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Kingdom of Saxony Königreich Sachsen (German) | |||||||||||
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| 1806–1918 | |||||||||||
| Motto: Providentiae Memor (Latin for 'Providence Remember') | |||||||||||
| Anthem: Gott segne Sachsenland (1815) | |||||||||||
.svg) The Kingdom of Saxony within the German Empire | |||||||||||
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| Status |
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| Capital | Dresden | ||||||||||
| Common languages | Standard German (written; educated speech) Upper Saxon German (colloquial) Upper Sorbian (inUpper Lusatia) | ||||||||||
| Religion | Lutheran (state religion),[1] but monarchs wereCatholic | ||||||||||
| Demonym | Saxon | ||||||||||
| Government |
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| King | |||||||||||
• 1806–1827 | Frederick Augustus I(first) | ||||||||||
• 1904–1918 | Frederick Augustus III(last) | ||||||||||
| Minister-President | |||||||||||
• 1831–1843 | Bernhard von Lindenau(first) | ||||||||||
• 1918 | Rudolf Heinze(last) | ||||||||||
| Legislature | Landtag (1831–1918) | ||||||||||
• Upper Chamber | "First Chamber" | ||||||||||
• Lower Chamber | "Second Chamber" | ||||||||||
| Historical era | Napoleonic Wars / WWI | ||||||||||
| 11 December 1806 | |||||||||||
• Electorate raised to Kingdom | 20 December 1806 | ||||||||||
| 9 July 1807 | |||||||||||
• Occupied byPrussia | 1813 | ||||||||||
• Final Act of theCongress of Vienna | 9 June 1815 | ||||||||||
• Member of theNorth German Confederation | 1866 | ||||||||||
• State of theGerman Empire | 1 January 1871 | ||||||||||
• Frederick Augustus III abdicates | 13 November 1918 | ||||||||||
• Free State established | 1 November 1920 | ||||||||||
| Currency |
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| Today part of | Germany Poland | ||||||||||
TheKingdom of Saxony (German:Königreich Sachsen) was a German monarchy in Central Europe between 1806 and 1918, the successor of theElectorate of Saxony. It joined theConfederation of the Rhine after the dissolution of theHoly Roman Empire, later joining theGerman Confederation after Napoleon was defeated in 1815. From 1871, it was part of theGerman Empire. It became afree state of theWeimar Republic in 1918 after the end ofWorld War I and the abdication of KingFrederick Augustus III. Its capital wasDresden, and its modern successor is theFree State of Saxony.
Before 1806, Saxony was part of theHoly Roman Empire, a thousand-year-old entity that had become highly decentralised over the centuries. The rulers of theElectorate of Saxony of theHouse of Wettin had held the title ofelector for several centuries. The Holy Roman Empire was dissolved in August 1806 following the defeat of EmperorFrancis II byNapoleon at theBattle of Austerlitz, thereby rendering Saxony an independent state. Following the defeat of Saxony's allyPrussia at theBattle of Jena in October 1806, Saxony joined theConfederation of the Rhine, subordinating itself to theFirst French Empire, then the dominant power inCentral Europe. On 20 December 1806 Frederick Augustus III, the last elector of Saxony, became KingFrederick Augustus I.
In 1807 theTreaties of Tilsit ceded theLordship of Cottbus [de], formerly a collection of Prussian enclaves within SaxonLower Lusatia, to Saxony. The treaties also established the PolishDuchy of Warsaw, which was placed in apersonal union with Saxony under Frederick Augustus I.
Saxony remained within the Confederation until its dissolution in 1813 with Napoleon's defeat at theBattle of Leipzig. Following the battle, in which Saxony – virtually alone of all the German states – had fought alongside the French, King Frederick Augustus I was deserted by his troops, taken prisoner by the Prussians,[2] and considered to have forfeited his throne by the allies, who put Saxony under Prussian occupation and administration. This was probably more due to the Prussian desire to annex Saxony than to any crime on Frederick Augustus's part, and the fate of Saxony would prove to be one of the main issues at theCongress of Vienna.
