	Middle Europe


	•	Swabia (Schwaben)

	•	Bavaria (Bayern)

	•	Franconia (Franken)

	•	Saxony (Sachsen)

	•	Pomerania (Pomorsko)

	•	Mecklenburg (Obodritia)

	•	Brandenburg (Branibor)

	•	Alsace (Elsass)

	•	Friesland (Fryslan)


	Middle Europe

	by Dr. Jožko Šavli

	January 29, 2010


	At universities in ex-Yugoslavia the term Middle Europe (Srednja Evropa) was presented as a neologism of the German geography. It should have been the guiding principle of expansionist ideology for German expansionism towards East and South. It also should remind Slovenians for having been under “thousand-year” German yoke of Austria, as Belgrade marked the Habsburg Monarchy. Their Serbian brethren should have liberated them from that “yoke” at the end of the WW2.

	However, over the centuries, every day life in different countries and regions of Middle Europe was shaped by a common culture, economy, traditions, etc., which was destroyed by great national movements and ideologies of the 19th century, first in line by the pan-German and pan-Slav movement.

	After the First and the Second World War historical Middle Europe was destroyed in its entirety. Only Western Europe profited, whereas many Eastern European countries and a great part of Middle Europe fell under Communist control.

Below, I would like to present several historical regions of Middle Europe. Not on a scientific basis, but rather based on school level. Some of them had an important role in history as duchies or even kingdoms, as for example, Bavaria, Saxony, Pomerania ... Thereafter, they were united into great-national formations like Germany and they lost their political identity. Today, they are regions with stable living standards. (But the leading nation lives better.) Not only that, as a “region” they lost the decision-making capacity for their future.

One of the most characteristic cases is Slovenia. In the 20th century, for decades, the confidants of the Yugoslav secret service persistently spread rumors among the Slovenian population, that they never could express their national identity through a state of their own, because of constant threats from neighbouring Germany and Italy. Only a strong Yugoslavia would be able to give them protection.

	Finally, Slovenians recognized that among the so-called Southern Slavs they were losing their national, cultural and economic identity. This awakening led to independence in 1991. I am looking forward that the trend towards independence will continue. Will this movement succeed in other regions of Middle Europe and Europe?

	Swabia (Schwaben)


	Protest of Students in Stuttgart

	Today, the ancient duchy of Swabia is is mostly occupied by the province Baden –Württemberg, which is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine—but one which has some of its major cities straddling the banks of the Neckar River (Tübingen, Stuttgart, Heilbronn, Heidelberg, Mannheim).

	It is the third largest in both, area and population, among the country's sixteen states, with an area of 35,742 square kilometres and 10.7 million inhabitants (both almost equivalent to all of Belgium). The state capital is Stuttgart.


	Swabian flag


	Swabian historical coat of arms


	Historical Swabia, what is today Baden - Württemberg


	The area used to be covered by the historical states of Baden, the Prussian Hophenzollern and Württemberg, part of the region of Swabia. After World War II, Allied forces established three federal states: Württemberg – Hohenzollern South Baden (both occupied by France), and Württemberg Baden (US-occupied). In 1949, these three states became founding members of the Federal Republic of Germany. Article 118 of the new German constitution however had already prepared a procedure for those states to merge. After a plebiscite held on 9 December 1951 in four different regions, of which three approved the merger, the three states merged on 25 April 1952 into Baden-Württemberg.


	In 1956, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the plebiscite was unlawful because it had disadvantaged Baden's population. The plebiscite was then held again within the area of former Baden in 1970, resulting in a majority of more than 81% for the new state.


	Bavaria (Bayern)


	Munich (Bavaria), Oktoberfest


	Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria (German: Freistaat Bayern) is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of the country. One of the oldest states of Europe, it was established as a duchy in the mid first millenium. In the 17th century, the Duke of Bavaria became a Prince elector of the Holy Roman Empire. The Kingdom of Bavaria existed from 1806 to 1918, and Bavaria has since been a Free State (Republic). Bavaria is a predominantly Catholic state with a distinct culture. Modern Bavaria also includes parts of the historical regions of Franconia and Swabia.


