When my discussion with Pascal turned into the unification of the German Nation and its emergence of the new European super power, how Otto von Bismarck played diplomacy and statesmanship surprised us.
Bismarck took advantage of his great skills in the field of diplomacy and led two wars which turned Prussia into the most powerful state among other states of the German Confederation and a major power in Europe. He ultimately made the German Nation an European super power by the unification of various states in to a single entity.
At the very early stage in his career, he opposed the unification of Germany, arguing that Prussia would lose its independence in the process. He accepted his appointment as one of Prussia's representatives at the Erfurt Parliament, an assembly of German states that met to discuss plans for union, but only in order to oppose that body's proposals more effectively. The Parliament, in any event, failed to bring about unification, for it lacked the support of the two most important German states, Prussia and Austria.
In 1852, Friedrich Wilhelm appointed Bismarck as Prussia's envoy to the Diet of the German Confederation in Frankfurt. His eight years in Frankfurt were marked by changes in his political opinions. No longer under the influence of his ultraconservative Prussian friends, Bismarck became less reactionary and more moderate. He became convinced that Prussia would have to ally itself with other German states in order to countervail Austria's growing influence. Thus, he grew more accepting of the notion of a united German nation.
Shortly after he served as the Prussian envoy in Frankfurt he had undertaken an ambassadorial position to Russia. While Bismarck was promoted, Helmuth von Moltke and Albrecht von Roon were appointed as the new Chief of Staff for the Prussian army and the Prussian Minister of War respectively and these three men over the next 12 years transformed the German Nation by unifying it into a powerful nation of Europe.
Before unification, the German Nation consisted of a multitude of principalities loosely bound together as members of the German Confederation. The Germanic Confederation of 39 states which was created from the previous 300 was under the heavy influence of Austria and its emperor as the president of the Confederation. Only portions of the territory of Austria and Prussia were included in the Confederation.
Showing posts with label Austria. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Austria. Show all posts
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Holy Roman Empire Era War to Napoleonic Wars
In a while Pascal Sadune, the leader of the tsunami survey team joined me and my discussion with him digressed into many of the German historical events. As he did political science for his Masters degree, he had shown more interest in historical issues. His confession on the conflicts since the medieval times and major world wars showed how Germany had undergone many a destruction since historical times.
The reformation and Thirty Years War in German states from 1618 to 1648 totally ravaged the German Nation. The conflicts between Catholics and Protestants by their efforts in various states within the Holy Roman Empire to increase their power and the emperor's attempt to achieve religious and political unity of the empire caused the total devastation of the German Nation. The war resulted in a loss of something like a third of its population and large areas of the German Nation being laid waste.
Another major factor that threw the German Nation into a mess was the rivalry between Prussia and Austria for the leadership over other German states which began since 1640. After the Peace of Hubertsburg in 1763, Prussia too became equally powerful and exerted a powerful influence on German affairs.
Thereafter the Congress of Vienna, a conference between ambassadors from the major powers in Europe affected many of the German affairs.
The foundation of the Congress of Vienna was to reshape Europe's political map after the defeat of Napoleonic France in the previous spring. The Congress continued its discussions despite the ex-Emperor Napoleon I's return from exile and resumption of power in France in March 1815. The Congress's Final Act was signed nine days before his final defeat by Prussia's Gebhard Leberecht von Blucher with the help of the United Kingdom's Duke of Wellington at Waterloo on June 18, 1815.
The Congress finally reshaped entire Europe after the Napoleonic wars, with the exception of the terms of peace with France, which had already been decided a few months ago by the Treaty of Paris.
Most of the work at the Congress was performed by Great Britain, Russia, Prussia, Austria and France, the major powers of Europe at that time. The "Congress of Vienna" never actually occurred, as the Congress never met in plenary session, with most of the discussions occurring in informal sessions among the Great Powers. Most of the delegations, however, had nothing much to do at the Congress, and the host, Emperor Francis of Austria, held lavish entertainment to keep them occupied. This led to the Prince de Ligne's famous comment that "le Congres ne marche pas; il danse." (The Congress does not work; it dances.)
The Congress of Vienna was an integral part in what became known as the Conservative Order in which peace and stability were traded for liberties and civil rights. Though the Congress was frequently criticized for ignoring national and liberal impulses, and for imposing a stifling reaction on the continent, it had prevented another European general war for nearly a hundred years 1815 to1914.
The reformation and Thirty Years War in German states from 1618 to 1648 totally ravaged the German Nation. The conflicts between Catholics and Protestants by their efforts in various states within the Holy Roman Empire to increase their power and the emperor's attempt to achieve religious and political unity of the empire caused the total devastation of the German Nation. The war resulted in a loss of something like a third of its population and large areas of the German Nation being laid waste.
Another major factor that threw the German Nation into a mess was the rivalry between Prussia and Austria for the leadership over other German states which began since 1640. After the Peace of Hubertsburg in 1763, Prussia too became equally powerful and exerted a powerful influence on German affairs.
Thereafter the Congress of Vienna, a conference between ambassadors from the major powers in Europe affected many of the German affairs.
The foundation of the Congress of Vienna was to reshape Europe's political map after the defeat of Napoleonic France in the previous spring. The Congress continued its discussions despite the ex-Emperor Napoleon I's return from exile and resumption of power in France in March 1815. The Congress's Final Act was signed nine days before his final defeat by Prussia's Gebhard Leberecht von Blucher with the help of the United Kingdom's Duke of Wellington at Waterloo on June 18, 1815.
The Congress finally reshaped entire Europe after the Napoleonic wars, with the exception of the terms of peace with France, which had already been decided a few months ago by the Treaty of Paris.
Most of the work at the Congress was performed by Great Britain, Russia, Prussia, Austria and France, the major powers of Europe at that time. The "Congress of Vienna" never actually occurred, as the Congress never met in plenary session, with most of the discussions occurring in informal sessions among the Great Powers. Most of the delegations, however, had nothing much to do at the Congress, and the host, Emperor Francis of Austria, held lavish entertainment to keep them occupied. This led to the Prince de Ligne's famous comment that "le Congres ne marche pas; il danse." (The Congress does not work; it dances.)
The Congress of Vienna was an integral part in what became known as the Conservative Order in which peace and stability were traded for liberties and civil rights. Though the Congress was frequently criticized for ignoring national and liberal impulses, and for imposing a stifling reaction on the continent, it had prevented another European general war for nearly a hundred years 1815 to1914.
Latin American-Germans & Their Early Migration to Brazil
Birget, a student on city planning was telling her experiences in Cuba. Her experiences in the Caribbean Island were quiet strange. While she was narrating some of her observations, my discussion with walker came to mind.
Walker had a marvelous experience in Belize and other Latin American countries with German descendant Latin Americans.
There are German descendant minorities in almost every South American and Central American countries including Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
In the eighteenth century some isolated and small groups of German immigrants came to Latin America mainly from Germany, but also from Switzerland, Austria and Russia. Though the US was the main destination for immigration in the 19th century, the immigration to Latin America also was significant for various other political and economic reasons. Ninety percent of them came to Latin America mainly for Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile.
When the first group of Germans arrived in 1824 to Sao Leopoldo, in the State of Rio Grande do Sul in the southern Brazil, after 4 months of traveling, there were 39 people, being 33 Lutherans and 6 Catholics. They found a country with a climate, vegetation and culture very different from those of Germany. Southern Brazil was a land of gauchos, the cattle herders who used, and still live, in the Pampas region of Southern Cone.
In the next decades, however, waves of Germanic immigrants arrived to many areas of the Southern Brazil. They mostly settled in rural areas called colonies. These colonies had been created by the Brazilian government, and the lands were distributed between the immigrants. They had to construct their own houses and cultivate the land.
Germans came to Brazil to work as farmers because there were many lands and job opportunities. The Brazilian government had promised large lands to attract the immigrants, where they could settle with their families and colonize the region. In fact, these lands were in the middle of big forests and the first Germans had been abandoned by the Brazilian Government. The first years were not easy. Many Germans died of tropical diseases, others left the colony to find a better life elsewhere.
In fact, the German colony of Sao Leopoldo was a disaster. Nevertheless, in the next years another wave of 8, 000 Germans arrived to Sao Leopoldo, and then the colony started to develop, and the immigrants established the town of Novo Hamburgo (New Hamburg). From Sao Leopoldo and Novo Hamburgo the German immigrants spread into other areas of Rio Grande do Sul, mainly close to spring of rivers. All the region of Vale dos Sinos has been populated by Germans.
During the 1830's and part of 1840's German immigration was interrupted due to the "War of the Farrapos" in Brazil. The immigration restarted after 1845 with the creation of new colonies. The most important ones were Blumenau in 1850 and Joinville in 1851, both in Santa Catarina state and attracted thousands of German immigrants to the region. Some of the mass influx was due to Revolutions of 1848 in the German states.
In the last third of the nineteenth century immigration to Brazil became so difficult with the "Heydtschen Reskript" (1859) and they started to migrate towards Argentina. In the 1880's and 1890's German immigration to Latin America once again increased with the thirty percenatage of the total emigration from Germany towards Latin America.
Until the end of the 19th century 122 German colonies were created in Rio Grande do Sul, and many others in Santa Catarina, Parana, Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro. Germans had established the first middle-class population of Brazil, in a country divided between slaves and their masters. Germans immigrants in Brazil were the fourth largest immigrant community to settle in the country, after Portuguese, Italians and Spaniards.
