Germany, Hohenzollern Dynasty - German Mediatisation | French Westphalia | Napoleonic Code 1804

Ref / Info SOURCE as marked Hohenzollern dynasty of princes, electors, kings & emperors of:  Hohenzollern, Brandenburg, Prussia German Empire & Romania family originated in town of Hechingen in Swabia 11th Century -- took their name from Hohenzollern Castle -- first ancestor mentioned 1061 -- two branches:     -- Catholic Swabian ruled:         - Hohenzollern-Hechingen to 1849         - Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen to 1849         - Romania - 1866 to 1947             -- Protestant Franconian (Brandenburg-Prussian branch) became:         - Margrave of Brandenburg 1415         - Duke of Prussia in 1525                 Brandenburg-Prussia = rule by personal union after 1618         of Margraviate of Brandenburg & Duchy of Prussia                 1701 - Kingdom of Prussia created, leading to unification of Germany         1871 - German Empire created,                     with Hohenzollerns as hereditary German Emperors                    & kings of Prussia         1918 - defeat Germany in WWI     -- German Revolution followed     -- Hohenzollerns overthrown     -- Weimar Republic established, bringing end to German monarchy *Weimar Republic described elsewhere as Anglo-American puppet [wikipedia] German Mediatisation Deutsche Mediatisierung ie.  annexation of lesser states to greater state while letting ruler of lesser state retain title & partial authority fm. Old French, fm. late Latin:  immediatus / fm mediare (to be in the middle) [TFD] major territorial restructuring - 1802 - 1814 in Germany & surrounding region { Holy Roman Empire until 1806 } means:  mass mediatisation & secularisation of large number of Imperial Estates:  ecclesiastical principalities, free imperial cities, secular principalities & other minor self-ruling entitles whose independent status was removed & who were absorbed into remaining states strict meaning mediatisation =  subsumption of an immediate (German: unmittelbar) state into another state = rulers dispossessed but left with private estates & number of privileges & feudal rights historians use 'mediatisation' for entire restructuring process -- whether mediatised states survived in some form or lost all individuality MASS MEDIATISATION & SECULARIZATION OF GERMAN STATES -- came under relentless military and diplomatic pressure from revolutionary France and Napoleon -- most extensive redistribution of property and territories in German history prior to 1945 -- highpoints:     - secularization/annexation of:             - ecclesiastical territories 1802–03         - free imperial cities 1802–03             - mediatisation of secular principalities & counties 1806 Holy Roman Empire final law passed by Imperial Diet:  25 Feb. 1803 -- major redistribution of territorial sovereignty within the Empire to compensate German princes -- re annexation of West of Rhine possessions by France in wars of French Revolution -- pursuant to:  Treaty of Lunéville of 1801 -- treaty referred only to hereditary princes, none for ecclesiastical, Free Imperial Cities or for Imperial Knights who had been dispossessed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_mediatization Kingdom of Westphalia 1807-1813 {French Vassal} -- vassal state of First French Empire -- ruled by Napoleon brother:  Jerome Bonaparte -- name misnomer -- Kingdom passed Germany's first laws granting Jews equal rights -- provided model of reform in other German states -- Kingdom was bankrupt by 1812 -- overrun by Allies  1815 -- territories mostly Prussian ruled thereafter -- most reforms remained in place In Germany Napoleon imposed: -- first written modern constitution in Germany -- French-style central administration -- agricultural reform -- liberation of serfs -- equal rights -- right to jury trial -- Napoleon demanded heavy taxes and payments, despite poverty -- conscripted soldiers -- metric system of weights & measures intro'd -- Napoleonic code enacted 1804 / French civil code -- code forbade privileges based on birth, allowed freedom of religion, -- & specified govt jobs should go to most qualified -- abolished guilds & paved way for capitalism [wikipedia] Napoleonic Code 1804 Napoleonic Code 1804 -- French civil code -- rules governing relations re private citizens  -- (as opposed to public laws) -- exception:  commercial acts (governed by commercial