Heinrich Friedrich Karl Vom Und Zum Stein - Life

Life

Stein was the ninth child of Karl Philipp Freiherr vom Stein, and Henriette Karoline Langwerth von Simmern, the widow of von Löw. His father was a man of stern and irritable temperament, which his far more famous son inherited, with the addition of intellectual gifts which the father entirely lacked. The family belonged to the order of imperial knights of the Holy Roman Empire, who occupied a middle position between sovereign princes and subjects of the empire. They owned their own domains and owed allegiance only to the emperor but had no votes for the Diet.

In his old age, Stein expressed his gratitude to his parents for the influence of their religious and truly German and knightly example. He added,

My view of the world and of human affairs I gathered as a boy and youth, in the solitude of a country life, from ancient and modern history, and in particular I was attracted by the incidents of the eventful history of England.

The influence of English ideas, which was so potent a factor in the lives of Voltaire, Rousseau, Talleyrand and many others in the eighteenth century, was therefore potently operative in the early career of Stein. He does not seem to have gone to any school, except in 1773 when he went with a private tutor to the University of Göttingen in Hanover. There he studied jurisprudence, and also found time to pursue his studies in English history and politics. These latter studies, as he wrote, confirmed his predilection for that nation.

In 1777, he left Göttingen and proceeded to Wetzlar, the legal centre of the Holy Roman Empire, in order to see the working of its institutions and thereby prepare himself for a career in law. Next, after a stay at each of the chief South German capitals, he settled at Regensburg in order to observe the methods of the Imperial Diet. In 1779 he went to Vienna, and then proceeded to Berlin early in 1780.

In Berlin, his admiration for Frederick the Great, together with his distaste for the pettiness of the legal procedure at Wetzlar, impelled him to take service under the Prussian monarch. He was fortunate in gaining an appointment in the department of mines and manufactures, for at the head of this office was an able and intelligent administrator, Friedrich Anton von Heynitz, who helped him to master the principles of economics and civil government. In June 1785 he was sent for a time as Prussian ambassador to the courts of Mainz, Zweibrücken and Darmstadt, but he soon felt a distaste for diplomacy, and in 1786-1787 he was able to indulge his taste for travel by a tour in England, where he pursued his researches into commercial and mining affairs.

In November 1787, he became Kammerdirektor (director of the board of war and domains) for the king's possessions west of the river Weser, and in 1796 he was appointed supreme president of all the Westphalian chambers dealing with the commerce and mines of those Prussian lands. Among the benefits which he conferred on these districts, one of the chief was the canalization of the river Ruhr which thenceforth became an important outlet for the coal of that region. He also improved the navigation of the Weser, and kept well the main roads committed to his care.

Stein's early training, together with the sternly practical bent of his own nature, made him completely impervious to the enthusiasm which the French Revolution had aroused in many minds in Germany. He disliked its methods as an interruption to the orderly development of peoples. Nevertheless he carefully noted the new sources of national strength which its reforms called forth in France.

Meanwhile Prussia, after being at war with France during the years 1792–1795, came to terms with it at Basel in April 1795, and remained at peace until 1806, though Austria and South Germany continued the struggle with France for most of that interval. Prussia, however, lost rather than gained strength at this time, for Frederick William III, who succeeded the weak and sensual Frederick William II in November 1797, was lacking in foresight, judgment and strength of character. He too often allowed public affairs to be warped by the advice of secret and irresponsible counsellors, and persisted in the policy of subservience to France inaugurated by the Treaty of Basel.

It was under these untoward circumstances that Stein in 1804 took office at Berlin, as minister of state for trade (indirect imposts, taxes, manufactures, and commerce). He introduced useful reforms in his department, particularly by abolishing various restrictions on the internal trade of the nation; but he was hampered in his endeavors by the spirit of Prussian conservatism. He soon felt constrained to protest against the effects of the Gallophile policy of the chief minister, Christian Graf von Haugwitz, and the evil influences which clogged the administration. Little, however came of Stein's protests, though they were urged with his usual incisiveness and energy. Prussian policy continued to progress on the path which led to the disaster at Jena (14 October 1806).

The king then offered Stein the portfolio for foreign affairs, which the minister declined to accept on the ground of his incompetence to manage that department unless there was a complete change in the system of government. The real motive for his refusal was that he desired to see Karl August von Hardenberg take that office and effect, with his own help, the necessary administrative changes. The king refused to accept Hardenberg, and, greatly irritated by Stein's unusually outspoken letters, dismissed him altogether, adding that he was "a refractory, insolent, obstinate and disobedient official". Stein now spent in retirement the months during which Napoleon completed the ruin of Prussia.

Stein got to see Hardenberg called to office in April 1807 and important reforms effected in the cabinet system. During the negotiations at Tilsit, Napoleon refused to act with Hardenberg, who thereupon retired. Strange to say, Napoleon, who had as yet no idea of Stein's deep and earnest patriotism, suggested Stein as a possible successor. No other strong man was at hand who could save the ship of state, and on 8 October 1807, Frederick William, utterly depressed by the terrible terms of the treaty of Tilsit, called Stein to office and entrusted him with very wide powers.

Stein was now for a time virtually dictator of the reduced and nearly bankrupt Prussian state. The circumstances of the time and his own convictions, gained from study and experience, led him to press on drastic reforms in a way which could not otherwise have been followed. First came the Edict of Emancipation, issued at Memel on 9 October 1807, which abolished the institution of serfdom throughout Prussia from 8 October 1810. All distinctions affecting the tenure of land (noble land, peasants' land, etc.) were also swept away, and the principle of free trade in land was established forthwith. The same famous edict also abrogated all class distinctions respecting occupations and callings of any and every kind, thus striking another blow at the caste system which had been so rigorous in Prussia. Stein's next step was to strengthen the cabinet by wise changes, too complicated to be enumerated here. Stein issued a measure for municipal reform (19 November 1808) which granted local self-government on enlightened yet practical lines to all Prussian towns, and even to all villages possessing more than 800 inhabitants.

While Stein's efforts were directed more towards civil affairs, he also furthered the progress of the military reforms which are connected more especially with the name of Gerhard Johann David von Scharnhorst. They refashioned the Prussian army on modern lines, with a reserve system. Military service was made obligatory for all classes.