Kingdom of Bavaria, 1806-1918

In the French Revolutionary Wars, the Palatinate on the left bank of the Rhine was invaded by the French as early as 1792 and was the scene of fighting for several years; in 1796 the French also invaded Bavaria, a French army under Moreau advanced across the Lech River to Munich and occupied Ingolstadt; Karl Theodor fled to Saxony. After his death (16. Febr. 1799), since Duke Karl had died childless in the meantime, his brother Maximilian IV. Joseph of Palatinate-Zweibrucken Elector of Bavaria. 1800 Bavaria was swamped anew by a French army under Moreau, who was victorious over the Austrians at Hohenlinden, and lost the whole of the Rhine Palatinate, Zweibrucken, and Julich in the Peace of Luneville (1801) (12.400 km² with 690.000 inhabitants), but received for it in 1803 by the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss in the bishoprics of Wurzburg, Bamberg, Augsburg, Freising, part of Passau and Eichstatt, in 12 abbeys and 15 imperial cities an ample compensation (18.000 km² with 900.000 inhabitants), which at the same time perfectly rounded off the area of.

At the same time, Minister Montgelas, who was appointed to head the government, carried out sweeping reforms in the interior. The monasteries were partially abolished, general religious toleration was proclaimed and a Protestant general consistory was established in Wurzburg, the University of Wurzburg was reorganized, the university of Ingolstadt was transferred to Landshut, the universities of Bamberg, Dillingen and Altdorf were abolished, and the city of Wurzburg had a population of. The financial and judicial systems were improved and the army was reformed from the ground up, so that Bavaria, in possession of a considerable, well-equipped and trained force, was able to adopt an independent policy. At the outbreak of the war between Napoleon and Austria in 1805, Bavaria decided in favor of France, mindful of the Austrian desire for annexation, which had been openly expressed in recent years. After the victory of the French, Bavaria received in the Peace of Pressburg (1805) for Wurzburg (5500 km² with 200.000 inhabitants) Tyrol, Vorarlberg, the margraviate of Burgau, the remaining parts of Passau and Eichstatt, and some districts of southeastern Swabia with Augsburg (a total of 32.000 km² with 1.028.000 inhabitants) as well as the kingship.

The Elector took 1. Jan. 1806 when Maximilian I. Joseph assumed the title of King of Bavaria with full sovereignty, and upon joining the Confederation of the Rhine pledged 12. July 1806, Napoleon in all his wars with 30.000 men to support. For Berg, which Bavaria ceded to France in 1806, it received Ansbach, soon after the imperial city of Nuremberg with its territory, and sovereignty over various formerly imperial immeasurable princes, counts, and lords, whose rights a royal declaration of 19. March 1807 regulated. Bavaria thus increased in size to 91.000 km² with 3.231.000 inhabitants and received 1. Jan. 1808 a constitution that created a unified state. All special rights, serfdom and nobility privileges were abolished, tithes and levies were abolished, all monasteries were abolished, a uniform judicial and tax system, conscription according to the French model was established. With deliberate disregard of historical tradition and tribal differences, the country was divided into geographic districts. Bavaria was the most powerful of the Rhine Confederation states, but still only Napoleon's vassal; all German nationalist aspirations were pursued, while it was servilely submissive to France.

In the 1809 war between France and Austria, Bavaria fought on Napoleon's side, notably the Tyrol and Vorarlberg uprisings. After the defeat of Austria, in 1810 it had to cede South Tyrol to Italy, Schweinfurt and some parts of the Main district to Wurzburg, a Swabian region (Buchhorn, Wangen, Ravensburg, Ulm u. a.) to Wurttemberg, while in return it received Bayreuth, Regensburg, Salzburg, the Innviertel and part of the Hausruckviertel. It still won 75.000 inhabitants, bringing it to 3.3 mill. Einw. But the fight against the Tyrolean rebels made Bavaria hated in Germany. In 1812 the whole contingent of 30.000 men participated in the Russian campaign, and in November Bavaria sent 10.000 men of replacement troops after; only insignificant debris returned in the spring of 1813. Fresh troops again joined the French army in Saxony for the war of 1813. But immediately after Napoleon's defeats in August and September, Bavaria opened negotiations with Metternich, who in the Treaty of Ried (8. Oct. 1813) Bavaria guaranteed its vested rights and sovereignty, whereas it 36.000 men against France promised. On 14. Oct. it declared war on the latter and sent Wrede, to whom an Austrian corps was also attached, to the lower Main to cut off Napoleon's retreat across the Rhine; but Wrede's position at Hanau was followed by 30. and 31. Oct. breached. In the campaign of 1814, Bavarian troops fought with the main army under Schwarzenberg at La Rothiere, Bar and Arcis-sur-Aube, and also advanced into the field in 1815.