Walker had a marvelous experience in Belize and other Latin American countries with German descendant Latin Americans.
There are German descendant minorities in almost every South American and Central American countries including Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.
In the eighteenth century some isolated and small groups of German immigrants came to Latin America mainly from Germany, but also from Switzerland, Austria and Russia. Though the US was the main destination for immigration in the 19th century, the immigration to Latin America also was significant for various other political and economic reasons. Ninety percent of them came to Latin America mainly for Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile.
When the first group of Germans arrived in 1824 to Sao Leopoldo, in the State of Rio Grande do Sul in the southern Brazil, after 4 months of traveling, there were 39 people, being 33 Lutherans and 6 Catholics. They found a country with a climate, vegetation and culture very different from those of Germany. Southern Brazil was a land of gauchos, the cattle herders who used, and still live, in the Pampas region of Southern Cone.
In the next decades, however, waves of Germanic immigrants arrived to many areas of the Southern Brazil. They mostly settled in rural areas called colonies. These colonies had been created by the Brazilian government, and the lands were distributed between the immigrants. They had to construct their own houses and cultivate the land.
Germans came to Brazil to work as farmers because there were many lands and job opportunities. The Brazilian government had promised large lands to attract the immigrants, where they could settle with their families and colonize the region. In fact, these lands were in the middle of big forests and the first Germans had been abandoned by the Brazilian Government. The first years were not easy. Many Germans died of tropical diseases, others left the colony to find a better life elsewhere.
In fact, the German colony of Sao Leopoldo was a disaster. Nevertheless, in the next years another wave of 8, 000 Germans arrived to Sao Leopoldo, and then the colony started to develop, and the immigrants established the town of Novo Hamburgo (New Hamburg). From Sao Leopoldo and Novo Hamburgo the German immigrants spread into other areas of Rio Grande do Sul, mainly close to spring of rivers. All the region of Vale dos Sinos has been populated by Germans.
During the 1830's and part of 1840's German immigration was interrupted due to the "War of the Farrapos" in Brazil. The immigration restarted after 1845 with the creation of new colonies. The most important ones were Blumenau in 1850 and Joinville in 1851, both in Santa Catarina state and attracted thousands of German immigrants to the region. Some of the mass influx was due to Revolutions of 1848 in the German states.
In the last third of the nineteenth century immigration to Brazil became so difficult with the "Heydtschen Reskript" (1859) and they started to migrate towards Argentina. In the 1880's and 1890's German immigration to Latin America once again increased with the thirty percenatage of the total emigration from Germany towards Latin America.
Until the end of the 19th century 122 German colonies were created in Rio Grande do Sul, and many others in Santa Catarina, Parana, Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro. Germans had established the first middle-class population of Brazil, in a country divided between slaves and their masters. Germans immigrants in Brazil were the fourth largest immigrant community to settle in the country, after Portuguese, Italians and Spaniards.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
German Memoirs in Asia - Austria & Divided German States
Andrea was narrating various issues about Austria. When I asked Andrea how most of the Austrians identify themselves as Austrians or Germans, she said, "there are complex issues. We have a unique culture in Austria. So we feel comfortable when we identify ourselves as Austrians". She also said, "We are less in number compared to those who are in Germany and that is the primary reason why we like to identify ourselves as Austrians".
That the German Nation and its people should be divided was a notion held by many European nations. Foreign powers had long interceded in German affairs, pitting one German principality against the other.
In the 19th century, after the Napoleonic Wars and the fall of the Holy Roman Empire (of the German nation), Austria and Prussia emerged as two opposite poles in Germany, trying to re-establish the divided German nation. In 1870, Prussia attracted even Bavaria in the Franco-Prussian War and the creation of the German Empire as a German nation-state, effectively excluding the multi-ethnic Austrian-Habsburg monarchy. From this time on, the connotation of Germans came to shift gradually from "speakers of the German language" to "Imperial Germans."
The dissolution of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire after World War I led to a strong desire of the population of the new Republic of Austria to be integrated into Germany. This was, however, prevented by the Treaty of Versailles.
Trying to overcome the shortfall of Chancellor Bismarck's creation, the Nazis attempted to unite "all Germans" in one realm. This was welcomed among ethnic Germans in Czechoslovakia, Austria, Poland, Danzig and Western Lithuania, but met with resistance among the Swiss and the Dutch, who were perfectly content with their perception of separate nations established in 1648, and the Dutch, in particular as they had never even spoken a form of the modern Germanic language.
Before World War II, most Austrians considered themselves German and denied the existence of a distinct Austrian ethnic identity. It was only after the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II that this began to change. After the world war, the Austrians increasingly saw themselves as a nation distinct from the other German-speaking areas of Europe, and some polls in 2000 indicated that no more than ten percent of the German-speaking Austrians saw themselves as part of a larger German nation linked by blood or language.
Germans, would hold that they belong to the German culture, which is what decides if someone is considered a German or not. On the other hand, Austrians often prefer to see the same persons and institutions as Austrian. Particularly, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven - who spent most of their lives in what is Austria today - may be considered to have been central within the German culture but may nevertheless often be characterized as Austrians, not as Germans.
The beginnings of a divided Germany may be traced back much further; to a Roman occupied Germania in the west and to Free Germania in the east. Starkly different ideologies have many times been developed due to conquerors and occupiers of sections of Germany. Poets talked of Zwei Seelen in einem Herz (Two souls in one heart).
That the German Nation and its people should be divided was a notion held by many European nations. Foreign powers had long interceded in German affairs, pitting one German principality against the other.
In the 19th century, after the Napoleonic Wars and the fall of the Holy Roman Empire (of the German nation), Austria and Prussia emerged as two opposite poles in Germany, trying to re-establish the divided German nation. In 1870, Prussia attracted even Bavaria in the Franco-Prussian War and the creation of the German Empire as a German nation-state, effectively excluding the multi-ethnic Austrian-Habsburg monarchy. From this time on, the connotation of Germans came to shift gradually from "speakers of the German language" to "Imperial Germans."
The dissolution of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire after World War I led to a strong desire of the population of the new Republic of Austria to be integrated into Germany. This was, however, prevented by the Treaty of Versailles.
Trying to overcome the shortfall of Chancellor Bismarck's creation, the Nazis attempted to unite "all Germans" in one realm. This was welcomed among ethnic Germans in Czechoslovakia, Austria, Poland, Danzig and Western Lithuania, but met with resistance among the Swiss and the Dutch, who were perfectly content with their perception of separate nations established in 1648, and the Dutch, in particular as they had never even spoken a form of the modern Germanic language.
Before World War II, most Austrians considered themselves German and denied the existence of a distinct Austrian ethnic identity. It was only after the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II that this began to change. After the world war, the Austrians increasingly saw themselves as a nation distinct from the other German-speaking areas of Europe, and some polls in 2000 indicated that no more than ten percent of the German-speaking Austrians saw themselves as part of a larger German nation linked by blood or language.
Germans, would hold that they belong to the German culture, which is what decides if someone is considered a German or not. On the other hand, Austrians often prefer to see the same persons and institutions as Austrian. Particularly, Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven - who spent most of their lives in what is Austria today - may be considered to have been central within the German culture but may nevertheless often be characterized as Austrians, not as Germans.
The beginnings of a divided Germany may be traced back much further; to a Roman occupied Germania in the west and to Free Germania in the east. Starkly different ideologies have many times been developed due to conquerors and occupiers of sections of Germany. Poets talked of Zwei Seelen in einem Herz (Two souls in one heart).
German Memories - Kaiser William II & The First World War
William gave the German nation an extra strength on the international level only by constructing a powerful navy which he had inherited from his mother, a love of the British Royal Navy, the world's largest at that time. He made a reality of what he once confided to his uncle Edward VII that his dream was to have a "fleet of my own some day" like the British. William's personal "likes and dislikes" caused by his fleet's poor show in front of his grandmother Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations led him to take steps towards the construction of a powerful navy against his cousins in Britain.
William well utilised the talents of the dynamic naval officer Alfred von Tirpitz. He appointed him as the head of the Reich Naval Office in 1897 and the new admiral had come out with his Tirpitz Plan, the "Risk theory" where he advocated how Germany could force Britain to accede to German demands in the international arena through the threat posed by a powerful battle-fleet concentrated in the North Sea. But building this powerful fleet of more expensive Dreadnought type of battleships cost a lot to Germany imposing financial strains in the coming years.
William got into the trap of the First World War when his close friend the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was murdered on June 28, 1914. William offered Austria-Hungary to crush the secret organization that had plotted and slayed the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. He encouraged Austria to use force against the suspected Serbian movement which was responsible for his murder. But he was further trapped by his exploitative elites in Berlin by sending him away to his annual cruise of the North Sea on July 6, 1914, as they wanted to manipulate things in his absence for war to increase German dominance in Europe. They feared William might undermine their war effort - something of which William, for all his bluster, was extremely apprehensive.
William made erratic attempts to stay on top of the crisis via telegram, and when the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum was delivered to Serbia, he hurried back to Berlin. He reached Berlin and started his last minute attempt to avert the war.
But beyond his knowledge and control in Austria the warring-attempts were in full swing. Unknown to the Emperor, Austro-Hungarian ministers and generals had already convinced the 84-year-old Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria to sign a declaration of war against Serbia.
