Saalfeld
Saalfeld is a town in Germany, capital of the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district of Thuringia. It is best known internationally as the seat of the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha branch of the Saxon House of Wettin. The town is situated in the valley of the Saale River north of the Thuringian Highland,48 km south of the German cultural centre Weimar, Saalfeld station is currently served by Intercity-Express trains running from Berlin to Munich. Together with neighbouring Rudolstadt and Bad Blankenburg, Saalfeld forms a tri-city area with a population of about 70,000, Saalfeld is one of the historic towns of Thuringia, possibly founded by the 7th century around a Thuringii fortress today called Hoher Schwarm or Sorbenburg. The area was first mentioned in an 899 deed, in 1012 the last Ottonian emperor Henry II ceded the former Carolingian Kaiserpfalz to Count Palatine Ezzo of Lotharingia, whose daughter Richeza bequested it to the Archbishops of Cologne. A Franciscan monastery was established about 1250, which was dissolved during the Protestant Reformation, the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick Barbarossa had ordered the layout of an Imperial city, parts of its medieval walls and bastions are preserved up to today.
Nevertheless, the citizens in 1208 had to receive town privileges from the hands of the Counts of Schwarzburg as their feudal lords, in 1389 the town finally was acquired by Landgrave Balthasar of Thuringia, a member of the House of Wettin. Saalfelds economy prospered from surrounding mines, transport on the Saale River as well as from fishing, the Wettin rulers had the Gothic Saint John hall church erected at the site of a Romanesque predecessor building until 1514. The Gothic town hall was completed in 1537, the ruling dynasty reached its height of importance, when in 1423 all Wettin lands including the Thuringian estates were incorporated into the Electorate of Saxony. However, already in 1485 Elector Ernest of Saxony agreed on the Leipzig partition with his younger brother Duke Albert III, confirmed by Emperor Maximilian II at the 1570 Diet of Speyer, John Fredericks Ernestine descendants only retained the duchies of Saxe-Weimar and Saxe-Coburg-Eisenach. Upon the death of Duke Frederick William I of Saxe-Weimar in 1602, Saalfeld passed to the newly established Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg, after several blazes in the early 16th century, Saalfeld had been rebuilt in a lavish Renaissance style.
After Alberts death in 1699, John Ernest claimed Saxe-Coburg, the Castle, which has been renovated and is today the town administrative building, was home to four generations of the Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld branch. Until 1825, Saalfeld remained one of two capitals of the duchy, together with Coburg, its Franconian sister town to the south. Francis children were linked to many of Europes royal families, His daughter Princess Victoria of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld by her marriage with Prince Edward became the mother of Queen Victoria and her brother Duke Ernest III of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld was the father of Queen Victorias husband, Prince Consort Albert. This line continues unbroken from Queen Victoria through to Queen Elizabeth II today, during the time of Duke Ernest III in 1826, the neighbouring ducal line of Saxe-Gotha and Altenburg became extinct. Ernest received the former Saxe-Gotha but in exchange had to give up Saalfeld in favour of his Ernestine cousin Duke Bernhard II of Saxe-Meiningen, the opening of the Leipzig-Probstzella railway further boosted the towns development.
After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, Saalfeld became part of the newly established Free State of Thuringia, as a railway junction and garrison town of the Wehrmacht armed forces from 1936, it was strongly affected by strategic bombing during World War II. Upon the post-war division of Germany, Saalfeld was an Inner-German border station on the Saal Railway—one of two routes that could be taken by trains between Leipzig/Halle and Nuremberg
Siege of Hamelin
In the Siege of Hameln or Siege of Hamelin, First French Empire forces captured the fortress of Hamelin from its garrison composed of troops from the Kingdom of Prussia. The siege was begun by the VIII Corps under French Marshal Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier, the marshal initially left General of Division Jean-Baptiste Dumonceau in charge of operations. General of Division Anne Jean Marie René Savary soon arrived to conduct negotiations with the Prussian commander General Karl Ludwig von Lecoq, the operation from the War of the Fourth Coalition was a blockade because a formal siege never took place. Hamelin is located 36 kilometers southwest of Hanover, after Emperor Napoleon I smashed the main Prussian armies at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt on 14 October, his victorious Grande Armée chased his enemies across the Elbe River. This left the Prussian force defending the former Electorate of Hanover strategically isolated west of the river, while Napoleons Grande Armée hunted down Prussian forces between the Elbe and the Oder River, subsidiary forces invaded Hanover and Hesse-Kassel.
