SASSONIA - Enciclopedia Cattolica, Vol. X, p. 1150

Machine translation of the 1948–1954 Italian original. The original text is authoritative.

SAXONY. -

I. GEOGRAPHY

Ancient state of Germany; although lacking natural boundaries, it may be said to be bounded by the Elster Mountains and the Erzgebirge (Metalliferi) as far as the Vogtland and the Lusatian hills, and to the north as far as the North German Plain.

Over an area of approximately 15,000 sq. km., a population of 5,200,000 inhabitants lives there, with a density of just under 350 inhabitants per sq. km. (1938), making it one of the highest in continental Europe. The country occupies a peculiar position regarding its population due to the almost paradoxical conditions of its economic prosperity. To understand this situation, one must consider the ease of access and, above all, the mineral wealth of the subsoil, which has attracted abundant masses of workers to this region since the 11th century, especially to the cities, where the concentration has steadily increased over the centuries.

Geologically and morphologically, the conditions of Saxony can be summarized by recalling the prevalence of ancient crystalline rocks, with the presence, in the mid-mountains, of crenate varieties; in the Erzgebirge, large granitic masses of gneiss and mica schists with the presence of argentiferous galena and cassiterite. The last episode in the history of the soil was the Nordic glacial invasion, which, at the height of its expansion and subsequent blocking, during the glacial retreat phase, diverted the flow of water, causing the accumulation of thick alluvial deposits that were then imperfectly shaped into broad terraces. AlongOver an area of about 15,000 sq. km there lives a population of 5,200,000 inhabitants, with a density of slightly under 350 inhabitants per sq. km (1938), thus one of the highest on the European continent. The country occupies a singular position with regard to its population because of the almost paradoxical conditions of its economic prosperity. To understand this situation one must consider the ease of access and above all the mineral wealth of the subsoil, which has, since the 11th century, attracted abundant masses of workers to this region, especially to the cities, where the concentration has steadily increased over the centuries with constant growth.

Geologically and morphologically, the conditions of Saxony may be summarized by recalling the prevalence of ancient crystalline rocks, with the presence, in the midlands, of those crenated; in the Erzgebirge great granitic masses of gneiss and mica-schists with the presence of argentiferous galena and cassiterite. The last episode in the history of the soil was the Nordic glacial invasion which, at the moment of its greatest extension and then in the phase of glacial retreat, pushed back the drainage of waters, determining the accumulation of thick alluvium later imperfectly modelled into wide terraces. AlongGeologically and morphologically, the conditions of Saxony can be summarized by recalling the prevalence of ancient crystalline rocks, with the presence, in the mid-mountain regions, of crenate varieties; in the Erzgebirge, large granitic massifs of gneiss and mica schist with the presence of argentiferous galena and cassiterite. The last episode in the history of the soil was the Nordic glacial invasion, which, at the moment of its greatest extent and subsequent blockage, during the phase of glacial retreat, diverted the flow of water, determining the accumulation of thick alluvium later imperfectly modeled into broad terraces. Along

SAXONY. -

I. GEOGRAPHY

Ancient state of Germany; although lacking natural boundaries, it can be said to be bounded by the Elster Mountains and the Erzgebirge up to the Vogtland and the Lusatian Hills and to the north as far as the North German Plain.

On an area of approximately 15,000 sq. km., a population of 5,200,000 inhabitants lives, with a density of just under 350 inhabitants per sq. km. (1938), thus one of the highest in continental Europe. The country occupies a singular position with regard to its population due to the almost paradoxical conditions of its economic prosperity. To understand this situation, one must consider the ease of access and, above all, the mineral wealth of the subsoil, which, since the 11th century, has attracted abundant masses of workers to this region, especially to the cities, where density has steadily increased over the centuries with constant growth.

On a surface of about 15,000 sq. km. lives a population of 5,200,000 inhabitants, with a density of just under 350 inhabitants per sq. km. (1938), thus one of the highest on the European continent. The country is situated in a curious position regarding its population due to the almost paradoxical conditions of its economic prosperity. To understand this situation, one must consider the ease of access and, above all, the mineral wealth of the subsoil, which has, since the 11th century, attracted abundant masses of workers to this region, especially to the cities, where the concentration has continually increased over the centuries with constant growth.

