Bavaria is bought!


While the troops of the various German states were still besieging Paris during the Franco-Prussian War...



...on November 23, 1870, the Kingdom of Bavaria joins the so-called "North German Confederation" as the last German state, the preliminary stage of the desired empire set in motion by the Prussian Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck!



Except the - dominant in every way! - Kingdom of Prussia - and now also Bavaria - belong to this "North German Confederation":

- The Kingdom of Saxony

- the Grand Duchies of Hesse, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Oldenburg, Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, Mecklenburg-Strelitz, and Baden
Wuerttemberg,

- the Duchies of Brunswick, Anhalt, Saxe-Meiningen, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Saxe-Altenburg, Lauenburg,

- the principalities of Lippe, Reuss younger line (i.e. Gera-Schleiz-Lobenstein-Ebersdorf), Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg-
Sondershausen, Waldeck, Reuss older line (i.e. Principality of Greiz), Schaumburg-Lippe,

- the Free Cities of Hamburg Lübeck - and Bremen.


By the way: "Northern German" in connection with this federation did not mean "Northern Germany" but rather "Germany without Austria!".

Although Bavaria came almost too late, it was by no means punished with life, because Bismarck was now able to use almost any means to build "his" German Empire!



In dem Beitrittsvertrag ("Novembervertrag") werden den Bayern exklusive Sonderrechte, wie ein eigenes Heer, ein weiterhin eigenes Postwesen...



... and granted own railways.

In addition, Bismarck had simply bought the Bavarian King Ludwig II (and probably also members of the Bavarian government)!

The "Fairytale King"...



...who was suffering from the oppressive debts of his castle-building rage and urgently needed money, was promised - discreetly and in cash - a one-off payment in the millions as well as an annual bribe of 300,000 gold marks (which was also promised after his suicide on June 13, 1886). went to his successors); Unfortunately, the amount of the other sums is unknown.

Where did Bismarck get the money he could freely dispose of without any control?

Well: In 1866, in the Austro-Prussian War, the Guelphs had taken the wrong side, namely the side of the Habsburgs - apparently without looking at the map beforehand!

Austria was far away, Prussia close by, the troops of the Welf kingdom of Hanover...



... were literally crushed by the Prussians on June 27, 1866 in the Battle of Langensalza...



Prussia annexed the kingdom as the "Province of Hanover" and sacked the legendary "Guelph Treasure", a fortune that alone yielded 8.5 million gold marks in interest each year.

From this "Guelph treasure" Bismarck paid the bribes for the Bavarians!

Ludwig II signed the accession certificate with gnashing of teeth...



...but at the ceremonial founding of the German Empire on January 17, 1871 in the hall of mirrors of the Palace of Versailles, it was demonstratively conspicuous by its absence!



And not even the court painter Anton von Werner dared to add the Bavarian to his picture afterwards....:



The secret fund that emerged from the Welf fortune and with which Bismarck bought Bavaria's accession to the German Reich has gone down in history as the so-called "Reptilienfods" ("Reptile Fund").

This name goes back to a word from Bismarck himself, who called the Guelphs and their supporters before the Reichstag...



...once referred to as "malicious reptiles".

Well good (or rather: bad!): The German empire was founded at Versailles - and Bavaria was a part of it...:



And the word "reptile fund" means in Germany to this day a "black box"...

While the Bavarian King was reluctant to become a subject of the German Kaiser his people were not that unhappy to be part of a German Kaiserreich. From Bismarck's view Bavaria was necessary as part of the Kaiserreich due to a vengeful France that had already tried to get Austria and their former Allies Bavaria and Württemberg on board for it's war on Prussia in 1870 by choosing the battle-cry "revenge for Sadowa!". The Prussian King and future Kaiser was likewise far from enthusiastic about his new role and title. He wished to become "Kaiser of Germany" ( not German Kaiser) if necessary at all and had to be pressed by Bismarck to accept the outcome of the negotiations with the German Kingdoms. Therefore he ignored Bismarck after the ceremony at Versailles. He could foresee that his Kingdom of Prussia would dissolve into a German Reich and not the other way around as suggested by the caricature "Deutschlands Zukunft". So the day the Bavarian King was bribed into the Kaiserreich was a clever act of diplomacy by Bismarck but a thankless job for him in regard of his King Wilhelm 1rst.

You both overlook the most important aspect of Bavaria's acquiescence in joining the German Empire: Bavaria's Reinheitsgebot became law throughout the empire.



Prost!
Brad

Oh yes, "the people"...
When has it ever been asked for its opinion when it came to really important decisions..?

And Martin:
Without Bismarck and the "Repitilienfonds" there would be no German Empire, no Kaiser Wilhelm I, no Wilhelm II, no excessive maritime rearmament, probably no First World War, no...


Cheers

Jo, Martin sees things from a different point of view than I do.

It complements the whole thing very well, I think!


Cheers

It is tempting but futile and misleading to look back on moments in history with our knowledge and political views of today. Even without the "Reptilienfonds" Bismarck still had access to the reparation payments of France after the surrender of 1871. And without Bavaria the German Empire would still have been founded. Most probably Bavaria would have joined shortly afterwards. Not many kings of the Kingdoms of the German Empire were so enthusiastic about it's founding and their loss of power. They simply could no longer ignore the national feelings of their subjects who felt betrayed in their efforts 1815 and 1848. Although in the aftermath everything looked so smooth - and Bismarck added to this by his own memories - the role of France in the creation of the German Empire by starting an unnecessary war 1870 could not be directed by Bismarck - even the outcome of this war was far from sure at the beginning. Cheers Martin

Yeah, look at the UK what happens when you ask "the people" to make important decisions...