History Question about Germany

Discussion in 'History' started by LionHearted, Jul 3, 2003.

  1. LionHearted Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    105
    I was looking at this map of Germany before unification in 1871:

    http://home.t-online.de/home/hans-peter.voss/maps/map02.htm

    I am wondering why there are so many states and areas of states that are entirely enclosed in another state. How did they get into this kind of situation? Also, why do some states control land that is not connected to the region with the capital? How did these enclaves come about? Thank you.
     
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  3. Killjoy Propelling The Farce!! Valued Senior Member

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    5,287
    Lots of little hereditary Principalities, Baronies, etc, etc, which were the ancestral estates/landholdings of families for perhaps centuries before the unification of Germany. And if you, the proud "owner" of some li'l plot should happen to marry another such "royal" with their own chunk of dirt, then your children end up as heirs to both...
    "Course, if they're not right next door to each other...
    I guess maybe you get a winter palace and a summer one...
     
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  5. Oxygen One Hissy Kitty Registered Senior Member

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    2,478
    That's a good question. Maybe the borders of the states and their zones of control are based on old allegiances and the feudal system, where Lord von Nasty has Baron Snivelfister in his debt, but Baron Snivelfister lives on the other side of a spanse of territory that Lord von Nasty lost in the last battle with Lord Viebelfetzermeisterschnitzelgruben of Oom-Pah-Pah.

    (NOTE: I mean no offense to any Germanic people visiting this board. I love the language, especially the way they string a million short words together to make one long descriptive word instead of inventing a new word altogether.)

    There was also the matter of just how much of the region our old buddy Otto vonBismarck could convince to do things his way. Bavaria was a holdout as long as King Ludwig II (the Dream King) was in power. Bavaria finally threw in its hat after the reign of the Dream King ended, but more from military pressure than from any real desire to be consolidated.

    I'm really no pro at German history, but these might be two directions to look.
     
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  7. New Life Registered Senior Member

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    371
    Bismark was the main guy in unifying Germany. He was a brilliant stratigist.

    He was successful because he knew what he could get away with and never tried for anything that was beyond him. Some of the parts that are within other states are lands that he could not get at that time, but eventually did unify all of that area into the country of Germany. He also used diplomacy and negotiations while making sure the other party knew about his military capabilities, some areas took longer to join then others because he used negotiations with them instead of military force.

    thats all i remember from my history course right now..........look up Bismark
     
  8. Mucker Great View! Registered Senior Member

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    758
    I think unification is what gave rise to government controlled areas, and this is what has given states the power they have today. I have read about this somewhere, but I have no more information.
     
  9. DJSupreme23 neocortex activated Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    387
    New Life is correct. before Bismarck, "Germany" was nothing but a scattered bunch of bickering nationstates, that were even fighting over religion (catholicism and prothestantism), as they had been for centuries.
     
  10. LionHearted Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    105
    These states were ruled in name but not in practice by the Holy Roman Emperor up until 1806 weren't they?
     
  11. New Life Registered Senior Member

    Messages:
    371

    most likely.....the Empire controlled pretty much everything in Europe for a long time
     
  12. prozak Banned Banned

    Messages:
    782
    1) Different tribes

    2) Different local leaders

    3) Different ethnic groups

    4) Itinerant racial populations (gypsys, kikes)
     

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