in the war with Austria, was added to the Emperor's
head. In 1870 the Franco-German War resulted in the downfall of the
monarchy, and the head of Liberty reappears on a series of postage
stamps issued in Paris during its investment by the German army. The
issue of the stamps of Alsace and Lorraine in 1870 marks the
annexation of the conquered territory.

Italy in 1850 was a land of many petty states, each more or less a law
unto itself, and each, in the fifties, issuing its own separate series
of postage stamps. The stamps of the Pontifical States are made
familiar by their typical design of a tiara and keys, and pompous King
Bomba ordered the best engraver to be found to immortalise him in a
portrait for a series of stamps. The other states had each its own
heraldic design till the foundations of the Kingdom of Italy were
laid, in 1859-60, by the union of the Lombardo-Venetian States, the
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, the Duchies
of Parma and Modena, the Romagna and the Roman (or Pontifical) States
with Piedmont. The first issue of stamps of the newly formed kingdom
bore a portrait of King Victor Emmanuel II. with profile turned to the
right. In 1863, after the Kingdom of Sardinia had been merged in the
Kingdom of Italy, a new series was issued for united Italy. The same
king's portrait appears, but turned to the left. In 1879 King Humbert
succeeded Victor Emmanuel, and his portrait appeared on an issue in
the year of his accession. The assassination of King Humbert and the
accession of his son as Victor Emmanuel III. are followed by the new
portrait of the new king on the current series of the stamps of Italy.

The stamps of Germany tell a somewhat similar story. They mark the
stages of gradual absorption into a confederation of states, and the
ultimate creation of a German Empire. The postal issues of Baden
ceased in 1871, when the Grand Duchy was incorporated in the Empire.
Bavaria, though also incorporated, holds out in postal matters, and
still issues its separate series. Bergedorf was in 1867 placed under
the control of the free city of Hamburg, and thereupon ceased issuing
stamps. Bremen, Brunswick, Hamburg, Lubeck, Mecklenburg-Strelitz,
Oldenburg, Prussia, Saxony, and Schleswig-Holstein formed the North
German Confederation, and closed their postal accounts with collectors
in 1868. Hanover became a province of Prussia after the war of 1866,
and thereupon ceased its separate issue of