Bavaria ceded Tyrol and Vorarlberg to Austria immediately after the first Peace of Paris and took possession of the principalities of Wurzburg and Aschaffenburg in exchange. According to the provisions of the Congress of Vienna, Bavaria was also to cede to Austria most of Salzburg, the Hausruck and Innviertel regions, and, in addition to Wurzburg and Aschaffenburg, receive the Palatinate on the left bank of the Rhine and a number of Fulda and Hesse offices as compensation. However, Bavaria also laid claim to the Palatinate on the right bank of the Rhine and did not take possession of it until 16. In April 1816, by the Treaty of Munich, Bavaria accepted the provisions of the Congress, after Austria had promised it that if the line of the Counts of Hochberg came to rule in Baden, the part of the old Electoral Palatinate on the right bank of the Rhine would fall to Bavaria; but it had to renounce this claim at the Congress of Aachen in 1818 (cf. Baden, S. 252). Bavaria now comprised 81.000 km² with 3.377.000 inhabitants.

Bavaria as a constitutional state until 1848

When the constitution to be given to Germany was discussed at the Congress of Vienna, Bavaria, represented by Wrede, claimed the position of a completely sovereign state, and essentially at Bavaria's operation the German Confederation was limited to an association under international law. Bavaria wanted to offer a counterweight to the national idea, which it opposed out of particularistic interests, by means of freer institutions and to get ahead of the great powers, especially Prussia. Therefore, the king decided on liberal reforms, and the absolutist Montgelas received 2. Feb. 1817 its dismissal. The kingdom was divided into eight districts, each of which received a Landrat, a representation organized along estates lines. Thereupon, ecclesiastical affairs were reorganized, the Catholic ones by a concordat with the pope (5. June 1817), and a religious edict (1818), and granted self-government to the municipalities (6. May 1818). At last 26. May 1818, the king passed a Basic Law (constitutional charter), the first of its kind in a major German state, establishing a bicameral representation of the people. Equality before the law and in taxation, freedom and security of person and property, freedom of belief and other civic rights were assured, and legislation and taxation were subject to the approval of the Diet.

The first Landtag was 4. Feb. Opened in 1819 and gave rise to discussion of public affairs, but the results remained insignificant. Louis I., which gave his father 13. Oct. 1825, regulated the finances and lifted the censorship for all non-political papers. He cultivated art and science, moved the university from Landshut to Munich in 1826, where it was brilliantly endowed and elevated by the appointment of famous scholars, and decorated the Residenz with magnificent buildings for the valuable art treasures that made Munich the capital of modern German art. In 1831 he appointed the liberal Prince of ottingen-Wallerstein to head the ministry, but the influence of Metternich and the opposition of the Diet to some of the king's favorite plans promoted more and more a reactionary current among the latter. Trials for lese majeste and high treason were instituted and aroused general displeasure by the severity of the punishments and especially by the peculiar addition of the apology before the image of the king. In Wurzburg, several professors were transferred, the mayor Behr was arrested, and the court of appeal was moved to Aschaffenburg. The parliament opposed the king's claim to be able to dispose of the surplus of the state revenues as he pleased (for his art buildings), if only for state purposes, and disapproved of the sending of Bavarian troops to Greece to support the young King Otto and the granting of Bavarian state funds for a Greek loan, although the king's philhellenism and the elevation of his son to the Greek throne (1832) had been popular in the country. ottingen left in November 1837 and was replaced by the strictly ultramontane minister Abel.

Under Abel's ten-year regiment (s. d.), Bavaria was governed entirely according to the wishes of the Jesuits and Metternich; the abolition of the freedom of censorship for the discussion of internal politics and the introduction of caning were his first measures. At the Munich University the ultramontane professors increased; the number of monasteries rose to more than 132; but especially the admission of the Jesuits under the name of the Redemptorists aroused discontent. Protestants were set back and the exercise of their worship made more difficult; by the decree of 14. Aug. 1838 Protestant soldiers were ordered to attend Catholic military services and bend the knee before the monstrance. In 1844, the Gustav Adolf Society was banned in Bavaria. The opposition of the already tame and moderate chambers was paralyzed by the fact that the government extended to advocates and physicians its right to deny civil servants leave to enter the Chamber of Deputies and made ruthless use of it. The overthrow of the ultramontane ministry was not done by the Chambers, but by the dancer Lola Montez, who had won the king's favor and completely dominated him.

