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UNIT 4
Germany lies in the heart of Europe – south of the Scandinavian countries, west of the Slavic ones, north and east of the Roman nations. It is a country that has varied greatly in size during the long existence of the German people. Germany borders on Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, The Netherlands and Denmark. It is washed by the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. The navigable rivers are the Rhine, Elbe, Weser, Oder-Neisse, Danube and Main.
The official name of the country is the Federal Republic of Germany, its capital is Berlin. Bonn is the seat of the government. The official language is German; the native population is German(s). The total area of the country is 356,910 square kilometers. The main cities and towns are Cologne, Dresden, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich.
Germany can be divided into three principal regions – the northern lowlands, the central highlands, and the southern alpine region. A damp maritime climate prevails along the North Sea and Baltic coast, but farther inland and toward the south it becomes more typically continental.
Historically Germany had covered a long way from a dispersement of territory in its early periods to a united republic nowadays.
In southern Germany the dissolution of the Hohenstaufen duchy of Swabia gave territorial predominance to the Habsburgs, whose original possessions were Alsace, Breisgau, the Voralberg, and Tirol. The margraves of Baden were occupied by the forces of comparatively small nobles and cities of Swabia. Bavaria was granted to the house of Wittelsbach in 1180.
In central Germany the dynasty of the Wettin, the margraves of Meissen thrust steadily eastward and received the electorate of Saxony in 1423; in the west they obtained Thuringia in 1263. The landgraves of Hesse, however, challenged the claims of the Wettins and the archbishops of Mainz. East and south of Hesse, the Rhine-Main region was a land of great ecclesiastic princes: the mentioned archbishops of Mainz, Trier and Cologne; the bishops of Speyer, Worms, Würzburg, and Bamberg; and the wealthy abbots of Fulda and Lorsch. The area contains four electorates and was therefore of crucial political importance.
In northern Germany the dukes of Brunswick dissipated their strength by frequent divisions of their territory among heirs. Farther east the powerful duchy of Saxons was split by partition between the Wittenberg and Lauenburg branches; the strength of the duchy was in the military and commercial qualities of its predominantly free population. But their expansion into the Slav lands beyond the Elbe diminished the involvement in the internal politics of the Reich.
In eastern Germany the duchy of Mecklenburg was drawn deeply into Scandinavian affairs and in 1363 provided Sweden with a new royal dynasty in the person of Albert of Mecklenburg. The electorate of Brandenburg was dominated by a disorderly and rapacious nobility, and later on it was granted to Frederick, the burgrave of Nürnberg. The kingdom of Bohemia remained the durable territorial core of the Luxembourg dominions, and its silver mines at Kuttenberg, under German supervision, vastly increased crown revenues. The Slav population resented increasingly the economic and cultural influence of the German minority, thus creating disturbing antagonisms to the monarchy.
The principalities of that time were often ragged in outline and territorially dispersed because of inheritance, grant, partition, and conquest. In this crucial struggle the great secular potentates impaired their own strength by persisting in the Germanic custom of dividing their territory among their sons instead of transmitting it intact to the eldest. By 1378 the Bavarian lands of the Wittenbachs were shared between their three grandsons of Louis IV. In 1379 the wide possessions of the Habsburgs were partitioned by family agreement between Albert III and his younger brother Leopold.
The ecclesiastic princes, vowed to celibacy and elected by their cathedral chapters, could not hand on their lands to their descendants. Still, their policies and aspirations were not much different from those the secular princes, and most of them managed to install their relatives in rich canonries and prebends.
Vocabulary notes:
dissolution – тут роз’єднання;
duchy – герцогство, князівство;
elector – курфюрст; an electorate – курфюрство;
to dissipate – витрачати, втрачати, марнувати;
ессlesiastical – церковний, духовний;
secular – мирський, світський;
рartition – розділення, поділ;
internal – внутрішній;
disorder – тут гультяйство, марнотратство;
rapacious – жадібний, ненаситний;
durable – тривалий;
potentate – володар, повелитель;
canonries, prebends – церковні причти (причет – територія, підпорядкована керівнику певної адміністративно-церковної одиниці);
dispersement – роздроблення;
to vow – давати обітницю;
to hand on – передавати;
descendant – нащадок; тут наступник.
Practical tasks:
1. Read the following statements and decide whether they are true or false:
1. German Republic is a country that has the constant size during the long existence of the German people.
2. The seat of the republican government is Berlin.
3. The margraves of Baden were occupied by the forces of comparatively small nobles and cities of Swabia.
4. The strength of the Brunswick duchy was in the military and commercial qualities of its predominantly free population.
5. The Bohemian Slav population resented the economic and cultural influence of the German minority, and created disturbing antagonisms to the monarchy.
6. Sweden received a new royal dynasty in the person of Albert of Mecklenburg, the German elector.
7. By 1378 the Bavarian lands were shared between their three grandsons of Albert III.
8. The ecclesiastic princes, vowed to celibacy and elected by their cathedral chapters, handed on their lands to their descendants.
9. Most of the ecclesiastic princes managed to install their relatives in rich canonries and prebends, thus preserving large landowner’s status for the church.
2. Fill in the missing words from the box below:
| potentates dispersement official vowed partitioned borders on install principal dissolution |
1. Germany.... Poland, Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, The Netherlands and Denmark.
2. The _____ name of the country is The Federal Republic of Germany, its capital is Berlin.
3. Germany can be divided into three _____ regions – the northern lowlands, the central highlands, and the southern alpine region.
4. Historically Germany had covered a long way from a _____ of territory in its early periods to a united republic nowadays.
5. In southern Germany the ________ of the Hohenstaufen duchy of Swabia gave territorial predominance to the Habsburgs.
5. In 1379 the wide possessions of the Habsburgs were ______ by family agreement between Albert III and his younger brother Leopold.
6. The great secular ______ impaired their own strength by persisting in the Germanic custom of dividing their territory among their sons instead of transmitting it intact to the eldest.
7. The ecclesiastic princes, _______ to celibacy and elected by their cathedral chapters, could not hand on their lands to their descendants.
8. The policies and aspirations of ecclesiastic princes were not much different from those of the secular princes, and most of them managed to ______ their relatives in rich canonries and prebends.
3. Compose a chronological table according to the facts and dates given:
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