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It became a free state in the era of Weimar Republic in 1918 after the end of World War I and the abdication of King Frederick Augustus III of Saxony. Its capital was the city of Dresden , and its modern successor state is the Free State of Saxony .
The Kingdom of Saxony was the fifth state of the German Empire in area and third in population; in 1905 the average population per square mile was 778.8. Saxony was the most densely peopled state of the empire, and indeed of all Europe; the reason was the very large immigration on account of the development of manufactures.
Saxony has a long history as a duchy, an electorate of the Holy Roman Empire (the Electorate of Saxony), and finally as a kingdom (the Kingdom of Saxony).In 1918, after Germany's defeat in World War I, its monarchy was overthrown and a republican form of government was established under the current name.
In mid-January 772, the sacking and burning of the church of Deventer by a Saxon expedition was the casus belli for the first war waged by Charlemagne against the Saxons. It began with a Frankish invasion of Saxon territory and the subjugation of the Engrians and destruction of their sacred symbol Irminsul near Paderborn in 772 or 773 at Eresburg.
The duchy became part of the Prussian-led North German Confederation in 1867 and finally the German Empire in 1871. Following Germany's defeat in World War I, Anhalt became the Free State of Anhalt while the Province of Saxony continued as a constituent of the Free State of Prussia (both within the Weimar Republic).
After the peace Saxony was forced to join the North German Confederation. According to the Military Convention of 7 February 1867 its army formed the XII Corps, which was placed under Prussian command. Saxony had to hand over the Fortress Königstein to Prussia. The Kingdom of Saxony took part in the 1870 Franco-Prussian War on the side of Prussia.
After the Treaty of Hubertusburg of 1763 that ended the Third Silesian War (a part of the Seven Years' War), Saxony's position as a European power came to an end. Augustus III and Heinrich von Brühl both died in 1763, and the Saxon-Polish dynastic alliance effectively ended with the Russian-Prussian alliance of 1764.
To force Augustus II the Strong out of the war, who was the elector of Saxony and king in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Charles XII of Sweden invaded the Commonwealth; Augustus was dethroned in 1704, and, after a devastating Saxon defeat at Fraustadt, Charles XII marched against Saxony in 1706 with 20,000 men.