	The Bavarians emerged in a region north of the Alps, originally inhabited by the Vindelicians (Vindelici), a tribe of the Vends (Veneti), which had been part of the Roman provinces of Raetia and Noricum. The Bavarians spoke Old High German, but unlike other Germanic groups, they did not migrate from elsewhere. Rather, they seem to have coalesced out of other groups left behind by Roman withdrawal late in the 5th century AD.


	The name "Bavarian" (Baiuvarii) was supposed to mean "Men of Baia" which may indicate Bohemia, the homeland of the Celtic Boii and later of the Marcomanni. In fact, the name Baiuvarii derived from "Baioarii!" (Gefolgschaften, noble retainers of the duke, cf. Karl Bosl: Zur Geschichte der Bayern, p. 336). Bavarians are an autochthon people of the ancient Vendic Vindelici.


	They first appear in written sources circa 520. Saint Boniface completed the people's conversion to Christianity in the early-8th century. Bavaria was, for the most part, unaffected by the Protestant Reformation, and even today, most of it is strongly Roman Catholic.


	For the next 400 years numerous families held the duchy, rarely for more than three generations. With the revolt of duke Henry the Quarrelsome in 976, Bavaria lost large territories in the south and south east. Among them a mark called "Ostarrichi", which was elevated to a duchy out of own right and given to the Babenberger family. This event marks the birth of Austria (from Carantania). The last, and one of the most important, of these dukes was Henry the Lion of the house of Welf, founder of Munich, de facto the second most powerful man in the empire as the ruler of two duchies. When in 1180, Henry the Lion was deposed as Duke of Saxony and Bavaria by his cousin, Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor (aka "Barbarossa" for his red beard), Bavaria was awarded as fief to the Wittelsbach family, counts palatinate of Schyren ("Scheyern" in modern German), which ruled from 1180 to 1918. The Electoral palatinate by Rhine ("Kurpfalz" in German) was also acquired by the House of Wittelsbach in 1214.

	Bavarian Flag

	Arms of Bavaria


	Tassilo III (b. 741 - d. after 794) succeeded his father at the age of eight after an unsuccessful attempt by Grifo to rule Bavaria. He initially ruled under Frankish oversight but began to function independently from 763 onwards. He was particularly noted for founding new monasteries and for expanding eastwards, fighting Slavs in the eastern Alps and along the River Danube and colonising these lands. After 781, however, his cousin Charlemagne began to pressure Tassilo to submit and finally deposed him in 788. The deposition was not entirely legitimate; Dissenters attempted a coup against Charlemagne at Tassilo's old capital of Regensburg in 792, led by his own son Pippin the Hunchback, and the king had to drag Tassilo out of imprisonment to formally renounce his rights and titles at the Assembly of Frankfurt in 794. This is the last appearance of Tassilo in the sources and he probably died a monk. As all of his family were also forced into monasteries, this was the end of the Agilolfing dynasty.


	The first of several divisions of the duchy of Bavaria occurred in 1255. With the extinction of the Hohenstaufen in 1268, also Swabian territories were acquired by the Wittelsbach dukes. Emperor Louis the Bavarian acquired Brandenburg, Tirol, Holland and Hainaut for his House, but released the Upper Palatinate for the Palatinate branch of the Wittelsbach in 1329. In 1506, with the Landshut War of succession the other parts of Bavaria were reunited and Munich became the sole capital.

In 1623, the Bavarian duke replaced his relative, the Count Palatine of the Rhine in the early days of the Thirty Years’ War and acquired the powerful prince electoral dignity in the Holy Roman Empire, determining its Emperor thence forward, as well as special legal status under the empire's laws. The country became one of the centres of Jesuite supported counter-reformation. The ambitions of the Bavarian prince electors led to several wars with and occupations by Austria during the early and mid-18th century (Spanish succession, election of a Wittelsbach emperor instead of a Habsburger). From 1777 onwards, after the old Bavarian branch of the family had died out with elector Max III. Joseph, Bavaria and the Electoral Palatinate were governed in personal union again, now by the Palatinian lines.


