BAVARIA AND THE PRUSSIANS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 70, 17 December 1918, Page 5

BAVARIA AND THE PRUSSIANS

ROW SHE WAS MANOEUVRED INTO

THE EMPIRE

BISMARCK'S METHODS

Fifty-two years ago Bavaria_ supported Austria in the Seven Weeks' War against Prussia, anil the dofoat jit Koniggratz by von Moltke has Jiover been iorgottep, Bavaria made peace w*ith Prussia in August, 1860, and from that moment Bismarck designed that thi§ important part of South Uermany must some day be' ft State in the Germanic Empire, the idea of which was germinating in liis mind. Owing to the deception of Bismarck, and his imbuing the Southern Germans with the idea that Napoleon 111 had designs them, Bavaria's troops crossed the Rhine in 1870 for tho invasion of France under von Moltke and von Boon. After the capitulation of Metz and Sedan, Bismarck continued to work upon the Bavarian hand, and when old King William I of Prussia consented to assume the Imperial ctown) he Resigned that the request should emanate from Bavaria or Saxony. Bismarck 'then inveigled til© Ivinpr of Bavnria to send & letter to the King of Saxony, with the proposal that William I of Pryssia should assume tho title of German Emperor. ■ The device worked admirably, and prior to the actual capitulation of Paris the old King of Prussia, surrounded by all tho Germanic princes and kings of North and South Germany, was proclaimed Emperor of Germany in the historic halls of tho Palace of Versailles. When the war was over and the Imperial Germanic Constitution promulgated, it was found that Bavaria/6 representatives liad zealously safeguarded her sovereignty and autonomy. Unlike the other Gorman States of tho Confederation, Bavaria reservvl the tight of veto in war, notwithstanding the plenary war powers vested in_t,ho Kaiser -as War Lord. The Bavarian Army was amenable to the King of Bavaria, and not to tho Kaiser, and it was not incumbent upon the Bavarians, under the Germanic Constitution, to have assisted the Kaiser in the war. Tho Prussians havo been envious of the progress of Bavaria, fearful of the growing nower and independent spirit of tho Southern State. The men of Old Prussia cannot forget how Bavaria allied herself to Napoleon and helped to / briiig about Prussia's complete humiliation after Jena's fatal field.

It was the powerful influence of ■Bismarck- which cemented the Germanic States of the Empire, but since the Kaiser dropped the pilot, there has been a marked change in the altitude of Bavaria, Saxony, and Wurtenburg to' Prussia, and during the-progress of the war the German High Command was - not satisfied with the efforts of these States. On the other hand, tho Bavarian people continually complained that Bavarian troops were placed, like Uriah, the Hittite, ill the forefront of the Kaiser's battles. Another cause of friction has been tho violation of an agreement, or at all events, an agreement which is thoroughly believed in Bavaria, that the Crown of Germany should .alternate I>etweeii the Houses of Hohenzollcm and Wittelsbnch, and the popular idea is that Ludwig, the niad King, was declared mad at the instance of the Hohenzellrns, so that ilia agreement might bo broken. The Bavarians declare that madness, after all, is.a comparative affair, and that perhaps it is better to be mad oil the subject of Wagner's music than on the subject of world-dominion.