The defenders withdrew into the fortresses of Hamelin and Nienburg where they were blockaded and captured, in September 1806, when King Frederick William III mobilized the Prussian armies, a substantial force assembled in or near the former Electorate of Hanover. Lieutenant General Gebhard von Blücher concentrated 16 battalions of infantry and 17 squadrons of cavalry to the west at Paderborn, Osnabrück, Leer, in Hanover proper were 20 battalions and 28 squadrons at Celle and Braunschweig. This body became the westernmost field army and its 30,000 troops were placed under the command of General of Infantry Ernst von Rüchel and Blücher. The Prussian high command understood that Napoleons major thrust must come from the south, General-Major Christian Alexander von Hagken and General-Major Karl Friedrich von Brüsewitz were left behind to defend against a French offensive from the Kingdom of Holland and the lower Rhine. Taken together with the garrisons of Hamelin and Nienburg, the entire Prussian strength in the area numbered about 12,000 soldiers, the small mobile forces were assembled near Münster and placed under the command of General Karl Ludwig von Lecoq.
Opposing the Prussians were King Louis Bonaparte in Holland and Marshal Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier at Mainz, Louis deployed a 5,000 to 6, 000-man division near Wesel and another similar-sized division at Utrecht, while Wesel itself was well-defended. Napoleon planned to hold Louis and Mortier in place until he defeated the Prussian main army, at time they would seize Hesse-Kassel. On 9 October and Hagken began advancing west in separate columns, the march was slow and on 19 October, the Prussians received news of the catastrophe of Jena-Auerstedt. Lecoq and Hagken immediately fell back on Hamelin, arriving on 23 October, from there, Lecoq set out the next day for the Elbe. Hearing a report that French forces already blocked his path, he halted his march on the 27th and returned to Hamelin where he began acquiring food and supplies to sustain a siege. He sent Oberst Christian Friedrich von der Osten with one regiment and one infantry battalion across the Elbe. After hearing of Jena-Auerstedt, General-Major Karl Anton Ernst von Bila left Hanover on 20 October with one battalion, the treasure, and he managed to get safely across the Elbe but his small force was caught in the French sweep that followed the Capitulation of Stettin.
On 17 October, Napoleon dispatched orders to Louis and Mortier, the King of Holland was supposed to capture Paderborn and Münster, while the marshal was to seize Fulda and come into contact with General of Division Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke at Erfurt
Louis-Gabriel Suchet
Louis-Gabriel Suchet, Duke of Albufera, was a Marshal of France and one of Napoleons most brilliant generals. Suchet was born to a manufacturer in Lyon. He originally intended to follow his fathers business but, serving as a volunteer in the cavalry of the National Guard at Lyon, in 1793, he was serving as a battalion chief when he captured the British general Charles OHara at Toulon. During the 1796 Italian campaign, he was wounded at Cerea on 11 October. In October 1797, he was promoted to command of a half-brigade and his services in the Tyrol under Joubert that year and in Switzerland under Brune over the next were recognized by his promotion to the rank of brigadier general. He took no part in the Egyptian campaign but was made Brunes chief of staff in August and restored the efficiency, in July 1799, he was promoted to division general and made Jouberts chief of staff in Italy. In 1800, he was named second-in-command to Masséna and he took a prominent part in the rest of the Italian campaign up to the armistice of Treviso.