Geologically and morphologically, the conditions of Saxony can be summarized by recalling the prevalence of ancient crystalline rocks, with the presence, in the midlands, of those crenated; in the Ore Mountains, large granitic masses of gneiss and mica schists with the presence of argentiferous galena and cassiterite. The last episode in the history of the soil was the Nordic glacial invasion which, at the time of its greatest extent and then blocked in the phase of glacial retreat, pushed the drainage of waters, determining the accumulation of thick alluvium later imperfectly modeled into wide terraces. AlongOn an area of approximately 15,000 sq. km. lives a population of 5,200,000 inhabitants, with a density of just under 350 inhabitants per sq. km. (1938), thus one of the highest on the European continent. The country occupies a singular position with regard to its population due to the almost paradoxical conditions of its economic prosperity. To understand this situation, one must consider the ease of access and, above all, the mineral wealth of the subsoil, which has, since the 11th century, attracted abundant masses of workers to this region, especially to the cities, where the concentration has continually increased over the centuries with steady growth.

Geologically and morphologically, the conditions of Saxony can be summarized by recalling the prevalence of ancient crystalline rocks, with the presence, in the central regions, of those that are crenated; in the Erzgebirge, large granitic massifs of gneiss and mica schists with the presence of argentiferous galena and cassiterite. The last episode in the history of the soil was the Nordic glacial invasion, which, at the time of its greatest extent and blockage, and then in the phase of glacial retreat, diverted the flow of waters, determining the accumulation of thick alluvial deposits subsequently imperfectly modeled into broad terraces. AlongGeologically and morphologically, the conditions of Saxony can be summarized by recalling the prevalence of ancient crystalline rocks, with the presence, in the mid-mountains, of crenate varieties; in the Erzgebirge, large granitic massifs of gneiss and mica schists with the presence of argentiferous galena and cassiterite. The last episode in the history of the soil was the Nordic glacial invasion, which, at the moment of its greatest extent and then blockage, during the phase of glacial retreat, pushed the drainage of waters, determining the accumulation of thick alluvium later imperfectly modeled into broad terraces. Along

SAXONY. —

I. GEOGRAPHY

Ancient state of Germany; although lacking natural boundaries, it may be said to be bounded by the Elster Mountains and the Erzgebirge (Metalliferous Mountains) as far as the Vogtland and the Lusatian Hills, and to the north as far as the North German Plain.

Over an area of approximately 15,000 sq. km., a population of 5,200,000 inhabitants lives, with a density of just under 350 inhabitants per sq. km. (1938), making it one of the highest in continental Europe. The country occupies a curious position with regard to its population due to the almost paradoxical conditions of its economic prosperity. To understand this situation, one must consider the ease of access and, above all, the mineral wealth of the subsoil, which, since the 11th century, has attracted abundant masses of workers to this region, especially to the cities, where the concentration has steadily increased over the centuries with constant growth.

SAXONY. —

I. GEOGRAPHY

SASSONIA. - I. GEOGRAPHY.

Over an area of approximately 15,000 sq. km, there lives a population of 5,200,000 inhabitants, with a density of slightly less than 350 inhabitants per sq. km (1938), thus one of the highest on the European continent. The country occupies a singular position with regard to its population due to the almost paradoxical conditions of its economic prosperity. To understand this situation, one must consider the ease of access and, above all, the mineral wealth of the subsoil, which, since the 11th century, has attracted abundant masses of workers to this region, especially to the cities, where the concentration has continually increased over the centuries with constant growth.

