HANOTAUX

hanotaux, albert auguste gabriel (1853- ), french statesman and historian, was born at beaurevoir in the department of aisne. he received his historical training in the ecole des chartes, and became _maitre de conferences_ in the ecole des hautes etudes. his political career was rather that of a civil servant than of a party politician. in 1879 he entered the ministry of foreign affairs as a secretary, and rose step by step through the diplomatic service. in 1886 he was elected deputy for aisne, but, defeated in 1889, he returned to his diplomatic career, and on the 31st of may 1894 was chosen by charles dupuy to be minister of foreign affairs. with one interruption (during the ribot ministry, from the 26th of january to the 2nd of november 1895) he held this portfolio until the 14th of june 1898. during his ministry he developed the _rapprochement_ of france with russia--visiting st petersburg with the president, felix faure--and sent expeditions to delimit the french colonies in africa. the fashoda incident of july 1898 was a result of this policy, and hanotaux's distrust of england is frankly stated in his literary works. as an historian he published _origines de l'institution des intendants de provinces_ (1884), which is the authoritative study on the intendants; _etudes historiques sur les xvi^e et xvii^e siecles en france_ (1886); _histoire de richelieu_ (2 vols., 1888); and _histoire de la troisieme republique (1904, &c.), the standard history of contemporary france._ he also edited the _instructions des ambassadeurs de france a rome, depuis les traites de westphalie_ (1888). he was elected a member of the french academy on the 1st of april 1897. hanover (ger. _hannover_), formerly an independent kingdom of germany, but since 1866 a province of prussia. it is bounded on the n. by the north sea, holstein, hamburg and mecklenburg-schwerin, e. and s.e. by prussian saxony and the duchy of brunswick, s.w. by the prussian provinces of hesse-nassau and westphalia, and w. by holland. these boundaries include the grand-duchy of oldenburg and the free state of bremen, the former stretching southward from the north sea nearly to the southern boundary of hanover. a small portion of the province in the south is separated from hanover proper by the interposition of part of brunswick. on the 23rd of march 1873 the province was increased by the addition of the jade territory (purchased by prussia from oldenburg), lying south-west of the elbe and containing the great naval station and arsenal of wilhelmshaven. the area of the province is 14,870 sq. m. _physical features._--the greater part of hanover is a plain with sandhills, heath and moor. the most fertile districts lie on the banks of the elbe and near the north sea, where, as in holland, rich meadows are preserved from encroachment of the sea by broad dikes and deep ditches, kept in repair at great expense. the main feature of the northern plain is the so-called _luneburger heide_, a vast expanse of moor and fen, mainly covered with low brushwood (though here and there are oases of fine beech and oak woods) and intersected by shallow valleys, and extending almost due north from the city of hanover to the southern arm of the elbe at harburg. the southern portion of the province is hilly, and in the district of klausenburg, containing the harz, mountainous. the higher elevations are covered by dense forests of fir and larch, and the lower slopes with deciduous trees. the eastern portion of the northern plain is covered with forests of fir. the whole of hanover dips from the harz mountains to the north, and the rivers consequently flow in that direction. the three chief rivers of the province are the elbe in the north-east, where it mainly forms the boundary and receives the navigable tributaries jeetze, ilmenau, seve, este, luhe, schwinge and medem; the weser in the centre, with its important tributary the aller (navigable from celle downwards); and in the west the ems, with its tributaries the aa and the leda. still farther west is the vecht, which, rising in westphalia, flows to the zuider zee. canals are numerous and connect the various river systems. the principal lakes are the steinhuder meer, about 4 m. long and 2 m. broad, and 20 fathoms deep, on the borders of schaumburg-lippe; the dummersee, on the borders of oldenburg, about 12 m. in circuit; the lakes of bederkesa and some others in the moorlands of the north; the seeburger see, near duderstadt; and the oderteich, in the harz, 2100 ft. above the level of the sea. _climate._--the climate in the low-lying districts near the coast is moist and foggy, in the plains mild, on the harz mountains severe and variable. in spring the prevailing winds blow from the n.e. and e., in summer from the s.w. the mean annual temperature is about 46 deg. fahr.; in the town of hanover it is higher. the average annual rainfall is about 23.5 in.; but this varies greatly in