When William learnt that the First World War was unavoidable by a document stating that Russia would not cancel its mobilization on the event of Austro-Hungarian mobilization against Serbia, he wrote a lengthy commentary containing the startling observations: "For I no longer have any doubt that England, Russia and France have agreed among themselves........knowing that our treaty obligations compel us to support Austria.......to use the Austro-Serb conflict as a pretext for waging a war of annihilation against us.......Our dilemma over keeping faith with the old and honorable Emperor has been exploited to create a situation which gives England the excuse she has been seeking to annihilate us with a spurious appearance of justice on the pretext that she is helping France and maintaining the well-known Balance of Power in Europe for her own benefit against us."
William well utilised the talents of the dynamic naval officer Alfred von Tirpitz. He appointed him as the head of the Reich Naval Office in 1897 and the new admiral had come out with his Tirpitz Plan, the "Risk theory" where he advocated how Germany could force Britain to accede to German demands in the international arena through the threat posed by a powerful battle-fleet concentrated in the North Sea. But building this powerful fleet of more expensive Dreadnought type of battleships cost a lot to Germany imposing financial strains in the coming years.
William got into the trap of the First World War when his close friend the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand was murdered on June 28, 1914. William offered Austria-Hungary to crush the secret organization that had plotted and slayed the Archduke Franz Ferdinand. He encouraged Austria to use force against the suspected Serbian movement which was responsible for his murder. But he was further trapped by his exploitative elites in Berlin by sending him away to his annual cruise of the North Sea on July 6, 1914, as they wanted to manipulate things in his absence for war to increase German dominance in Europe. They feared William might undermine their war effort - something of which William, for all his bluster, was extremely apprehensive.
William made erratic attempts to stay on top of the crisis via telegram, and when the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum was delivered to Serbia, he hurried back to Berlin. He reached Berlin and started his last minute attempt to avert the war.
But beyond his knowledge and control in Austria the warring-attempts were in full swing. Unknown to the Emperor, Austro-Hungarian ministers and generals had already convinced the 84-year-old Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria to sign a declaration of war against Serbia.
When William learnt that the First World War was unavoidable by a document stating that Russia would not cancel its mobilization on the event of Austro-Hungarian mobilization against Serbia, he wrote a lengthy commentary containing the startling observations: "For I no longer have any doubt that England, Russia and France have agreed among themselves........knowing that our treaty obligations compel us to support Austria.......to use the Austro-Serb conflict as a pretext for waging a war of annihilation against us.......Our dilemma over keeping faith with the old and honorable Emperor has been exploited to create a situation which gives England the excuse she has been seeking to annihilate us with a spurious appearance of justice on the pretext that she is helping France and maintaining the well-known Balance of Power in Europe for her own benefit against us."
German Memories - Volga Germans Under Bolshevist Atrocities
Following World War I and the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, Russia experienced mass starvation from 1920 to 1924 caused largely by a government policy of forced grain requisition.
When the Volga Germans resisted, they were completely stripped of all grain and mass executions were carried out. More than thirty percent of the Volga German population was deliberately starved before relief was permitted.
Starting in 1921, the Volga Relief Society in America raised money and bought supplies for the starving Volga Germans.
The cruelties against the Volga Germans was better revealed to the world in 1922 when a former Sheboygan resident John Hermann returned to Sheboygan, Wisconsin and told his story of survival and escape from Russia. He left from Sheboygan, Wisconsin to his Volga German settlement in Russia just before the opening of the war and returned to Sheboygan after the Bolshevist atrocities to Volga Germans which made them impoverished and nearly dead.
His story was published in the Sheboygan Press on Jan 24, 1922.
The story went as - John Hermann, residing at 1018 N. Ninth street, returned to Sheboygan early last week with reports of conditions in the Volga river region of Russia which corroborate the wildest reports of correspondents abroad. Tall, haggard, careworn, his face furrowed by worry and privation and with eyes saddened by scenes of horror, Mr. Hermann has returned after an absence of seven years to his family circle, whose happiness knows no bounds.
Mr. Hermann who had been here several years, left Sheboygan in May 1914, starting on his return journey to Russia where he intended to settle his estate and divide it among his sons.
The World War made his return impossible and he was forced to stay in his native village. During the war, Mr. Hermann stated, the conditions were not bad. There was plenty of food and though extensive requisitions had to be filled to the government, they willingly complied, for the armies had to be fed.
As soon as the bolshevists came to power, their merciless rule was felt in the Volga river region. Hordes of them swooped down upon the hamlets and villages and ordered election of councils of government, consisting of twenty-four men and a president, which body was authorized to carry out their orders and instructions.
Every village naturally had a dissatisfied element, which was in sympathy with the bolshevist, and this element was elected into office. The wealthier people were barred from election. The bolshevists supplied the candidates for election and the citizens had no choice in the matter.
Through this council a systematic plan of impoverishing the Volga river region was carried out. Orders stipulating great quantities of corn and wheat were continually given and these orders had to be obeyed.
Tardiness of only one hour in the delivery of the demanded quantities meant either a fine of twenty "boots" of wheat (one boot being equal to about forty pounds) or if the officers were so inclined - death.
After a few months the conditions became deplorable. The supplies for man and beast were exhausted. Lack of fodder put the draft animals in poor condition.
Often the bolshevists demanded horses at a moment's notice and the least resistance upon the part of their owners meant death. Horses and wagons with driver were commandeered to haul away the grain and many of those unfortunates never returned to their native home.
A neighbor of Mr. Hermann's who begged to be excused from hauling some grain to the territorial headquarters twenty versts away on the ground that he had just then returned from an extensive trip and his horse needed rest was shot down where he stood. Then other inhabitants of the village were killed at another time.
Some of the inhabitants of the village Schaefer, where Mr. Hermann had his home, being unable to bear the tyranny of the invaders, revolted, dethroned the council installed by the Soviet and elected their own from the fair-minded citizenship. As soon as the news of this occurrence reached headquarters of the bolshevists, troops were sent to capture the village and the newly elected council was put on horses, taken to the neighboring village, Reinwald, where they were executed.
The crop in the year of 1920 was a good one, said Mr. Hermann. It was well able to sustain the population of the stricken country had not the demands of the bolshevists been so great.
Seeing that starvation would be certain if provisions were not made in time, Mr. Hermann conceived the plan of completely closing the chimney and fireplace in his home. This he filled with 36 boots of wheat. The hidden store saved the lives of his immediate relatives for a time. He would gladly have shared it with others had not fear of detection prevented him from doing so. A hint of the priceless treasure to the authorities would have meant certain death.
All grinding mills were destroyed by the bolshevists to stop private manufacture of flour. Driven by desperation, ingenious minds experimented with coffee mills with no mean result though others also used meat grinders to obtain a little coarse flour.
Most of the passenger trains were crowded so that many who were anxious to escape death, climbed aboard boxcars and made their way in this manner. Men and women alike huddled on the top of these cars hoping against hope to reach a more fortunate region. It so transpired that the wife of a friend of Mr. Hermann's gave birth to a child while riding on the roof of a boxcar, exposed to the elements and the winds.
The favorite pastime of the bolshevists was the use of these destitute men and women as a means of target practice and it was considered a feat to pick off one of those huddled forms from a moving train. Mr. Hermann is hardly able to realize that he survived the ordeal. Repeatedly taken from trains, forced to slave labor, and after numerous escapes from the clutches of the revolutionists, he finally reached Novo sew (New Russia) at the Black Sea. This place is about 800 versts distant from his native village and it took him nearly six months to traverse the distance.
He was successful in getting a job as stevedore on a tramp steamer and passing through the Aegean Sea down into the Mediterranean and Italy. Traveling through Italy and Austria Hungary he crossed into Germany where he found employment at Bremen and awaited the time when his relatives in Sheboygan could provide for his steamship passage.
He said to the Press by Telegram, "The people of Sheboygan do not appreciate enough the great quantities of food they possess. Smiles of contentment are upon the faces and the children know no want. But for the starving people in Russia, these smiles of plenty and contentment are no more.
Their eyes are turned to America and the hope that help will come gives them courage to battle another day against their enemy - death. Still, I do not see how any of them can live today, for they lack food, clothing and fuel. There is plenty of fuel, yes - but no one has the energy left to get it. With them it is a problem of conserving their strength to fight the hand of famine."
When the Volga Germans resisted, they were completely stripped of all grain and mass executions were carried out. More than thirty percent of the Volga German population was deliberately starved before relief was permitted.
Starting in 1921, the Volga Relief Society in America raised money and bought supplies for the starving Volga Germans.
The cruelties against the Volga Germans was better revealed to the world in 1922 when a former Sheboygan resident John Hermann returned to Sheboygan, Wisconsin and told his story of survival and escape from Russia. He left from Sheboygan, Wisconsin to his Volga German settlement in Russia just before the opening of the war and returned to Sheboygan after the Bolshevist atrocities to Volga Germans which made them impoverished and nearly dead.
His story was published in the Sheboygan Press on Jan 24, 1922.
The story went as - John Hermann, residing at 1018 N. Ninth street, returned to Sheboygan early last week with reports of conditions in the Volga river region of Russia which corroborate the wildest reports of correspondents abroad. Tall, haggard, careworn, his face furrowed by worry and privation and with eyes saddened by scenes of horror, Mr. Hermann has returned after an absence of seven years to his family circle, whose happiness knows no bounds.
Mr. Hermann who had been here several years, left Sheboygan in May 1914, starting on his return journey to Russia where he intended to settle his estate and divide it among his sons.