In the end, 60% of the kingdom, including the historically significantWittenberg – home of theProtestant Reformation andhistoric core of the Electorate – as well asLower Lusatia, most ofUpper Lusatia, theThuringian Circle [de] and theNeustadt Circle [de], among other territories, was annexed by Prussia; most of the Neustadt Circle was re-ceded toSaxe-Weimar-Eisenach by Prussia. Within Prussia most of the ceded territory other than Lusatia would become part of the newProvince of Saxony; the Upper Lusatian territory was attached toSilesia and the remainder, including Lower Lusatia, became part ofBrandenburg. Frederick Augustus was restored to the throne in the remainder of his kingdom, which still included the major cities ofDresden andLeipzig. On the whole, the kingdom had lost about 60% of its land and 40% of its population.[3] The kingdom also joined theGerman Confederation, the new organization of the German states to replace the fallen Holy Roman Empire.
During the 1866Austro-Prussian War, Saxony sided withAustria, and theRoyal Saxon Army was generally seen as the only ally to bring substantial aid to the Austrian cause, having abandoned the defence of Saxony itself to join up with theAustrian army in Bohemia. This effectiveness probably allowed Saxony to escape the fate of other north German states allied with Austria – notably theKingdom of Hanover – which were annexed by Prussia after the war. The Austrians and French insisted as a point of honour that Saxony must be spared, and the Prussians acquiesced. Saxony nevertheless joined the Prussian-ledNorth German Confederation the next year. With Prussia's victory overFrance in theFranco-Prussian War of 1871, the members of the confederation were organised byOtto von Bismarck into theGerman Empire, withWilhelm I as its emperor.John, as Saxony's incumbent king, had to accept the Emperor asprimus inter pares, although he, like the other German princes, retained some of the prerogatives of a sovereign ruler, including the ability to enter into diplomatic relations with other states.
Wilhelm I's grandsonKaiserWilhelm II abdicated in 1918 as a result of arevolution set off in the days before Germany's defeat inWorld War I. KingFrederick Augustus III of Saxony followed him into abdication whenworkers' and soldiers' councils were set up in the cities ofDresden,Chemnitz andLeipzig. Within the newly formedWeimar Republic, on 1 November 1920, the Kingdom of Saxony was reorganized into theFree State of Saxony.[4]
The 1831 Constitution of Saxony established the state as aparliamentary monarchy.
The king was named as head of the nation. He was required to follow the provisions of the constitution, and could not become the ruler of any other state (save by blood inheritance) without the consent of the Diet, or parliament.[5] The crown was hereditary in the male line of the royal family throughagnatic primogeniture, though provisions existed allowing a female line to inherit in the absence of qualified male heirs.[6] Added provisions concerned the formation of aregency if the king was too young or otherwise unable to rule, as well as provisions concerning the crown prince's education.[7]
Any acts or decrees signed or issued by the king had to be countersigned by at least one of his ministers, who thus took responsibility for them. Without the ministerial countersignature, no act of the king was to be considered valid.[8] The king was given the right to declare any accused person innocent, or alternately to mitigate or suspend their punishment or pardon them (but not to increase penalties); such decrees did not require ministerial co-signature.[9] He was also given supreme power over religious matters in Saxony.[10] He appointed the president of the upper house of the Diet, together with a proxy from among three candidates suggested by that house,[11] and appointed the president and proxy of the lower house, as well. (See below.)
The king was given sole power to promulgate laws, and to carry them into effect, and only by his consent could any proposal for a law be advanced in the Diet.[12] He equally had authority to issue emergency decrees and even to issue non-emergency laws that he found needful or "advantageous", though such instruments required the counter-signature of at least one of his ministers, and had to be presented to the next Diet for approval. He could not, however, change the constitution itself or the electoral laws in this manner.[13] He was permitted toveto laws passed by the Diet (though he was required to give his reasons for so doing, in each instance), or to send them back with proposed amendments for reconsideration.[14] He was permitted to issue extraordinary decrees to obtain money for state expenditures refused by the Diet, through the Supreme Court, though such decrees could only last for one year.[15] He was permitted to dissolve the Diet, though new elections for the lower house had to be held within six months; he was also permitted to convoke extraordinary sessions of the legislature at his discretion.[16]
From 1697 the Electors of Saxony became Catholic in order to accept the crowns ofPoland-Lithuania, of which they were kings until 1763. The royal family remainedRoman Catholic, ruling over a domain that was 95%Protestant.