In the campaigns of 1805 and 1806, he enhanced his reputation at the Battles of Austerlitz, Jena, Pułtusk. He obtained the title of count on 19 March 1808, ordered to Spain, he took part in the Siege of Saragossa, after which he was named commander of the army of Aragon and governor of that region. Within two years, he brought the area into complete submission by wise and adroit administration no less than by his brilliant valor, beaten by the Spanish at Alcañiz, he sprung back and soundly defeated the army of Blake y Joyes at María on 14 June 1809. On 22 April 1810, he defeated ODonnell at Lleida, after the siege of Tarragona, he was named marshal of France on 8 July 1811. In 1812, he captured Valencia, for which he was rewarded with the dukedom of Albufera nearby, when the tide turned against France, Suchet defended his conquests one by one until compelled to withdraw from Spain, after which he took part in Soults defensive campaign of 1814. The restored Bourbon king Louis XVIII made him a peer of France on 4 June with a seat in the upper house, during Napoleons brief restoration, Suchet was given command of an army on the Alpine frontier.
He died in the Castle of Saint-Joseph near Marseille on 3 January 1826 and he wrote his memoirs in two volumes from 1829 to 34. The chicken dish poularde à la dAlbuféra is named after him and he married Honorine Anthoine de Saint-Joseph, a niece of Julie Clary, the wife of Joseph Bonaparte, on 16 November 1808
First French Empire
The First French Empire, Note 1 was the empire of Napoleon Bonaparte of France and the dominant power in much of continental Europe at the beginning of the 19th century. Its name was a misnomer, as France already had colonies overseas and was short lived compared to the Colonial Empire, a series of wars, known collectively as the Napoleonic Wars, extended French influence over much of Western Europe and into Poland. The plot included Bonapartes brother Lucien, serving as speaker of the Council of Five Hundred, Roger Ducos, another Director, on 9 November 1799 and the following day, troops led by Bonaparte seized control. They dispersed the legislative councils, leaving a rump legislature to name Bonaparte, Sieyès, although Sieyès expected to dominate the new regime, the Consulate, he was outmaneuvered by Bonaparte, who drafted the Constitution of the Year VIII and secured his own election as First Consul. He thus became the most powerful person in France, a power that was increased by the Constitution of the Year X, the Battle of Marengo inaugurated the political idea that was to continue its development until Napoleons Moscow campaign.
Napoleon planned only to keep the Duchy of Milan for France, setting aside Austria, the Peace of Amiens, which cost him control of Egypt, was a temporary truce. He gradually extended his authority in Italy by annexing the Piedmont and by acquiring Genoa, Parma and Naples, he laid siege to the Roman state and initiated the Concordat of 1801 to control the material claims of the pope. Napoleon would have ruling elites from a fusion of the new bourgeoisie, on 12 May 1802, the French Tribunat voted unanimously, with exception of Carnot, in favour of the Life Consulship for the leader of France. This action was confirmed by the Corps Législatif, a general plebiscite followed thereafter resulting in 3,653,600 votes aye and 8,272 votes nay. On 2 August 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte was proclaimed Consul for life, pro-revolutionary sentiment swept through Germany aided by the Recess of 1803, which brought Bavaria, Württemberg and Baden to Frances side. The memories of imperial Rome were for a time, after Julius Caesar and Charlemagne.
The Treaty of Pressburg, signed on 26 December 1805, did little other than create a more unified Germany to threaten France. On the other hand, Napoleons creation of the Kingdom of Italy, the occupation of Ancona, to create satellite states, Napoleon installed his relatives as rulers of many European states. The Bonapartes began to marry into old European monarchies, gaining sovereignty over many nations, in addition to the vassal titles, Napoleons closest relatives were granted the title of French Prince and formed the Imperial House of France. Met with opposition, Napoleon would not tolerate any neutral power, Prussia had been offered the territory of Hanover to stay out of the Third Coalition. With the diplomatic situation changing, Napoleon offered Great Britain the province as part of a peace proposal and this, combined with growing tensions in Germany over French hegemony, Prussia responded by forming an alliance with Russia and sending troops into Bavaria on 1 October 1806. In this War of the Fourth Coalition, Napoleon destroyed the armies of Frederick William at Jena-Auerstedt, the Eylau and the Friedland against the Russians finally ruined Frederick the Greats formerly mighty kingdom, obliging Russia and Prussia to make peace with France at Tilsit.
