The Holy Roman Empire, Part II: The Small and Capricious
CHAPTER 24: "Europe in 1933"
PART 4
The Duchies of Anhalt and Brunswick anxiously sit between giants: they may be reluctant to accept it, but they are hardly more than mere pawns in the Hannoverian-Prussian Great Game for Northern Germany. Looming succession crises in both lands threaten to throw the HRE into conflict, as Saxony and Austria also watch the situation with interest. The Duchy of Mecklenburg, unified since the Mediatization, is only slightly better off. Eyed by republican Prussia as a potential gateway to a larger Baltic presence, its only hopes for continued peace lie in either Scandianvian guarantees or the Emperor’s protection. In a sort of mirrored situation, Oldenburg is threatened by Hannoverian ambitions of North German dominance. Only time will tell if the Holstein-Gottorps will manage to maintain their rule.
On the shores of the Baltic and North Seas, the last three remaining Hanseatic Cities of Hamburg, Lubeck and Bremen have seen better days. The League itself has been practically dead for more than two centuries now, as the Scandivanian empires of Denmark and Sweden have monopolized northern trade. Nevertheless, the protection of the Emperor means that, at least de jure, the League and its core three cities have persisted into the modern day. However, in their struggle to survive and maintain financial solvency, they have resorted to less “honourable” endeavours. Besides being a gate for imports into the Zollverein market from Scandinavia and North America, they are now also a center for money laundering, debauchery, smuggling and a myriad other illegal activities. Some say that the only reason why the Emperor hasn’t clamped down on this den of sin yet is that the Hanseatic burghers make sure to give the Imperial prelates their own “share of the pie”. These loosely associated cities must go through a period of radical reforms if they wish to reclaim economic hegemony and with it, the Crown of the Baltic.
Still on the north shores, there are lands of the Empire which do not belong to German princes: the Duchy of Holstein and swathes of Pomerania are under the rule of the Danish and Swedish Crowns, respectively. This Scandinavian meddling into Imperial affairs has been perpetuated since the end of the Thirty Years’ War by the titles that the kings from Copenhagen and Stockholm hold. Perhaps it is time that all the fiefs of the HRE shall be brought under the rightful rule of German sovereigns?
In the west and southwest lie the vestiges of eccleseiastical power, the few remaining bishoprics and archbishoprics of the HRE: Mainz, Trier, Munster, Koln, Wurzburg, Paderborn, Liege. The magnates of the Catholic Church still hold princely prerogatives over these states, which complements their spiritual authority over the larger eponymous dioceses of the Empire. However, time waits for nobody, not even the Holy Church, and the leadership of the bishoprics faces tough challenges ahead of them. The population at large clamours for reform and unrest is mounting. Some see the Church authority as a relic of the past that must go, while others are upset at the perceived decadence and weakness of the Catholic institutions and are calling for a “renewal of the faith”. Overimposed is the status quo, maintained by Franco-Austrian force and Papal leverage. The odd-one-out of the Rhineland is none other than the Prussian Rhineland province. Even more radical than its Brandenburgian overlord, the Rhinelanders are the first polity to have experienced a materialist revolution as described by German socialist Karl Marx. Under the leadership of the Liebknechts and their Prussian Socialist Party, the Rhineland has seen substantial changes since the 1880s. The Rhineland is granted permanent representation in Berlin, but relations are growing cooler between the constituent republics of the Federation, as the Brandenburg Freieists attempt to strong-arm both the Rhineland and the Warsaw Republics.
To the south lies the large pro-Austrian Catholic power base of the HRE: Baden, Wurttemberg and Bavaria are three strong states, Bavaria an electorate no less, and all are regarded as generally supportive of Vienna’s hegemony over the Empire. The ruling Bavarian Wittelsbachs also hold the hereditary rights of the Elector Palatine, and as such the lands of the Palatinate are in effect ruled as subject territories from Munchen. The Electorate of Bavaria is (albeit at some distance), the third most powerful state of the HRE, after Austria and Prussia. Its mutually beneficial partnership with Austria has been a principal reason for the successful maintenance of the status quo in HRE for over one century.
In Central Germany, the Landgraviate of Hesse is treading carefully across the political scene of the Empire. Traditionally an ally of the British-Prussian sphere, the republican revolutions in both of those nations have left Hesse devoid of its old partners. As such, it has had to engage in dual-purpose diplomacy, building connections with the Austrian sphere, while maintaining the semblance of cordiality towards Prussia, lest the Freieists from Berlin would consider the Landgraviate a target for republican expansion. Its neighbours, the duchies of Nassau and Westphalia, largely toe the line set by Hesse and act in unison, as Hesse is the main guarantor of their security. The Hessian Army, rigorously drilled and boasting a rich and proud history, will certainly be a welcome aid to whichever side manages to win them over.
To the east, the fiefdoms of Thuringia are threatened from all sides: Saxon irredentism, Hannoverian dynastic claims and the Prussian call to revolution have cornered the small duchies of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Saxe-Meiningen and Saxe Weimar. Perhaps by putting aside their difference and courting the Emperor’s support, a revitalized Thurinigia will be able to weather the storm; however the pretenders will surely not let go easily, given the strategic location of the duchies.
The westernmost lands of the HRE are home to the Austrian Netherlands, a province which has been under the Habsburgs for centuries now. Largely content with the benign neglect of Vienna, the ports of the Lower Netherlands are also one of the main bases for the Austrian worldwide trading and colonial network. Among others, the Austrian Ostend East India Company is headquartered in the Lower Netherlands, and the k.k. Marine also has several warships permanently stationed there. However, the lax rule of the province also comes with downsides: radical ideals have disseminated among the provinces, and some fear that in a moment of Austrian weakness, the Lower Netherlands may choose to cut the ties with Vienna and build its own independent future.
Finally, there are the remaining Free Imperial Cities of the interior. Lucky to have been spared from the Mediatization, these vestiges of the pre-modern HRE have had to adapt to the new paradigm in order to remain relevant. Nuremberg and Frankfurt have been the luckiest, as the reorganization of the HRE in the 1830s granted them a special status in the Empire: Nuremberg is the home of the Imperial Diet (Reichsrat), while Frankfurt hosts the Imperial Supreme Court. As “unofficial” capitals of the HRE, these Free Imperial Cities and their bureaucracies actually hold significant sway in Imperial politics, at least relative to their small size. Ulm has since the 1830’s built a reputation as an academic center, being both refuge and a place to research for many intellectual exiles of the more conservative and absolutist neighbours. Endowed with the trickling academia of old universities such as Heidelberg and Tubingen, the University of Ulm is today one of the leading places for learning and research in the HRE. One of their renowned physics professors, Albert Einstein, has some interesting theories about the way the universe works... Lastly, the cities of Koln and Aachen have taken a more “Hanseatic” approach towards their modern survival: they serve as the prime entry points of French goods and capital into the Zollverein market, and as such have developed around maximising profits from this lucrative trading partnership, whether through legal or illegal means. As a matter of trivia, Aachen has also been lobbying (unsuccessfully so far) to regain the honour of hosting the Imperial Coronation Ceremony, a privilege lost to Frankfurt in the 16th century.
