Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein
Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein | |
---|---|
Reichsfreiherr | |
Born | Nassau, County of Nassau, Holy Roman Empire | 25 October 1757
Died | 29 June 1831 Cappenberg Castle, Province of Westphalia, Kingdom of Prussia | (aged 73)
Occupation | Politician; Minister |
Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein (25 October 1757 – 29 June 1831), commonly known as Baron vom Stein, was a
Stein was from an old
After it became known that he had written a letter in which he criticised Napoleon, Stein was obliged to resign, which he did on 24 November 1808 and retired to the Austrian Empire, from which he was summoned to the Russian Empire by Tsar Alexander I in 1812. After the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, Stein became head of the council for the administration of the reconquered German countries.
Early life
Stein was the ninth child of Karl Philipp Freiherr vom Stein, and Henriette Karoline Langwerth von Simmern.[1] Stein is the descendant of an ancient imperial family. Like many of his generation, he greatly admired Frederick the Great.[2]
In his old age, Stein would express his gratitude to his parents for the influence. He added:
My view of the world and of human affairs I gathered as a boy and youth, in the solitude of a country life, from ancient and modern history, and in particular I was attracted by the incidents of the eventful history of England.[1]
Education
In 1773 Stein went to the University of Göttingen to study jurisprudence. He also found time to pursue his studies in English history and politics.[1]
In 1777 Stein left Göttingen and proceeded to Wetzlar, the legal centre of the Holy Roman Empire. He observed the workings of its institutions and prepare himself for a career in law. Next, after a stay at each of the chief south German cities, he settled at Regensburg to observe the methods of the Imperial Diet. In 1779 he went to Vienna. He proceeded to Berlin early in 1780.[1]
Career in Prussia
In Berlin, his admiration for
Directorship
In November 1787, Stein was appointed Kammerdirektor, director of the chamber of war and domains, for the king's possessions west of the river Weser. From 1796 until 1803, he was supreme president of all the Westphalian chambers dealing with the commerce and mines of Prussian lands with a seat in Minden. One of the chief benefits he conferred on these districts was the canalization of the river Ruhr which became an important outlet for the coal of that region. He also improved the navigation of the Weser.[1]
War with France
Stein's early training and his sternly, practical mentality made him completely impervious to the enthusiasm that his contemporaries had shown for the French Revolution. He disliked the methods of the revolutionaries which he saw as an interruption to the orderly development of peoples. Nevertheless, he carefully noted the new sources of national strength that arrose from reforms in France.[1]
After being at war with France in 1792 to 1795,
Minister of State
Stein in 1804 took office as minister of state for trade in Prussia. This made him responsible for indirect imposts, taxes, manufactures, and commerce.
Stein was offered the portfolio for foreign affairs, which Stein declined to accept on the ground of his incompetence to manage that department unless there was a complete change in the system of government.[citation needed] Stein desired for Karl August von Hardenberg to take that office and bring into effect, with Stein's own help, the necessary administrative changes. The Prussian king refused to accept Hardenberg and, greatly irritated by Stein's unusually outspoken letters, dismissed Stein altogether because he was "a refractory, insolent, obstinate and disobedient official".[1] Stein spent the months in which Napoleon completed the ruin of Prussia in retirement.[citation needed]
Treaty of Tilsit
Stein got to see
Prussian reforms
Stein was now for a time virtually dictator of the reduced and nearly-bankrupt
First came the
All distinctions affecting the
Stein's next step was to strengthen the cabinet by wise changes.[citation needed]
Stein issued a measure for
While Stein's efforts were directed more towards civil affairs, he also furthered the progress of the military reforms, which are connected more especially with the name of
Exile
Shortly afterwards, the reformer had to flee from Prussia. In August 1808, the French agents, who swarmed throughout the land, had seized one of his letters, in which he spoke of his hope that Germany would soon be ready for a national rising like that of Spain. On 10 September, Napoleon gave orders that Stein's property in the new kingdom of Westphalia should be confiscated, and he likewise put pressure on Frederick William to dismiss him. The king evaded compliance, but the French emperor, on entering