The Treaties of Tilsit ended the war between Russia and the French Empire and began an alliance between the two empires that held power of much of the rest of Europe, the two empires secretly agreed to aid each other in disputes
Capitulation of Erfurt
The Prussian soldiers were demoralized by their shattering defeat at the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt on 14 October and unwilling to put up much resistance. The event occurred during the War of the Fourth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars, Erfurt is located on the Gera River about 40 kilometers west of Jena. Only eight days before, Emperor Napoleon I of France invaded the Electorate of Saxony with a large army and this was followed by the catastrophe of 14 October. In the aftermath of the battle, the organization of the Prussian army disintegrated, large numbers of Prussian fugitives from the battle entered Erfurt and could not be induced to leave. When Murats French cavalry arrived before the city, it was surrendered without any fighting, in the center, Brunswick concentrated at Erfurt, Hohenlohe defended Rudolstadt in the east, and Rüchel held Gotha and Eisenach in the west. General Karl August, Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenachs division of Rüchels right wing felt south toward the French line of communications, General Eugene Frederick Henry, Duke of Württembergs Reserve lay far to the north at Magdeburg.
On 8 October, Napoleons 180,000 troops began crossing the Saxon border through the Franconian Forest and his troops formed in a batallion carré made up of three columns of two army corps each, plus the Cavalry Reserve, Imperial Guard, and some Bavarian allies. On 9 October, the French won the minor Battle of Schleiz, the next day, Marshal Jean Lannes V Corps crushed the division of Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia at the Battle of Saalfeld, killing the young prince. On 12 October, Napoleon ordered his army to make a wheel to the west. The Prussian generals decided to retreat, using the Saale River to protect their flank, Brunswick marched the main army north from Weimar, while Hohenlohe stood on the defensive near Jena as a flank guard. Rüchels orders were to stay at Weimar until Saxe-Weimar returned with his division, the double Battle of Jena-Auerstedt occurred on 14 October as Napoleon attacked Hohenlohe while Brunswick ran into Marshal Louis Davouts III Corps. The troops of Brunswick, and Rüchel were driven in rout from the two battlefields, brunswicks army lost 13,000 men and its commander was mortally wounded.
Hohenlohe and Rüchel suffered as many as 25,000 casualties, at 5,00 AM on 15 October, Napoleon began issuing orders to exploit his tremendous victory at Jena. He heard about Marshal Louis Davouts triumph at Auerstedt four hours later, Murats Cavalry Reserve was split, with half directed to advance west to Erfurt and half northwest to Buttelstedt. Napoleon sent Marshal Michel Neys VI Corps toward Erfurt to back up Murats horsemen, after the battles on the 14th, a large number of refugees appeared at Erfurt. At first they were refused entrance, but the gates were opened, attempts were made by some officers to return the troops to their regiments, but the men refused to cooperate. By noon on the 15th, Murat was near Erfurt with the elements of his cavalry. General-Major von Jung-Larisch stood in line in front of the city
Battle of Eylau
Late in the battle, the Russians received a timely reinforcement from a Prussian division of von LEstocq. The town is now called Bagrationovsk and is a part of Kaliningrad Oblast, the engagement was fought during the War of the Fourth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars. Of all Napoleonic battles, this is considered to be the most uncertain, Napoleons armies previously smashed the army of the Austrian Empire in the Ulm Campaign and the combined Austrian and Russian armies at the Battle of Austerlitz on 2 December 1805. Austerlitz forced the Austrians to sue for peace and their Russian allies to withdraw from the conflict, on 14 October 1806, Napoleon crushed the armies of the Kingdom of Prussia at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt. Eylau was the first serious check to the Grande Armée and the myth of Napoleons invincibility was badly shaken, the French would end up defeating the Russians in the year at the Battle of Friedland. In late January, Bennigsens Russian army went on the offensive in East Prussia, Napoleon reacted by mounting a counteroffensive to the north, hoping to prevent their retreat to the east.