The World War made his return impossible and he was forced to stay in his native village. During the war, Mr. Hermann stated, the conditions were not bad. There was plenty of food and though extensive requisitions had to be filled to the government, they willingly complied, for the armies had to be fed.
As soon as the bolshevists came to power, their merciless rule was felt in the Volga river region. Hordes of them swooped down upon the hamlets and villages and ordered election of councils of government, consisting of twenty-four men and a president, which body was authorized to carry out their orders and instructions.
Every village naturally had a dissatisfied element, which was in sympathy with the bolshevist, and this element was elected into office. The wealthier people were barred from election. The bolshevists supplied the candidates for election and the citizens had no choice in the matter.
Through this council a systematic plan of impoverishing the Volga river region was carried out. Orders stipulating great quantities of corn and wheat were continually given and these orders had to be obeyed.
Tardiness of only one hour in the delivery of the demanded quantities meant either a fine of twenty "boots" of wheat (one boot being equal to about forty pounds) or if the officers were so inclined - death.
After a few months the conditions became deplorable. The supplies for man and beast were exhausted. Lack of fodder put the draft animals in poor condition.
Often the bolshevists demanded horses at a moment's notice and the least resistance upon the part of their owners meant death. Horses and wagons with driver were commandeered to haul away the grain and many of those unfortunates never returned to their native home.
A neighbor of Mr. Hermann's who begged to be excused from hauling some grain to the territorial headquarters twenty versts away on the ground that he had just then returned from an extensive trip and his horse needed rest was shot down where he stood. Then other inhabitants of the village were killed at another time.
Some of the inhabitants of the village Schaefer, where Mr. Hermann had his home, being unable to bear the tyranny of the invaders, revolted, dethroned the council installed by the Soviet and elected their own from the fair-minded citizenship. As soon as the news of this occurrence reached headquarters of the bolshevists, troops were sent to capture the village and the newly elected council was put on horses, taken to the neighboring village, Reinwald, where they were executed.
The crop in the year of 1920 was a good one, said Mr. Hermann. It was well able to sustain the population of the stricken country had not the demands of the bolshevists been so great.
Seeing that starvation would be certain if provisions were not made in time, Mr. Hermann conceived the plan of completely closing the chimney and fireplace in his home. This he filled with 36 boots of wheat. The hidden store saved the lives of his immediate relatives for a time. He would gladly have shared it with others had not fear of detection prevented him from doing so. A hint of the priceless treasure to the authorities would have meant certain death.
All grinding mills were destroyed by the bolshevists to stop private manufacture of flour. Driven by desperation, ingenious minds experimented with coffee mills with no mean result though others also used meat grinders to obtain a little coarse flour.
Most of the passenger trains were crowded so that many who were anxious to escape death, climbed aboard boxcars and made their way in this manner. Men and women alike huddled on the top of these cars hoping against hope to reach a more fortunate region. It so transpired that the wife of a friend of Mr. Hermann's gave birth to a child while riding on the roof of a boxcar, exposed to the elements and the winds.
The favorite pastime of the bolshevists was the use of these destitute men and women as a means of target practice and it was considered a feat to pick off one of those huddled forms from a moving train. Mr. Hermann is hardly able to realize that he survived the ordeal. Repeatedly taken from trains, forced to slave labor, and after numerous escapes from the clutches of the revolutionists, he finally reached Novo sew (New Russia) at the Black Sea. This place is about 800 versts distant from his native village and it took him nearly six months to traverse the distance.
He was successful in getting a job as stevedore on a tramp steamer and passing through the Aegean Sea down into the Mediterranean and Italy. Traveling through Italy and Austria Hungary he crossed into Germany where he found employment at Bremen and awaited the time when his relatives in Sheboygan could provide for his steamship passage.
He said to the Press by Telegram, "The people of Sheboygan do not appreciate enough the great quantities of food they possess. Smiles of contentment are upon the faces and the children know no want. But for the starving people in Russia, these smiles of plenty and contentment are no more.
Their eyes are turned to America and the hope that help will come gives them courage to battle another day against their enemy - death. Still, I do not see how any of them can live today, for they lack food, clothing and fuel. There is plenty of fuel, yes - but no one has the energy left to get it. With them it is a problem of conserving their strength to fight the hand of famine."
German Memories - Kaiser William II & the End of the First World War
Though William was not a clever statesman like his erstwhile chancellor Bismarck, he tried his best diplomacy to avoid the war with Great Britain as it would attack if Germany would start its warring frontier in France through Belgium.
Though he was not actively sought to unleash the First World War, he had a dream of building a powerful German Empire. But he wanted to achieve it without bloodshed. His inability to scheme things like Bismarck made him to end up with unrealistic plans and chaotic statements.
But his better judgment at one point indicated a world war was imminent and tried his last resort of personal diplomacy to preserve the peace by his "Willy and Nicky" correspondence and influencing after the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum that Austro-Hungarian troops should go no further than Belgrade, thus limiting the conflict.
But by then it was far too late, for the eager military officials of Germany and the German Foreign Office were successful in persuading him to sign the mobilisation order and initiate the Schlieffen Plan. William was trapped by his military elite and made the First World War to be called his own initiation by the British and unfairly named it a "the Kaiser's War" of which he was personally not responsible by unleashing the conflict.
Nevertheless, his own love for culture and trappings of militarism pushed him to endorse the German military establishment and industry most notably the Krupp corporation into a prominent and influential position in the affairs of the German militia. The Krupp corporation which supported and enabled his dynasty to rule ultimately pushed his empire into an armaments race to compete with European powers.
At one point William reminded his Generals before the war expressing his pessimism as "You will regret this, gentlemen". But he encouraged Austria to pursue a hard line with Serbia and the subsequent German actions during the war gained him the title of "Supreme War Lord".
As the war progressed, his influence receded and inevitably his lack of ability in military matters led to an ever-increasing reliance upon his generals, so much so that after 1916 the Empire had effectively become a military dictatorship under the control of Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff.
Increasingly cut off from reality and the political decision-making process, William vacillated between defeatism and dreams of victory, depending upon the fortunes of "his" armies.
Though he was used by the military Generals as a useful figurehead and made him to award medals and courageous speeches, at one point he realised the necessity of a capitulation and influenced the military and political hierarchy. He really felt the German Nation should not bleed to death for a dying cause.
But over time things started to move in a different way and his abdication was necessitated by the popular perceptions that had been created by the Entente propaganda against him. He realised the situation and crossed the border by train the following day and went into exile in the Netherlands, which had remained neutral throughout the war.
Upon the conclusion of the Treaty of Versailles in early 1919, Article 227 expressly provided for the prosecution of William "for a supreme offense against international morality and the sanctity of treaties", but Queen Wilhelmina refused to extradite him, despite appeals from the Allies.
Ironically, prior to the outbreak of the First World War, while the young Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands visited Prussia, William II boasted to the child-Queen that "my guards are seven feet tall and yours are only shoulder high to them." Wilhelmina smiled politely and replied: "Quite true, Your Majesty, your guards are seven feet tall. But when we open our dikes, the water is ten feet deep!". William II had to swallow his pride under her custody during the rest of his political exile.
Ironically in William's absence the German Government finally accepted, as a basis of peace negotiations, the program laid down by the President of the United States in order to avoid further bloodshed and brought about the immediate conclusion of an armistice on land, on water, and in the air.
Pathetically some years ago only William hosted US President Theodore Roosevelt in a review of the German army on parade and Roosevelt exclaimed, "My God, if I had an army like this, I could rule the world!"
Though he was not actively sought to unleash the First World War, he had a dream of building a powerful German Empire. But he wanted to achieve it without bloodshed. His inability to scheme things like Bismarck made him to end up with unrealistic plans and chaotic statements.
But his better judgment at one point indicated a world war was imminent and tried his last resort of personal diplomacy to preserve the peace by his "Willy and Nicky" correspondence and influencing after the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum that Austro-Hungarian troops should go no further than Belgrade, thus limiting the conflict.
But by then it was far too late, for the eager military officials of Germany and the German Foreign Office were successful in persuading him to sign the mobilisation order and initiate the Schlieffen Plan. William was trapped by his military elite and made the First World War to be called his own initiation by the British and unfairly named it a "the Kaiser's War" of which he was personally not responsible by unleashing the conflict.
Nevertheless, his own love for culture and trappings of militarism pushed him to endorse the German military establishment and industry most notably the Krupp corporation into a prominent and influential position in the affairs of the German militia. The Krupp corporation which supported and enabled his dynasty to rule ultimately pushed his empire into an armaments race to compete with European powers.
At one point William reminded his Generals before the war expressing his pessimism as "You will regret this, gentlemen". But he encouraged Austria to pursue a hard line with Serbia and the subsequent German actions during the war gained him the title of "Supreme War Lord".
As the war progressed, his influence receded and inevitably his lack of ability in military matters led to an ever-increasing reliance upon his generals, so much so that after 1916 the Empire had effectively become a military dictatorship under the control of Paul von Hindenburg and Erich Ludendorff.
Increasingly cut off from reality and the political decision-making process, William vacillated between defeatism and dreams of victory, depending upon the fortunes of "his" armies.
Though he was used by the military Generals as a useful figurehead and made him to award medals and courageous speeches, at one point he realised the necessity of a capitulation and influenced the military and political hierarchy. He really felt the German Nation should not bleed to death for a dying cause.
But over time things started to move in a different way and his abdication was necessitated by the popular perceptions that had been created by the Entente propaganda against him. He realised the situation and crossed the border by train the following day and went into exile in the Netherlands, which had remained neutral throughout the war.