Geologically and morphologically, the conditions of Saxony can be summarized by recalling the prevalence of ancient crystalline rocks, with the presence, in the mid-mountain areas, of crenate varieties; in the Erzgebirge, large granitic massifs of gneiss and mica schists with the presence of argentiferous galena and cassiterite. The last episode in the history of the soil was the Nordic glacial invasion, which, at the height of its greatest extent and subsequent blocking, during the phase of glacial retreat, diverted the flow of water, determining the accumulation of thick alluvial deposits later imperfectly modeled into broad terraces. AlongGeologically and morphologically, the conditions of Saxony can be summarized by recalling the prevalence of ancient crystalline rocks, with the presence, in the mid-mountain regions, of crenate varieties; in the Metalliferous Mountains, large granitic massifs of gneiss and mica schists with the presence of argentiferous galena and cassiterite. The last episode in the history of the soil was the Nordic glacial invasion, which, at the moment of its greatest extent and subsequent blockage, during the phase of glacial retreat, pushed back the drainage of waters, determining the accumulation of thick alluvium later imperfectly shaped into broad terraces. Along

SAXONY. -

I. GEOGRAPHY

Ancient state of Germany; although lacking natural boundaries, it can be said to be bounded by the Elster Mountains and the Metalliferous Mountains (Erzgebirge) as far as the Vogtland and the Lusatian hills and, to the north, as far as the North German Plain.

Over an area of approximately 15,000 sq. km., a population of 5,200,000 inhabitants lives, with a density of just under 350 inhabitants per sq. km. (1938), making it one of the highest in continental Europe. The country occupies a peculiar position with regard to its population due to the almost paradoxical conditions of its economic prosperity. To understand this situation, one must consider the ease of access and, above all, the mineral wealth of the subsoil, which, since the 11th century, has attracted abundant masses of workers to this region, especially to the cities, where the concentration has steadily increased over the centuries with constant growth.

Over an area of approximately 15,000 sq km lives a population of 5,200,000 inhabitants, with a density of just under 350 inhabitants per sq km (1938), thus one of the highest on the European continent. The country occupies a curious position regarding its population due to the almost paradoxical conditions of its economic prosperity. To understand this situation, one must consider the ease of access and, above all, the mineral wealth of the subsoil, which has, since the 11th century, attracted abundant masses of workers to this region, especially to the cities, where density has continually increased over the centuries with steady growth.

SAXONY. —

I. GEOGRAPHY

Ancient state of Germany; although lacking natural borders, it can be said to be bounded by the Elster and Erzgebirge (Metalliferous Mountains) as far as the Vogtland and the Lusatian hills, and to the north as far as the North German Plain.

Over an area of approximately 15,000 sq km lives a population of 5,200,000 inhabitants, with a density of just under 350 inhabitants per sq km (1938), thus one of the highest on the European continent. The country occupies a curious position regarding its population due to the almost paradoxical conditions of its economic prosperity. To understand this situation, one must consider the ease of access and, above all, the mineral wealth of the subsoil, which has, since the 11th century, attracted abundant masses of argentiferous galena and cassiterite. The last episode in the history of the soil was the Nordic glacial invasion, which, at the height of its extension and then in the phase of glacial retreat, pushed back the drainage of waters, determining the accumulation of thick alluvium later imperfectly modeled into wide terraces. Along

SAXONY. —

I. GEOGRAPHY

the Elbe, southeast of Dresden and on the border with Bohemia, is the Saxon Switzerland with its sandstone mountains, whose prismatic and permeable rocks display a plateau eroded and dissected by torrential streams with erosion pillars, vertical walls, niches, and narrow valleys. Most of Saxony’s territory, from a hydrographic standpoint, is drained by the Elbe River, its tributaries (the Mulde and the Saale), and the Elster.