After his cossacks captured a copy of Napoleons orders, Bennigsen rapidly withdrew to the northeast to avoid being cut off, the French pursued for several days and found the Russians drawn up for battle at Eylau. In a vicious evening clash, the French captured the village with heavy losses on both sides, the following day brought even more serious fighting. Early in the battle, an attack by Napoleon failed with catastrophic losses. To retrieve the situation, the emperor launched a cavalry charge against the Russians. This bought enough time for the French right wing to throw its weight into the contest, the Russian left wing was bent back at an acute angle and Bennigsens army was in danger of collapse. A Prussian corps belatedly arrived and saved the day by pushing back the French right wing, as darkness fell, a French corps tardily appeared on the French left flank. That night Bennigsen decided to retreat, leaving Napoleon in possession of a snowy battlefield covered with thousands of corpses, with the Prussian army routed at Jena-Auerstedt, Napoléon occupied the major cities of Germany and marched on east in pursuit of the remaining forces opposed to him.
These were largely Russians under the command of the frail 68-year-old Field Marshal Count Mikhail Kamensky, the old marshal was unwilling to risk battle, and continued to retreat, leaving the Grande Armée free to enter Poland almost unopposed. Nevertheless, as the French pressed aggressively eastward across the Vistula, the French seized a crossing over the Wkra on 23 December at the Battle of Czarnowo. Russian resistance soon stiffened and on 26 December the two clashed at the Battles of Pułtusk and Gołymin. After these fierce engagements Napoléons troops took up quarters in Poland to recuperate after a victorious. In January 1807, the new Russian army commander Levin August, having cleared Neys troops out of the way, the Russians rolled down on the isolated French I Corps under Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte
Thuringian Forest
The Thuringian Forest forms a continuous chain of ancient rounded mountains with steep slopes to both sides and poses ample difficulties in transit routing save through a few navigable passes. It is about 70 km long and 20 km wide, the highest elevation is Großer Beerberg at 982 m a. s. l. The Rennsteig is an ancient path following the ridge and connecting the summits. Dialects and traditional customs and costumes are different on either side of the Rennsteig, the Rennsteig is the subject of the song Rennsteiglied, the unofficial hymn of Thuringia. Two more long-distance roads, Bundesstraßen 19 and 84, pass over the parts of the range. A third line, the section of the Plaue–Themar railway, does not use a tunnel. It has only used by museum trains since 1998. The Nuremberg–Erfurt high-speed railway, due to be commissioned in December 2017, crosses the Thuringian Forest with the help of several tunnels and bridges. Thüringerwaldbahn, a line of the Gotha tramway network, serves the northern foothills of the Thuringian Forest between Gotha and Tabarz, including a branch to Waltershausen.
The uplift of the fault block was part of the Saxonian tectonic processes and is understood as a long range effect of the Alpine orogeny. It began in the upper Cretaceous era and ended in the late Tertiary after about 40 million years, while the near-surface rocks of the Thuringian Highland comprise mostly the folded Variscan basement, the oldest unfolded overlying strata of this basement are exposed in the Thuringian forest. Common to both ranges, but to low mountain ranges in Central Europe uplifted at the same time, are the bordering Zechstein deposits which contain Bryozoa reefs. These stretch especially wide on the edge of the Thuringian forest. The Eisenach trough is part of the much larger Werra basin and it was uplifted as one of the fault blocks in the Saxonian tectonic era and is filled with Variscan molasses, named Eisenach formation after the location. It consists mostly of monotonous sequences of reddish conglomerates representing a proximal alluvial fan which originated in debris flows from the Ruhla anticline, dated in the upper Rotliegend, the Eisenach formation consists of some of the youngest geological units in the Thuringian forest.
