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council, the members of which are annually appointed by the governments of the various states; and the reichstag or national representatives, the members of which are elected by general ballot for a period of five years. Acting under the direction of the chancellor of the empire, the bundesrat, besides enacting laws, acts as a supreme consulting and governing board, and has ii standing committees — for the army, navy, trade, foreign affairs, railroads, etc. It has 58 members, all of whom have the right to be present at the deliberations of the reichstag. The reichstag contains about one member for every 131,604 inhabitants and has 397 members. It must be called together every year, but cannot be assembled unless the other house is also in session. Its proceedings are public; the members are paid and enjoy certain privileges; and it elects its own president. All laws must receive the votes of a majority of both houses, and must have the assent of the emperor and be countersigned by the chancellor, who is appointed by the emperor and is president of the bundesrat. The emperor, with the consent of the bundesrat, can declare war, make peace, enter into treaties with foreign nations and appoint and receive ambassadors. But if the territory of the empire is attacked, he can act independently in declaring war. The chief political parties may be roughly grouped as Liberals, Conservatives and Clericals. The first includes the National Liberals, whose object is a united Germany on constitutional lines, and the Freisinnige, who are the advanced wing and favor radical changes. The second includes the Conservatives proper and a more advanced wing called the Imperial party. The Roman Catholic Clerical party is the Center or Ultramontane party. Among smaller parties the most important is the Social Democrats. The position of the chancellor now depends on the support of a particular party, as does that of the prime minister in England. For years Prince Bismarck formed alliances, now with this party and now with that, according to the aim he had in view; and his opponents, even when they defeated his measures, had no thought of superseding him. The states are joined together in an “eternal union,” and have no power to withdraw. Whenever the laws of the empire and of individual states conflict, those of the empire prevail.
History. The Germans first appeared in history when they came in contact with the arms of Rome in 113 B. C. They were not a single nation, but a multitude of separate and independent tribes, connected only by the fact that they were of the same race and language and alike in their mode of life. Many of the tribes became subject to Rome. But in the first few years of our era Arminius led a national revolt, overthrew the Roman, Varus, and slew him and his legions; and about 200 years later the Romans were called upon to defend their own empire against their former subjects. The single tribes now began to form into groups, as the Goths, Franks, Frisians and Saxons, and the invasion of Europe by the Huns forced these races to cross the boundary and overrun the Roman empire. Of the many confederations existing after the breaking up of the Roman empire, the Frankish was the one which formed the kingdom both of France and Germany. The Franco-Merovingian empire in France spread across the Rhine, and with Charlemagne, who was crowned emperor in 800 by the pope, began the long line of emperors and kings who occupied the German throne for more than a thousand years. With his death ended the strength of the vast empire he had reared on the ruins of the Roman power, and in 887 occurred the final separation of Germany and France. At this period there were in Germany five nations: the Franks, Saxons, Bavarians, Swabians and Lorrainers, of whom the Franks were the most powerful; and, after the death of the last of Charlemagne’s descendants, the Frankish chief became emperor of Germany in 911. After his death the house of Saxony reigned over the empire for 100 years and was followed by that of Franconia; whose greatest emperor was Henry III (1039–56), who did much to check the insolence of the great German nobles and strengthen the empire. In 1138, with Conrad III, began the so-called Hohenstaufen dynasty, to which belonged the famous Frederick I (1152–90), surnamed Barbarossa. This great monarch spent most of his life in wars, and took part in the crusades, in which both he and the flower of chivalry perished. An interval of struggles and foreign wars followed his death, until in 1273 the declining glory of the empire was in part revived by Rudolf I, the earliest of the Hapsburg line which still rules in Austria. For the next 200 years the history of the German empire presents few features of interest. During the rule of Sigmund occurred the celebrated council of Constance, in 1414, at which John Huss was condemned to be burned for heresy. Under Maximilian I, Luther began to preach the reformed faith, but it was during the reign of Charles V (1519–56) that this faith was firmly established in Germany. At the same time occurred the Peasants’ War, which threatened to undermine the foundations of society. In 1618 began the disastrous Thirty Years’ War, the effect of which was to depopulate the rural districts of Germany, destroy its commerce, burden its people with heavy taxes, cripple the already weakened power of the emperors and cut the empire into a