In December 1846, Abel was deprived of the direction of church and education and given a special ministry. When Abel published and circulated a memorandum opposing the king's desired granting of the indigenate to his maitresse, even before he presented it to the king, the king immediately dismissed the ultramontane ministry (17. Feb. 1847) and appointed the Protestant State Council v. Maurer to the presidency of a cabinet that gave Lola Montez the indigenous status. When the ultramontanes, at their head several professors of the Munich University (Lasaulx, Sepp, Hofler, Philipps, Dollinger u. a.), incited the people, namely the students, to street excesses and insults against Lola Montez, even against the king himself, the professors were deposed, but also the Landtag was dissolved and the ministry 27. Nov. dismissed in disgrace. ottingen formed a new cabinet, but even this was unable to gain the trust of the people because of the imperious behavior of Lola Montez, who had been elevated to the rank of Countess Landsfeld. At the beginning of February 1848, on the occasion of a party of the student fraternity "Alemannia" (called Lolamontanen), which she favored, there were new student riots; Lola was publicly ridiculed and threatened. When the king's military intervened and 8. Feb. had the university closed, the people of Munich took sides with the university; unrest increased 10. and 11. Febr., and since, under the impact of the Paris February Revolution and the Viennese and Berlin movements, small concessions were not satisfactory, King Ludwig I thanked the German government. on 20. March 1848 in favor of his son Maximilian.

The government of King Maximilian II. 1848-64

Maximilian II. opened 22. March 1848 the Landtag and granted amnesty for all political crimes and misdemeanors, announced laws on freedom of the press, electoral reform, redemption of land charges, u. a. an and appointed a new ministry, Bray (s. d.), which included the popular men Thon-Dittmer (Interior) and Lerchenfeld (Finance), who were known to be liberal. The Diet approved the government bills, namely a new electoral law. The government went along with the German nationalist movement, submitted to the central German power and proclaimed 19. Dec. officially passed the first imperial laws. But the chamber spoke out 9. Feb. 1849 against a Prussian empire and the exclusion of Austria, while demanding the recognition of the German imperial constitution and fundamental rights. Yes, when the on 18. April 1849 as Minister of Foreign Affairs appointed v. d. Pfordten (s. d.) rejected the imperial constitution adopted in Frankfurt and demanded the formation of a German federal state with Austria under a directorate, there were lively demonstrations in favor of the imperial constitution and even an uprising in the Palatinate.

The chamber, which was founded on 21. May 1849 demanded that the king recognize the imperial constitution, 11. June dissolved. Since the new elections in July resulted in a small majority for the government, the government refused to enter the Epiphany alliance against Prussia, recognized in the fall of 1849 the so-called Interim, which established a provisional Austro-Prussian federal power, and concluded 27. Febr. 1850 with Hanover, Saxony and Wurttemberg the Four King's Alliance for the establishment of a German constitution including Austria. Already 10. In May, Bavaria again attended the Bundestag in Frankfurt. In the 1852-53 negotiations on renewal of the Zollverein, Bavaria was at the head of the anti-Prussian Darmstadt coalition and eagerly supported Austria's demand for admission to the Zollverein in order to raise Bavaria's position at the head of the Central States. The same goal was pursued by Bavaria's participation in the Bamberg conferences during the Crimean War. The king's and Pfordt's ideal of the German constitution was the triad, d. h. a union of the "pure German" states as an equally powerful factor alongside Austria and Prussia.

Reaction was less strong in Bavaria than elsewhere; the government favored intellectual and scientific life and higher education, appointed important scholars (Liebig, Jolly, Pfeufer, Sybel) and poets (Geibel, Bodenstedt, Heyse) to Munich. The government's first attempt at a reaction, the abolition of the 1848 electoral law, was met by lively opposition from the Chamber in 1854, which led to repeated dissolutions. Finally the king dismissed 27. March 1859 the Ministry Pfordten and appointed Schrenck in his place. The new government immediately entered into a friendly relationship with the Chambers and brought about important reforms (the abolition of the lottery, the separation of the judiciary and the administration, the reform of the laws on settlement and business, the introduction of a new penal code).