Upon the conclusion of the Treaty of Versailles in early 1919, Article 227 expressly provided for the prosecution of William "for a supreme offense against international morality and the sanctity of treaties", but Queen Wilhelmina refused to extradite him, despite appeals from the Allies.
Ironically, prior to the outbreak of the First World War, while the young Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands visited Prussia, William II boasted to the child-Queen that "my guards are seven feet tall and yours are only shoulder high to them." Wilhelmina smiled politely and replied: "Quite true, Your Majesty, your guards are seven feet tall. But when we open our dikes, the water is ten feet deep!". William II had to swallow his pride under her custody during the rest of his political exile.
Ironically in William's absence the German Government finally accepted, as a basis of peace negotiations, the program laid down by the President of the United States in order to avoid further bloodshed and brought about the immediate conclusion of an armistice on land, on water, and in the air.
Pathetically some years ago only William hosted US President Theodore Roosevelt in a review of the German army on parade and Roosevelt exclaimed, "My God, if I had an army like this, I could rule the world!"
German Memories - Kaiser William II & His Personal Diplomacy
He believed in personal diplomacy the same way as he had in mind with his British cousins, with his cousin-in-law Tsar Nicholas II of Russia also to build up a greater relationship between the two nations in the event of war. His unrealistic understanding of European power politics made him to sign an agreement with Tsar Nicholas at a private meeting at Bjorko in 1905. But on his return to Germany his Chancellor Bulow obstructed the personal treaty of alliance between the two cousins. In the same way Tsar Nicholas was confronted by his policy makers and elite in St. Petersburg on his return, which reduced the treaty to the status of a dead letter.
European power politics once again undermined his effort to avoid the war with Russia. His telegram to Nicholas II failed to yield the result on the eve of the First World War because of the existing German commitments to Austria-Hungary. William in 1889 gave his assurance to Austrian Emperor Francis Joseph in a chivalrous fidelity that "the day of Austro-Hungarian mobilization, for whatever cause, will be the day of German mobilization too" and made the German-Russian Alliance impossible as the Austrian mobilization for war would most likely be against Russia.
He blundered in German foreign relations either by his own mistake or by the combination of his foreign policy elites. On one occasion he visited Morocco and created the Moroccan Crisis of 1906. His visit to Tangier in Morocco on the encouragement of his foreign policy elite was seen as German interests in Morocco. He further aggravated German relations with France by his remarks on Moroccan independence as France was expanding its colonial interests in Morocco. The chaos finally led to the Algeciras Conference, which severely isolated Germany in the whole of Europe.
William further aggravated the relationship with many of the countries in Europe and outside by his controversial comments in the British newspaper "The Daily Telegraph" in 1908 where he started to comment in the beginning with the intention of building up the Anglo-German cooperation, but in the course of the interview he went to say something else out of his emotional outbursts, saying the French, Russians, and Japanese were united together against Germany and the Germans cared nothing for the British. He attacked the French and Russians that they had attempted to instigate Germany to intervene in the Second Boer War. He said the German naval buildup was targeted against the Japanese, not Britain. He finally ended up attacking severely the English people saying: "You English are mad, mad, mad as March hares."
After that interview, even in Germany the reflection was severe and even there were protests to remove him. William kept thereafter a very low profile for some time, but took revenge on his chancellor Bulow by forcing him to resign for his public disclosure that he did not edit his interview, which appeared in The Daily Telegraph. The Daily Telegraph crisis had reduced his influence in domestic and foreign policies and he lost his self-confidence and personality altogether.
European power politics once again undermined his effort to avoid the war with Russia. His telegram to Nicholas II failed to yield the result on the eve of the First World War because of the existing German commitments to Austria-Hungary. William in 1889 gave his assurance to Austrian Emperor Francis Joseph in a chivalrous fidelity that "the day of Austro-Hungarian mobilization, for whatever cause, will be the day of German mobilization too" and made the German-Russian Alliance impossible as the Austrian mobilization for war would most likely be against Russia.
He blundered in German foreign relations either by his own mistake or by the combination of his foreign policy elites. On one occasion he visited Morocco and created the Moroccan Crisis of 1906. His visit to Tangier in Morocco on the encouragement of his foreign policy elite was seen as German interests in Morocco. He further aggravated German relations with France by his remarks on Moroccan independence as France was expanding its colonial interests in Morocco. The chaos finally led to the Algeciras Conference, which severely isolated Germany in the whole of Europe.
William further aggravated the relationship with many of the countries in Europe and outside by his controversial comments in the British newspaper "The Daily Telegraph" in 1908 where he started to comment in the beginning with the intention of building up the Anglo-German cooperation, but in the course of the interview he went to say something else out of his emotional outbursts, saying the French, Russians, and Japanese were united together against Germany and the Germans cared nothing for the British. He attacked the French and Russians that they had attempted to instigate Germany to intervene in the Second Boer War. He said the German naval buildup was targeted against the Japanese, not Britain. He finally ended up attacking severely the English people saying: "You English are mad, mad, mad as March hares."
After that interview, even in Germany the reflection was severe and even there were protests to remove him. William kept thereafter a very low profile for some time, but took revenge on his chancellor Bulow by forcing him to resign for his public disclosure that he did not edit his interview, which appeared in The Daily Telegraph. The Daily Telegraph crisis had reduced his influence in domestic and foreign policies and he lost his self-confidence and personality altogether.
German Memories in Asia - A Discussion on Danube Swabians
Our talks on war-torn issues of the Jaffna Peninsula digressed into various issues of Stuttgart in Germany, which was a home for Turks and other minorities.
In recent years, the German-speaking countries of Europe have been confronted with demographic changes due to decades of immigration. These changes have led to renewed debates in Germany about who should be considered German. Turks, Italians, Greeks, and people from the Balkans in southeast Europe form the largest single group of non-ethnic Germans in the country.
In addition to the non-ethnic Germans, traditionally considered ethnic Germans also form a significant portion of the immigrant population. The ethnic Germans are foreign-born and often retain the cultural identities and languages of their native countries in addition to being Germans. The repatriation provisions made for this group of Germans are unique and have a historical basis, since these were areas where their ancestors traditionally lived.
Danube Swabians and Volga Germans are the major group of these ethnic Germans who immigrated or were forcibly sent back to Germany from their adopted lands by their ancestors several centuries ago.
The Danube Swabians (Donauschwaben) is a collective term for Germans who lived in the former Kingdom of Hungary, especially in the Danube River valley. Because of varying development within the territory settled, the Danube Swabians cannot be seen as a unified people. They include the Germans of Hungary (Ungarndeutsche), Satu Mare Swabians, the Banat Swabians (Banater Schwaben), and the Danube Swabians in Serbia's Vojvodina (Wojwodinedeutsche).
The Carpathian Germans and Transylvanian Saxons are not included within the Danube Swabian group.
Danube Swabians had an interesting history of origin. Beginning in the 12th century, German merchants and miners began to settle in the Kingdom of Hungary at the invitation of the Hungarian monarchy. Although there were significant colonies of Carpathian Germans in the Spis mountains and Transylvanian Saxons in Transylvania, German settlement throughout the rest of the kingdom had not been extensive until this time.
During the 17th-18th centuries, warfare between the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire devastated and depopulated much of the lands of the valley, referred geographically as the Pannonian plain. The Habsburgs ruling of Austria and Hungary at that time resettled the land with people of various ethnicities including Magyars, Slovaks, Croats, Serbs, Romanians, Ukrainians, and Germans.
The German settlers came at this time from Swabia, Hesse, Franconia, Bavaria, Austria, and Alsace-Lorraine. However, despite their origin, they were all referred to as Swabians.
The first wave of resettlement came as the Ottoman Turks were gradually being forced back after their defeat at the Battle of Vienna in 1683. The settlement was encouraged by the nobility whose lands had been devastated through warfare, and by military officers including Prince Eugene of Savoy and Claudius Mercy.
Many Germans settled in the Bakony (Bakonywald) and Vértes (Schildgebirge) mountains north and west of Lake Balaton (Plattensee), as well as around the town Buda (Ofen), now part of Budapest. The area of heaviest German colonization during this period was in the Swabian Turkey (Schwabische Turkei), a triangular region between the Danube River, Lake Balaton, and the Drava (Drau) River. Other areas settled during this time by Germans were Pécs (Fünfkirchen), Satu Mare (Sathmar), and south of Mukachevo (Munkatsch).
After the Banat area of Central Europe was annexed from the Ottomans by the Habsburgs in the Treaty of Passarowitz (1718), plans were made to resettle the region, which became known as the Banat of Temesvar (Temeschwar / Temeschburg), as well as the Backa (Batschka) region between the Danube and Tisza (Theiss) rivers.
Fledgling settlements were destroyed during another Austrian-Turkish war (1737-1739), but extensive colonization continued after the suspension of hostilities. The resettlement was accomplished through private and state initiatives.
After Maria Theresa of Austria assumed the throne as Queen of Hungary in 1740, she encouraged vigorous colonization on crown lands, especially between Timisoara and the Tisza. The land steadily rejuvenated: marshes near the Danube and the Tisza were drained, farms were rebuilt, and roads and canals were constructed. Many Danube Swabians served on Austria's Military Frontier (Militargrenze) against the Ottomans. Between 1740 and 1790 more than 100,000 Germans immigrated to the Kingdom of Hungary.