different districts. in the west the herauch, a thick fog arising from the burning of the moors, is a plague of frequent occurrence. _population; divisions._--the province contains an area of 14,869 sq. m., and the total population, according to the census of 1905, was 2,759,699 (1,384,161 males and 1,375,538 females). in this connexion it is noticeable that in hanover, almost alone among german states and provinces, there is a considerable proportion of male births over female. the density of the population is 175 to the sq. m. (english), and the proportion of urban to rural population, roughly, as 1 to 3 of the inhabitants. the province is divided into the six _regierungsbezirke_ (or departments) of hanover, hildesheim, luneburg, stade, osnabruck and aurich, and these again into kreise (circles, or local government districts)--76 in all. the chief towns--containing more than 10,000 inhabitants--are hanover, linden, osnabruck, hildesheim, geestemunde, wilhelmshaven, harburg, luneburg, celle, gottingen and emden. religious statistics show that 84% of the inhabitants belong to the evangelical-lutheran church, 17 to the roman catholic and less than 1% to the jewish communities. the roman catholics are mostly gathered around the episcopal sees of hildesheim and osnabruck and close to munster (in westphalia) on the western border, and the jews in the towns. a court of appeal for the whole province sits at celle, and there are eight superior courts. hanover returns 19 members to the _reichstag_ (imperial diet) and 36 to the _abgeordnetenhaus_ (lower house) of the prussian parliament (_landtag_). _education._--among the educational institutions of the province the university of gottingen stands first, with an average yearly attendance of 1500 students. there are, besides, a technical college in hanover, an academy of forestry in munden, a mining college in clausthal, a military school and a veterinary college (both in hanover), 26 gymnasia (classical schools), 18 semi-classical, and 14 commercial schools. there are also two naval academies, asylums for the deaf and dumb, and numerous charitable institutions. _agriculture._--though agriculture constitutes the most important branch of industry in the province, it is still in a very backward state. the greater part of the soil is of inferior quality, and much that is susceptible of cultivation is still lying waste. of the entire area of the country 28.6% is arable, 16.2 in meadow or pasture land, 14% in forests, 37.2% in uncultivated moors, heaths, &c.; from 17 to 18% is in possession of the state. the best agriculture is to be found in the districts of hildesheim, calenberg, gottingen and grubenhagen, on the banks of the weser and elbe, and in east friesland. rye is generally grown for bread. flax, for which much of the soil is admirably adapted, is extensively cultivated, and forms an important article of export, chiefly, however, in the form of yarn. potatoes, hemp, turnips, hops, tobacco and beet are also extensively grown, the latter, in connexion with the sugar industry, showing each year a larger return. apples, pears, plums and cherries are the principal kinds of fruit cultivated, while the wild red cranberries from the harz and the black bilberries from the luneburger heide form an important article of export. _live stock._--hanover is renowned for its cattle and live stock generally. of these there were counted in 1900 1,115,022 head of horned cattle, 824,000 sheep, 1,556,000 pigs, and 230,000 goats. the luneburger heide yields an excellent breed of sheep, the _heidschnucken_, which equal the southdowns of england in delicacy of flavour. horses famous for their size and quality are reared in the marshes of aurich and stade, in hildesheim and hanover; and, for breeding purposes, in the stud farm of celle. bees are principally kept on the luneburger heide, and the annual yield of honey is very considerable. large flocks of geese are kept in the moist lowlands; their flesh is salted for domestic consumption during the winter, and their feathers are prepared for sale. the rivers yield trout, salmon (in the weser) and crayfish. the sea fisheries are important and have their chief centre at geestemunde. _mining._--minerals occur in great variety and abundance. the harz mountains are rich in silver, lead, iron and copper; coal is found around osnabruck, on the deister, at osterwald, &c., lignite in various places; salt-springs of great richness exist at egestorfshall and neuhall near hanover, and at luneburg; and petroleum may be obtained south of celle. in the cold regions of the northern lowlands peat occurs in beds of immense thickness. _manufactures._--works for the manufacture of iron, copper, silver, lead, vitriol and sulphur are carried on to a large extent. the iron works are very important: smelting is carried on in the harz and near osnabruck; there are extensive foundries and machine factories at