Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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.
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.
Following the defeat of Saxony's ally Prussia at the Battle of Jena in October 1806, Saxony joined the Confederation of the Rhine, subordinating itself to the First French Empire, then the dominant power in Central Europe. On 20 December 1806 Frederick Augustus III, the last elector of Saxony, became King Frederick Augustus I.
The dukes of Saxony became kings (Henry I, the Fowler, 919) and later the first emperors (Henry's son, Otto I, the Great) of Germany during the tenth century, but they lost this position in 1024. The duchy was divided in 1180 when Duke Henry the Lion refused to follow his cousin, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa , into war in Lombardy .
In 1947, Saxony-Anhalt became a state. The East German states, including Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, were abolished in 1952, but they were recreated as part of the reunification of Germany in 1990 (with some slight border changes; in particular territories around Torgau , which were part of Saxony-Anhalt between 1945 and 1952, passed to Saxony ...
The Duchy of Saxony (Low German: Hartogdom Sassen) was originally the area settled by the Saxons in the late Early Middle Ages, when they were subdued by Charlemagne during the Saxon Wars from 772 AD and incorporated into the Carolingian Empire by 804.
Saxony became culturally, economically, and governmentally advanced compared to the other German states of the time. After the western part of Saxony reverted to the main Wettin line following the death Duke William III in 1482, Saxony became the second power in the Holy Roman Empire next to the Habsburg domains.
The first election of the Saxon state parliament took place on October 20, 1946, where in Saxony the SED won 49.11% of the vote and 59 seats, the LDPD won 24.71% of the vote and 30 seats, the CDU won 23.30% of the vote and 28 seats, and the VdgB won 1.74% of the vote and 2 seats. Other political party's won 1.14% of the vote and 1 seat.