The Napoleonic Wars ended the large-scale movement of Germans to the Hungarian lands, although the colonial population grew steadily and was self-sustaining.
Small daughter-colonies developed in Slovenia and Bosnia.
After the creation of Austria-Hungary in 1867, Hungary established a policy of Magyarization whereby minorities, including the Danube Swabians, were induced by political and economic means to adopt the Magyar language and culture.
In recent years, the German-speaking countries of Europe have been confronted with demographic changes due to decades of immigration. These changes have led to renewed debates in Germany about who should be considered German. Turks, Italians, Greeks, and people from the Balkans in southeast Europe form the largest single group of non-ethnic Germans in the country.
In addition to the non-ethnic Germans, traditionally considered ethnic Germans also form a significant portion of the immigrant population. The ethnic Germans are foreign-born and often retain the cultural identities and languages of their native countries in addition to being Germans. The repatriation provisions made for this group of Germans are unique and have a historical basis, since these were areas where their ancestors traditionally lived.
Danube Swabians and Volga Germans are the major group of these ethnic Germans who immigrated or were forcibly sent back to Germany from their adopted lands by their ancestors several centuries ago.
The Danube Swabians (Donauschwaben) is a collective term for Germans who lived in the former Kingdom of Hungary, especially in the Danube River valley. Because of varying development within the territory settled, the Danube Swabians cannot be seen as a unified people. They include the Germans of Hungary (Ungarndeutsche), Satu Mare Swabians, the Banat Swabians (Banater Schwaben), and the Danube Swabians in Serbia's Vojvodina (Wojwodinedeutsche).
The Carpathian Germans and Transylvanian Saxons are not included within the Danube Swabian group.
Danube Swabians had an interesting history of origin. Beginning in the 12th century, German merchants and miners began to settle in the Kingdom of Hungary at the invitation of the Hungarian monarchy. Although there were significant colonies of Carpathian Germans in the Spis mountains and Transylvanian Saxons in Transylvania, German settlement throughout the rest of the kingdom had not been extensive until this time.
During the 17th-18th centuries, warfare between the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire devastated and depopulated much of the lands of the valley, referred geographically as the Pannonian plain. The Habsburgs ruling of Austria and Hungary at that time resettled the land with people of various ethnicities including Magyars, Slovaks, Croats, Serbs, Romanians, Ukrainians, and Germans.
The German settlers came at this time from Swabia, Hesse, Franconia, Bavaria, Austria, and Alsace-Lorraine. However, despite their origin, they were all referred to as Swabians.
The first wave of resettlement came as the Ottoman Turks were gradually being forced back after their defeat at the Battle of Vienna in 1683. The settlement was encouraged by the nobility whose lands had been devastated through warfare, and by military officers including Prince Eugene of Savoy and Claudius Mercy.
Many Germans settled in the Bakony (Bakonywald) and Vértes (Schildgebirge) mountains north and west of Lake Balaton (Plattensee), as well as around the town Buda (Ofen), now part of Budapest. The area of heaviest German colonization during this period was in the Swabian Turkey (Schwabische Turkei), a triangular region between the Danube River, Lake Balaton, and the Drava (Drau) River. Other areas settled during this time by Germans were Pécs (Fünfkirchen), Satu Mare (Sathmar), and south of Mukachevo (Munkatsch).
After the Banat area of Central Europe was annexed from the Ottomans by the Habsburgs in the Treaty of Passarowitz (1718), plans were made to resettle the region, which became known as the Banat of Temesvar (Temeschwar / Temeschburg), as well as the Backa (Batschka) region between the Danube and Tisza (Theiss) rivers.
Fledgling settlements were destroyed during another Austrian-Turkish war (1737-1739), but extensive colonization continued after the suspension of hostilities. The resettlement was accomplished through private and state initiatives.
After Maria Theresa of Austria assumed the throne as Queen of Hungary in 1740, she encouraged vigorous colonization on crown lands, especially between Timisoara and the Tisza. The land steadily rejuvenated: marshes near the Danube and the Tisza were drained, farms were rebuilt, and roads and canals were constructed. Many Danube Swabians served on Austria's Military Frontier (Militargrenze) against the Ottomans. Between 1740 and 1790 more than 100,000 Germans immigrated to the Kingdom of Hungary.
The Napoleonic Wars ended the large-scale movement of Germans to the Hungarian lands, although the colonial population grew steadily and was self-sustaining.
Small daughter-colonies developed in Slovenia and Bosnia.
After the creation of Austria-Hungary in 1867, Hungary established a policy of Magyarization whereby minorities, including the Danube Swabians, were induced by political and economic means to adopt the Magyar language and culture.
German Memories - Crisis With Denmark and Austria - Otto Von Bismarck's Diplomacy
Bismarck faced a diplomatic crisis in November 1863 over the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein; they were claimed by Denmark and by Frederick von Augustenburg, a German duke. Prussian public opinion strongly favoured Augustenburg's claim; however, Bismarck took an unpopular step by insisting that the territories legally belonged to the Danish monarch under the London Protocols signed a decade earlier. Nonetheless, Bismarck did denounce Danish decision to annex the duchy of Schleswig to Denmark.
With support from Austria, he issued an ultimatum for Denmark to return Schleswig to its former status; when the Danes refused, Austria and Prussia invaded, commencing the Second War of Schleswig.
As a result of the German victory, Denmark was forced to cede both duchies. Originally, it was proposed that the Diet of the German Confederation where all the states of Germany were represented should determine the fate of these duchies; however, before this scheme could be effected, Bismarck induced Austria to agree to the Gastein Convention. Under this agreement, Prussia received Schleswig, while Holstein went to the Austrians.
In 1866, Austria reneged on its prior agreement with Prussia by demanding that the Diet of the German Confederation determine the Schleswig-Holstein issue. Bismarck used Austria's demand as an excuse; charging that the Austrians had violated the Convention of Gastein and sent the Prussian troops to occupy Holstein. Provoked, Austria called for the aid of other German states, who quickly became involved in the Austro-Prussian War.
With the aid of Albrecht von Roon's army reorganization, the Prussian army was nearly the equal in numbers to the Austrian army. With the organizational genius of Helmuth von Moltke, the Prussian army defeated Austria and its allies, concluding the conflict with a crushing victory at the Battle of Koniggratz. The silent rivalry between Austria and Prussia finally ended up with the Battle on July 3, 1866, with casualties of more than 30,000 soldiers dead and wounded on both sides.
As a result of the Peace of Prague, the German Confederation was dissolved; Prussia annexed Schleswig, Holstein, Frankfurt, Hanover, Hesse-Kassel, and Nassau; and Austria promised not to intervene in German affairs. Austria was excluded, and remained outside of German affairs for most of the remaining 19th and 20th centuries.
Bismarck played a crucial role in uniting most of the German states into a single unit in the absence of Austrian influence.
In his first speech Bismarck referred to the issue of German unification by his famous remark: "the great questions of the day will not be decided by speeches and the resolutions of majorities - that was the great mistake from 1848 to 1849 - but by blood and iron." He was referring to the failed Frankfurt Parliament as the great mistakes of 1848 and 1849. Bismarck used both diplomacy and the Prussian military in order to achieve German unification.
To solidify Prussian hegemony, Prussia and several other North German states joined the North German Confederation in 1867; King Wilhelm I served as its President, and Bismarck as its Chancellor.
With support from Austria, he issued an ultimatum for Denmark to return Schleswig to its former status; when the Danes refused, Austria and Prussia invaded, commencing the Second War of Schleswig.
As a result of the German victory, Denmark was forced to cede both duchies. Originally, it was proposed that the Diet of the German Confederation where all the states of Germany were represented should determine the fate of these duchies; however, before this scheme could be effected, Bismarck induced Austria to agree to the Gastein Convention. Under this agreement, Prussia received Schleswig, while Holstein went to the Austrians.
In 1866, Austria reneged on its prior agreement with Prussia by demanding that the Diet of the German Confederation determine the Schleswig-Holstein issue. Bismarck used Austria's demand as an excuse; charging that the Austrians had violated the Convention of Gastein and sent the Prussian troops to occupy Holstein. Provoked, Austria called for the aid of other German states, who quickly became involved in the Austro-Prussian War.
With the aid of Albrecht von Roon's army reorganization, the Prussian army was nearly the equal in numbers to the Austrian army. With the organizational genius of Helmuth von Moltke, the Prussian army defeated Austria and its allies, concluding the conflict with a crushing victory at the Battle of Koniggratz. The silent rivalry between Austria and Prussia finally ended up with the Battle on July 3, 1866, with casualties of more than 30,000 soldiers dead and wounded on both sides.
As a result of the Peace of Prague, the German Confederation was dissolved; Prussia annexed Schleswig, Holstein, Frankfurt, Hanover, Hesse-Kassel, and Nassau; and Austria promised not to intervene in German affairs. Austria was excluded, and remained outside of German affairs for most of the remaining 19th and 20th centuries.
Bismarck played a crucial role in uniting most of the German states into a single unit in the absence of Austrian influence.
In his first speech Bismarck referred to the issue of German unification by his famous remark: "the great questions of the day will not be decided by speeches and the resolutions of majorities - that was the great mistake from 1848 to 1849 - but by blood and iron." He was referring to the failed Frankfurt Parliament as the great mistakes of 1848 and 1849. Bismarck used both diplomacy and the Prussian military in order to achieve German unification.
To solidify Prussian hegemony, Prussia and several other North German states joined the North German Confederation in 1867; King Wilhelm I served as its President, and Bismarck as its Chancellor.