In the German question, Schrenck preserved Bavaria's independence: since it seemed to be threatened only by Prussia, so the government could announce Austrian sympathies, especially since the vast majority of the population, even Protestant, leaned towards Austria; this was confirmed by the new elections to the Landtag held in the spring of 1863, which resulted in a decidedly Greater German and ministerial majority. The latter approved in an address to the throne speech of 23. June 1863, the German government's German policy by all means, including the rejection of the trade treaty concluded by Prussia with France in 1862. While Bavaria declared 2. Febr. protesting Prussia's plans for federal reform in 1862, King Max played a prominent role at the Frankfurt Furstentag in August 1863. The Bavarian plan of a Directory as the supreme central German power seemed destined to be realized, and if by the new federal constitution the rivalry of Austria and Prussia was perpetuated, Bavaria at the head of the pure German states was assured an authoritative influence in Germany. But Maximilian II died. already 10. March 1864, shortly after his return from a trip to Italy.

The government of King Ludwig II. 1864-86

Since Maximilian's son, King Ludwig II. (s. d.), was only 18 years old, the affairs of state were initially conducted by Schrenck and the Bundestag envoy Pfordten. In the Schleswig-Holstein question, in accordance with the late King's instructions, they petitioned the Bundestag for recognition of Prince Frederick of Augustenburg as Duke of Holstein and resolutely defended the right of the Confederation to decide the matter. However, since Bismarck had won Austria for a common policy against Denmark, the Central States were powerless alone at the Bundestag; the Bavarian requests for the recognition of the Augustenburg were always rejected. Since Prussia made the continued existence of the Zollverein dependent on the acceptance of the Prussian-French trade treaty, Bavaria had to accept it as well, and to facilitate this swing, Pfordten took Schrenck's place in October 1864; in April 1865, the Bavarian Parliament approved the trade treaty.

At the outbreak of the conflict between Austria and Prussia over the Elbe Duchies in 1865, Bismarck tried to persuade Bavaria to adopt a Prussian-friendly neutrality, but Bavaria joined Austria in 1866; it declared 8. March that no member of the Confederation should be left behind if one of the great powers invoked the aid of the Confederation, and, when Austria did so, voted 14. June for the mobilization of the federal army against Prussia; on the same day, General v agreed to a treaty of conquest in. d. Tann in Olmutz with the Austrian Oberfeldherr joint war operations. The requested military loan of 31.5 mill. Gulden was 18. June granted, and the Bavarian army (the 7. Federal Corps) was concentrated in Bamberg under the supreme command of Duke Charles of Bavaria, to whom the 8. Federal Corps was subordinated. But the war operations (s. German War) ended after the battles at Dermbach (4. July) and Kissingen (10. July) with the retreat to the Main. While Pfordten negotiated in vain with Bismarck in Nikolsburg for an armistice and called on France to intervene, the Prussians moved into Upper and Middle Franconia; by the end of July, they were the masters of the land. The peace on 22. August, Bavaria laid insignificant sacrifices: 30 mill. Gulden war indemnity and the cession of Gersfeld, Orb and Kaulsdorf. On the other hand, Bavaria concluded a secret alliance of protection and defense with Prussia when it was informed that France had also demanded part of the Palatinate as compensation.

The war had completely changed public opinion in Bavaria, the people were in favor of annexation to the North German Confederation, the Landtag approved the peace treaty, and the Second Chamber asked the government to seek the unification of Germany with the cooperation of a parliament. Pfordten took 29. Dec. 1866 his dismissal; the national-minded Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingsfurst took his place, but the immediate annexation to the North German Confederation was omitted at the request of Prussia. The Southern Confederation envisaged in the Peace of Prague did not materialize. The Schutz- und Trutzbundnis secured Prussia the supreme command in case of war, the establishment of the customs parliament further developed the Zollverein, and a number of laws modeled on those of the North German Confederation were adopted in Bavaria.

The ultramontane-particularist party of the "patriots" began its anti-Prussian activity in the interior very soon, and the elections to the customs parliament in 1868 resulted in 26 clerics next to 12 nationalists. Their agitation became even stronger when in 1869 the new school law, which transferred school supervision to state officials and left the clergy only a share in local inspection, came up for discussion. The new elections in May 1869 were held under this slogan, the result was 72 patriots and 72 liberals, whose activity in the equality of votes was so unproductive that the government 6. Oct. triggered the Chamber. But after the new elections, 83 patriots faced only 71 liberals.