hanover, linden, osnabruck, hameln, geestemunde, harburg, osterode, &c., and manufactories of arms at herzberg, and of cutlery in the towns of the harz and in the sollinger forest. the textile industries are prosecuted chiefly in the towns. linen yarn and cloth are largely manufactured, especially in the south about osnabruck and hildesheim, and bleaching is engaged in extensively; woollen cloths are made to a considerable extent in the south about einbeck, gottingen and hameln; cotton-spinning and weaving have their principal seats at hanover and linden. glass houses, paper-mills, potteries, tile works and tobacco-pipe works are numerous. wax is bleached to a considerable extent, and there are numerous tobacco factories, tanneries, breweries, vinegar works and brandy distilleries. shipbuilding is an important industry, especially at wilhelmshaven, papenburg, leer, stade and harburg; and at munden river-barges are built. _commerce._--although the carrying trade of hanover is to a great extent absorbed by hamburg and bremen, the shipping of the province counted, in 1903, 750 sailing vessels and 86 steamers of, together, 55,498 registered tons. the natural port is bremen-geestemunde and to it is directed the river traffic down the weser, which practically forms the chief commercial artery of the province. _communications._--the roads throughout are, on the whole, well laid, and those connecting the principal towns macadamized. hanover is intersected by important trunk lines of railway; notably the lines from berlin to cologne, from hamburg to frankfort-on-main, from hamburg to bremen and cologne, and from berlin to amsterdam. _history._--the name hanover (_hohenufer_ = high bank), originally confined to the town which became the capital of the duchy of luneburg-calenberg, came gradually into use to designate, first, the duchy itself, and secondly, the electorate of brunswick-luneburg; and it was officially recognized as the name of the state when in 1814 the electorate was raised to the rank of a kingdom. the early history of hanover is merged in that of the duchy of brunswick (q.v.), from which the duchy of brunswick-luneburg and its offshoots, the duchies of luneburg-celle and luneburg-calenberg have sprung. ernest i. (1497-1546), duke of brunswick-luneburg, who introduced the reformed doctrines into luneburg, obtained the whole of this duchy in 1539; and in 1569 his two surviving sons made an arrangement which was afterwards responsible for the birth of the kingdom of hanover. by this agreement the greater part of the duchy, with its capital at celle, came to william (1535-1592), the younger of the brothers, who gave laws to his land and added to its area; and this duchy of luneburg-celle was subsequently ruled in turn by four of his sons: ernest ii. (1564-1611), christian (1566-1633), augustus (d. 1636) and frederick (d. 1648). in addition to these four princes duke william left three other sons, and in 1610 the seven brothers entered into a compact that the duchy should not be divided, and that only one of them should marry and continue the family. casting lots to determine this question, the lot fell upon the sixth brother, george (1582-1641), who was a prominent soldier during the period of the thirty years' war and saw service in almost all parts of europe, fighting successively for christian iv. of denmark, the emperor ferdinand ii., and for the swedes both before and after the death of gustavus adolphus. in 1617 he aided his brother, duke christian, to add grubenhagen to luneburg, and after the extinction of the family of brunswick-wolfenbuttel in 1634, he obtained calenberg for himself, making hanover the capital of his small dukedom. in 1648, on duke frederick's death, george's eldest son, christian louis (d. 1665), became duke of luneburg-celle; and at this time he handed over calenberg, which he had ruled since his father's death, to his second brother, george william (d. 1705). when christian louis died george william succeeded him in luneburg-celle; but the duchy was also claimed by a younger brother, john frederick, a cultured and enlightened prince who had forsaken the lutheran faith of his family and had become a roman catholic. soon, however, by an arrangement john frederick received calenberg and grubenhagen, which he ruled in absolute fashion, creating a standing army and modelling his court after that of louis xiv., and which came on his death in 1679 to his youngest brother, ernest augustus (1630-1698), the protestant bishop of osnabruck. during the french wars of aggression the luneburg princes were eagerly courted by louis xiv. and by his opponents; and after some hesitation george william, influenced by ernest augustus, fought among the imperialists, while john frederick was ranged on the side of france. in 1689 george william was one of the claimants for the duchy of saxe-lauenburg, which was left without a ruler in that year; and after a struggle with john george