Kleinstaaterei

{{quote|The political fragmentation of the Empire was the single most salient characteristic of German history throughout the ''[[early modern]]'' period; it underlay and conditioned development in all areas of public life.John Gagliardo, ''Germany Under the Old Regime, 1600–1790'', Longman, 1991, p. viii.}}

{{quote|The political fragmentation of the Empire was the single most salient characteristic of German history throughout the ''[[early modern]]'' period; it underlay and conditioned development in all areas of public life.John Gagliardo, ''Germany Under the Old Regime, 1600–1790'', Longman, 1991, p. viii.}}

While in some other European states such as France, centralized states emerged as a result of early modern political concentration and centralisation, the [[Habsburg]] dynasty, who already controlled the Duchy of Austria, [[Kingdom of Bohemia]] and [[Kingdom of Hungary]], ruled the Holy Roman Empire from 1438 and managed to permanently occupy the imperial throne until 1806 (with a brief exception between 1742 and 1765). The Habsburg family, however pursued its ''Grand Strategy'' policy, that focused on long-term dynastic reign at the center of a vast, multi-layered and multi-ethnic realm against [[House of Bourbon|Bourbon France]] and the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The imperial lands rather served to retain buffer zones that were at odds with any concepts of patriotism and national identity.{{cite book|first=A. Wess |last=Mitchell |author-link=A. Weiss Mitchell |title=The Grand Strategy of the Habsburg Empire |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qxtEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA307 |date=26 June 2018 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-8996-9 |pages=307ff}}{{cite book |first1=Mikulas |last1=Teich |first2=Roy |last2=Porter |title=The National Question in Europe in Historical Context |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hu2SnETtV3kC&pg=PA153 |date=6 May 1993 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-36441-6 |pages=153ff}}

While in some other European states such as France, centralized states emerged as a result of early modern political concentration and centralisation, the [[Habsburg]] dynasty, who already controlled the Duchy of Austria, [[Kingdom of Bohemia]] and [[Kingdom of Hungary]], ruled the Holy Roman Empire from 1438 and managed to permanently occupy the imperial throne until 1806 (with a brief exception between 1742 and 1765). The Habsburg family, however pursued its ''Grand Strategy'' policy, that focused on long-term dynastic reign at the center of a vast, multi-layered and multi-ethnic realm against [[House of Bourbon|Bourbon France]] and the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The imperial lands rather served to retain buffer zones that were at odds with any concepts of patriotism and national identity.{{cite book|first=A. Wess |last=Mitchell |author-link=A. Wess Mitchell |title=The Grand Strategy of the Habsburg Empire |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qxtEDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA307 |date=26 June 2018 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-1-4008-8996-9 |pages=307ff}}{{cite book |first1=Mikulas |last1=Teich |first2=Roy |last2=Porter |title=The National Question in Europe in Historical Context |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hu2SnETtV3kC&pg=PA153 |date=6 May 1993 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-36441-6 |pages=153ff}}

In 1495 emperor [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian I]] attempted to [[Imperial Reform|reform]] the empire. An Imperial supreme court ({{lang|de|Reichskammergericht}}) was established, imperial taxes were levied, and the power of the [[Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)|Imperial Diet]] ({{lang|de|Reichstag}}) was increased. The reforms, however, were frustrated by the continued territorial fragmentation of the Empire.{{cite book|author=Joachim Whaley|title=Germany and the Holy Roman Empire |volume=I: Maximilian I to the Peace of Westphalia, 1493–1648|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UiFWYsG-t7UC|year=2012|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-873101-6}} The [[Reformation|Protestant Reformation]] represented a major threat to imperial integrity. Emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] stated in 1546: "if we failed to intervene now, all the Estates of Germany would be in danger of breaking with the faith". With the 1548 [[Augsburg Interim]] he attempted to reconcile the religious schism in Germany, but instead only prompted new Protestant defiance.{{cite web|url=http://assets.press.princeton.edu/chapters/s8934.pdf |title= The Struggle for Power in Early Modern Europe | publisher = Princeton University Press |first=Daniel H. |last=Nexon |access-date= 18 May 2019 }}

In 1495 emperor [[Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor|Maximilian I]] attempted to [[Imperial Reform|reform]] the empire. An Imperial supreme court ({{lang|de|Reichskammergericht}}) was established, imperial taxes were levied, and the power of the [[Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)|Imperial Diet]] ({{lang|de|Reichstag}}) was increased. The reforms, however, were frustrated by the continued territorial fragmentation of the Empire.{{cite book|author=Joachim Whaley|title=Germany and the Holy Roman Empire |volume=I: Maximilian I to the Peace of Westphalia, 1493–1648|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UiFWYsG-t7UC|year=2012|publisher=OUP Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-873101-6}} The [[Reformation|Protestant Reformation]] represented a major threat to imperial integrity. Emperor [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] stated in 1546: "if we failed to intervene now, all the Estates of Germany would be in danger of breaking with the faith". With the 1548 [[Augsburg Interim]] he attempted to reconcile the religious schism in Germany, but instead only prompted new Protestant defiance.{{cite web|url=http://assets.press.princeton.edu/chapters/s8934.pdf |title= The Struggle for Power in Early Modern Europe | publisher = Princeton University Press |first=Daniel H. |last=Nexon |access-date= 18 May 2019 }}