The presence of fossil coals, iron, copper, lead, and tin, which have made the subsoil rich in minerals, accounts for the country’s grand industrial development. Moreover, the ease of exchange facilitated by navigable rivers and a dense railway network greatly aids commerce: industry and trade here are typical for the prominent role played by domestic labor and the predominance of textiles over metallurgy. Domestic work is made possible by the development of electrification, and Saxony is, among all German states, the one in which industry demands the least amount of power from coal. Yet manufacturing is extremely varied and includes all wood processing, all steelworking up to precision mechanics, glassmaking, and chemical industries. After the 1925 census, the gainfully employed population of Saxony numbered 1,600,000 people, of whom 28% were engaged in textiles and clothing, 15% in metallurgy, and 2% in commerce. Saxony is a country with numerous cities, very close to one another. Leipzig (720,000 inhabitants) is a first-class commercial center, famous for its fair, which has been held for more than five centuries, its book market, and its ancient university. Dresden (640,000 inhabitants), a great artistic center with museums and picture galleries; here the boulevards, which follow the lines of the old fortifications, encircle a regularly built city where palaces, theaters, and gardens extend almost to the banks of the Elbe.

BIBL.: J. Burkhard, Das Erzgebirge, eine orometrisch-antihropo-geograph. Studie, Stuttgart 1888; J. Zemmrich, Landeskunde von Sachsen, 2nd ed., Berlin-Leipzig 1923; G. Röllig, Wirtschaftsgeogr. Sachsen, Breslau 1928; H. Ziedemann, Die Sachsenbekehrung, Hiltrup 1932. Gastone Imbrighi

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**Saxony — Choir of Freiberg Cathedral, with tombs of the Margraves of Saxony (late 16th century).**

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**Saxony — Church of Our Lady, architect G. Baehr (1722) — Dresden.**

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II. CONVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY

The Saxons (from *sahs* = stone knife or short sword, their preferred weapon), unknown to Tacitus and Pliny, are first mentioned by Claudius Ptolemy (c. AD 150), who places them north of the Elbe.**

In the Middle Ages, the name Saxony had a wider extension than today: it designated the vast regions of northeastern Germany, whose inhabitants Charlemagne subdued after a bloody war lasting more than thirty years (772–804). During this conflict, the Saxons, repeatedly rebelling under their heroic leader Widukind, were finally defeated, incorporated into the Carolingian Empire, deported en masse, and replaced by Frankish colonists, and the *Irminsul* (Eresburg), symbol of their tenacious idolatry, was destroyed. Once subdued, the Saxons converted to the Christian faith and were rapidly civilized through the efforts of the monarchy and Frankish monks. Bishoprics were established for them at Osnabrück, Verden, Bremen, Paderborn, Minden, Halberstadt, Hildesheim, and Münster. The abbeys of Corvey and Fulda became centers of this missionary outreach, which soon extended among the still-pagan Wends.

**III. THE ANCIENT DUCHY OF SAXONY.** — With the Partition of Verdun (843), Saxony became part of the kingdom of Louis the German; around 850 it was erected into a duchy and given to Liudolf for the defense of the *Limes Saxoniae*. Otto the Illustrious (880–912), second son of Liudolf, extended his power even into Thuringia; his son Henry the Fowler was elected German king in 919. His dynasty held the German crown and the Holy Roman Empire until 1024. Henry extended the borders of his duchy as far as the Oder; he founded churches and monasteries, fortified cities, and strengthened castles (Meissen Castle) along the eastern frontier, making it a starting point for the spread of Christianity.

Otto I the Great (936–73) founded the Benedictine abbey of St Maurice in 962 with the consent of Pope John XII and established Magdeburg as an archdiocese, separating it from Mainz. In 960 he granted the Duchy of Saxony to Hermann Billung with limited powers. The new dynasty pushed the frontier still further eastward at the expense of the Slavic peoples, subjecting the newly acquired lands to the Magdeburg archbishop.

Saxony became a centre of opposition among the German princes against the Salian emperors. Henry III and especially Henry IV vainly built numerous castles around Goslar and in the Harz region to keep watch over the unruly area and resided there for long periods to maintain control. With the rebellion of Duke Magnus the Billung line died out in 1106.

