No CrossRef data available.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 December 2010
Having received from Lord Cowley an intimation, which has probably been made to me by Your Lordship's directions, that he had on the 7th Inst presented to the President of the Diet his Credentials as Her Majesty's Envoy to the Germanic Confederation, I shall, even without direct Instructions to that effect from Your Lordship, consider this as the official announcement of the formal acknowledgement by Her Majesty's Government of the resumption by that Body of it's functions as the organ of Confederate Germany.
1 Friedrich Graf von Thun-Hohenstein.
2 For the reinstalled Federal Diet see n. 3 in Frankfurt section.
3 ‘Before ten years have passed, all Europe will be Cossack or Republican’ (Napoleon, St Helena, 3 April 1816). A later version of this quote reads ‘in fifty years’.
4 In the Three Kings’ Alliance of 26 May 1849 (which led to the Erfurt Union), Prussia, Saxony, and Hanover committed themselves to work towards the establishment of a kleindeutsch federal state under the leadership of Prussia.
5 Gustav Zimmermann, Die Vortrefflichkeit der constitutionellen Monarchie für England und die Unbrauchbarkeit der constitutionellen Monarchie für die Länder des europäischen Continentes (Hanover, 1851).
6 Elbe, Weser, and Oste.
7 The constitution of 1833 was repealed on 1 November 1837; it was replaced by the constitutional law of 6 August 1840.
8 Münchhausen's cabinet took office on 28 October 1850.
9 Bligh refers to the pending implementation of the Organisationsgesetze, a set of laws concerning the organization of the administration, the civil service, the rural communes, the municipal statutes, and the administration of justice, which were passed by the Hanoverian chambers between 1849 and 1851. Despite their earlier publication they only came into force in October 1852.
10 Grand Duke Georg.
11 Manteuffel visited Hanover on 15–16 August 1851. The complaints, which in the case of the knights of Osnabrück were referred to the Federal Diet as early as 21 June 1851, were directed against the removal of the equestrian order from the first chamber (as decreed in § 33 of the constitutional law of 5 September 1848), and the loss of their corporate rights in the provincial estates (Provinziallandschaften), as decreed in the law of 1 August 1851 (published on 1 September 1851). On 1 October 1851, the Federal Diet instructed the Hanoverian government to refrain from additional encroachments on the provincial constitutions until the issue was resolved.
12 The ministerial crises lasted from June 1850 until the dismissal of the ‘March ministry’ in October 1850.
13 See n. 9 in this section.
14 In Article 11 of the commercial treaty between Hanover and Prussia of 7 September 1851 (see n. 9 in Frankfurt section), Prussia granted Hanover a praecipium, a disproportionate share (totalling an extra 75%) of the tariff revenue of the Zollverein.
15 The western Rhine provinces and Westphalia were separated from the rest of the kingdom.
16 For the Steuerverein see n. 16 in Hamburg section.
17 Lehrte. The Berlin–Lehrte railway was completed in 1871.
18 Treaty between Brunswick and Hanover of 3 November 1852.
19 The observation corps under the command of Brandis was formed in July 1849 near Göttingen, on the request of the Prince Elector, who feared disturbance as a result of a planned change of ministry. However, it had no reason to intervene in the Electorate.
20 The Crimean War, 1853–1856.
21 Hanoverian territory was occupied by France in the years 1803–1805 and 1807–1813.
22 For the King's German Legion see n. 31 in Hamburg section.
23 The Enlistment of Foreigners Bill, introduced in Parliament on 12 December 1854, was passed by the House of Lords on 18 December (with a majority of 55 to 43 votes) and on 22 December by the House of Commons (with a majority of 173 to 135 votes). See n. 49 in Saxony section.
24 The report of the Reaktionsausschuß of 22 March 1855 stated that the procedure of introducing the constitutional law of 5 September 1848 was not permitted according to the constitution of 6 August 1840.
25 In the royal patent of 18 November 1851, Georg V promised his steadfast adherence to the constitution.
26 See n. 7 in this section.
27 See n. 9 in Frankfurt section and n. 12 in Prussia section.
28 Diezel, Gustav, Die Bildung einer nationalen Partei in Deutschland, eine Nothwendigkeit in der jetzigen Krisis Europa's (Gotha, 1855). See pp. 304–306Google Scholar.
29 The federal resolution on the press of 6 July 1854 (Allgemeine Bestimmungen zur Verhinderung des Mißbrauchs der Presse) was to be implemented in the federal states, and was decreed in Hanover on 15 January 1855. It focused restrictive regulations on the production and distribution of publications, and gave authorities leeway to interpret and act against ‘violations of the freedom of the press’.