For three years, Stein lived in the Austrian Empire, generally at Brno, but in May 1812, in danger of being surrendered by Austria to Napoleon,[4] he received an invitation to visit Saint Petersburg from Emperor Alexander I of Russia, who saw that Austria was certain to be on the side of France in the forthcoming Franco-Russian War. At the crisis of that struggle, Stein may have been one of the influences that kept the tsar determined never to treat with Napoleon. When the miserable remains of the Grand Army reeled back into Prussia at the close of the year, Stein urged the Russian emperor to go on and free Europe from the French domination.[citation needed]
Events now brought Stein rapidly to the front. On 30 December 1812, the Prussian general Ludwig Yorck von Wartenburg signed the Convention of Tauroggen with the Russian general Hans Karl von Diebitsch for neutralization of the Prussian corps at and near Tilsit and for the free passage of the Russians through that part of the king's dominions. The Russian emperor requested Stein to act as provisional administrator of the provinces of East and West Prussia. In that capacity, he convened an assembly of representatives of the local estates, which on 5 February 1813, ordered the establishment of a militia (Landwehr), a militia reserve and a final levy (Landsturm).[citation needed]
The energy that Stein infused into all around him contributed not a little to this important decision, which pushed on the king's government to more decided action than then seemed possible. Stein now went to
The 1813 Treaty of Kalisz between Russia and Prussia cannot be claimed as due to Stein's actions, which were reprehended in court circles as those of a fanatic. At that time, the great patriot fell ill of a fever and complained of total neglect by the king and court.[citation needed]
He recovered, however, in time to take part in the drafting of a Russo-Prussian convention (19 March 1813) respecting the administration of the districts that should be delivered from French occupation. During the varying phases of the campaign of 1813 Stein continued to urge the need of war à outrance against Napoleon.[citation needed]
The Allies, after the entry of England and Austria into the coalition, conferred on Stein the important duties of superintending the administration of the liberated territories. After the Battle of Leipzig (16–19 October 1813), Stein entered that city the day after its occupation by the Allies and thus expressed his feelings on the fall of Napoleon's domination:
There it lies, then, the monstrous fabric cemented by the blood and tears of so many millions and reared by an insane and accursed tyranny. From one end of Germany to the other we may venture to say aloud that Napoleon is a villain and the enemy of the human race.[8]
Stein wanted to see Germany reconstituted as a nation but was frustrated by Austrian diplomat Prince
Stein shared in the desire of Prussian statesmen to absorb Saxony; in that too, he was doomed to disappointment. On 24 May 1815, he sent to his patron, the emperor Alexander, a detailed criticism of the federal arrangements proposed for Germany. He retired after the Congress of Vienna and disliked the postponement of the representative system of government that Frederick William had promised to Prussia in May 1815.[8]
Later life
His chief interest was in the study of history, and from 1818 to 1820, he worked hard to establish the society for the encouragement of historical research and the publication of the
Stein died at
Research has shown that Stein's credit for originating many of the far-reaching reforms of 1807/8 must be shared with Theodor von Schön and many others. A popular legend named him as the founder of the Tugendbund, an institution that he always distrusted.[3][9]
Stein's enlightenment, insight into the needs of the time, and energy gave momentum to the reform movement.[citation needed]
Marriage and issue
On 8 June 1793 he married the Countess Wilhelmine Magdalene von Wallmoden (22 June 1772 – 15 September 1819), daughter of
Notes
References
Sources
- ISBN 9780521078146
- Rines, George Edwin, ed. (1920). Encyclopedia Americana. .
- public domain: Rose, John Holland (1911). "Stein, Heinrich Friedrich Karl, Baron vom und zum". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 871–873. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- Seeley, Sir John Robert (1969), "Stein and the Tugendbund", Life and times of Stein: or, Germany and Prussia in the Napoleonic age, vol. 1, CUP Archive