Very few readers of this forum (British or American) were taught 19th Century history at school.
In a nutshell, after the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, modern day Germany was a collection of small kingdoms, free cities, principalities and so on, with Austria and Prussia vying to be the principal states. In the end Prussia came out on top and in 1871 succeeded in unifying all the German states except for Austria under its king - Kaiser Wilhelm I. His grandson became Kaiser Wilhelm II of World War I fame. Where does metrication fit in? A few years after Napoleon's exile the German states set up a custom union (Zollverein - "zoll" = "customs" and "verein" = "association"). In 1842, as the reference (http://home.fonline.de/fo0126//geschichte/groessen/mas1.htm) shows that weights and measures were a real mess - Section I (right hand side of the page) gives links to "The principal units of measure in Bavaria" , Section II give links to "The principal units of measure in the German States" and Section III give links to "The principal units of measure in Europe". In 1850, the German Customs Union introduced the "Zollpfund" or "customs pound" of 500 g" and when German Unification was achieved in 1871, the metric system was adopted across the entire empire. Italy was undergoing a unification exercise at the same time, and she too, in 1871 achieved unification and also adopted the metric system across the entire country. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bernard Rachtmann" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Sent: Saturday, January 27, 2007 5:06 PM Subject: Re: [USMA:37892] Re: Are there Decimeters ? If sow then Where? I find it very telling that this kingdom standardized their local "pfund" on 500 grammes. Many countries continue to use their former customary measures, or at least in a tradename sense. The units are of course defined to rounded metric values. This could explain how Germany made such a smooth transition to metric and is probably the most metric country today. On Sat, 27 Jan 2007 09:29:46 -0000, "Martin Vlietstra" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> said: > If you visit http://home.fonline.de/fo0126//geschichte/groessen/mas10.htm > you will see a list of French units of measure as seen through the eyes > of a Bavarian schoolbook in 1842. There is no mention of a kilometer (or > anything that is 1000 m in length), but the myriametre (no symbol given) > is mentioned. If you look at the Dutch units (Königreich Holland) on the > same website (different page - > http://home.fonline.de/fo0126//geschichte/groessen/mas11.htm) you will > see that the mile (mijl in Dutch, Meile in German) was quoted as being > 1000 metres). > > It should be remembered that in 1842 Bavaria was an independent kingdom > that did not use the metric system. (That came in 1850). > > BTW, this website is in German, but for those who have a smattering of > German, it makes intersting reading. > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Bill Hooper > To: U.S. Metric Association > Sent: Saturday, January 27, 2007 2:03 AM > Subject: [USMA:37886] Re: Are there Decimeters ? If sow then Where? > > > > > On 2007 Jan 26 , at 12:06 AM, Pat Naughtin wrote: > (in connection with my claim that early on their were just 6 metric > prefixes, mill-, centi-, deci-. deca- (or deka-), hecto-, and kilo-. > > Question, Bill. What about the myriametre (mym)? Was myria (symbol > my) not one of the original prefixes standing for 10 000 metres? > > > Yes, there was a multiple of the metre named the myriametre. I wasn't > sure of the facts on this unit and didn't want to confuse the train of > thought of the rest of my description to explain all that, so I left it > out. Technically that was an error but it does not affect the meaning > or intent of the rest of the discussion. Am I correct in suggesting > that the prefix myria- was never used with anything but metre? > > > > Regards, > Bill Hooper > Fernandina Beach, Florida, USA > > > ========================== > SImplification Begins With SI. > ========================== > > > -- Bernard Rachtmann [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- http://www.fastmail.fm - Accessible with your email software or over the web