30 Bligh refers to the Russian withdrawal from Sevastopol on 8–9 September 1855.
31 Prince Gorchakov.
32 ‘The better part of valour is discretion; in the which better part I have saved my life’ (William Shakespeare, Henry IV, Part I, V.iv).
33 The Sibylline Books were collections of oracular verse. When Tarquin the Proud, the last king of Rome, was offered nine to buy, he initially refused. The seller then burned six, and demanded he pay the same price for the remaining three.
34 For the Congress of Paris see n. 28 in Frankfurt section.
35 See pp. 44–45.
36 In the sitting of the united commission of the Federal Diet of 15 February 1856, Prussia accepted a modified version of Austria's motion of 7 February. It was passed by the Diet on 21 February.
37 The Kielmansegg–Borries ministry took office in July 1855.
38 Georg V to Carl Ernst von Malortie, 15 May 1856.
39 Doraline von Münchhausen.
40 Owing to the deficit of the royal court, Georg V demanded he be endowed with parts of the royal domains instead of being dependent on the civil list.
41 See n. 45 in Frankfurt section.
42 The Bavarian chamber of deputies was dissolved on 30 September 1858 as a result of von der Pfordten's threat to resign after the chamber had elected the opposition candidate as its second president.
43 Gordon was accredited to the court of Hanover on 17 June 1858.
44 See nn. 39 and 42 in Hamburg section.
45 Rudolf von Bennigsen.
46 The parliamentary paper Correspondence Respecting the Affairs of Italy, January to May 1859 was presented to both Houses of Parliament in June 1859. The article in the Zeitung für Norddeutschland (published from 1848 in Hanover; formerly the Bremer Zeitung) referred to Loftus's dispatch to Malmesbury of 20 January 1859, which reported Buol's opinion that it ‘is a great mistake to think that Italy requires change’.
47 Gordon refers to Britain's mediation between Austria on the one side and Piedmont-Sardinia and France on the other, and the British course of neutrality in spite of sympathizing with the Italian people.
48 Given the lack of a legal basis for the prohibition of the Nationalverein, the Hanoverian government resorted to measures such as house searches, cancellations of public contracts, and reprimands. On 30 October 1859, Borries ordered the surveillance of the Nationalverein and its members in Hanover. For the Eisenach Declaration see n. 44 in Hamburg section.
49 In his dispatch, Johnston reported that a circular letter had been sent by the grand chamber to the electors in favour of the government candidate.
50 Ernst August.
51 Ernst Dannhauer.
52 Gottlieb Ernst August von Heimbruch.
53 Bavaria, Hanover, Saxony, and Württemberg.
54 Act of the Confederation of 1815 and the Vienna Final Act of 1820.
55 The results of the first Würzburg Conference on federal reforms (23–27 November 1859) were proposed to the Federal Diet on 17 December 1859 (Frankfurter Erklärung). The motion included the publication of the proceedings of the Federal Diet, the standardization of measurements, the revision of the federal military law, and the introduction of common civil and public laws.
56 Prussian motion at the Federal Diet of 4 July 1859.
57 Act of the Confederation of 1815 and the Vienna Final Act of 1820.
58 Howard refers to the speech of 2 May 1860, in which Borries opposed attempts to found a central power in Germany under Prussia and stated that, for defence, the German princes could not only confederate but could also seek alliances with foreign powers.
59 For the Nationalverein see n. 71 in Frankfurt section.
60 On 8 May, Borries declared that his remarks of 2 May had been misinterpreted, and that he had only hinted at possible developments if, in consequence of ‘the inappropriate measures of the Nationalverein, everything should go to pieces’.
61 Carl Georg Wermuth.
62 See n. 48 in this section.
63 The king had decided to authorize the Magdeburger Feuer-Versicherungs-Gesellschaft in Hanover.
64 Constitutional law of 6 August 1840; see nn. 7 and 75 in this section.
65 Georg V was blind.
66 Prussian note to the senates of Bremen and Hamburg, 17 July 1861. At the time of the dispatch, no decision had been reached by the Hamburg senate.
67 The subscriptions (Flottengelder) were placed at the disposal of the Prussian naval ministry on condition that the money be used to purchase steam gunboats. For the Nationalverein see n. 71 in Frankfurt section.
68 The first German fleet, established in June 1848, consisted of thirty-eight ships. It was dissolved by the Federal Diet on 2 April 1852.
69 Wilhelm Freiherr von Reitzenstein. For the identical notes of 2 February 1864 see n. 76 in Württemberg section.
70 Graf Alajos Károlyi von Nagykároly.
71 Article 11 permitted the federal states to form alliances so long as they were not directed against the security of the Confederation or its individual members.
