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the king himse lf. Papa l decrees a re
no t subj ect to the approva l o f the
Ita lian government ; bishops need
not ta ke a n oa th o f loyalty to the
king. 1n a ll ma tters religious, th e
j udgment of Rome
is
final. In prac–
tice. the church is comple te ly free
a nd independent.
But Pius r efuses to accept these
terms. He excommunica tes the in–
vaders of his territory and refuses to
recogn ize the Kingdom of Ita ly. But
a ll this is to no avail ; the pope has
no tempora l powe r. T hough it will
take six decades befo re a reconcilia –
ti on is effected , in p ractice the popes
come to accept the loss of t he ir terri–
tory a nd tem pora l rights.
Year
1871:
The New German Em–
pire Formed. On Septembe r 1, 1870,
t he P russian a rmy de fea ts t he
French a t Sedan . T he a rmy. wi th
the ailing Napo leon lll at its head .
capitul a tes. Now. bo th Austria a nd
Fra nce have been e limina ted as riv–
a ls. Bisma rck begins to pu t the fin–
is hin g touc hes o n his qu es t for
Germa n uni ty .
On Janua ry 18, 187 1, William
1
is
p rocla imed German empe ro r in the
Ha ll of Mirro rs a t Versa ill es. The
constitution of the No rth Germa n
Confede ra tion is remodeled . Th e
new Reich conta ins 25 sepa ra te
German sta tes.
Though the new Germa n empire
runs counter to the na tu re of the o ld
Holy Roman Emp ire. it is nonethe–
less commonly id enti.fi ed wi th the
empire which exis ted from 800 to
1806. T hus. Bisma rck's empire is
ca lled the Second Reich. In two gen–
erations. Hitl e r will es tablish his
Third Reich . which supposedly is to
last a thousand years, as did the tirst
emp ire. When the T hird Re ich fa lls.
the las t remnants o f bo th the first
and th e second empires a re buried
with it.
Willi a m 1 ( 187 1- 1888) is no t
crowned a t Ve rsa illes in the tradi–
tional manner o f past German em–
perors. Bismarck holds tha t the true
crown lays in Vienna. T hough thc
Hohenzollerns ask fo r its possess ion.
the Austrian government refuses to
give it up. When the first d iet of th e
22
Second Re ich opens, the empe ro r is
se at ed o n an a n c ie nt imp e rial
throne from G osla r. On this throne
many lumina ri es o f the Ho ly Ro–
ma n Empire, such as Henry IV .
Philip o f Swabia a nd Otto IV. once
sa t. T he Hohe nzo lle rns st ill want a
c rown, however. On e
is
fas hioned
on the s ty le of the octagona l crown
of Otto the Grea t.
When Frede ri ck (1888) succeeds
his fathe r as G e rma n empe ro r. he
wishes to be known as Fred erick IV.
wh ich wou ld mea n th e ucce sor of
Emperor Frede ri ck III, fa th er o f
Max imi li an I - thc grea t Ha bsburg
empe ror.
But Bisma rck is irrevocab ly op–
posed to a ny move - whe the r direct
or implicd - tha t the G e rma n em–
p ire he has fo rged is in any way
successor to the Ho ly Roma n Ero–
pire. Bisma rck te legra phs a n imme–
di a te veto to such id eas.
F rede rick
111
will be Frederick
JII
in the line o f Prussian rul e rs. no tlV.
in the line of Ho ly Roman emper–
o rs.
Bu t his to rica l playacting contin–
ues. Emperor Willi am IJ ( 1888-
191 8) will be especi ally vuln e ra ble
to this pastime. For exampl e. he has
a reconstruc tion o f Constantine's
la ba rum (impe ri a l standa rd) made
for his pa lace chape!. During World
Wa r
I ,
it is sa id tha t he wan ts to
have it borne before him when the
conflict te rminales. As the New
Consta ntine, thi s will represent bis
triumph ove r the hea tben in bo th
east and west.
T urning back to 1870-187 1. i t is
clear th a t many significant occur–
rences a re happening. Gc rma ny is
now united and the most powerful
na ti on on the Continent : Jta ly is
united and indirectly owes much o f
i ts existence to the po lítica! move–
ments of G ermany.
Meanwhile. the papacy. though it
has no po liti ca l clout in Europe. has
been e levated to th e pinna cl e of reli–
gious hegemony. One furth e r event
is necessa ry befo re the scena rio of a
revived Germa ni c empire.
a
la
Ho ly
Roman Empire s ty le. is fulfilled.
Years
1879-1882:
Tbe Triple AJ-
liance Between Germany, Austria
and ltaly. A it so o ft en ha ppens in
affai rs of sta te. yeste rday's enemy is
today's bed feUow. On Octobe r 8.
1879, th e a rch-enemi es, Pruss ian–
domina ted Ge rmany a nd Au tria.
conclude a five-yea r pact. lt is re–
newed regula rly and r emai ns in
fo rce unt il 19 18.
The a ll iance is the founda tion
stone of Bisma rck 's foreign policy.
T he treaty provides tha t if e ith er
nation is a ttacked by Russ ia, the
other will come to its a id. l f e ither is
a ttac ked by ano th er power. the
other will rema in neutra l.
On May 20. 1882. the famous
Tripl e All iance is concl uded for five
years. This pact ti es lta ly to Aus tri a
a nd G e rmany.
ft
is renewed a l in–
terva ls un til 19 15. The antagonist in
th is case is France. For example. if
Jta ly is a ttacked by Fra nce. Ge r–
ma ny and Austri a are to come to
1ta ly's a id.
The scenario is now complete.
The ancient a nd historie ties o f lta ly
a nd Ge rma ny during the Ottonian
reviva! of the Roman Empire and
durin g the days of the Hohenstau–
fens ar e reforged.
Though the politica l kno t is ti ed
by t he institutions a nd vocabula ry
o f mode rn po lítica! science. it repre–
sents, in fact. the same
de facto
situ–
a ti o n . A vas t Ge rmani c e mpire
stre tches across the belly of Europe
a nd is ti ed to tbe ltal ia n sta te.
Though Bi smarck will no t a llow
the pro tocol and r itua l of the o ld
Ho ly Roma n Empire to guide the
a ffa irs of sta te, one sees in the Sec–
ond Reich its politi cal a na logy. The
empire has been sho rn o f its C hris–
tian uni ve rsa lity a nd pompous cere–
mony but no t its milit a ry a nd
geopolítica! signi fica nce.
Year
1879:
The Beginning of Ger–
many' s Economic Surge. Germany
has been fo llowing the pa th of free
trade. But it is hit ha rd by th e fin an–
cia( crisis of 1873. Ag riculture is in a
sta te of crisis due to foreign com–
petition . lndus tria li sts a nd Jand–
owne rs clamo r fo r sorne kind o f
economic p rotection.
G ermany enacts a new protective
PLAIN TRUTH
January
1975