Hohenlohe's ministry immediately submitted its dismissal; meanwhile, the king held Hohenlohe, and only v. Gresser (Kultus) and v. Hormann (Interior) were 9. Dec. dismissed. Parliament convened 3. Jan. 1870 together, and both chambers expressed their distrust of Hohenlohe in addresses; indeed, those of the Second Chamber, von Jorg (s. d.), demanded not only Hohenlohe's release but also the dissolution of the treaties concluded with Prussia. Now transferred 7. March, the king granted Count Bray (s. d.) the management of the ministry. This declared 30. March the attitude of the treaties for indispensable and emphasized the independence and sovereignty of Bavaria. The patriots now directed their attacks against the military budget, and the Democratic statistician Kolb, allied with them, requested the complete transformation of the army into a militia with eight months of service in the infantry. Count Bray and the Minister of War Pranckh opposed 18. July decided on these proposals; but even before the vote, the Franco-Prussian War broke out. King Ludwig immediately declared that the case for alliance had been made, ordered 16. July the mobilization, and the government demanded 18. On July 7, the chambers approved a loan of 26.7 million euros. Guilder. The committee of the Second Chamber requested only 5.6 mill. florins to maintain an armed neutrality; but under the pressure of public opinion, the committee motion 19. In the event of the inevitability of war, the sum of 18.26 million euros was set aside. Gulden granted; the Reichsratskammer voted 20. July to.

After the Bavarian government 20. July Prussia had indicated that Bavaria had entered the war against France on the basis of the alliance, the crown prince, as leader of the third army, took over the supreme command personally in Munich 27. July. The two Bavarian army corps under v. d. Tann and Hartmann took part in the victories of Weissenburg, Worth and Sedan and in the battles before Paris and at Orleans, and the Bavarian war administration fulfilled its federal obligations by supplementing casualties and war material and by providing Landwehr troops. During the war, the desire for national unification also grew in Bavaria. Already 12. Sept. the Bavarian ministers requested authorization from the king to negotiate an affiliation with the North German Confederation and, after discussions with Delbruck in Munich had led to no result, went to Versailles at the end of October, where 23. Nov. In 1870, Bavaria's treaty with the North German Confederation was signed. It was given extensive reserve rights: its own diplomacy, independent administration of the army, the post office, telegraphy and railroads, special taxation of beer and brandy u. a.; on the other hand, it ceded essential rights of sovereignty to the Confederation and, in substance, completely subordinated its army to the federal field commander. At the suggestion of the other princes, King Ludwig then conferred the title of emperor on the King of Prussia as head of the new confederation. The North German Bundesrat and Reichstag approved the treaty 9. Dec., the Bavarian Imperial Council 30. Dec. 1870. In the House of Representatives, however, the "patriots" made every effort to bring down the contract, despite the reserve rights, but were finally 21. Jan. after ten days of debate, 102 deputies for, 48 against the treaty. Thus Bavaria became a member of the German Reich, and under the uplifting impression of the war also the first Reichstag elections took place 3. March national: out of 48 deputies, only 19 were clerical-particularist.

The impressions of the war had caused the ecclesiastical question raised by the Vatican Council to recede. Hohenlohe had warned against the council's decisions as early as April 1869; 24. July 1870, 44 professors and lecturers at Munich University, headed by Dollinger, issued a public declaration against the ecumenicity of the Council and the dogma of infallibility, while the government 9. Aug. forbade the publication of the Council's resolutions without the royal assent. Nevertheless, the bishops published the resolutions, and the archbishop of Munich demanded that the professors of theology there recognize the resolutions by signing a lapel note. Three refused to sign the lapel, the remaining six received a reprimand from the university for signing it. Associations of "Old Catholics" formed who rejected the dogma of infallibility but refused to be ousted from the church; several pastors also joined them and remained in office despite excommunication.

