History
Mecklenburg-Strelitz adopted the constitution of the sister Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin by an act of September 1755. In 1806 it was spared the infliction of a First French Empire occupation through the good offices of the King of Bavaria Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria; in 1808 the duke Charles II joined the Confederation of the Rhine, but in 1813 he withdrew therefrom. Having been a member of the alliance against Napoleon he joined the German Confederation in 1815 and assumed the title of Grand duke.
In 1866 the Grand Duchy joined the North German Confederation and the Zollverein, and began to pass more and more under the influence of Kingdom of Prussia, who in the Austro-Prussian War with Empire of Austria had been aided by the soldiers of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. In the Franco-Prussian War also Kingdom of Prussia received valuable assistance from Mecklenburg-Strelitz. In 1871 the grand duchy became a state of the German Empire. There was now a renewal of the agitation for a more democratic constitution, and the German Reichstag gave some countenance to this movement. In 1904 Adolphus Frederick V, a son of the grand duke Frederick William and his wife Princess Augusta of Cambridge, daughter of Prince Adolphus, became grand duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. In 1907, the Grand Duke promised a constitution to their subjects. The duchy had always been under a government of feudal character, the grand duke having the executive entirely in their hands (though acting through ministers), while the duchy shared a diet (Landtag), meeting for a short session each year, and at other times represented by a committee, and consisting of the proprietors of knights' estates (Rittergüter), known as the Ritter-schaft, and the Landschaft or burgomasters of certain towns. Mecklenburg-Strelitz returned one member to the Reichstag. The grand duke was still styled Prince of the Wends.
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