Lothair of Supplinburg enfeoffed the duchy to his son-in-law Henry the Proud of Bavaria in 1137. After a brief interval under Albert the Bear, margrave of Brandenburg, it passed to Henry the Lion, who expanded the territory toward the Slavs, conquering Holstein, the Mecklenburg region and Pomerania; he founded bishoprics and towns among them Lübeck, propagated Christianity and ruled with justice and equity. Struck by the imperial ban of Barbarossa in 1180, he was deprived of the duchy, which was dismembered (part of it passing to the archbishop of Cologne), reduced to the territories beyond the Elbe and given to Bernard of Anhalt, count of Ascania, son of Albert the Bear. The new duke, heir to the Wittenberg lands, acquired Lauenburg. His grandsons John and Albert divided the country in 1260: John received Saxe-Lauenburg (which became extinct in 1689 and was incorporated into the principality of Hanover) and Albert received Saxe-Wittenberg.

The brothers contested the electoral dignity; the Golden Bull of 1356 awarded it to the Wittenberg line, which became extinct with Albert III in 1422.

IV. THE ELECTORATE OF SAXONY. On 6 January 1423 Emperor Sigismund enfeoffed the country to Frederick the Warlike, margrave of Meissen and landgrave of Thuringia, also conferring the electoral dignity in recompense for his aid in the war against the Hussites. He was the first of the Wettins, who held the electoral Saxony until November 1918. After him, with his grandsons Ernest and Albert, the dynasty was permanently divided into two branches (Partition of Leipzig, 26 August 1485): the Ernestine line, which ruled with the electoral title at Wittenberg until 1547, and the Albertine line, which obtained the electorate in 1547 and was to be the stock of the royal house of Saxony.

V. SAXONY IN THE AGE OF THE REFORMATION AND THE THIRTY YEARS’ WAR. The senior line declined rapidly. Frederick III the Wise (1486–1525), son of Ernest, was one of the most powerful princes of the Empire; he protected Luther, and the country became the cradle and stronghold of Protestantism. On his death in 1525, while the Peasants’ War devastated the region, he was succeeded by his brother John the Steadfast (1525–27), a zealous champion of the Lutheran Reformation, founder and leader, with Philip of Hesse the Bigamous, of the League of Schmalkalden. His son John Frederick the Magnanimous (1532–47), defeated and taken prisoner at Mühlberg in 1547 by Charles V, lost the electoral title and almost all his territories (Capitulation of Wittenberg), which were assigned to his cunning cousin Maurice of the Albertine line. From the lands remaining to him or recovered soon afterwards (1554) arose the duchies of Saxe-Gotha, Saxe-Weimar, Saxe-Coburg, Saxe-Meiningen and Saxe-Altenburg.

Duke George the Bearded (1500–39), son of Albert, a resolute and learned opponent of Luther, had opposed the spread of the Lutheran Reformation; but his brother Henry the Pious (1539–41) introduced II. The son of the latter, Maurice (1541–53), though a Protestant, for political reasons allied himself with the emperor, but in the second war of Schmalkalden (1552), by ceding to Henry II of France the bishoprics of Metz, Toul and Verdun, he marched against him, forcing him to flee and extorting from him the Peace of Passau (1552). He suppressed more than two hundred religious houses. He founded the academy, later university, of Jena: Saxony thus came to have four universities—Erfurt (1392), Leipzig (1409), Wittenberg (1502) and Jena (1548–58).

Augustus, brother and successor of Maurice (1553–91), enlarged the borders of Saxony and brought it prosperity. He remained loyal to the emperor, but his religious policy was strictly Lutheran; at the Diet of Augsburg in 1555 he worked effectively for the recognition of Protestantism; he secularised the bishoprics of Naumburg, Meissen and Merseburg. During the brief reign of his son Christian I (1586–91) the chancellor Nicolaus Krell promoted crypto-Calvinism. But on the prince’s death Krell was overthrown and beheaded in 1601; and under Christian II (1591–1611) Lutheran orthodoxy triumphed, while the Reformed Church was persecuted bloodily.

