Existing comment:
Germany in 1776
A unified Germany was a product of the 1870s. Germany in the 18th Century was the remnants of the old "Holy Roman Empire" of the Middle Ages, a patchwork of territorial and political units representing as many as 3,000 sovereignties of varying sizes. They included electorates, duchies, bishoprics, the dominions or margraves, landgraves, princes and free cities. About 300 of these were states but, even these were not larger than New England towns, and, often, were made up of several detached parcels of territory. The most typical form of government was a prince or duke, with a court and an army.
Aside from sharing a similar "world view," this natural alliance with George III and his "hiring" parts of their armies, held other attractions for these German city-states:
* It provided opportunities for their officer corps to gain valuable combat experience.
* It allowed these states to maintain their armies without having to pay for them for several years. |