In the Ruhla anticline the basement rocks, folded in the Variscan era, are exposed and they are named Ruhlaer Kristallin after the location and are according to Franz Kossmat considered part of the Central German Crystalline Zone, of which Odenwald and Spessart are constituents. In the Rotliegend era the region formed the crest of a range where the debris originated that was deposited in the Eisenach trough. The Oberhof trough is by far the largest of the main parts of the Thuringian Forest
Siege of Stralsund (1807)
On the first try, Marshal Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier blockaded the city for two months before he was called elsewhere. In his absence, the Swedes drove back the inferior blockading force, after Mortier returned and pushed Essens troops back in turn, the two sides quickly concluded an armistice. The truce was repudiated by King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden, whereupon Marshal Guillaume Marie Anne Brune led 40,000 French, Spanish and Dutch soldiers against the fortress. Fearfully outnumbered, the Swedes abandoned the Baltic Sea port of Stralsund to the Franco-Allies in this action during the War of the Fourth Coalition, as a consequence, Sweden lost the nearby island of Rügen. Sweden was established in Stralsund since the Battle of Stralsund, by the Peace of Westphalia and the Treaty of Stettin, the duchy was partitioned into a Swedish part, including Stralsund, and a Brandenburg-Prussian part. After minor losses in the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Swedish Pomerania was reduced to the north of the Peene river with Greifswald, Stralsund.
When Napoleon Bonaparte started to expand eastwards in the Napoleonic Wars, in 1805, Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden entered the War of the Third Coalition on the anti-French side, primarily to strip Napoleons ally Denmark of Norway. His Norwegian ambitions were thwarted by several military and diplomatic setbacks, Stralsund, a port in Swedish Pomerania, was defended by the Swedish governor Hans von Essen. On 28 January, French forces commanded by Marshal Mortier crossed the Peene River in an attempt to impose a blockade on Stralsund, to the east, General of Division Charles Louis Dieudonné Grandjeans division crossed the Peene at Anklam, driving back the Swedish outposts. To the west, General of Division Pierre Louis Dupas division crossed the stream unopposed near Demmin, on the 29th, Mortiers two divisions appeared before the port and on 30 January began the blockade. For the next two months, the two fought a number of skirmishes as the French strengthened their lines of investment. Without control of the island of Rügen, the French were unable to interrupt Stralsunds sea communications and were harassed by Swedish gunboats.
During the blockade, one French cavalry and three regiments were taken from Mortier to fight against the Russians in Poland and replaced by troops from the Kingdom of Holland. On 29 March, Mortier received orders to leave Grandjeans division to maintain the blockade, after Mortier left, Essen drove Grandjeans outnumbered troops from their lines. Grandjean fell back to Anklam where he was attacked again on 3 April and forced to retreat southeast to the fortress of Stettin on the Oder, arriving there on the 7th. Mortier retraced his steps and by 13 April had assembled 12,000 to 13,000 men at Stettin, in very wet weather, Mortier began pressing Essen back to Anklam. On 16 April, Mortier defeated the Swedes in the Battle of Belling, the next day, Essen retreated to the north bank of the Peene. Beginning on 18 April, the French and Swedish forces arranged the truce of Schlatkow, anxious to employ Mortiers men against the Russians and Prussians, Napoleon had authorized the marshal to make a truce with the Swedes
Kingdom of Prussia
It was the driving force behind the unification of Germany in 1871 and was the leading state of the German Empire until its dissolution in 1918. Although it took its name from the region called Prussia, it was based in the Margraviate of Brandenburg, the kings of Prussia were from the House of Hohenzollern. Prussia was a power from the time it became a kingdom, through its predecessor, Brandenburg-Prussia. Prussia continued its rise to power under the guidance of Frederick II, more known as Frederick the Great. After the might of Prussia was revealed it was considered as a power among the German states. Throughout the next hundred years Prussia went on to win many battles and it was because of its power that Prussia continuously tried to unify all the German states under its rule. Attempts at creation of a federation remained unsuccessful and the German Confederation collapsed in 1866 when war ensued between its two most powerful states and Austria. The North German Confederation which lasted from 1867–1871, created a union between the Prussian-aligned states while Austria and most of Southern Germany remained independent.