Because of the conflict over crypto-Calvinism Saxony drew closer in its foreign policy to Austria and kept its distance from the Evangelical Union. The brother and successor John George I (1611–56) refused the Bohemian crown in 1618; against the “Winter King” he supported Emperor Ferdinand II and as security for war expenses obtained the two Lusatias (1623). Saxony was devastated by the Thirty Years’ War as no other region. The humiliation of the Protestants, the Edict of Restitution (1629) and the invasion by Tilly induced the prince-elector to join Gustavus II Adolphus of Sweden, who, with the victory at Breitenfeld (1631), freed the country from the troops of the League. After the Swedish king’s death at Lützen in 1632 on Saxon soil, the prince-elector’s relations with the victorious Swedish generals cooled, and he concluded with the emperor the separate Peace of Prague (1635): the two Lusatias were confirmed to him as a hereditary fief on condition that Catholic worship be tolerated there. For his alliance with the Empire Saxony was devastated for a decade by Swedish troops.

VI. PERSONAL UNION WITH POLAND (1697–1763). After the Peace of Westphalia (1648) Saxony’s influence also declined. John George II (1656–80) maintained a lavish court at Dresden, oppressing the country with heavy taxes; John George III (1680–91) organised a standing army (1682) with which he contributed effectively to the liberation of Vienna from the Turks in 1683, while the younger sons of John George I had founded cadet lines: Saxe-Zeitz, Saxe-Merseburg and Saxe-Weissenfels, which soon became extinct (1718, 1738, 1746), their territories reverting to the senior line.

John George IV (1691–94) was succeeded by his brother Frederick Augustus I (1694–1733), who converted to Catholicism in 1697, handing over the administration of the Protestant states to the elector of Brandenburg; Saxony, the cradle of the Reformation, was from then until 1918 governed by a Catholic dynasty, which nevertheless barely managed to secure toleration for Catholicism. By his conversion Frederick Augustus aimed at the Polish crown; after the death of John Sobieski, with the emperor’s help he was crowned king of Poland at Cracow on 15 September 1697, taking the name Augustus II.
With the personal union between S. and Poland (1697–1763), the two countries were drawn into the Great Northern War (1700–21). Deposed by Charles XII of Sweden, Augustus II was restored to the throne after the Russian victory at Poltava (1709) by Peter the Great, of whom he was an ally. He limited the power of the Estates, reorganized the administration, and surrounded himself with great splendor; the cities of Leipzig and Dresden then became centers of a brilliant Franco-German culture. Under his son Frederick Augustus II (1733–63), elected King of Poland as Augustus III, the policy conducted by the all-powerful Count Heinrich Brühl was ruinous to S. In the War of the Austrian Succession (First and Second Silesian Wars), he was first against Maria Theresa and then on her side; defeated, he had to pay Prussia a war indemnity of one million thalers (Peace of Dresden, 1745). The Elector Prince died seven months after his return from Poland (5 Oct. 1763), where he had taken refuge. With him ended the personal union with Poland, which had brought no advantage, only wars and ruin.

Brühl’s anti-Prussian policy involved S. in the Seven Years’ War (Third Silesian War). Frederick the Great suddenly invaded S., forcing the Saxon army to capitulate at Lilienstein after the Battle of Pirna (5 Oct. 1756). The suffering, loss of soldiers, and war indemnity (one hundred million thalers) were severe. After the Peace of Hubertsburg (1763), the Prussian occupation came to an end.

Frederick Christian (6 Oct.–17 Dec. 1763) began a radical work of recovery, continued by the administrator Prince Xavier (1763–68) on behalf of his minor nephew Frederick Augustus III (1768–1827), son of Frederick Christian. The new sovereign regulated the administration, restored the finances by increasing state revenues and credit, and revived industry and commerce. In foreign policy, he aligned with Prussia, participating—by virtue of being the son of Maria Antonia of Bavaria—in the War of the Bavarian Succession (1778–79) against Austria. By renouncing his claims, he obtained in the Peace of Teschen (1779) a substantial monetary compensation and high feudal sovereignty over Schönburg. He joined (1785) the League of Princes formed by Frederick II against Emperor Joseph II. In 1791, he declined the offer of the Polish crown. He played a minor role in the war against France (1792); four years later, he concluded a neutrality pact with the Directory. He fought with Prussia in the Fourth Coalition; defeated at Jena with the Prussians (1806), he made the Peace of Posen with Napoleon (11 Dec. 1806) and entered the Confederation of the Rhine. He was proclaimed king (20 Dec. 1806) under the name Frederick Augustus I.