	When Napoleon abolished the Holy Roman Empire, Bavaria became a kingom in 1806, and its area doubled. Tirol was temporarily united, Salzburg temporarily reunited with Bavaria but finally ceded to Austria. In return the Rhenish Palatinate and Franconia were annexed to Bavaria in 1815. Between 1799 and 1817 the leading minister Count Montgelas followed a strict policy of modernisation and laid the foundations of administrative structures that survived even the Monarchy and are (in their core) valid until today.


	In 1808 a first and in 1818 a more modern constitution (by the standards of the time) was passed, that established a bicameral Parliament with a House of Lords (Kammer der Reichsraete) and a House of Commons (Kammer der Abgeordneten). The constitution was valid until the collapse of the Monarchy at the end of World War I. After the rise of Prussia to prominence, Bavaria managed to preserve its independence by playing off the rivalries of Prussia.

	Franconia (Franken)


	Nuremberg, War Crimes Trials


	Franconia is a region of Germany comprising the northern parts of the modern state of Bavaria, a part of southern Thuringia, and a much smaller region in northeastern Baden - Württemberg called Heilbronn - Franken. The Bavarian part is made up of the administrative regions of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken), Middle Franconia (Mittelfranken), and Upper Franconia (Oberfranken).


	Franconia (just like France) is named after the Germanic tribe of the Franks. This tribe played a major role after the breakdown of the Roman Empire and colonised large parts of medieval Europe.


	Modern day Franconia comprises only a very tiny and rather remote part of the settlement area of the ancient Franks. In German, Franken is used for both modern day Franconians and the historic Franks, which leads to some confusion. The historic Frankish Empire, Francia, is actually the common precursor of the Low Countries, France and Germany. In 843, the Treaty of Verdun led to the partition of Francia into West Francia (modern day France), Middle Francia (from the Low Countries along the Rhine valley to northern Italy) and East Francia (modern day Germany). Frankreich, the German word for "France", literally means "the Frankish Empire ".


	Franconia Flag and Arms

	Today, Franconia is a part of Bavaria.


	Most of modern day Franconia became Bavarian in 1803 thanks to Bavaria's alliance with Napoleon. Culturally it is in many ways different from Bavaria, proper ("Altbayern", Old Bavaria), however. The ancient name was resurrected in 1837 by Ludwig I of Bavaria. During the Nazi period, Bavaria was broken up into several different Gaue, including Franconia and Main Franconia.


	While Old Bavaria is overwhelmingly Roman Catholic, Franconia is a mixed area. Lower Franconia and the western half of Upper Franconia (Bamberg, Lichtenfels, Kronach) is predominantly Catholic, while most of Middle and the eastern half of Upper Franconia (Bayreuth, Hof, Kulmbach) are predominantly Protestant (Evangelical Church of Germany). The city of Fürth in Middle Franconia historically (before the Nazi era) had a large Jewish population; Henry Kissinger was born there.


	Eastern Franconian German is very different from the Austro - Bavarian language. Most Franconians do not call themselves Bavarians, but their insistence on this point is generally a lighthearted matter in modern times. In fact, Franconians will most likely take umbrage at insults directed at Bavaria. Even if there is no Franconian state, red and white are regarded as state colours of Franconia. The existence of the region of Heilbronn-Franken in Baden - Württemberg is largely ignored outside this state.


	Saxony (Sachsen)


	The Aftermath of Bombing of Dresden by British Air Force on February 13 and 15, 1945.


	Saxony has a long history as a duchy, an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire (the Electorate of Saxony), and eventually as a kingdom (the Kingdom of Saxony). In 1918, subsequent to Germany's defeat in World War I, its monarchy was overthrown and a republican form of government was established under its current name. The state was broken up into smaller units during communist rule (1949-1989), but was re-established on 3 October 1990 on the reunification of East and West Germany.


	The first medieval Duchy of Saxony was a late Early Middle Ages "Carolingian stem duchy", which emerged about AD 700, and grew to cover the greater part of Northern Germany. It covered the area of the modern German states of Lower Saxony, North Rhine – Westphalia, Schleswig – Holstein and Saxony-Anhalt. The Saxons were converted to Christianity during this period by Charlemagne, despite fierce resistance by the Saxon chieftains.