The Minister of Culture v. Lutz rejected it 27. Feb. In 1871, it refused to grant the bishops the aid of the secular arm. However, the king considered it necessary to take an even more energetic stance against the clergy and therefore appointed 22. July 1871 the Count Hegnenberg-Dux at the head of the ministry, in whose place he was replaced after his untimely death (2. June 1872), the former Minister of Finance Pfretzschner resigned; Pfeufer took over the interior, and Faustle the judiciary. The new ministry decisively rejected the bishops' claims and applied to the Bundesrat for the enactment of a law against the abuse of the pulpit for political agitation (Kanzelparagraphen), which was also passed by the Bundesrat and the Reichstag. The imperial law on the expulsion of the Jesuits was 6. Sept. promulgated in Bavaria in 1871 and extended to the Redemptorists in 1873. Although the school law rejected in 1869 was not reintroduced, the reforms intended at that time were carried out partly by decree, partly left to the district councils and municipalities.

The patriot party, which in the new elections 24. After a narrow majority in the July 1875 vote, 13. Oct. by the king in an address the dismissal of the ministry. King refused to accept the address, showed the ministry 19. Oct. his confidence and adjourned the Landtag. After this defeat, the patriot leaders Jorg and Freytag changed their tactics, abandoned principled opposition, and compensated by cutting back on demands for universities, schools, and civil servants' salaries. However, the "Catholic People's Party" did not agree with this change of policy; its representatives sought to break up the Chamber by mass resignation in order to force the longed-for turnaround through a strong clerical majority. This dichotomy facilitated the ministry's position.

Bavaria's position in the Reich turned out to be more favorable than had been believed; as early as 31. March 1871, it voluntarily accepted a number of laws of the North German Confederation (on freedom of movement, nationality, exchange regulations, penal code) and agreed to the various extensions of the Reich's competence. Only the imperial railroad project was opposed, as in other states. The great judicial reform was carried out in 1879. The increased revenues of the Reich due to the new customs tariff of 1879 also benefited Bavaria, where the shortfall in railroad revenues had already had to be covered by a tax reform, especially an increase in the beer tax. Bavaria benefited even more from the new spirits tax, in favor of which it gave up its reserve right; it retained the more important beer tax. Although King Ludwig II. avoided any personal encounter with the Hohenzollern imperial house, he did not put any obstacle in the way of the strengthening of the empire. He also offered the ministry an unwavering stance toward the patriots, and in 1880, after Pfretzschner's resignation, he appointed the Minister of Culture, who was hated by the ultramontanes v. Lutz to the minister president.

More recent times

The seclusion in which the king lived degenerated over time into reclusiveness, so that he himself communicated with the ministers only through the cabinet secretary or valet de chambre. Because of his questionable tendency to extravagance, the next agnate, Prince Luitpold, brother of Maximilian II., and the Council of Ministers was observed and decided upon by lunatic physicians when they declared the king insane, 7. June 1886 to establish a Reichsverweserschaft (Reich administration). Prince Luitpold took it 10. June by a proclamation; the king was notified of this and followed the summons to proceed from Neuschwanstein Castle to Berg Castle on Lake Starnberg. Here he was kept under irrenarztlicher prospect, but drowned himself 13. June in the lake. He was succeeded as king by his younger brother as Otto I.; however, being insane, the Reichsverweserschaft retained Prince Luitpold, who was in charge of the Ministry v. Lutz confirmed. By the new elections in 1887 the patriots lost the unconditional majority, the liberals were just as strong as them, and the decision was in the hands of the few conservatives and the moderate patriots. Nevertheless, in October 1889, the ultramontanes, who now called themselves the "Center" as in the Reichstag, decided on a new onslaught against the Lutz ministry and at least achieved that, in accordance with their demand, the government 15. March 1890 recognized the Old Catholics as having left the Catholic Church.

The prime minister v. Lutz requested and received due to illness 31. May 1890 his dismissal; he was replaced by the former Minister of Foreign Affairs v. Crailsheim (s. d.). In the new elections of July 1893, the Social Democrats increased to 5, the Peasants' Alliance to 9, while 68 Liberals faced 73 Ultramontanes. In 1893 v took over. Asch (s. d.) the ministry of the war, 1895 v. Landmann (s. d.) that of the Kultus. In addition to 83 centrists, the elections of 1899 brought 48 liberals, 11 social democrats, 10 peasant allies, 4 conservatives, 1 democrat and 2 savages into the Second Chamber; Orterer (center) became president and vice president v. Keller (liberal). The state finances developed favorably until the 1900/1901 budget: the latter held steady at 421 mill. Marks, almost 42 million more, the balance. In relations with the Reich, the Reich Military Court established in 1898 brought a change: as a result of direct agreement between the Emperor and the Prince Regent, a special senate was formed for the Bavarian army at the Reich Military Court in 1899, with the King of Bavaria appointing its members and officials. A sign that Bavarian particularism was not yet extinguished was the January 1900 inculcation of an older ban on flagging public buildings with colors other than the national colors on the occasion of the emperor's birthday. In August, however, it was decreed that civil state buildings should fly German and Bavarian colors on the emperor's birthday without further ado, and on the emperor's travels by special order of the government.

