Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz Großherzogtum Mecklenburg-Strelitz | |||||||||
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1815–1918 | |||||||||
Adolphus Frederick VI | |||||||||
History | |||||||||
• Raised to Grand Duchy | 1815 | ||||||||
• German Revolution | 1918 | ||||||||
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Today part of | Germany |
The Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was a territory in
Geography
It consisted of two detached parts of the
.History
The
In 1866, Grand Duke Frederick William openly rebuked the Prussian annexation of the Kingdom of Hanover, even though the Prussian Army had been aided by soldiers from Mecklenburg-Strelitz in the Austro-Prussian War. Thereupon, the grand duchy joined the North German Confederation and the reconstituted Zollverein. Also in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71, the Kingdom of Prussia received valuable assistance from Mecklenburg-Strelitz.
In 1871, both Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz became States of the German Empire. Mecklenburg-Strelitz returned one member to the Bundesrat chamber of states. However, the grand duke was still styled Prince of the Wends and the internal government of Mecklenburg-Strelitz remained unmodernized. Mocked by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck as a safe haven in the face of threatening apocalypse "as everything there happens 50 years later", the grand duchy had always been a government of feudal character. The grand dukes exercised power only through their ministers via an antiquated type of diet representing social classes. It met for a short session each year, and at other times was represented by a committee consisting of the proprietors of knights' estates (Rittergüter), known as the Ritterschaft, and of the Landschaft, which was composed of burgomasters of selected towns. These feudal arrangements meant that the grand dukes of Mecklenburg had among the least power of any sovereign princes in Germany.[3]
There was now a renewal of agitation for a more democratic constitution, and the German
Aftermath
The Mecklenburg-Strelitz dynasty ended just prior to the loss of the monarchy in developments associated with
The House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz survives to this day, descending from Duke
The county of Mecklenburg in the U.S. state of North Carolina, which includes the city of Charlotte, is named after the duchy. The City of Charlotte, known as "The Queen City" was named for Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III of Great Britain. Queen Charlotte was Princess Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, born on 19 May 1744. She was the youngest daughter of Duke Charles Louis Frederick of Mecklenburg, Prince of Mirow and his wife Princess Elisabeth Albertine of Saxe-Hildburghausen.
References
- ^ Chisholm 1911, p. 1020.
- ^ Treitschke, Heinrich. The History of Germany in the Nineteenth Century, Eng. Trans. 1915. Vol. 3, Page 121.
- ^ Treitschke, Heinrich. The History of Germany in the Nineteenth Century, Eng. Trans. 1918. Vol. 4, Pages 393-405.
public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Mecklenburg". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 1018–20.
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