	While the Saxons were facing pressure from Charlemagne's post-Roman, Latin Christian world, they were also facing a westward push by Slavs to the east. The territory of the Free State of Saxony was briefly occupied by Slavs before being reconquered by the Germans. A legacy of this period is the small Sorb population in Saxony.


	Flag of Saxony


	Saxony


	Flag of Saxony-Anhalt


	Saxony-Anhalt


	Flag of Lower Saxony


	Lower Saxony


	The area of the province is named after the Saxons. The Saxons lived in today's state of Schleswig – Holstein and merged with the Chauci on the left bank of the river Elbe until the middle of the 1st millennium AD. They then expanded over the whole of today's Lower Saxony and further. Originally the region was simply called Saxony, but as the center of gravity of the Duchy of Saxony gradually moved up the Elbe, towards the present-day states of Saxony-Anhalt and Saxony, the region was given the name of Lower Saxony, which it bore as an Imperial Circle Estate from the late 15th century on.


	The state of Lower Saxony was founded in 1946 by the British military administration, who merged the former states of Brunswick Oldenburg, and Schaumburg – Lippe with the former Prussian province of Hanover.


	Pomerania (Pòmòrskô)


	Szczecin (Stettin), centre of Pomerania


	A part of the North European plain, Pomerania is a primarily agricultural lowland, with generally poor, often sandy or marshy soil. It is dotted with numerous lakes and forests and is drained by many rivers, including the Oder, Ina, and Rega. Cereals, sugar beets, and potatoes are the main crops; livestock raising and forestry are important occupations. Industrial products include ships, metal products, refined sugar, and paper. Along the Baltic coast are numerous seaside resorts and fishing villages.


	By the 10th cent. A.D., when its recorded history began, Pomerania was inhabited by Slavic tribes. It was conquered by Boleslaus I (992-1025) of Poland but became an independent duchy early in the 11th cent. Poland regained control in the 12th cent. and introduced Christianity. The country was split into two principalities. Pomerelia, as E Pomerania came to be known, became independent in 1227, was annexed to Poland in 1294, and was taken in 1308-9 by the Teutonic Knights, who incorporated it into their domain in East Prussia. The histories of Pomerania and Pomerelia after 1308 must be traced separately.


	Flag of Pomerani (German)


	Flag of Pomerania (Polish)


	Historical Pomerania

Pomerelia, including Danzig, was formally restored by the Teutonic Knights to Poland at the Treaty of Torun of 1466. Although frequently overrun in the wars of the following three centuries, it remained an integral part of Poland until the first Polish partition (1772), when it passed to Prussia and was constituted into the province of West Prussia. In 1919, part of West Prussia was given to Poland. After the outbreak (1939) of World War II, Germany reannexed the independent state of Danzig and the Pomeranian region of Poland. These areas were returned to Poland in 1945.


	Pomerania continued as a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire until the death (1637) of Bogislav XIV, when the region was granted to the elector of Brandenburg. The Peace of Westphalia (1648) gave Hither Pomerania (Vorpommern) - i.e., the western part, with Stettin, Stralsund, and the Island of Rügen - to Sweden, while Farther Pomerania (Hinterpommern ) - i.e., the eastern part, with Stargard - went to the electorate of Brandenburg (after 1701, the kingdom of Prussia). In 1720, as a result of the Northern War, Sweden lost about half of its part of Pomerania (including Stettin but not Stralsund) to Prussia. In the rest of Swedish Pomerania, the kings of Sweden remained princes of the Holy Roman Empire until the dissolution of the empire in 1806.


	Napoleon I overran Swedish Pomerania in the War of the Third Coalition but restored it on making peace with Sweden in 1809. In the Treaty of Kiel (1814), Sweden exchanged Pomerania with Denmark in return for Norway, but at the Congress of Vienna (1815) Denmark ceded its share of Pomerania to Prussia, receiving the duchy of Lauenburg in return. Thus, from 1815 to 1919, all Pomerania and all Pomerelia were in Prussian hands.

