Bismarck and the foundation of the German empire . les andcompelled their King to grant him East Prussia;he drove the Swedes out of the land. More thanthis, he enforced order in his own dominions ; helaid the foundation for the prosperity of Berlin ; heorganised the administration and got together asmall but efficient military force. The growingpower of the Elector was gained to a great extentat the expense of the nobles; he took from themmany of the privileges they had before work he began was continued by his son, whotook the title of King; and by his grandson, whoinvented the Pr
Bismarck and the foundation of the German empire . les andcompelled their King to grant him East Prussia;he drove the Swedes out of the land. More thanthis, he enforced order in his own dominions ; helaid the foundation for the prosperity of Berlin ; heorganised the administration and got together asmall but efficient military force. The growingpower of the Elector was gained to a great extentat the expense of the nobles; he took from themmany of the privileges they had before work he began was continued by his son, whotook the title of King; and by his grandson, whoinvented the Prussian system of administration, andcreated the army with which Frederick the Greatfought his battles. The result of the growth of the strong, organisedmonarchy was indeed completely to alter the posi-tion of the nobles. The German barons in the southhad succeeded in throwing off the control of theirterritorial lords ; they owned no authority but thevague control of the distant Emperor, and ruledtheir little estates with an almost royal independ-. Birth and Parentage. 7 ence; they had their own laws, their own coinage,their own army. In the north, the nobles of Meck-lenburg, Holstein, and Hanover formed a dominantclass, and the whole government of the State was intheir hands; but those barons whose homes fellwithin the dominion of the Kings of Prussia foundthemselves face to face with a will and a powerstronger than their ov/n ; they lost in independence,but they gained far more than they lost. They werethe basis on which the State was built up ; they nolonger wasted their military prowess in purposelessfeuds or in mercenary service ; in the Prussian armyand administration they found full scope for theirambition, and when the victories of Frederick theGreat had raised Prussia to the rank of a EuropeanPower, the nobles of Brandenburg were the mostloyal of his subjects. They formed an exclusivecaste ; they seldom left their homes ; they were littleknown in the south of Germany or
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbismarckottofrstvon1
