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.

German Memory in Asia - An Exploration Into Austrian-German Dialects

While I was talking to Dietmar Doering , a student entered into the office exclaiming, "Oh! I couldn't believe it, such a big change?" Doering told she was a former student and introduced Andrea. She was visiting Sri Lanka after her stay as an intern student in 2004. She was working in a leading Austrian newspaper as a sports journalist.

In the middle of our conversation, she smiled at Doering and said, "You are talking with an Austrian accent". He with a smile accepted her remark. Doering has been living in Sri Lanka for more than twenty years with his mother and he might have adopted that accent for her benefit.

Austrian German is a variety of the German language and mostly a High German dialect.
Dialects are receding in Austria as they are in some other areas of Europe, but it can safely be said that they are more persistent than in most of Germany.

Dialects are frequently used in TV series or movies where it is appropriate for a particular character and situation. Educated people in Vienna usually speak a very slight form of dialect or simply Standard German, but with the characteristic Viennese accent.

Austria's mountainous terrain led to the development of many distinct German dialects. All of the dialects in the country, however, belong to Austro-Bavarian groups of German dialects, with the exception of the dialect spoken in its west-most Bundesland, Vorarlberg, which belongs to the group of Alemannic dialects. There is also a distinct grammatical standard for Austrian German with a few differences to the German spoken in Germany.