72 Howard refers to the Erfurt Union of 1849–1850 (see n. 20 in Saxony section).
73 Gustav Prinz zu Ysenburg und Büdingen and Friedrich Hugo Graf von Ingelheim.
74 The Austro-Prussian motion was submitted to the Federal Diet on 8 March 1862. For the constitutional question of Hesse-Cassel see n. 79 in Frankfurt section and n. 118 in Prussia section.
75 The Hessian constitution of 30 May 1860 was enacted in accordance with the federal resolution of 14 March 1860. In accordance with the federal resolution of 19 April 1855, the provisions of Hanover's constitutional law of 6 August 1840 were largely restored by the royal ordinance of 1 August 1855.
76 18 May 1863.
77 For the Franco-Prussian Commercial Treaty of 2 August 1862 see n. 88 in Frankfurt section.
78 The fifteenth General-Konferenz of the Zollverein sat from 24 March to 17 July 1863. The Austrian proposal dated back to 10 July 1862, when Rechberg, in a circular note, suggested a commercial treaty between Austria and the Zollverein on the basis of complete freedom of trade and traffic.
79 Article 25 of the Austro-Prussian commercial treaty of 19 February 1853 (see n. 5 in Bavaria section) provided for the resumption of negotiations for a greater German customs union in 1860.
80 For the Austrian reform proposal submitted to the Frankfurt congress of German princes see pp. 75–76.
81 Act of the Confederation of 1815 and the Vienna Final Act of 1820.
82 For the Nationalverein see n. 71 in Frankfurt section.
83 See n. 46 in this section.
84 Howard refers to Friedrich von Augustenburg, Duke Christian August's son. For the succession question in the duchies see n. 97 in Frankfurt section.
85 Howard most probably refers to the Deutsche Reformverein, an association of supporters of a greater Germany including Austria, which was established at the Großdeutsche Versammlung in Frankfurt on 28–29 October 1862.
86 See n. 71 in Frankfurt section.
87 Christian IX of Denmark.
88 Schleswig.
89 For the London Protocol of 8 May 1852 see n. 97 in Frankfurt section.
90 In addition to the German signatories of Austria and Prussia, the treaty was acceded to by Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, Oldenburg, Saxony, Württemberg, Bavaria, Hesse-Darmstadt, Saxe-Weimar, Baden, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
91 Howard refers to Denmark's understanding with Austria and Prussia prior to the London Protocol, and the Danish declaration not to incorporate Schleswig into Denmark and to guarantee the equal rights of the Duchies of Holstein and Schleswig within the Danish monarchy. See n. 89 in Hamburg section.
92 Holstein and Lauenburg.
93 The joint constitution for Denmark and Schleswig was passed by the Danish diet on 13 November and signed by Christian IX on 18 November 1863. This implied the constitutional separation of Holstein and Schleswig.
94 In his dispatch of 18 November 1863 to Sir Alexander Malet, the British envoy to the German Confederation, Russell offered British mediation with regard to the relations of Schleswig to the Kingdom of Denmark and the German Confederation, and the position of Holstein in the Danish constitution.
95 See n. 99 in Frankfurt section.
96 The popular meeting (Landesversammlung), which took place in the city of Hanover under the presidency of Rudolf von Bennigsen, passed a resolution and an address to the King of Hanover in favour of Friedrich von Augustenburg as Duke of Schleswig and Holstein.
97 Heinrich Marschner, Der Templer und die Jüdin: Große romantische Oper in drei Aufzügen nach Walter Scott's Roman Ivanhoe (first performance Leipzig, 1829).
98 Julius Graf von Platen-Hallermund.
99 Georg V of Hanover, a first cousin of Queen Victoria, was 2nd Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale.
100 Enclosures: copies of two letters in French: Henry Howard to Count Platen, dated Hanover, 11 January 1864; Platen-Hallermund to Howard, dated Hanover, 12 January 1864.
101 Howard refers to the publication of the five volumes of Correspondence Respecting the Affairs of the Duchies of Holstein, Lauenburg, and Schleswig, covering the period from 18 March 1861 to 26 March 1864, and in particular to the publication of his dispatches of 18, 23, and 28 November 1863 respectively, which were printed in the second instalment of the parliamentary papers.
102 ‘From an angry man’.
103 Hanover acceded to the London Protocol of 8 May 1852 (see n. 97 in Frankfurt section) on 11 December 1852.
104 In 1846–1847, Howard and Platen were both posted to Berlin.
105 The decisive victory of German troops in the Second Schleswig-Holstein War, which began with the Austro-Prussian invasion of Schleswig on 1 February 1864, was secured at the Battle of Dybbøl on 18 April 1864. By the end of April, Austrian troops had occupied the Jutland peninsula as far as the Limfjord.
106 The London Conference sat from 25 April to 25 June 1864, and was attended by the representatives of Austria, Denmark, France, the German Confederation, Great Britain, Prussia, Sweden, and Russia. On 9 May 1864, a suspension of hostilities with effect from 12 May was agreed. The question of the division of Schleswig between Denmark and the German states was left unresolved.
