What are the rights of the German emperor?

(1) serfdom strengthened Junker's political dominance

From the perspective of social development, serfdom is a barbaric and backward mode of production. Serfs not only serve the landlord for free, but also bring their own livestock and farm tools. Their property is arbitrarily deprived and they have no personal freedom at all. They are imprisoned in the landlord's grange and are not allowed to migrate. It is generally believed that the existence of serfdom will seriously hinder the development of productive forces. However, if we put this system in the historical background of Prussia's rise, we will find something unusual. Today, people can criticize Frederick II for "strengthening the autocratic system of military Junker landlords and promoting slave education to his subjects" in Prussia, which is a retrogression of history, but it ignores the most basic fact, that is, the pillar of Prussia Kingdom at that time was aristocrats, and the strength of aristocrats lies in occupying vast real estate and exploiting serfs. From this point of view, without serfdom, there would be no Junker, and without Junker's support, the powerful Prussian kingship would only be empty talk.

(2) Carry out mercantilism and pay attention to economic development

The main rivers that Germany goes to sea northward, such as Rhine, Weser, Elbe and Oder, all flow through the territory of Brandenburg, which gives Prussia a favorable geographical position for economic development. The rulers of Prussia also regarded industry and commerce as an important wealth. They dug canals, built bridges and roads, unified the currency system and implemented measures to protect tariffs to develop the economy. At the same time, Prussia also pays attention to exploring overseas markets. In 1788, it exported more than 11, tons of pig iron to Britain. By the 178s, Prussia had established three trading companies: Eastern Mediterranean Trading Company, China Trading Company and Bangladeshi Trading Company.

(3) Encourage immigrants and accommodate Protestants.

Martin Luther's religious reform and the victory of the German Protestant Union in the Thirty Years' War made Prussia a paradise on earth for Europe to escape religious persecution at that time. By 173, about 2, Huguenots had moved from France to Brandenburg to settle down, accounting for 1/9 of the residents of the city at that time. These people are skilled craftsmen or businessmen with certain capital. As a result, French industry and commerce suffered serious losses, while Prussia benefited. In addition to French immigrants, immigrants from other countries have also entered the country in large numbers. According to statistics, by 174, Prussia had a population of 2.4 million, of which foreign immigrants alone accounted for a quarter, as many as 6,. Brandenburg was the hardest hit area in the Thirty Years' War. Immigrants injected great vitality into its revival, which enabled Prussia to achieve economic recovery and upsurge earlier than other German states.

(4) The rulers have a strong sense of hardship and seldom fall into corruption

Different from the extravagant style prevailing in the European royal family at that time, several generations of Prussian rulers lived a puritan frugal life almost from self-abuse in order to save valuable military and government expenses. For example, when Friedrich II's father, William I (two people with the same name later) was in power, Prussian diplomatic envoys were "well-known" in Europe for their meanness. However, prominent members of the royal family, whether they are princes or princesses, or even princesses or even kings themselves, have poor cooking and poor food, almost to the point where they can't eat. Because thrift has reached the point of being stingy, people call William I "beggar king" behind his back.

His successor, Friedrich II, was even more tenacious and hardworking as Gou Jian, the King of Yue. He devoted himself to hard work with extraordinary energy and slept only four hours a day. You have to ask yourself every detail. He also called on the people to be thrifty and set an example, and absolutely prohibited the luxury and ostentation of the court. He only wears soldiers' clothes at ordinary times, and only has one dress in his life. Twenty years after Friedrich's death, Napoleon defeated the Pujun army in Jena and came to the tomb of Friedrich in Potsdam. Napoleon pointed his whip at the generals under his tombstone and said, "If he were alive, we wouldn't be standing here today.".

(5) The ruling class can conform to the trend and promote various reforms in time

The ruling class in Prussia is not blindly following the old rules and stubbornly refusing all changes like the feudal nobles in other European countries. They are good at judging the situation and pushing forward the reform from top to bottom (of course, forced by the situation), and firmly control the leading position of the reform, so as to conform to the historical trend and avoid relegating themselves to power. Different from the reform of Habsburg dynasty in Austria, most of the kings of Prussia were able to stick to the reform instead of giving up the achievements of their predecessors, which not only ensured the consistency of Prussia's major policies, but also kept the whole country up all the time.

Take the reform of serfdom in Prussia as an example. During the Napoleonic Wars, Prussia suffered a series of fiasco and almost died. The fiasco of the war and the signing of the humiliating peace treaty made the Prussians more and more aware of the decline of the serfdom society from the contest between feudal Germany and capitalist France. A group of people of insight, deeply influenced by the bourgeois ideology of Britain and France, shouted loudly for the reform of the old feudal order. In this grim situation, Prussia began a difficult reform. In October 187, Baron Stein, who was in charge of state affairs, issued the "October Decree" to liberate farmers, which finally made Prussia take a major step on the road from feudal serfdom to bourgeois society.