Bavaria, kingdom, the second state of the German Empire by area and population, consists of two geographically separate territorial parts, of which the larger, eastern part, enclosed by the Alps, the Bohemian Forest, the Thuringian Forest, and the High Rhon, belongs predominantly to the Danube basin, while the smaller territorial part, the Palatinate, lying apart west of the Rhine, 1 ⁄13 of the whole, sends its waters to the Rhine. The former part, Bavaria on this side of the Rhine, between 9°1' to 13°50' east of the Rhine. longitude and between 47°16' to 50°34' north. Latitude, bordered to the north by the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau, Saxony-Weimar, Saxony-Meiningen and Saxony-Koburg-Gotha, the Principality of Reuss j. L. and the Kingdom of Saxony, towards the east to Bohemia, the Archduchy of Austria above the Enns and Salzburg, towards the south to Salzburg, Tyrol and Vorarlberg, towards the west to Wurttemberg, Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt. The Bavaria on the left bank of the Rhine, the Palatinate, is located between 7°4' to 8°30' East. Longitude and 48°58 to 49°49' north. latitude and borders to the north on the Prussian Rhine Province and Hesse-Darmstadt, to the east on Baden, from which it is separated by the Rhine, to the south on Alsace-Lorraine, to the west on the Prussian Province of Rhineland.

State constitution and administration

Bavaria belongs to the German Reich according to the Treaty of Versailles of 23. November 1870 and the Reichsverfassung (Imperial Constitution) of 16. April 1871 to the German Empire. However, it has various special rights; in particular, the Reich legislation extends over the homeland u. settlement relations, on real estate insurance and beer taxation not to Bavaria; Bavaria has its own army administration under the military sovereignty of the king, a Bavarian Senate at the Reich Military Court in Berlin (for the decisions of Bavarian military courts assigned to it); it administers its postal and telegraph system independently; the obligations imposed in the constitution on the other federal states with regard to railroads do not apply in the main to Bavaria. It is represented in the German Bundesrat with 6 votes and sends 48 deputies to the Reichstag (cf. Map "Reichstag Elections").

The Bavarian constitution is essentially based on the constitutional charter of the 26th of the same month for the present king. May 1818. According to this, Bavaria is a constitutional monarchy. The crown is hereditary in the male line of the House of Wittelsbach according to the right of first birth and agnatic linear succession. The Bavarian royal house is Catholic. The female descendants are excluded, as long as there is still an agnate from a marriage of equal rank, concluded with the approval of the King, or a prince entitled to the throne by hereditary brotherhood. In the event of the extinction of the male line and the lack of a hereditary fraternization with another German princely house, the succession to the throne passes to the female descendants according to the order established for the male line, in which again the male sex has preference over the female. In the event of the king's minority or permanent incapacity to rule, regency occurs, regularly through the next agnate capable of ruling. One such (Prince-Regent Luitpold) exists since 10. June 1886 for King Ludwig II., since 14. the same month for the present King Otto I.