The North German Confederation was seen as more of an alliance of military strength in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War, the German Empire lasted from 1871–1918 with the successful unification of all the German states under Prussian hegemony. This was due to the defeat of Napoleon III in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, in 1871, Germany unified into a single country, minus Austria and Switzerland, with Prussia the dominant power. Prussia is considered the predecessor of the unified German Reich. The Kingdom left a significant cultural legacy, today notably promoted by the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, in 1415 a Hohenzollern Burgrave came from the south to the March of Brandenburg and took control of the area as elector. In 1417 the Hohenzollern was made an elector of the Holy Roman Empire, after the Polish wars, the newly established Baltic towns of the German states including Prussia, suffered many economic setbacks. Many of the Prussian towns could not even afford to attend political meetings outside of Prussia, the towns were poverty stricken, with even the largest town, having to borrow money from elsewhere to pay for trade.
Poverty in these towns was partly caused by Prussias neighbors, who had established and developed such a monopoly on trading that these new towns simply could not compete and these issues led to feuds, trade competition and invasions. However, the fall of these gave rise to the nobility, separated the east and the west. It was clear in 1440 how different Brandenburg was from the other German territories, not only did it face partition from within but the threat of its neighbors. It prevented the issue of partition by enacting the Dispositio Achillea which instilled the principle of primogeniture to both the Brandenburg and Franconian territories, the second issue was solved through expansion
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a federal state in central Germany. It has an area of 16,171 square kilometres and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area, most of Thuringia is within the watershed of the Saale, a left tributary of the Elbe. Thuringia has been known as the heart of Germany from the late 19th century. It is home to the Rennsteig, Germanys most well-known hiking trail, half of Germanys 136 Winter Olympic gold medals have been won by Thuringian athletes. Johann Sebastian Bach spent the first part of his life and important further stages of his career in Thuringia and Schiller lived in Weimar and both worked at the University of Jena, which today hosts Thuringias most important science centre. Other Universities in this state are the Ilmenau University of Technology, the University of Erfurt. The name Thuringia or Thüringen derives from the Germanic tribe Thuringii, an older theory claims that they were successors of the Hermunduri, but research rejected the idea.
Other historians argue that the Thuringians were allies of the Huns, came to central Europe together with them, publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus first mentioned the Thuringii around 400, during that period, the Thuringii were famous for their excellent horses. The Thuringian Realm existed until after 531, the Landgraviate of Thuringia was the largest state in the region, after the Treaty of Leipzig, Thuringia had its own dynasty again, the Ernestine Wettins. Their various lands formed the Free State of Thuringia, founded in 1920, the Prussian territories around Erfurt, Mühlhausen and Nordhausen joined Thuringia in 1945. The coat of arms of Thuringia shows the lion of the Ludowingian Landgraves of 12th-century origin, the eight stars around it represent the eight former states which formed Thuringia. The flag of Thuringia is a bicolor, derived from the white. The coat of arms and flag of Hesse are quite similar to the Thuringian ones, symbols of Thuringia in popular culture are the Bratwurst and the Forest, because a large amount of the territory is forested.
Named after the Thuringii tribe who occupied it around AD300, Thuringia became a landgraviate in 1130 AD. Most of the remaining Thuringia came under the rule of the Wettin dynasty of the nearby Margraviate of Meissen, in Mühlhausen and elsewhere, the Anabaptists found many adherents. Thomas Müntzer, a leader of some groups of this sect, was active in this city. Some reordering of the Thuringian states occurred during the German Mediatisation from 1795 to 1814, in 1920, after World War I, these small states merged into one state, called Thuringia, only Saxe-Coburg voted to join Bavaria instead. Weimar became the new capital of Thuringia, the coat of arms of this new state was simpler than those of its predecessors
Siege of Danzig (1807)
The Siege of Danzig was the French encirclement and capture of Danzig during the War of the Fourth Coalition. On 19 March 1807, around 27,000 French troops under Marshall Lefebvre besieged around 14,400 Prussian troops under Marshall Kalckreuth garrisoning the city of Danzig, Danzig held an important strategic position. It was a potential dropping off point for allied troops, Danzig was difficult to attack, being only accessible from the west, while all other directions were covered either by the Vistula or wetlands. Furthermore, it had resources of great interest to the Grande Armée in planning a substantial campaign in the east. In a letter dated 18 February 1807, Napoleon noted to Marshal Lefebvre, Your glory is linked to the taking of Danzig, the task of taking the city was in mid-February given to Marshal Lefebvre and his 10th corps. The marshal was aided by generals Chasseloup-Laubat, who commanded the engineering works, and Baston de Lariboisière, together they were the two best specialists in their respective fields in the French army.