Pomerania had by then been thoroughly Germanized; Pomerelia, like the rest of Prussian Poland, was subjected to intense Germanization. After the transfer in 1945 of the larger part of Pomerania to Polish administration, the German-speaking population was largely expelled. The most important cities in the region - Danzig, Stralsund, Stettin, Stargard, Torun, Chetmno, and Marienburg (Malbork) - were, for a long time, flourishing members of the Hanseatic League; by the 17th cent., however, they had lost the virtual independence they had enjoyed during the greatness of the League.

Pomerania is currently divided between the following main regions: Vorpommern ("Western" or "Hither Pomerania") in Germany, stretching from the Recknitz River to the Oder-Neisse line. This region is part of the Federal State of Mecklenburg - Vorpommern. The southernmost parts of historical Vorpommern (Gartz area) are now in Brandenburg, Germany, while its historical easternmost parts (Oder estuary, "Stettiner Zipfel") are in the West Pommeranian Vojvodeship, Poland. - Zahodnopomorskie ("Western Pomeranian Voivodeship") in Poland, stretching from the Oder-Neisse line to the Slupia River. - Pomerelia (most of the Pomeranian Voivodeship) and northernmost parts of the Kuyavian Pomeranian Voivodeship.

	Mecklenburg (Obodritia)


	Schwerin (Zuarin), centre of Mecklenburg

	The traditional symbol of Mecklenburg, the grinning steer’s head (German: Stierkopf), with an attached hide, and a crown above, may have originated from this period. It represents what early peoples would have worn, i.e. a steers's head as a hat, with the hide hanging down the back to protect the neck from the sun, and overall as a way to instill fear in the enemy.


	From the 7th through the 12th centuries, the area of Mecklenburg was taken over by Western Slavic peoples, most notably the Obodrites and other tribes that Frankish sources referred to as "Wends". The 11th century founder of the Mecklenburgian dynasty of Dukes and later Grand Dukes, which lasted until 1918, was Nyklot of the Obodrites.


	In the late 12th century, Henry the Lion, Duke of the Saxons, conquered the region, subjugated its local lords, and Christianized its people, in a precursor to the Northern Cruzades. From 12th to 14th century, large numbers of Germans and Flemings settled the area, importing German law and improved agricultural techniques. The Wends who survived all warfare and devastation of the centuries before, including invasions of and expeditions into Saxony, Denmark and Liutizic areas as well as internal conflicts, were assimilated the centuries thereafter. However, elements of certain names and words used in Mecklenburg speak to the lingering Slavic influence. An example would be the city of Schwerin, which was originally called Zuarin in Slavic. Another example is the town of Bresegrad, the 'gard' portion of the town name derives from the Slavic word 'grad' , meaning city or town.

	Since the 12th century, the territory has remained stable and relatively independent of its neighbours; one of the few German territories for which this is true. During the reformation the Duke of Schwerin would convert to Protestantism and so would follow the Duchy of Mecklenburg.


	Flag and Arms of Mecklenburg (Obodritia)


	Like many German territories, Mecklenburg was sometimes partitioned and re-partitioned among different members of the ruling dynasty. In 1621 it was divided into the two duchies of Mecklenburg – Schwerin and Mecklenburg – Güstrow. With the extinction of the Güstrow line in 1701, the Güstrow lands were redivided, part going to the Duke of Mecklenburg - Schwerin, and part going to the new line of Mecklenburg – Strelitz.


	In 1815, the two Mecklenburgian duchies were raised to Grand Duchies, and subsequently existed separately as such in Germany under enlightened but absolute rule (constitutions being granted on the eve of World War I) until the revolution of 1918. Life in Mecklenburg could be quite harsh. Practices such as having to ask for permission from the Grand Duke to get married, or having to apply for permission to emigrate, would linger late into the history of Mecklenburg (i.e. 1918), long after such practices had been abandoned in other German areas. Even as late as the later half of the nineteenth century the Grand Duke personally owned half of the countryside. The last Duke abdicated in 1918, as monarchies fell throughout Europe. The Duke's ruling house reigned in Mecklenburg uninterrupted (except for two years) from its incorporation into the Holy Roman Empire until 1918. From 1918 to 1933, the duchies were Free States in the Weimar Republic.


