Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/681

The German Empire and the Third French Republic 523 of the world, the kaiser commanded the unconditional obedience of all German soldiers and sailors and appointed the chief officers in the army and navy. He had only to say that the Fatherland was "attacked," and he could hurl the German armies against any innocent neighbor he chose without asking anyone's approval. This he did when he ordered the invasion of Belgium and the attack on France in 1914. 932. The Bundesrat. The real sovereignty, however, according to the constitution, resided in the whole body of the German rulers included in the union, and therefore especially in the Fed- eral Council, or Bundesrat, to which the various governments sent their representatives. This council was much more important than the Senate of the United States or any other upper house in Europe. It initiated the important laws and was presided over by the imperial chancellor. Prussia's influence in it was secured by assigning her king a sufficient number of votes to enable him to veto any measure he wished. 933. The Reichstag. The House of Representatives, or Reichs- tag, consisting of about four hundred members, was elected by universal male suffrage for a term of five years. The emperor, however, might dissolve it at any time with the consent of the Bundesrat, and did so on occasions when it refused to pass the measures of his ministers. It exercised much less control of the government than does the British House of Commons or the United States House of Representatives. Moreover it did not fairly represent the people in the rapidly growing cities. Berlin, for instance, increased to two million inhabitants, but it had only six seats when it was entitled by its size to twenty. The govern- ment, however, refused to readjust the representation for fear the Socialists would gain more seats. 934. Laws establishing Uniformity throughout Germany. The constitution gave the Federal government power to regulate commerce, railways, telegraphs, currency, and the criminal and civil law. Under Bismarck the old systems of the various states were largely replaced by uniform regulations. The bewildering variety of coins and paper money in the several states was done