VII. THE KINGDOM OF S. (1806–1918). — In the Peace of Tilsit (1807), Frederick Augustus I received the Duchy of Warsaw, which in 1809 was enlarged with Cracow and Western Galicia. Twenty-one thousand Saxons served militarily with Napoleon in the Russian campaign (1812); only six thousand returned.

From spring to autumn 1813, S. became a theater of war. Its king, against the will of the people, remained a faithful and devoted ally of Napoleon even after the Battle of Leipzig (16–19 Oct. 1813). The Allies treated him as a prisoner of war and his kingdom as conquered territory. S. was first governed by a Russian general (Prince Repnin), then by two Prussian ministers; it was about to be incorporated into Prussia in compensation for Polish territories that Russia wished to annex. However, at the Congress of Vienna, Talleyrand, invoking the principle of legitimacy, and Austria and England, invoking the balance of power, opposed the Russo-Prussian agreement. Prussia received only the northern half: the lands that had formed the true core of the Electorate (20,235 sq. km out of 35,000 and 864,404 inhabitants out of 2,000,000), namely the present-day Province of S. The king signed, in the form of a peace treaty with Prussia, the Partition Pact (18 May 1815). This violent separation of lands ruled for centuries by the Wettins aroused strong popular opposition. Thus mutilated, S. entered the German Confederation (8 June 1815).

Anthony (1827–36), brother of Frederick Augustus, after the disturbances in Dresden and Leipzig (Sept. 1830), which were a reflection of the July French Revolution, chose his nephew Frederick Augustus II as co-regent and granted (4 Sept. 1831) a constitution with a two-chamber Diet (Landtag).

VIII. THE SAXON CONSTITUTIONAL MONARCHY

S. joined the Zollverein (1834), greatly benefiting its commerce.

Under Frederick Augustus II (1837–54), the new system of government did not prove successful. Influenced by the February 1848 French Revolution, the sovereign formed a liberal ministry headed by Braun (16 March 1848), which faced a radical-democratic diet. Liberal laws were enacted on the press, assembly, and association, along with an electoral reform. In 1837, steam navigation on the Elbe was inaugurated, and two years later the first railway section (Leipzig–Dresden); these developments strongly boosted commercial and industrial growth. However, following the Dresden uprising (3–9 May 1849), fomented by Bakunin and associates and suppressed only with Prussian military intervention, the democratic gains were overturned by Minister F. von Beust, who turned foreign policy toward grand ambitions. Indeed, an alliance was concluded with Prussia and Hanover—the League of Three Kings—from which S. detached itself to align with Austria; on 7 Feb. 1850, Beust, with Hanover, Bavaria, and Württemberg, formed the League of Four Kings to neutralize the two great powers, Austria and Prussia.

In the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, S. fought for Austria, to which it had already drawn closer at the beginning of that year over the Elbe duchies, but was immediately occupied by Prussia. The Saxon troops were defeated alongside those of the great ally at Königgrätz (3 July 1866), where they formed the left wing of the Austrian deployment. Beust was sent by Emperor Francis Joseph to Paris to solicit Napoleon III’s mediation in the negotiations at Nikolsburg. Only Austria’s intervention, backed by France, prevented the mutilation of S. (Peace of Berlin, 21 Oct. 1866). S. entered the North German Confederation as a satellite of Prussia and paid a war indemnity of ten million thalers. Beust resigned and entered the service of Austria.

IX. S. IN THE NORTH GERMAN CONFEDERATION AND IN THE GERMAN EMPIRE. — The army was reorganized along Prussian lines and, under the command of Crown Prince Albert, fought in the Franco-German War of 1870–71 alongside Prussia. In 1873, Albert succeeded his father John, a literary figure and renowned Dante scholar (metrical version of the *Divine Comedy*). During his reign, S. made great strides: it redeemed the railways and, through protective tariffs, promoted industry. In this eminently industrial country, socialist propaganda was so intense that in 1903, of the 23 deputies S. sent to the Reichstag, 22 were socialists—earning S. the nickname of the "Red Kingdom." The Second Chamber of the Landtag in 1908 consisted of 17 conservative, 36 liberal, and 27 socialist deputies; this composition endured until Nov. 1918.