	Traditionally, Mecklenburg has always been one of the poorer German areas, and later the poorer of the provinces, or Länder, within a unified Germany. The reasons for this may be varied, but one factor stands out: agriculturally the land is poor and cannot produce at the same level as other parts of Germany. The two Mecklenburgs made attempts at being independent states after 1918, but eventually this failed as their dependence on the rest of the German lands became apparent.


	After World War II, the Soviet government, occupying eastern Germany, merged Mecklenburg with the smaller neighbouring region of Western Pomerania (German: Vorpommern) to form the state of Mecklenburg - Vorpommern. Mecklenburg contributed about two-thirds of the geographical size of the new state and the majority of its population. Also, the new state became temporary or permanent home for lots of refugees expelled from former German territories seized by the Soviet Union and Poland after the war. The Soviets changed the name from "Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania" to "Mecklenburg" in 1947.


	In 1952, the East-German government ended the independent existence of Mecklenburg, creating 3 districts ("Bezirke") out of its territory: Rostock, Schwerin and Neubrandenburg.


	During German reunification in 1990, the State of Mecklenburg – Vorpommern was revived, and is now one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany.

	Brandenburg (Branibor)


	Berlin, Brandenburg Gate

Historically, Brandenburg was an independent state, the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which grew to become the core of independent Prussia and later the German state of Prussia. About a third of historic Brandenburg (land east of the Oder River) was awarded to Poland after the establishment of the new Oder – Neisse border in 1945 by the Allies. This region was historically known as East Brandenburg. The federal state of Brandenburg is named after the town of Brandenburg an der Havel.


	In late medieval and early modern times, Brandenburg was one of seven electoral states of the Holy Roman Empire, and, along with Prussia, formed the original core of the German, the first unified German state. Governed by the Hohenzollern dynasty in 1415, it contained the future German capital Berlin. After 1618, the Margraviate of Brandenburg and the Duchy of Prussia were combined to form Brandenburg - Prussia, which was ruled by the same branch of the House of Hohenzollern. In 1701 the state was elevated as the Kingdom of Prussia. Franconian Nuremberg and Ansbach and, Swabian Hohenzollern, the eastern European connections of Berlin, and the status of Brandenburg's ruler as prince elector together were instrumental in the rise of that state.


	By the seventh century, Slavic peoples are believed to have settled in the Brandenburg area. The two principal Slavic groups in the present-day area of Brandenburg were the Havelli in the west and the Sprevane in the east.

Beginning in the early 900s, Henry the Fowler and his successors conquered territory up to the Oder River. Slavic settlements such as Brenna (Brandenburg an der Havel), Budusin (Bautzen), and Chosebuz (Cottbus) came under imperial control through the installation of margraves. Their main function was to defend and protect the Eastern Marches. In 948, Emperor Otto I established margraves to exert imperial control over the pagan Slavs west of the Oder River. Otto founded the Bishoprics of Brandenburg and Havelberg. The Northern March was founded as a northeastern border territory of the Holy Roman Empire. However, a great uprising of Wends drove imperial forces from the territory of present-day Brandenburg in 983. The region returned to the control of Slavic leaders.

	Brandenburg flag


	During the 12th century the Ottonian kings and emperors re-established control over the mixed Slav-inhabited lands of present-day Brandenburg, although some Slavs like the Sorbs in Lusatia adapted to Germanization while retaining their distinctiveness. The Catholic Church brought bishoprics which, with their walled towns, afforded protection from attacks for the townspeople. With the monks and bishops, the history of the town of Brandenburg an der Havel., which was the first center of the state of Brandenburg, began.