The Landtag consists of the two chambers of the Imperial Councillors and the Deputies. The Chamber of Imperial Councillors is composed of the princes of full age of the royal house, the crown officials, the two archbishops, the heads of the former imperial princely and count families, a bishop appointed by the king for life, the president of the Protestant High Consistory, and the imperial councillors specially appointed by the king hereditarily or for life, of whom the latter make up the third part of the hereditary members and those of equal rank to the hereditary members (law of 9. March 1828) may not exceed. The Chamber of Deputies is composed according to the electoral law of 4. June 1848 and 21. The Chamber of Deputies of March 1881 was composed of 159 members, who were permanently elected on the basis of the census of 1 March 1881. Dec. 1875 in the ratio of one deputy to 31.500 souls are elected. The electoral term is six years, the election is an indirect one by electors resulting from primary elections. For the primary elections there are permanent electoral rolls, which are reviewed every six months. Any adult male Bavarian citizen who has paid a direct tax to the state for at least 6 months, has sworn the constitutional oath, and is not subject to any legal grounds for exclusion is eligible to vote as a primary voter. To be eligible for election, the electors must have reached the age of 25., for the deputies the 30. year of age is required. The Landtag must be convened at least every 3 years; however, since the financial periods are limited according to the law of 10. July 1865 are biennial, it happens at least every 2 years. The first president of the Chamber of Imperial Councillors is appointed by the King for the session; the second president of the First Chamber and both presidents of the Second Chamber are elected. No law affecting the liberty of persons or the property of citizens can be enacted, amended, authenticated or repealed without the consent of the Diet. The direct taxes are approved by the Diet for the financial period. The consent of the Diet is required for the incurrence of new public debts, which entail an additional burden on the State in terms of capital or interest. The right of initiative with respect to constitutional change is granted to the Diet by law of 4. June 1848 granted only with respect to specifically designated portions of the constitutional charter. In the case of constitutional amendments, the presence of three-quarters of the members in each chamber and a majority of two-thirds of the votes are required for a valid resolution to be passed. The Landtag has the right of petition, information, constitutional complaint and ministerial impeachment. The position of the ministers and the impeachment are regulated by laws of the 4. June 1848 and 30. March 1850 (with Article 72 of the Implementing Law to the Code of Criminal Procedure of 18. Aug. 1879) regulated.

Army, coat of arms, orders

The Bavarian Army forms an independent part of the German Imperial Army with its own administration under the military sovereignty of the King of Bavaria, in case of war, however, under the supreme command of the German Emperor, and belongs to the IV. German army inspection. Bavaria alone bears the costs and burdens of its warfare as well as the maintenance of the fortified places and fortifications located on its territory; however, it is obliged to spend proportionally the same amount as the other German states for its warfare. Bavaria is responsible for drawing up the special budget. With respect to conscription, term of service, organization, formation, etc. essentially the norms existing for the German Imperial Army apply. General conscription was already introduced in 1868. The Bavarian Army consists of 3 army corps (with 6 divisions) under the General Commands of Munich, Wurzburg and Nuremberg, includes 24 infantry regiments, 2 hunter battalions, 10 cavalry regiments, 2 escadrons of hunters on horseback, 12 field and 2 foot artillery regiments, the machine gun division, the engineer corps with 3 engineer battalions, a railroad battalion, a telegraph company, 3 train battalions, the airship division.

The following are subordinate to the War Ministry: the General Inspectorate of the Army, the inspectorates of troops and authorities, the medical and judicial system, the Intendantur of the military institutes, the Gendarmerie Corps (2682 men) and the General Staff with the topographical bureau, war archive, army library, army museum, the corps general staffs, etc. Bavaria is divided into 22 Landwehr districts. The peacetime strength (excluding civil servants and doctors etc.) is currently about 60.000 men and 10.000 service horses. Of these, 2 infantry, 2 cavalry and 2 foot artillery battalions are stationed in Alsace-Lorraine (Metz). In addition there is "the bodyguard of the Hartschiere" (90 men). Military training institutions are: the War Academy, the Artillery and Engineering School, the War School and the Cadet Corps (founded in 1756), all in Munich. Furthermore, the military shooting school in Augsburg, the non-commissioned officer school and preparatory school in Furstenfeldbruck, the equitation institute in Munich. The Amberg rifle factory and the technical institutes of the artillery are subordinated to the Inspectorate of Foot Artillery. state fortresses are Ingolstadt and Germersheim. Neu-Ulm belongs to the rayon of the imperial fortress Ulm.

The Bavarian coat of arms consists of a squared shield with a heart shield woken by silver and blue (Bavaria). At the top right, a golden, red-crowned and armed, double-tailed lion appears in the black field (because of the Palatinate by the Rhine); at the top left, the field is divided by a lace cut of red over silver (Duchy of Franconia). Below right follows a field divided by silver and red five times diagonally left with a golden pole placed above (Margraviate of Burgau). In the fourth field appears in silver a crowned blue lion (county of Veldenz). On the shield rests the Bavarian royal crown, the clasps set not with pearls but with precious stones. Natural-colored, double-tailed, backward-looking lions crowned with royal crowns serve as shield holders. The whole is surrounded by a purple canopy lined with ermine, embroidered and crowned with gold (s. the panels "Coat of Arms 1" and "Heraldry", Fig. 12). The national colors are white and blue.