law) -- purpose:  to set up general rules -- borrowed legal style from Roman Law -- incorporated MOST PARTS of Roman Law Prior to Napoleonic Code: -- South of France = Roman Law -- Northern France = customary law (feudal Frankish & Germanic institutions) -- customary law differed town to town -- Marriage & family = Canon Law (Roman Catholic Church) -- 1500s & 1600s efforts to codify local customary laws, little success -- 1500s kings codified (wrote up) individual customary laws in France -- strengthened power of customary laws to withstand Roman Laws -- saved France from Roman law adoption which occurred in Germany -- *does not make sense (to me):  Napoleonic Code is largely Roman Law, combined with French Revolution 'Enlightenment' ideology   -- as French kings consolidated power, unitary private law for all of France felt necessary -- in France (& in England) powerful, well-organised group of practising lawyers allied with King -- lawyers sought centralisation of justice in royal courts -- prior to Revolution, all major customary laws codified (differences could be seen) -- Voltaire:   change horses; change laws   -- France change via: revolutionary action war propaganda law -- law = means to overthrow of old society & building of a new society -- French Revolution sought to adjust both technical+ sociological content of the law -- primarily interested in legal problems having political & ideological involvements -- French Revolution made ideological changes   -- NEXT:  Napoleon and the codes concentrated on the technical concept of law -- pre French Revolution, vested interests blocked codification (b/c privileges) -- recording customary law in France brought legal certainty, but could not eliminate differences -- French revolution made codification necessary & possible -- powerful groups (manors & guilds) were destroyed -- secular power of Church had been suppressed -- provinces transformed into subdivision of new national state -- ideology:  for 'purely rational law' free from prejudices -- moral justification was conformity to 'dictates of reason' -- justification NOT in ANCIENT CUSTOM or MONARCHICAL PATERNALISM -- founded on 'Enlightenment' -- bourgeoisie brought down the old order -- bourgeoisie introduced the laws purportedly based on reason -- Code as a whole was highly influenced by the theory of natural law -- theory of natural law:  autonomous principles of nature independent of religion -- human beings can devise legal system for orderly, reasonable & moral life -- "it is none other than natural reason and that governs all mankind" -- loosely written to give judicial decisions room (adaptation to changing circumstances) -- original Code Civil was the law-book of the third estate -- ideal man of the bourgeoisie Civil Code was not:     - the little man     - the artisan or daily labourer -- ideal man of bourgeoisie Civil Code was:     - the man of property     - man of judgement     - man of reason     - knowledgeable re affairs & familiar with law -- existence of bourgeoisie depended on freedom, esp. economic & property (land) freedom -- therefore, the bourgeoisie Civil Code 'freedom contract' aspect dominates Civil Code French Revolution altered the traditional social order Absolute monarchy interlocking powers of king, nobility, clergy, judiciary old territorial division of the country into provinces feudal regime of land the court system Human beings inherited status, bondage of servitude & marriage influence of parental power was immense Post French Revolution: Man was considered to be also autonomous, equal, selfish, responsible and with inalienable right at birth. intermediary status groups of the old regime no longer mediators  - man had to deal with the state itself directly The State state seen as entity bound via laws to free its citizens from the traditional authority of feudal, church, family, guild, and status groups, and to equip all its citizens with equal rights Napoleon code of law in 1804 combined the revolutionary ideology with Roman Law -- revolutionary ideology:  individual liberty & equality before law -- regulated much of private law matters eg. property, will, contracts, liability & obligations -- incorporated MOST PARTS of Roman Law -- a model for civil law systems -- remains living law in large parts of the world 1804 Napoleonic Code - First Introduced to Areas Under French Control -- Belgium -- Luxembourg -- Germany (western) -- Italy (north-Western) -- Geneva -- Monaco 1804 Napoleonic Code - Introduced to Areas Later Conquered by French -- Italy -- Netherlands -- Hanseatic lands -- Germany (remainder western) -- Switzerland Hanseatic Lands Baltic / Northern European merchant gilds & market towns commercial & defensive confederation 13th to 17th centuries *own legal system & own armies / but not a city-state * nor were theys confederation of free states   / few enjoyed autonomy & liberty of free imperial cities Lübeck, Germany (port) = base merchants of Saxony & Westphalia, trading east & north Hanseatic free cities allegiance directly to Holy Roman Emperor (not local nobility) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanseatic_League 1804 Napoleonic Code - still in use: -- Belgium -- Luxembourg -- Monaco French Civil Code spread: -- Europe - via military force / but retained after Waterloo defeat -- Africa - via French colonialism -- Asia - via French colonialism -- Latin America - on technical merits & opposition to Spanish & Portuguese colonial rule Napoleonic Code 1804 1.  Extinguishes:     - Primogeniture: inheritance preference to eldest son custom     - hereditary nobility     - class privileges 2.  Determines all male citizens are equal. 3.  Extinguishes ecclesiastical controls. 4.  Determines:     - freedom of person     - freedom of contract     - absolute private property rights Book 1 - law of persons - civil rights - protection of personality - domicile - guardianship - tutorship - parents/children relations - marriage - personal relations, spouses - dissolution of marriage (annulment or divorce) - women subordinated to fathers & husbands     - males controlled all family property & determined fate of chidren     - males favoured in divorce proceedings     - reforms only took place in late 1900s Book 2 - law of things / regulation of property rights     - ownership     - usufruct     - servitudes Book 3 - methods of acquiring rights     - succession     - donation     - marriage settlement     - obligations     - nominate contracts (specific types: sale, hiring, partnership, loan, deposit etc)     - legal & conventional mortgages     - limitations of actions     - prescriptions of rights        (uninterrupted possession of property --> acquisition of rights)     Obligations -- Napoleonic Code 1804 -- establishes traditional Roman Law categorities of:     - contract     - quasi-contract     - delict (wrongful act under criminal law, fm. Latin 'to offend')     - quasi-delict -- does not explicit spell out freedom of contract -- but freedom of contract is underlying principle in many provisions Napoleonic Code influence diminished with intro of: -- German Civil Code (1900) - adopted by Japan     / influenced Switzerland, Greece, Austria, Russia, & Scandinavian countries     -- Swiss Civil Code (1912) - adopted by Turkey Brasil, Mexico, Greece & Peru 20th Century = codes borrowed from German, French & Swiss traditions Napoleon in exile:  "What nothing will destroy, what will live forever, is my Civil Code." Napoleonic Code 1804  - source: 1.  wikipedia 2.  http://www.academia.edu/666717/Legal_History_II 3.  http://www.britannica.com/topic/Napoleonic-Code At:  Berlin City Palace Kaiser Wilhelm II Announced:  German entry into WWI (1914) East Germany blew up the palace to exorcise the evils of Prussian imperialism The man who would be kaiser A century after Kaiser Wilhelm led Germany to war, his great-great-grandson is attempting to revive his family’s fortunes http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/the-man-who-would-be-kaiser-1.1884029 ---------------------- ---------------------- Palace where Kaiser Wilhelm II declared the First World War is to be rebuilt, 100 years later  "In 1914, as in 2014, Germany was the economic success story of Europe. It was an emerging world power, its rise driven by astonishingly fast industrialisation that had seen it quadruple its foreign trade in just 30 years, and overtake Britain in steel production."  [COMMENT:  making Germany a target of British aggression - both WWI & WWI (to finish the job of destroying Britain's European rival)] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/history/world-war-one/11008289/Palace-where-Kaiser-Wilhelm-II-declared-the-First-World-War-is-to-be-rebuilt-100-years-later.html ---------------------- ---------------------- COMMENT Just some of what I've enjoyed checking out.