In 1134, in the wake of a German crusade against the Wends, the Saxon magnate Albert the Bear was granted the Northern March by the Emperor Lothar III. He formally inherited the town of Brandenburg and the lands of the Hevelli from their last Wendish ruler, Pribislav, in 1150. After crushing a force of Sprevane, who occupied the town of Brandenburg in the 1150s, Albert proclaimed himself ruler of the new Margraviate of Brandenburg. Albert, and his descendants the Ascanians, then made considerable progress in conquering, colonizing, Christianizing, and cultivating lands as far east as the Oder. Within this region, Slavic and German residents intermarried. During the 13th century the Ascanians began acquiring territory east of the Oder, later known as the Neumark.


	In 1320 the Brandenburg Ascanian line came to an end, and from 1323 up until 1415 Brandenburg was under the control of the Wittelsbach of Bavaria, followed by the Luxembourg dynasty. Under the Luxembourgs, the Margrave of Brandenburg gained the status of a prince elector of the Holy Roman Empire. In 1415, the Electorate of Brandenburg was granted by Emperor Sigismund to the House of Hohenzollern, which would rule until the end of World War I. The Hohenzollerns established their capital in Berlin, by then the economic center of Brandenburg.


	Brandenburg converted to Protestantism in 1539 in the wake of the Protestant Reformation, and generally did quite well in the 16th century, with the expansion of trade along the Elbe, Havel, and Spree Rivers. The Hohenzollerns expanded their territory by acquiring the Duchy of Prussia in 1618, the Duchy of Cleves (1614) in the Rhineland, and territories in Westphalia. The result was a sprawling, disconnected country known as Brandenburg - Prussia that was in poor shape to defend itself during the Thirty Years’ War.


	Beginning near the end of that devastating conflict, however, Brandenburg enjoyed a string of talented rulers who expanded their territory and power in Europe. The first of these was Frederick William, the so-called "Great Elector", who worked tirelessly to rebuild and consolidate the nation. He moved the royal residence to Potsdam.

	Alsace (Elsass)


	European Parliament in Strasbourg (Alsace)

The name "Alsace" derives from the German Ell-sass, meaning "Seated on the Ill, a river in Alsace. The region was historically part of the Holy Roman Empire. It was gradually annexed by France in the 17th century under King Louis XIII and King Louis XIV and made one of the provinces of France. Alsace is frequently mentioned in conjunction with Lorraine, because German possession of parts of these two régions (as the imperial province Alsace – Lorraine, 1871–1918) was contested in the 19th and 20th centuries, during which Alsace changed hands four times between France and Germany in 75 years.

	Although Alsace is historically a German dialect speaking region, today most Alsatians speak French, the official language of the country they have been a part of for most of the past three centuries. However, about 39% of the local adult population, but probably less than 10% of the children, are still fluent in the Alsacian language.

France was brought into the Franco - Prussian War (1870-71), and was defeated by the Kingdom of Prussia and other German states. The end of the war led to the unification of Germany. Otto von Bismarck annexed Alsace and northern Lorraine to the new German Empire in 1871; unlike other member states of the German federation, which had governments of their own, the new Imperial territory of Alsace - Lorraine was under the sole authority of the Kaiser, administered directly by the imperial government in Berlin. Between 100,000 to 130,000 Alsatians (of a total population of about a million and a half) chose to remain French citizens and leave Reichsland Elsass Lothringen, many of them resettling in French Algeria. Only in 1911 was Alsace-Lorraine granted some measure of autonomy, which was manifested also in a flag and an anthem. In 1913, however, the Saverne Affair showed the limits of this new tolerance of the Alsatian identity.


	Flag of Alsace


	During WW1, to avoid ground fights between brothers, many Alsatians served as sailors in the Kaiserliche marine and took part in the Naval mutinies that led to the abdication of the Kaiser in November 1918, which left Alsace-Lorraine without a nominal head of state. The sailors returned home and tried to found a republic. While Jaques Peierotes, at this time deputy at the Landrat Elsass-Lothringen and just elected mayor of Strasbourg, proclaimed the forfeiture of the German Empire and the advent of the French Republic, a self-proclaimed government of Alsace-Lorraine declared independence as the Republic of Alsace - Lorraine.