German Memories in Asia - German Royals
Some of the German music which was coming from the resort was really a combination of spiritual and romantic pieces of their centuries old classics by renowned composers Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven and Richard Wagner.
While the music from the resort was mixing into the roaring waves of Indian Ocean, Maritsha was belly-dancing marvelously on the beach-sand stage. The surrounding greeneries of coconut trees gave her belly-dancing a spiritual blend. My discussion continued with Pascal Sadune and touched on the German royal families and their so-called descendants. He said they were still enjoying many privilleges in modern Germany.
As an unwritten law, the class differences had emerged well back in medieval times in Germany. In 14th century, early-modern German society gradually came into being as a result of economic, religious and political changes. A money economy arose which provoked social discontent among knights and peasants. Gradually, a proto-capitalistic system evolved out of feudalism. The Fugger family gained prominence through commercial and financial activities and became financiers to both ecclesiastical and secular rulers. The knightly classes found their monopoly on arms and introduced mercenary armies and foot soldiers.
Predatory activity by "robber knights" became common and after massive resistance in 1763 by the citizenry, an "enlightened absolutism" was established in Prussia and Austria, according to which the ruler was to be "the first servant of the state". Though the gap between the nobility and the citizenry was reduced to some extent, the impact of class differences is still a continuing phenomenon in modern German society.
While the music from the resort was mixing into the roaring waves of Indian Ocean, Maritsha was belly-dancing marvelously on the beach-sand stage. The surrounding greeneries of coconut trees gave her belly-dancing a spiritual blend. My discussion continued with Pascal Sadune and touched on the German royal families and their so-called descendants. He said they were still enjoying many privilleges in modern Germany.
As an unwritten law, the class differences had emerged well back in medieval times in Germany. In 14th century, early-modern German society gradually came into being as a result of economic, religious and political changes. A money economy arose which provoked social discontent among knights and peasants. Gradually, a proto-capitalistic system evolved out of feudalism. The Fugger family gained prominence through commercial and financial activities and became financiers to both ecclesiastical and secular rulers. The knightly classes found their monopoly on arms and introduced mercenary armies and foot soldiers.
Predatory activity by "robber knights" became common and after massive resistance in 1763 by the citizenry, an "enlightened absolutism" was established in Prussia and Austria, according to which the ruler was to be "the first servant of the state". Though the gap between the nobility and the citizenry was reduced to some extent, the impact of class differences is still a continuing phenomenon in modern German society.
German Memories - Franco-Prussian War and Otto Von Bismarck's Diplomacy
Prussia's victory over Austria increased tensions with France. The French Emperor, Napoleon III, feared that a powerful Prussia would upset the balance of power in Europe. Bismarck, at the same time, sought war with France; he believed that if the German states perceived France as the aggressor, they would unite behind the King of Prussia.
A suitable premise for war arose in 1870, when the German Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was offered the Spanish throne, which had been vacant since a revolution in 1868. The French not only blocked the candidacy, but also demanded assurances that no member of the House of Hohenzollern become King of Spain.
Bismarck then published the Ems Dispatch, a carefully edited version of a conversation between King Wilhelm and the French ambassador to Prussia. The publication was intended to provoke France into declaring war on Prussia. The Ems Dispatch had the desired effect. France mobilized and declared war, but was seen as the aggressor; as a result, German states, swept up by nationalism and patriotic zeal, rallied to Prussia's side and provided troops.
The Franco-Prussian War in 1870 was a great success for Prussia. The German army, commanded by Moltke, won victory after victory. The French were defeated in every battle. The remainder of the war featured very careful German operations and massive confusion on the part of the French.
At the end, France was forced to pay a large indemnity and surrender Alsace and part of Lorraine. Though Bismarck opposed the annexation, arguing it would be the "Achilles' Heel" of the new empire, Moltke and his generals insisted that it was needed to keep France in a defensive position. He broke France's supremacy over continental Europe after the Franco-Prussian war.
He carefully built the external security of the new German Nation upon his skillful diplomacy, which isolated France internationally and created a vast and complex system of alliances for mutual military support with most of Europe's nations.
In the role of an 'honest broker', Bismarck was also successful in maintaining peace and stability in Europe by settling French political conflicts through negotiations. Essentially a cautious politician, Bismarck never pursued an imperialistic course in Europe. In Africa however, Bismarck followed for some time a policy of imperial conquest, in a manner similar to the other European powers.
His most important tool in politics was his talent in the successful planning of complex international developments.
Bismarck decided to act immediately to secure the unification of Germany after his victory over France. He opened negotiations with representatives of southern German states, offering special concessions if they would agree to unification. The negotiations were successful; King Wilhelm was crowned "German Emperor" on 18 January 1871 in the Hall of Mirrors in the Chateau de Versailles for the further humiliation of France.
A suitable premise for war arose in 1870, when the German Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was offered the Spanish throne, which had been vacant since a revolution in 1868. The French not only blocked the candidacy, but also demanded assurances that no member of the House of Hohenzollern become King of Spain.
Bismarck then published the Ems Dispatch, a carefully edited version of a conversation between King Wilhelm and the French ambassador to Prussia. The publication was intended to provoke France into declaring war on Prussia. The Ems Dispatch had the desired effect. France mobilized and declared war, but was seen as the aggressor; as a result, German states, swept up by nationalism and patriotic zeal, rallied to Prussia's side and provided troops.
The Franco-Prussian War in 1870 was a great success for Prussia. The German army, commanded by Moltke, won victory after victory. The French were defeated in every battle. The remainder of the war featured very careful German operations and massive confusion on the part of the French.
At the end, France was forced to pay a large indemnity and surrender Alsace and part of Lorraine. Though Bismarck opposed the annexation, arguing it would be the "Achilles' Heel" of the new empire, Moltke and his generals insisted that it was needed to keep France in a defensive position. He broke France's supremacy over continental Europe after the Franco-Prussian war.
He carefully built the external security of the new German Nation upon his skillful diplomacy, which isolated France internationally and created a vast and complex system of alliances for mutual military support with most of Europe's nations.
In the role of an 'honest broker', Bismarck was also successful in maintaining peace and stability in Europe by settling French political conflicts through negotiations. Essentially a cautious politician, Bismarck never pursued an imperialistic course in Europe. In Africa however, Bismarck followed for some time a policy of imperial conquest, in a manner similar to the other European powers.
His most important tool in politics was his talent in the successful planning of complex international developments.
Bismarck decided to act immediately to secure the unification of Germany after his victory over France. He opened negotiations with representatives of southern German states, offering special concessions if they would agree to unification. The negotiations were successful; King Wilhelm was crowned "German Emperor" on 18 January 1871 in the Hall of Mirrors in the Chateau de Versailles for the further humiliation of France.
Friday, December 21, 2007
German Memories - Attack on Roman Forces by Germanic Teutons & Cimbri
During the late 2nd century BC, the Teutons were marching south along with their neighbors, the Cimbri and the Ambrones, and attacking Roman Italy.
The Cimbri were ferocious warriors who did not fear death. The host was followed by women and children on carts. Aged women dressed in white sacrificed the prisoners of war and sprinkled their blood, the nature of which allowed them to see what was to come.
Evidence that the Cimbri may have practised ritualistic sacrifice is found in the nearly 1500 year-old Haraldskaer Woman discovered in Jutland in the year 1835. Noosemarks and skin piercing were evident and she had been thrown into a bog rather than buried or cremated.
After several battles with the Boii and other Celtic tribes, the Cimbri and other tribes appeared 113 BC in Noricum ( the today's Austria), where they invaded the lands of one of Rome's allies, the Taurisci. On the request, the Roman consul Gnaeus Papirius Carbo, sent to defend the Taurisci, they retreated only to find themselves deceived and attacked at Noreia, an ancient city in the eastern Alps as the capital of the kingdom of Noricum.
In a bloody battle, they defeated the Romans. Only a storm, which separated the combatants, saved them from complete annihilation.
Thereafter the road to Italy was open, but they turned west towards Gaul (modern day France). They came into frequent conflict with the Romans, who usually came out the losers. In 109 BC, they defeated a Roman army under the consul Marcus Junius Silanus, who was the commander of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis. The same year, they defeated another Roman army under the consul Gaius Cassius Longinus, who was killed at Burdigala (modern day Bordeaux). In 107 BC, the Romans once again lost against the Tigurines, who were allies of the Cimbri.
It was not until 105 BC that they planned an attack on the Roman Empire itself. At the Rhone River, the Cimbri clashed with the Roman armies. The Roman commanders, the proconsul Quintus Servilius Caepio and the consul Gnaeus Mallius Maximus, hindered Roman coordination and so the Cimbri succeeded in first defeating the legate Marcus Aurelius Scaurus and later caused a devastating defeat on Caepio and Maximus at the Battle of Arausio.
The Roman force was completely overwhelmed and the legate was captured and brought before Boiorix. Scaurus was not humbled by his capture and advised Boiorix to turn back before his people were destroyed by the Roman forces. The king of the Cimbri was indignant at this impudence and had Scaurus executed by being burned alive in a wicker cage.
The Roman force had witnessed the complete destruction of their colleagues. In other circumstances the army might have fled, but the poor positioning of the camp backs to the river caused their total annihilation. The Romans lost as many as 112,000 men including the lost auxiliary cavalry and the non-combatants.