107 Oldenburg joined the commercial treaty between Hanover and Prussia of 7 September 1851 on 1 March 1852, and was thus entitled to the same favourable share of tariff revenue of the Zollverein as Hanover (see n. 14 in this section).
108 The treaty between Saxony and Prussia was concluded on 11 May 1864. Baden, Brunswick, Hesse-Cassel, and the Thuringian states renewed the Zollverein treaty on 28 June 1864; Oldenburg and Hanover followed on 11 July. For the Franco-Prussian Commercial Treaty of 2 August 1862 see n. 88 in Frankfurt section.
109 For the Munich Zoll-Sonderbundskonferenz see n. 75 in Bavaria section.
110 The Hanoverian commissioner Carl Ludwig von Bar declared at the opening session of the Berlin Zollkonferenz on 2 May 1864 that Hanover would only join the negotiations for the renewal of the Zollverein treaty if all member states were present.
111 Cowley reported in his dispatch to Russell from Paris that he had inferred from his conversation with the French foreign minister that Bavaria and Saxony were among the states that had addressed themselves to France. However, no official communications had been made by either of these states.
112 See n. 58 in this section.
113 On 21 July 1864, Prussian troops occupied the Holstein town of Rendsburg and forced the federal army to withdraw. The Hanoverian and Saxon troops returned on 27 November and were received by the Prussians with military honours.
114 On 5 December 1864, Hanover supported Prussia's policy when she voted with the majority of the Federal Diet for the termination of the federal execution against Holstein and Lauenburg (see n. 99 in Frankfurt and n. 87 in Hamburg section) and to call back the federal troops from the duchies.
115 Apart from the changes to the Hanoverian constitution and organic laws (see n. 123 in this section), the measures of 1855 included the laws (Notgesetze) of 7 October that abolished the right of ordinary courts to review the constitutionality of legislation and ordinances, and the law of 22 December 1855 that restricted the jurisdiction of judicial courts.
116 The law for the alteration of the electoral law of 6 November 1840 was passed by the first chamber on 5 June and by the second chamber on 13 June 1864. It changed electoral procedures and provided for a slight extension of the electorate.
117 See n. 29 in this section.
118 Auguste Rogeard, Les propos de Labienus: la critique historique sous Auguste (New York, 1865). The book was not explicitly forbidden in Hanover, although the police authorities advised booksellers to observe the existing laws.
119 Adolf Ellissen.
120 Press law of 27 April 1848, which put the press under general jurisdiction and did not provide for censorship.
121 § 170 of the constitutional law of 6 August 1840.
122 For the Nationalverein see n. 71 in Frankfurt section.
123 The standing orders of the Hanoverian Landtag of 7 February 1850, the law on municipal administration (Städteordnung) of 1 May 1851, the law on public servants (Staatsdienergesetz) of 8 May 1852, and the electoral laws of 26 October 1848 and 9 May 1853. For the ordinance of 1 August 1855 see n. 75 in this section.
124 See n. 7 in this section.
125 The ultra-conservative ministry to which Howard alludes took office on 29 July 1855. The cabinet of which Windhorst was a member resigned on 21 November 1853.
126 The rights of the equestrian order, curtailed in 1848 and 1851 (see n. 11 in this section), were restored by the ordinance of 16 May 1855 on the basis of the federal resolution of 12 April 1855. For the constitutional changes of 1855 see n. 75 in this section.
127 Circular note of 27 April 1866 to the Prussian representatives at the German courts. For the Prussian proposal for a national parliament see n. 114 in Frankfurt section.
128 The Fenians, who aimed to establish an independent Irish Republic, committed a number of ‘outrages’ in Britain, Ireland, Canada, and the USA in the 1860s. In Britain they were frequently presented as an imported American phenomenon, stirred by Irish migrants returning from the United States with new political ideas and military experience.
129 See nn. 97 and 119 in Frankfurt section.
130 Royal order of 4 May 1866.
131 12 June 1866.
132 See n. 114 in Frankfurt section.
133 Wyke most probably refers to the federal resolution of 14 June 1866 for the mobilization of the seven non-Prussian contingents of the federal army.
134 Hanover was formally annexed by Prussia on 3 October 1866. The public declaration of the former deputies was passed on 30 September and first published in Hanoverian newspapers on 3 October 1866. Enclosure: manifesto of thirty-eight members of the late Hanoverian second chamber, dated Hanover, 1 October 1866 (cutting from The Times, 9 October 1866).
135 Marie.
136 The North German Confederation of twenty-two German states was initially founded as a military alliance on 18 August 1866.
137 ‘Militia’.