	French troops entered Alsace less than two weeks later. At the sight of cheering Alsatian crowds welcoming back the French Army, the United States and the other allies dropped their suggestions of organizing a plebiscite. Although U.S. President Woodrow Wilson had insisted that the region was self-ruling by legal status, as its constitution had stated it was bound to the sole authority of the Kaiser and not to the German state, France tolerated no plebiscite, as granted by the League of Nations to some eastern German territories at this time, because Alsatians were considered by the French public as fellow Frenchmen liberated from German rule. Germany ceded the region to France under the Treaty of Versailles.

	Friesland (Fryslân)


	Frisian cattle

Friesland distinguishes itself from the other eleven provinces through having its own language, West Frisian, which is also spoken in a minor part of the province of Groningen, to the east. Closely related languages, East Frisian ("Seeltersk"), which is different from "East Frisian (Ostfriesisch) ", a collection of Low German dialects of East Frisia and North Frisian, are spoken in the Saterland and in North Frisian areas in Germany, respectively.


	Friesland is mainly an agricultural province. The famous black and white Frisian cattle and the well known black Frisian horse originated here. Tourism is another important source of income, the greatest touristic destinations are the lakes in the south west of the province, and the islands in the Wadden Sea in the north. Technology companies such as Asset Control have also set up base in Friesland.

The province is famous for its speed skaters, with mass participation in cross-country ice skating when weather conditions permit. When winters are cold enough to allow the freshwater canals to freeze hard, the province holds its traditional Elfstedentocht (Eleven cities tour), a 200 kilometers ice skanting tour. In the warmer months, many Frisians practice wandlopen, the traditional art of wading across designated sections of the Wadden Sea at low tide.


	Flag of Friesland


	Another Frisian practice is fierljeppen, a sport with some similarities to pole vaulting. A jump consists of an intense sprint to the pole (polsstok), jumping and grabbing it, then climbing to the top while trying to control the pole's forward and lateral movements over a body of water and finishing with a graceful landing on a sand bed opposite to the starting point. Because of all the diverse skills required in fierljeppen, fierljeppers are considered to be very complete athletes with superbly developed strength and coordination. Another interesting feature is the presence of many windmills. There are 195 windmills in the province of Friesland, from a total of about 1200 in the entire country.


	Friesland had been early settled, with evidence of terp-building, the distinctive raised settlements, starting in 700 BC. The people began to be a distinctive tribe in around 200 BC. They were displaced from their homeland to Flanders and Kent, England, due to heavy flooding in 250 AD. Habitation of the area remained impossible for the next 150 years. When some of the Frisians returned around 400 AD there were already Saxons and Jutes settled there, and the Frisian people merged with them, maintaining the identity and traditions of the Frisian tribe. The Frisians were closely related to the Saxons and the Frisian language remains the closest surviving language to English.


	The next two hundred years saw huge migrations and the Germanic peoples began to form their own states. The main Germanic tribes in Western Europe were the Jutish, Saxon, Frankish, Burgondish, Goth, Vandals, and Frisians.


	East Frisia, which is in present-day northern Germany, remained a free fragment of the empire until conquered by Charlemagne in 785. The great Frankish leader formed the first strong, centralized government in early medieval Europe. He codified the laws of all the conquered people. The Frisians produced the Lex Frisonium, which is fascinating for the picture it presents of a people in a state of flux, caught between the ancient pagan ways and the new Catholic creed taught by missionaries like Liudger and Boniface.


	The Carolingian empire started to fragment with the death of Charlemagne and by 840 century the Franks were forced to grant Friesland to the Danes as a feudal property. But by the end of the century the Frisians murdered the Danish King Godfried and evicted the Danes from their territory. Smaller Viking raids would continue for another couple of hundred years. In 925, the Frisians accepted the rule of Charlemagnian counts and the rule of these counts continued until the early 1100s.


	The Frisians were largely self-governing in the Medieval Age. They had no king, nor lords, and the people practised democracy. There are 12th century law books with laws prefaced by "The people want..." which is unheard of in most of the rest of Europe until the French Revolution 700 years later. Neighbouring nations, labouring under the bondage of feudalism, looked upon these self-sufficient and free born people in amazement and exclaimed "Every Frisian is born a nobleman."