The Cimbri were ferocious warriors who did not fear death. The host was followed by women and children on carts. Aged women dressed in white sacrificed the prisoners of war and sprinkled their blood, the nature of which allowed them to see what was to come.
Evidence that the Cimbri may have practised ritualistic sacrifice is found in the nearly 1500 year-old Haraldskaer Woman discovered in Jutland in the year 1835. Noosemarks and skin piercing were evident and she had been thrown into a bog rather than buried or cremated.
After several battles with the Boii and other Celtic tribes, the Cimbri and other tribes appeared 113 BC in Noricum ( the today's Austria), where they invaded the lands of one of Rome's allies, the Taurisci. On the request, the Roman consul Gnaeus Papirius Carbo, sent to defend the Taurisci, they retreated only to find themselves deceived and attacked at Noreia, an ancient city in the eastern Alps as the capital of the kingdom of Noricum.
In a bloody battle, they defeated the Romans. Only a storm, which separated the combatants, saved them from complete annihilation.
Thereafter the road to Italy was open, but they turned west towards Gaul (modern day France). They came into frequent conflict with the Romans, who usually came out the losers. In 109 BC, they defeated a Roman army under the consul Marcus Junius Silanus, who was the commander of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis. The same year, they defeated another Roman army under the consul Gaius Cassius Longinus, who was killed at Burdigala (modern day Bordeaux). In 107 BC, the Romans once again lost against the Tigurines, who were allies of the Cimbri.
It was not until 105 BC that they planned an attack on the Roman Empire itself. At the Rhone River, the Cimbri clashed with the Roman armies. The Roman commanders, the proconsul Quintus Servilius Caepio and the consul Gnaeus Mallius Maximus, hindered Roman coordination and so the Cimbri succeeded in first defeating the legate Marcus Aurelius Scaurus and later caused a devastating defeat on Caepio and Maximus at the Battle of Arausio.
The Roman force was completely overwhelmed and the legate was captured and brought before Boiorix. Scaurus was not humbled by his capture and advised Boiorix to turn back before his people were destroyed by the Roman forces. The king of the Cimbri was indignant at this impudence and had Scaurus executed by being burned alive in a wicker cage.
The Roman force had witnessed the complete destruction of their colleagues. In other circumstances the army might have fled, but the poor positioning of the camp backs to the river caused their total annihilation. The Romans lost as many as 112,000 men including the lost auxiliary cavalry and the non-combatants.
German Bavaria - The Wonder Land
I was seated in one of the chairs at the beach - end table facing the Indian Ocean.
I had hardly seen any objects in the Ocean, but the shining stars in the far distance and the Bavarians near me triggered my thoughts back into the good old Bavaria over the Alps.
Now I could see the several beautiful rivers across Bavaria. The Danube, the Main, the Isar and the Inn were passing so silently. I could also visualise the largest lake in Bavaria, the lake Chiemsee with other picturesque lakes Starnberger and Ammersee near Munich and in the little distance the lake Königssee in Berchtesgaden, which is surrounded by the impressive mountains of the Alps. The lake Bodensee, one of the largest lakes in Europe, which belongs to Bavaria, is silently shining to sun beams.
The scenic panorama of the Bavarian beauty in the vicinity of the Alps lasting for many centuries was saturating my mind. Now I could see with my inward eye the very impressive Alps Mountains with its highest peak Zugspitze offering a breathtaking panorama across several hundreds of peaks with a scenic view of four countries, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and Germany. Bavaria is one of the oldest states in Europe.
The ethnic group of the Bavarians had come to be mixed with Romans, Celts and Teutons some 2500 years ago. The Otto of Wittelsbach founded the State of Bavaria. Hitler took over power in 1933 and Bavaria became no longer an independent state. After Germany's capitulation in 1945, the American Forces occupied Bavaria.
The events were moving in my inner eye one by one towards the present day Bavaria. Fredrike Wagner has inspired me a lot on Bavaria and the Munich on our tsunami visit to the Northern part of the Island. When I remember Fredrike Wagner, my mind used to recall the legendary Richard Wagner who revolutionized German opera by making the music secondary to the dramatic action. Still in Bayreuth every year the Wagner festival takes place - a high society event. Wagner's most famous works "The flying Dutchman", "The ring of the Nibelungen" and "Tristan and Isolde" are such fascinating works which could inspire any one in the world.
Bavaria is the largest land of the federal republic of Germany with nearly 18 million people. Munich, the capital of Bavaria with more than 1.2 million inhabitants is one of the dynamic cities in Europe and in the world. A number of German Praktikum (Internship) students from Bavaria told me that the culture in Bavaria is very distinct from the rest of Germany. They have told the differences are very marked still in the rural areas but are less significant in the major cities.
The religious faith in Southern Bavaria is the predominant faith of Roman Catholicism, contrasting with the more Lutheran-Protestantism in the Northern parts of Bavaria. The students told the typical expression of greeting in Bavaria and Austria is: "Grüss Gott!" which means God greet you. Bavaria could be proud of the present pope, Benedict XVI, his name being Joseph Alois Ratzinger who is from the Marktl am Inn in Upper Bavaria.
But when I asked Fredrieke Wagner which religion she is practising, she told simply, "I don't have religion". I wondered and couldn't make out whether she does practise a religion in the Catholic-dominated Bavarian region or she had expressed a mere pleasantry.
I heard that Bavarians resemble the inhabitants of Latin countries and tend to give great attention to their personal appearance, while folks in some other parts of Germany dress more casually. It is fascinating even at business meetings to see southern Bavarians wearing traditional clothing.
Bavarian cities and towns, whether they are rich or poor, are the best looked-after locations in Germany. The students also told me that Bavarians are very proud of their different dialects and most of them speak with a Bavarian, Franconian or Swabian accent.
I also heard from some of the German students and others that the Christian Social Union, which has ruled Bavaria uninterruptedly since 1957, is arguably the most inward looking of the major German political parties, which combines socially conservative positions with an advocacy for extensive involvement of the state in its economy.
I had hardly seen any objects in the Ocean, but the shining stars in the far distance and the Bavarians near me triggered my thoughts back into the good old Bavaria over the Alps.
Now I could see the several beautiful rivers across Bavaria. The Danube, the Main, the Isar and the Inn were passing so silently. I could also visualise the largest lake in Bavaria, the lake Chiemsee with other picturesque lakes Starnberger and Ammersee near Munich and in the little distance the lake Königssee in Berchtesgaden, which is surrounded by the impressive mountains of the Alps. The lake Bodensee, one of the largest lakes in Europe, which belongs to Bavaria, is silently shining to sun beams.
The scenic panorama of the Bavarian beauty in the vicinity of the Alps lasting for many centuries was saturating my mind. Now I could see with my inward eye the very impressive Alps Mountains with its highest peak Zugspitze offering a breathtaking panorama across several hundreds of peaks with a scenic view of four countries, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and Germany. Bavaria is one of the oldest states in Europe.
The ethnic group of the Bavarians had come to be mixed with Romans, Celts and Teutons some 2500 years ago. The Otto of Wittelsbach founded the State of Bavaria. Hitler took over power in 1933 and Bavaria became no longer an independent state. After Germany's capitulation in 1945, the American Forces occupied Bavaria.
The events were moving in my inner eye one by one towards the present day Bavaria. Fredrike Wagner has inspired me a lot on Bavaria and the Munich on our tsunami visit to the Northern part of the Island. When I remember Fredrike Wagner, my mind used to recall the legendary Richard Wagner who revolutionized German opera by making the music secondary to the dramatic action. Still in Bayreuth every year the Wagner festival takes place - a high society event. Wagner's most famous works "The flying Dutchman", "The ring of the Nibelungen" and "Tristan and Isolde" are such fascinating works which could inspire any one in the world.
Bavaria is the largest land of the federal republic of Germany with nearly 18 million people. Munich, the capital of Bavaria with more than 1.2 million inhabitants is one of the dynamic cities in Europe and in the world. A number of German Praktikum (Internship) students from Bavaria told me that the culture in Bavaria is very distinct from the rest of Germany. They have told the differences are very marked still in the rural areas but are less significant in the major cities.
The religious faith in Southern Bavaria is the predominant faith of Roman Catholicism, contrasting with the more Lutheran-Protestantism in the Northern parts of Bavaria. The students told the typical expression of greeting in Bavaria and Austria is: "Grüss Gott!" which means God greet you. Bavaria could be proud of the present pope, Benedict XVI, his name being Joseph Alois Ratzinger who is from the Marktl am Inn in Upper Bavaria.
But when I asked Fredrieke Wagner which religion she is practising, she told simply, "I don't have religion". I wondered and couldn't make out whether she does practise a religion in the Catholic-dominated Bavarian region or she had expressed a mere pleasantry.
I heard that Bavarians resemble the inhabitants of Latin countries and tend to give great attention to their personal appearance, while folks in some other parts of Germany dress more casually. It is fascinating even at business meetings to see southern Bavarians wearing traditional clothing.
Bavarian cities and towns, whether they are rich or poor, are the best looked-after locations in Germany. The students also told me that Bavarians are very proud of their different dialects and most of them speak with a Bavarian, Franconian or Swabian accent.
I also heard from some of the German students and others that the Christian Social Union, which has ruled Bavaria uninterruptedly since 1957, is arguably the most inward looking of the major German political parties, which combines socially conservative positions with an advocacy for extensive involvement of the state in its economy.
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German university students donate a boat and engine to an affected fisherman.
Germans university students with Dietmar Doering (centre) at Marawila beach.
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