Prince Karl of Hesse-Darmstadt
X. 1838-1844: The Interwar Period- Part 2
Following his political defeat at the hands of his older brother and his allies in the Council of Advisers, Prince Karl left Darmstadt and journeyed north to his headquarters in Nienburg. Karl was deeply stung by the outcome of the Council meetings and surviving correspondence from the time period indicates that he felt a great deal of bitterness about the whole affair. In addition to that bitterness, though, Karl was also deeply disappointed in himself. He had returned to the capital specifically to see to it that the needs of the army would be met, and had failed completely. Instead he would be returning to inform them that their reward for victory against Hanover was to be a reduction in pay and a decrease in the quality and availability of supplies. By all accounts it weighed heavily on him during the return trip.
Once back in Nienburg, Karl immediately resumed his duties as chief of the army and governor of the conquered territories. It was a daunting task. At his disposal were 10,000 men who were tasked with holding down a hostile foreign population of nearly 700,000. Rebellion was seething beneath the surface of the conquered provinces and Karl had no choice but to set up numerous garrisons which caused his force to be rather thinly spread. When what amounted to the abandonment of the army by the ducal government was added to this already serious situation, the result was not good.
Still, Karl was determined to keep fighting on behalf of his men and to keep his father's original program on track. To that end he sent numerous requests for funds and supplies back to Darmstadt and asked for permission to raise additional forces. He also conducted meetings with his top officers on a regular basis with the purpose of analyzing the performance of the army in the Hanover War.
The requests for funds and supplies were, of course, repeatedly denied. The economic collapse had been averted, but the Grand Duchy was still deeply in debt and struggling to keep the economy going. There were just simply no extra funds to go around. An exasperated Council of Advisers also informed him again and again that there was no room in the budget for additional divisions.
The regular staff meetings ended up revealing a serious deficiency in the army's performance. Despite having emerged victorious in the Hanover War, the fact was that the army had been badly bloodied in each encounter with the enemy despite having overwhelming numerical superiority. Hanover had met their quantity with quality and Hesse-Darmstadt's soldiers had paid dearly for it. Karl immediately began working on improving the army's tactics and organization as well as sending reports to Darmstadt concluding that better arms and equipment needed to be supplied to the army. Those requests were denied. Frustrated, Karl would eventually commission several of the Grand Duchy's gunsmiths to produce a new service rifle that would be an improvement on the army's muskets. When a muzzle-loaded rifle was developed that met with the Prince's approval he personally paid for the army to be outfitted with them when the government refused to foot the bill.
Crown Prince Ludwig
While Karl was struggling to administer the conquered territories and provide for the army on a shoe-string budget, Crown Prince Ludwig was strengthening his position in the ducal government and expanding his power base. The sudden increase in the Grand Duchy's size had necessitated a revision in the way that the government operated in order to see to it that ducal power was felt throughout the duchy. As a result, the bureaucracy was greatly expanded and civil servants began bringing the will of the Grand Duke to all corners of the country- including the former Hanoverian territories.
The Crown Prince was quick to argue to his father that this increase in the size and scope of the government necessitated a change in the structure of the government itself. Together with his allies in the Council of Advisers, Ludwig proposed that new government ministries be created in order to ensure that the apparatus of government operated as smoothly as possible. Prior to this the government consisted of just one ministry- the Ministry of State- with the Grand Duke himself at it's head.
Ludwig proposed that the Ministry of State be divided into two new ministries. The first would be the Ministry of the Interior, the duties of which would be education, public health and safety, and justice. Three department heads would oversee these functions under the authority of the Minister of the Interior. The second new ministry would be the Ministry of Finance which would concern itself with taxation and the operation of the treasury. Overseeing all of this would be the newly created post of Minister of State.
Grand Duke Ludwig II
Ludwig II was resistant to the idea at first, but eventually agreed to his eldest son's plan and appointed him as Hesse-Darmstadt's first Minister of State. The Crown Prince immediately appointed the members of his own faction within the Council to positions in the Ministry of the Interior and appointed the educator Justus von Liebig as the first Minister of Finance.
In one quick bit of political jockeying, the Crown Prince had effectively put the apparatus of state at his fingertips. Given his faction's control of the Ministry of the Interior, he was also able to ensure that the droves of civil servants leaving Darmstadt for posts throughout the Grand Duchy were all political supporters. Karl's supporters in the capital were alarmed at these developments and appealed to him to intervene. Karl, however, seemed to have soured on politics and refused to get involved. In a letter to a supporter he wrote,
"My father, the Grand Duke, still retains complete authority in all matters of government. Let my brother play his games if it pleases him."
A reply was quickly sent back,
"Yes, but once so much of the day to day duties of governance are taken from his hands, how long will it be before your father leaves all matters to the Crown Prince and his hangers on?" If Prince Karl responded to this, there is no record of it.
Justus von Liebig
The new government, run by the Crown Prince and Justus von Liebig, made it's main focus the improvement of the Grand Duchy's economic situation. The years following the Hanover War were frugal ones for Hesse-Darmstadt, and by late October of 1842 the national debt was completely paid off. It was a day that many had been waiting for. With the debt paid off there were now additional funds at the government's disposal and no shortage of ideas on what to do with them. Karl and his supporters in the military were hoping that money would finally start coming the army's way, while Justus von Liebig immediately moved that taxes be reduced and funds put back into education.
They were both to be disappointed. As Minister of State, the Crown Prince approved increases to the education and public safety budgets. However, he refused to increase the defense budget or to lower taxes. Karl appealed to his father, reminding him of his plans for the further expansion of the Grand Duchy, but his pleas apparently went unanswered and he was left to fume in Nienburg. Justus von Liebig, for his part, felt betrayed by his allies' refusal to lower taxes and resigned his post. He and his supporters were effectively shut out of the government after that and would eventually find themselves gravitating to Heinrich von Gagern's Liberal movement which was steadily growing in size as high taxes continued to crush the Grand Duchy's poor.
Despite the collapse of the Crown Prince's coalition, the fact remained that the economy had completely recovered. After allowing the treasury to grow for a few more years, Grand Duke Ludwig II suddenly reappeared in the realm of government affairs after a long absence. In early 1844 he ordered the National Guard prepared for campaign and sent word to Prince Karl that he should pull his forces in from their garrisons and make his men ready to march. The Crown Prince protested loudly, declaring that another war could put the Grand Duchy right back into an economic crisis.
The Grand Duke ignored him and ordered preparations for another war against Hanover to be made. In late March he set out for Nienburg wanting to be on hand when his army marched forth into combat once again. War was declared on Hanover on March 31, 1844 and the army marched out of Nienburg to much pomp and circumstance.