come to dominate the Berlin Commune, with the people of Berlin trapped in the middle. With the chaos in the rest of Prussia, food would become hard to come by, and a strict rationing system was put in place. Finally, in the summer of 1871, a force of Junkers approached from the East, with a convoy of food, and the mutinous soldiers and people would almost instantly turn against the Communists. If not for a more leftist-sympathizing soldier warning Marx and his compatriots to flee, many leaders of the leftist movement would have been killed in a day. The junkers, for their part, would quickly dissipate their warm welcome when they invited King Wilhelm, a hated figure for his cowardice and his role in the Siege of Berlin. After a series of riots, they would have the good sense to flee, taking many of the mutinous soldiers with them, to West Prussia, where they would settle down and link up with their King. As Berlin settled into a tradition of becoming a "neutral" city, with sporadic takeovers from various forces, the North German Anarchy was set into stone.
There was one factor consistent across all of Prussia during the beginning of this period - a mass exodus. Almost all Prussians who had the means to flee would do so. For most, the preferred destination was the south German states, most notably Saxony, but some went to the French Rhineland, or somewhere in the New World. The population drain alone would set the lands of Prussia back demographically by decades, as it, for all intents and purposes, lost its entire middle class. Prussia soon became dominated by the nobility and the peasantry, yet another example of its backslide into the Dark Ages.
[1] - Alternatively known as the North German Anarchy in some academic circles.CHAPTER I
The Beginning of the North German Warring States Period
On July 19, 1870, the curtains would close on a dark era in German history, as the Treaty of Rome was signed, ending what would come to be known as the German War, a grueling, bloody affair, as France, Austria, and their South German allies slowly ground down the formidable Prussian army. The South German states of Baden, Wurttemberg, Bavaria, and Saxony would be solidifed under Austrian influence, with Austria itself talking its old territory of Silesia. The French would annex the Saarland, with the Rhineland becoming an independent state under French influence. The long-suffering Hannover, which had to suffer through a grueling subjagation, followed by a bloody liberation, would be given all of Northwest Germany as a reward for its suffering. The Danes, who had entered the war in its final months and proven decisive in breaking the backs of the Prussians, would be awarded Holstein. The Italians, for their willingness to back down from the Prussian camp, would be able to annex the short-lived Kingdom of Venice, which had been created to get the Italians to declare peace and ruled by the old Emperor of Mexico, in return for a guarantee that they would respect the sovereignty of the Papal States and drop any further claims on Austrian lands.
However, it would prove that the curtains would open on an even darker era - the North German Anarchy Period [1], where there was no real centralized authority, and the lands of North Germany were dragged back, in a political aspect, to the Dark Ages. As this period started, the question has been raised by countless people - why was this allowed by the European powers? For the most part, the answer was simple - the balance of powers. For centuries, the lands of Germany had been divided, and this would allow for a tenuous Concert of Europe to develop, which no-one wanted to break. The French and Austrian Empires, understandably, did not want anything more to do with North Germany, especially in a capacity that involved restoring the Prussians to power. The British, while their royalty had much sympathy for their Hanoverian cousins, were in a period of "Splendid Isolation". And the Russians knew that as soon as a Russian boot hit Prussian soil they would be at war with all three powers mentioned above.
The start of the North German Anarchy Period was an extremely complex affair that involved luck and circumstance more than planning. As Franco-Austrian forces finally approached Berlin in the summer of 1869, most of the government - and royalty - of Prussia - would flee eastward, to the old fortress city of Konigsberg, where they planned to remain until the war's end. When the peace was signed, the monarchs would begin to make their way back to Berlin - until word came of the Berlin Commune, a socialist revolution that had quickly gained support of a general military mutiny. Prussian King Wilhelm I, realizing that it would be impossible to take Berlin, would quickly move back to Konigsberg, electing to consolidate his hold in East Prussia than risk losing everything in Berlin.
This chain of events, combined with the mutiny of the Prussian army and the withdrawal of the French and Austrian ones, would lead to a general collapse of authority throughout Prussia. Much of Prussia, especially inland Prussia, would become splintered, as local town authorities, nobility, and communes taking after the one in Berlin would raise to fill the vacuum of authority. The general lawlessness in the area would lead many, especially former soldiers, to form gangs of bandits to steal and loot whatever they could, with some of the smarter bandits forming "bandit kingdoms", which allowed them to "tax" the populace to enrich themselves.
With this state of events, some would assume that the Berlin Commune would attempt to expand its power, perhaps to dominate all of Prussia. However, it was not to be. Disputes between the leftist bloc, led by such men as a jubilant Karl Marx, and the mutinous soldier bloc would come to dominate the Berlin Commune, with the people of Berlin trapped in the middle. With the chaos in the rest of Prussia, food would become hard to come by, and a strict rationing system was put in place. Finally, in the summer of 1871, a force of Junkers approached from the East, with a convoy of food, and the mutinous soldiers and people would almost instantly turn against the Communists. If not for a more leftist-sympathizing soldier warning Marx and his compatriots to flee, many leaders of the leftist movement would have been killed in a day. The junkers, for their part, would quickly dissipate their warm welcome when they invited King Wilhelm, a hated figure for his cowardice and his role in the Siege of Berlin. After a series of riots, they would have the good sense to flee, taking many of the mutinous soldiers with them, to West Prussia, where they would settle down and link up with their King. As Berlin settled into a tradition of becoming a "neutral" city, with sporadic takeovers from various forces, the North German Anarchy was set into stone.
There was one factor consistent across all of Prussia during the beginning of this period - a mass exodus. Almost all Prussians who had the means to flee would do so. For most, the preferred destination was the south German states, most notably Saxony, but some went to the French Rhineland, or somewhere in the New World. The population drain alone would set the lands of Prussia back demographically by decades, as it, for all intents and purposes, lost its entire middle class. Prussia soon became dominated by the nobility and the peasantry, yet another example of its backslide into the Dark Ages.