But the first round of reform was not thorough, which made the bourgeois liberals in Prussia very dissatisfied with Juncker's continued occupation of a large amount of land and manpower, so they once turned to * * * and opposed the monarchy in the 1848 Revolution in Europe. In order to collude with each other and coordinate interests in order to consolidate the political power, Junker's landlord class government promulgated the Law on Adjusting the Relationship between Landlords and Peasants in March 185, thus finally completing the reform of serfdom that began in 187. As a result of the reform, the capitalists got the cheap labor necessary for the development of large industries, and the bourgeoisie was satisfied with the monarchy; By collecting high ransom from serfs, a large number of ceded land and wealth quickly accumulated in Juncker's hands, and the landlord class also made a windfall; Only farmers went bankrupt, lost their land and livestock, and became semi-proletarians in large numbers, and then became hired workers in capitalist factories and Junker Manor. This "experience" of the Prussian ruling class provided an excellent model for the later Russian serfdom reform in 1861.

(VI) Awakening of German national consciousness

The most important factor in the rise of Prussia is human factors. The German nation has a strong desire to rejuvenate the country, which has been caused for hundreds of years. Since the 16th century, due to the division, the German nation is not a political entity in the eyes of Europeans, but also regarded as a nation without vitality. It is this long-term humiliation and contempt that inspired the Germans' enterprising spirit of self-improvement and internalized it into the source of strength for Prussia's rise.

It is also because of this spirit that they are urged to learn advanced things from foreign countries and vigorously set up education. In this respect, the achievements of the Kingdom of Prussia are most praised by later generations-in order to carry out nationalist education, Prussia began to implement compulsory national education in 1717, making it the first country in the world to implement compulsory education. It is worth noting that in 1763, Friedrich II promulgated the School Regulations, which made it compulsory for children aged 5-14 to go to school, and appointed veterans as principals to conduct paramilitary training for students. All these have laid a solid foundation for Prussia to form a disciplined and high-quality army in the future. After Humboldt became the highest education director in Prussia in 189, the reform of education system became the cornerstone of Germany's scientific, cultural and cardinal development in the next 2 years. As the first new university in the world, Berlin University, established in 181, influenced the development of higher education in all countries in the 19th century.

In Prussia, military service and education are regarded as two basic obligations of citizens. According to statistics, among the major European countries in the second half of the 19th century, the illiteracy rate in Germany is the lowest, and Germans should be ahead of European countries in reading, writing, calculating and the practical application of scientific theories.

(7) Be good at using diplomatic means to maximize the interests of the country

Both the early King Friedrich II and the later Prime Minister Bismarck were recognized as one of the most astute diplomats at that time. Although these people can be described as "treacherous, greedy and treacherous" to achieve their own goals, it is undeniable that without their superb diplomatic skills, it is hard to imagine that Prussia can survive and grow in Europe surrounded by great powers.

uniting allies and isolating opponents is the most basic diplomatic strategy of Prussia. For example, the Customs Union, which began to operate in 1834, is a great achievement of Prussia ―― it not only promoted the economic development, but also made the whole Germany move closer to it politically, which not only enhanced Prussia's ability and determination to lead Germany's reunification, but also gradually pushed Austria out of Germany politically and economically, killing two birds with one stone. The customs union is somewhat similar to the present European Union, and all countries will eventually move towards a unified country through political and economic integration. Prussia is good at netting German states. As a member of the customs union, these states get material benefits from it. In addition, their development level has not reached even the level close to Prussia, so Prussia has become the center that the bourgeoisie of these states yearn for. These bourgeois regard Prussia as their economic avant-garde and future political backer. In this way, Prussia began to leap to the leading position of Germany.

(8) The external forces of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars promoted it.

The military victory in 185-187 made Napoleon occupy and control most of Germany, and Prussia became a vassal of France against Britain and Russia. In order to safeguard and realize the interests of the French big bourgeoisie, Napoleon carried out military occupation, political rule and diplomatic manipulation of Prussia, and at the same time, he also carried out a series of reforms in the local area in accordance with the model of the French bourgeois revolution. For example, cancel the privileges of the church and nobility; Abolish serfdom and relieve farmers of their feudal obligations to landlords; Get rid of the ancient laws and regulations, cancel the guild regulations and so on.

Although Napoleon's bourgeois reform in Germany failed to persist because of frequent wars and the strong obstruction of anti-French forces, it has had a far-reaching impact on the future development of Germany. It is precisely because Napoleon violently wiped out the feudal separatist forces and fostered the growing capitalist relationship that Germany has a truly modern industry and the German national bourgeoisie has developed considerably. Therefore, Engels once said: "The creator of the German bourgeoisie is Napoleon ... He is a representative of the revolution in Germany, a disseminator of revolutionary principles, and a grave digger in the old feudal society".

to sum up, it is through such a special road of development that Prussia can rise rapidly in a short period of 1 years and complete the unification of modern Germany, so Prussia has sometimes become synonymous with German spirit and culture, and the evolution of a "Prussian Road" has also given us constant warning and enlightenment in a certain sense.