The ministry was defined in the constitution as consisting of six departments, all of which were made responsible to the Diet:[17]
Members of the ministry had the right to appear in either chamber of the Diet at will, and there to participate in debate, but upon a division of the house they had to withdraw.[18]
ABill of Rights was included in the constitution. It incorporated:[19]
The Diet, or legislature was divided into two houses, which were constitutionally equal in their rights and status, and neither house was to meet without the other.[20]
The upper chamber consisted of the following:[21]
Members of this house held their seats so long as they remained qualified to do so under the constitution, or in certain cases until they had reached the age of sixty or participated in three sessions of the Diet.[24]
The lower house of the Diet consisted of:[25]
A proxy was to also be chosen for each representative, who would take the representative's place, should they be incapacitated, absent, resign or be removed.[26] Each representative was elected for nine years; however, approximately one-third were required to resign their seats every three years (the exact figures were set in the constitution, and determined by lot at the commencement of the first session of the Diet), though all were eligible for immediate re-election.[27] The lower house was to nominate four members, of whom the king was to choose one to be president of that house, and another to be his proxy.[28]
Members of the Diet must be at least 30 years of age; electors must be 25 years of age, not have been convicted of any offense in a court of law, not have their personal estate financially encumbered in any way, and not be under guardianship.[29]
The Diet was required to consider any business laid before it by the king, before proceeding to any other business.[30] Members were to vote their consciences, and were not to accept instructions from their constituents.[31] Members were granted full freedom of speech in the chambers, but were not permitted to insult each other, the king, any member of the royal family, or the parliament. Members who violated any of these rules could be disciplined by their respective house, up to and including permanent expulsion with ineligibility for re-election.[32] The Diet could propose the formation of new laws or changes in existing ones, but no bill could be brought forward without the king's express consent.[33] Conversely, no new law could be enacted, without the Diet's consent.[34]
Bills could be passed by a simple one-third-plus-one vote in both houses of the Diet; a majority vote was not necessary in either house.[35] Any bill rejected or amended must contain a statement of why it was rejected or amended.[35] No new taxes could be imposed without the Diet's consent,[36] though the king was permitted to bypass this in certain instances.[15] The parliament could impeach members of the ministry by unanimous vote of both houses;[37] ministers so impeached were to be tried by a special court; the decision of this court was final, and even the king's right of pardon did not extend to persons convicted by it.[38]
In the wake of the tumultuous1848 revolutions, Saxony's Landtag extended voting rights (though still maintaining property requirements) and abolished voting taxes. In 1871, Saxony was incorporated into theGerman Empire and more voting rights were gradually extended. By the early 1900s, Saxony's local politics had settled into a niche in whichSocial Democrats,Conservatives, andNational Liberals were splitting the share of votes and Landtag seats three ways. (In 1909: Social Democrats won 27% of seats, Conservatives won 31% of seats, National Liberals won 31% of seats). Voter participation was high (82% in 1909).
The judiciary was made independent of the civil government.[39] The High Court of Judiciature, created in Sections 142 to 150, was also given authority to rule upon "dubious" points in the constitution; its decision was decreed to be final, and was protected from royal interference.[40]
Following the adoption of the 1831 constitution, by the Order of April 6, 1835 district directorates (Kreisdirektionen) were established. These were subsequently known asKreishauptmannschafts. Originally there were four:
In 1900 a fifth was added:
Following theNorth German Confederation Treaty, the Kingdom of Saxony entered theNorth German Confederation in 1866.[41] As a consequence, the kingdom returned deputies to theReichstag. After the founding of theGerman Empire on 18 January 1871, the deputies were returned to theReichstag of the German Empire.[42] Following this Saxony participated in Reichstag elections from February 1867. Zittau returned a series of Reichstag deputies until 1919 when the existing constituencies were scrapped.
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