What did he mean by this /his/ ?
It was just bants
>>996728
He meant he was a cheeky bastard.
It was holy as declared by their clergy, it was Roman as declared by their emperor claiming descent from Charlemagne (Charlemagne carried on the spirit of Rome) and it was an empire (it was a collection of otherwise separate smaller German kingdoms.
>>996728
"Voltaire is neither Voltaire."- Voltaire.
>>996737
WIR WAR RÖMER UND SCHEISSE
>>996728
After an extensive analysis I have come to the conclusion that he simply means that the agglomeration which was called and which still calls itself the Holy Roman Empire was neither holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.
Voltaire was heavily influenced by Newtonian physics and believe that human society was subjected to physical laws, just like the material world, and that if you found the right levers (through "muh reason") you could find the perfect, reasonable form of organizing society which would be true for all societies and which therefore an enlightened caste of intellectuals should use the central government to impose these rational laws of government uniformly across the entire world.
The Holy Roman Empire was the opposite of that. It was a traditional, multiethnic empire governmed by custom, extremely descentralized. In the eyes of Voltaire, it was the epitome of irrational state-building, that's why he hated it.
Of course, history proved that Voltaire was full of bullshit. States that tried to apply "rational" government in an uniform way, through social engineering and fighting custom and tradition are notorious shitholes. Voltairean Germany was East Germany, and that shit was so bad they had to shoot people so they wouldn't leave.
>>996930
Voltaire's ideal government was The Kingdom of Prussia, which as we know was one of the most successful states in the centuries that followed.
""HOLY""
""""ROMAN""""
""""""""""""EMPIRE""""""""""""
>>996728
Exactly what he fucking said
>>996937
And then it's ideology led directly to Nazi Germany.
>>996737
>t. assmad german
>>996737
>(it was a collection of otherwise separate smaller German kingdoms.
Not just German Kingdoms. Parts of Italy and Bohemia were also in it, not to mention the 16th century Spanish Habsburg Empire, which people often fail to realise was the HRE too.
>>997093
He's right though.
>>996930
>Voltaire was one of the staunchest supporters of individual liberty in the ancien regime
>claim he would've preferred east Germany over west Germany to awkwardly shoehorn your hatred of him into you analysis
>>997104
the spanish holdings of the habsburgs were not a part of the HRE
unless i missed your meaning
>>997124
He wasn't a supporter of individual liberty. As I said, Voltaire political philosophy was influenced by Newtonian physics, he believed in static laws governing human activity and that a state should guide itself by these laws, using "reason". If "reason" said to crush individual liberty, then he would be all for it.
After all, was there any state in XVIIIth century with more individual freedom in continental Europe that the Holy Roman Empire? And yet he hated it and love Prussia, where a regimented, rational society was being created by it's authoritarian, totalitarian kings. It just goes to show how he would love East Germany, which was the heir to Prussianism. West Germany, on the other hand, was heir to the traditions of the Holy Roman Empire and of Southern German resistance to centralization. Konrad Adenauer was from the former Free City of Cologne, he allied with Bavarian regionalists and hated Prussia himself.
>>997127
They were part of the Emperor's realm, just like his possessions in Germany and Italy were.
>>997147
yes they were ruled by the same person however not as the emperor (but rather as the king of spain) nor were they a part of the HRE
>
>
>
>>996728
DESIGNATED EMPIRE
I actually have no idea why he didn't consider it an Empire when it clearly was by our understanding.
Maybe he was more concerned with the spirit of an Empire.
>>996939
Except the Romans themselves blessed Charlemagne as inheritor of the Roman Spirit.
Kind of unrelated, but Charlemagne was also to wed empress Irene at one point. That would have been weird.
>>999594
That map shows exactly why it was an empire
Empires are made up of more than one nation by definition
>>1000481
Too bad Charlemagne was the ruler of the Frankish Empire and had nothing to do with the >H >R >E that appeared centuries after his death
>>1000495
True, but it's also true that Otto, the first Holy Roman Emperor was also crowned king of the Romans by the pope, just like Charlemagne.
So if that was enough to make Charlemagne a roman inheritor, it's enough for Otto.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""holy""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
I've grown to hate this quote so much.
Not because I hate that someone would make fun of the HRE, but because it's become the initial reaction to any mention of the HRE ever, which I blame on John Green the meme queen who used it in a video.
I hate that faggot.
>>996728
>>997124
That's not what decentralization means
>>1000576
To be fair, Candide is pretty bad.
>>1000575
It's a /gsg/ meme, faggot.
>>1000594
t. I have no sense of humor
>>1000633
he's not wrong, though
>>996737
*cough*
>>1000651
"refused to set foot in it"?
>>997141
He could still be right, applying physics to various fields is gaining speed as a thing and working quite well, it's just that the things you have to do are orders of magnitude more complex than what was around in is time.
>>1000694
Yeah teutoburg happened we all know. But it's not like the romans were losing their time in Germania anyway. Guys were poor barbarians
>>1000637
>he's not wrong, though
it's pretty funny and what else is like it in that historical and political time environment?
>>996937
t. Fredrik von groSSpreuSSen
>>99672>>996728
ęėēëêéè
HE CANT KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH IIIIIIIIIIIIIIT
If you had the chance to remove him from history, would you?
So how should we call it?
>>1001077
>HRE
>Charlemagnes Empire
This triggers me so fucking much.
it had an emperor, so fuck you smug philosophy frog
>>1000831
>w-we didn't want to conquer you anyway
>>996728
>Voltaire will never teach you how to bantz properly
>>1000594
t.assblasted Christcuck
>>1000594
I want to fuck that meme.
>>1000576
He does look disgusting too, so greasy, and that hair overall is just fucked up.