General Drouet was the chief of staff, inside Danzig stood 14,400 men under the Prussian commander General Count Friedrich Adolf von Kalkreuth. On 2 April the ground had thawed enough to be able to begin digging siege trenches, a trench was begun on 8 April and completed on 15 April. With the fall of the Silesian fortress of Schweidnitz to Vandamme on 11 April, on the 23 March the French batteries opened fire. Owing to the absence of the Swedish vessel, Kamensky was delayed in his operations and this allowed Lefebvre time to reinforce his positions, and the outnumbered Russian troops were beaten back with a loss of 1,500 men killed and wounded. A further attempt by the British 18-gun praam Dauntless to bring a badly needed 150 barrels of gunpowder via the river failed, Dauntless ran aground near a battery, which bombarded her until grenadier guards from Paris were able to capture her. After these failed attempts to relieve the city, the siege, on 21 May Marshal Mortiers corps arrived, making it possible to storm the Hagelsberg.
Seeing that he could no longer hold out, Kalkreuth sued Lefebvre for peace, the terms were finally agreed were that the garrison could march out with all the honours of war, with drums beating, matches lighted, and standards flying. The terms were generous because Napoleon was eager to put an end to the siege since the summer was approaching and he needed to remove the threat to his rear, Danzig capitulated on 24 May 1807. Napoleon ordered the siege of the nearby Weichselmünde fort, but Kamensky had fled with his troops, the battle cost the French 6,000 killed and wounded, while the Prussians lost 3,000 killed and sick, and the Russians 1,500. On 9 September 1807, Napoleon established the Free City of Danzig, from late January to 29 November 1813, Russian forces laid siege to the city and the French occupying forces withdrew on 2 January 1814
Military colours, standards and guidons
The Roman Empire made battle standards a part of their vast armies. It was formalized in the armies of Europe in the High Middle Ages, as armies became trained and adopted set formations, each regiments ability to keep its formation was potentially critical to its, and therefore its armys, success. In the chaos of battle, not least due to the amount of dust and smoke on a battlefield, Regimental flags are generally awarded to a regiment by a head-of-State during a ceremony. They were therefore treated with reverence as they represented the honour, Colours may be inscribed with the names of battles or other symbols representing former achievements. Regiments tended to adopt colour guards, composed of experienced or élite soldiers, as a result, the capture of an enemys standard was considered as a great feat of arms. They are never capriciously destroyed – when too old to use they are replaced and laid-up in museums, religious buildings and other places of significance to their regiment. However, in most modern armies, standing orders now call for the Colours to be destroyed if they are ever in jeopardy of being captured by the enemy.
Due to the advent of modern weapons, and subsequent changes in tactics, Colours are no longer carried into battle, but continue to be used at events of formal character. The Armed Forces of the Argentine Republics military Colours of the Argentine Army, Argentine Navy and Argentine Air Force are the Flag of Argentina as the National War Colour and the Unit Colour. The National War Colour is a variation of the Argentine national flag made for use, while the Unit Colour differs per service arm. Only the Regiment of Patricians uses company colors, cadet squadron colours are used by the Argentine Air Force Academy. Units of the Brazilian Armed Forces carry a stand of two Colours, differing per service, the standard of the Army measures 80 ×120 cm, white with the Army coat of arms in the centre, trimmed with gold fringe. The name of the service is inscribed in letters on a green scroll beneath the shield. Above the shield is a helmet with red and sky blue mantling. The staff is topped by a nickel-plated lance-head finial,32 cm high, ten red streamers with campaign honours inscribed in sky blue letters are attached below the lance-head.
The staff is 212 cm long, not including the lance-head and it is covered in sky blue velvet with a red spiral strip. The colour belt is 10 cm in width, covered with sky blue velvet with red velvet stripes, the Navys flag uses dark blue colours, the Air Force flag ultramarine blue. Brazilian military units carry the flag as a National Colour
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