X. THE SAXON REPUBLIC

After King Albert, who died without issue, came his brother George (1902–1904), whose son Frederick Augustus III (1904–18) was the last Saxon sovereign.

S. [Saxony], the center of the textile, publishing, iron and steel, ceramics, and porcelain industries, had reached a high level of material and cultural prosperity before the First World War (1914–18). During the war it contributed significantly to the efforts of the German Empire not only through its industrial power but also through its dense population.

A consequence of the lost war was revolution. Workers’ and Soldiers’ Councils seized power (9 Nov. 1918), proclaimed a republic, and deposed the king, who abdicated (13 Nov.). A provisional socialist government was installed under Lipinski, and a new constitution was prepared on the model of the Reich’s, promulgated on 1 Nov. 1920.

Between 1920 and 1923 the social-democratic ministry of Buck held power, followed by the social-communist cabinet of Zeigner, which fell almost immediately (Oct. 1923) due to armed intervention by the Reich. After the colonization ministry of Heldt, an Old Socialist, Saxony was governed by the coalition ministry of Bunger (German People’s Party), which, resigning, gave way to a civil service ministry under Schieck. During the National Socialist Revolution the cabinet resigned (10 Mar. 1933); Hitler entrusted the government to von Killinger as Reich Commissioner and appointed M. Mutschmann as his deputy (May 1933).

Saxony was a hotbed of anti-Hitler sentiment (the 20 July 1944 plot against Hitler). After the collapse of the Nazi regime, the region was occupied by Soviet troops (1945). It now forms part of the eastern German zone administered by the Russians.

For art, V. GERMANY, VI. Art.

BIBL.: E. Gretschel – F. Bohlov, Geschichte des tschechischen Volkes u. Staats, 3 vols., Leipzig 1863–64; C. W. Böttiger – Th. Flathe, Geschichte des Kurstaates u. Königreichs Sachsen, 3 vols., 2nd ed., Gotha 1867–73; O. Posse, Die Wettiner, Genealogie des Gesamthauses Wettin, Leipzig 1897; K. Sturmhöfel, Illustrierte Geschichte der sächsischen Lande u. ihrer Herrscher, 2 vols., Chemnitz 1898–1909; F. Blankmeister, Sächsische Kirchengeschichte, 2nd ed., Dresden 1906; A. Hauck, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, II, 4th ed., Leipzig 1912; O. Kaemmel, Sächsische Geschichte (Sammlung Göschen), 2nd ed., ibid. 1912; R. Beyrich, Kur-Sachsen u. die polnische Thronfolge 1733–36, ibid. 1913; I. E. Schmidt, Kur-sächsische Streifzüge, 7 vols., 4th ed., ibid. 1924–28; R. Kötzschke, Sächsische Geschichte (Sammlung Göschen), ibid. 1925; W. Kohlschmidt, Die sächsische Frage auf dem Wiener Kongress u. die sächsische Diplomatie dieser Zeit, ibid. 1930; H. Wiedemann, Die Sachsenbekehrung, Hiltrup 1932; J. Kirchberg, Kaiseridee u. Mission unter den sächsischen Kaisern, Berlin 1934; A. Winterswyl, Die Christverehrung der Sachsen, Paderborn 1935; R. Kötzschke – H. Krutschmar, Sächsische Geschichte, Werden u. Wandlungen eines deutschen Stammes u. seiner Heimat im Rahmen der deutschen Geschichte, Dresden 1935; R. Holtzmann, Geschichte der sächsischen Kaiser, Munich 1941. See also Bibliographie der sächsischen Geschichte, ed. R. Bemmann, Leipzig 1918–28. Angelo Ferrari.