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Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (), or Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, was an Ernestine duchy ruled by a branch of the House of Wettin, consisting of territories in the present-day States of Bavaria and Thuringia of Germany. It lasted from 1826 to 1918. The name Saxe-Coburg-Gotha also refers to the family of the ruling House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which played many varied roles in the dynastic and political history of Europe in the 19th and 20th centuries. At one time, in the beginning of the 20th century, before the First World War, it was the family of the sovereigns of the United Kingdom, Belgium, Portugal, Bulgaria, and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. In 1910 the Portuguese king was deposed, this occurred in Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in 1918 and Bulgaria in 1946. branches of the family reign in Belgium, the United Kingdom, and the other Commonwealth realms. The former Tsar of Bulgaria, Simeon II (reigned 1943-1946), kept his surname while serving as the Prime Minister of Bulgaria from 2001 to 2005. ==History== The Duchy was born when the arbitration of the King of Saxony, Frederick Augustus, produced the Treaty of Hildburghausen on 12 November 1826 for the ''"Gothaischen Teilung''" (Division ), the extensive rearrangement of the Ernestine duchies. After the extinction of the Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg line, the Duke of Saxe-Hildburghausen exchanged his Duchy for that of Saxe-Altenburg. The Saxe-Meiningen line became Saxe-Hildburghausen and got from Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld the Saalfelder territories as well as the District of Themar and the places of Mupperg, Mogger, Liebau and Oerlsdorf. The Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld received for that the Duchy of Saxe-Coburg, Districts of Königsberg and Sonnefeld from Saxe-Hildburghausen, and the properties of Callenberg and Gauerstadt from Saxe-Meiningen. By then, the Principality of Lichtenberg, on the Nahe River, had already been a part of the Duchy of Coburg for ten years. Ernest III, the sovereign of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, had received it in 1816 from the Congress of Vienna for providing assistance to the Allies in their war against France. But, because of the great distance from Coburg and of the unrest caused by the Hambach Festival, the Duke sold the Principality in 1834 to Prussia. The newly created Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha was initially a double duchy, ruled by Ernest III as Duke Ernest I in a personal union,〔 Erdmann, ''Coburg, Bayern und das Reich 1918–1923'', p. 2–3〕 but with only one vote in the ''Bundesrat''. The opportunity to unify the two duchies in 1826 was missed. After the ''Staatsgrundgesetz'' (House laws) of 1852, the duchies were bound in a political and real union.〔〔 Ulrich Hess, ''Geschichte Thüringens 1866 bis 1914'' (of Thuringen, 1866 to 1914'' ) (Vienna: ''Verlag Hermann Böhlaus Nachfolger'', 1991), ISBN 3-7400-0077-5, p. 223〕 They were then a quasi-federal unitary state.〔 Dressel, ''Die Entwicklung von Verfassung und Verwaltung in Sachsen-Coburg 1800–1826 im Vergleich'', p. 532〕〔 Georg Jellinek, ''Die Lehre von den Staatenverbindungen'' (Theory of the Unifications of States'' ) (Berlin: Verlag von O. Haering 1882), (p. 208 ff. )〕 Later attempts to merge the duchies failed in 1867 because the ''Landtag'' of Gotha did not want to assume the higher state debts of Coburg and in 1872 because of the questions about the administration of the whole union. The Duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha received on 3 May 1852 a national constitution, which had taken substantial parts of the fundamental rights from the Constitution of the National Assembly in Frankfurt. It also joined the German Zollverein in 1834, the North German Confederation in 1866 and the German Empire in 1871. At the ''Bundesrat'' in Berlin, where it had a seat, it kept its agents but, since 1913, like most of the other Thuringian states, it had to defer to the Grand Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen for the representation. Ernest I died in 1844. His elder son and successor, Ernest II, ruled until his own death in 1893. Because he had died childless, the throne of the two duchies would have passed to his late brother Prince Albert's male descendants. But Prince Albert was the husband of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom and his eldest son, Edward, the Prince of Wales, was already her heir apparent. Besides, he was prohibited by the Constitutions of both duchies from inheriting the throne if there were other eligible male heirs.〔 Harold Sandner, "II.1.4 Prinz Albert", ''Das Haus von Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha 1826 bis 2001'', page 86: "''Der zukünftige König von England und der vorraussichtliche englische Thronfolger sind von der von Regierung im Herzogtum ausgeschlossen''" (future King of England and the presumptive British Heir to the Throne are excluded from the government in the Duchy" )〕 But he had already renounced his claim in favour of his next brother, Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh. So Alfred became the next Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Alfred's only son, also named Alfred, died in 1899, so when Duke Alfred died in 1900 he was succeeded by his nephew the Duke of Albany, the 16-year-old son of Queen Victoria's youngest son, Leopold, Duke Alfred's next brother Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and his son Prince Arthur of Connaught having renounced their own claims to the succession. Reigning as Duke Carl Eduard, Charles Edward, because of his age, began under the Regency of Prince Ernst von Hohenlohe-Langenburg until he came of age in 1905. The new Duke also continued to use his British title, the Duke of Albany. But, because he chose to side with the Germans against the British in the First World War, he was stripped of his British titles in 1919.〔Almeric Fitzroy, Clerk of the Privy Council, (“The Titles Deprivation Act, 1917” ), ''The London Gazette'', Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, England, 28 March 1919, Issue No 31255, page 4000〕 After the November Revolution ended the monarchy in 1918, the two duchies became two different and independent states, the Free State of Coburg and the Republic (later Free State) of Gotha. But their leaders believed that their new countries were not economically feasible so they began to search for the possible mergers. Eventually, a referendum was held on 30 November 1919 and the decision was made. On 1 May 1920 the Free State of Gotha merged with the new State of Thuringia and the Free State of Coburg followed two months later, on 1 July 1920, by uniting with the Free State of Bavaria. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Saxe-Coburg and Gotha」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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