ly due to the necessity of maintaining an
appearance of unity in view of the disturbed state of European
politics. In 1665 the branch of Anhalt-Coethen became extinct, and
according to a family compact this district was inherited by Lebrecht
of Anhalt-Ploetzkau, who surrendered Ploetzkau to Bernburg, and took
the title of prince of Anhalt-Coethen. In the same year the princes
of Anhalt decided that if any branch of the family became extinct its
lands should be equally divided between the remaining branches. This
arrangement was carried out after the death of Frederick Augustus
of Anhalt-Zerbst in 1793, and Zerbst was divided between the three
remaining princes. During these years the policy of the different
princes was marked, perhaps intentionally, by considerable uniformity.
Once or twice Calvinism was favoured by a prince, but in general the
house was loyal to the doctrines of Luther. The growth of Prussia
provided Anhalt with a formidable neighbour, and the establishment
and practice of primogeniture by all branches of the family
prevented further divisions of the principality. In 1806 Alexius of
Anhalt-Bernburg was created a duke by the emperor Francis II., and
after the dissolution of the Empire each of the three princes took
this title. Joining the Confederation of the Rhine in 1807, they
supported Napoleon until 1813, when they transferred their
allegiance to the allies; in 1815 they became members of the Germanic
Confederation, and in 1828 joined, somewhat reluctantly, the Prussian
_Zollverein_.

[v.02 p.0046]

Anhalt-Coethen was ruled without division by a succession of princes,
prominent among whom was Louis (d. 1650), who was both a soldier and a
scholar; and after the death of Prince Charles at the battle of
Semlin in 1789 it passed to his son Augustus II. This prince sought to
emulate the changes which had recently been made in France by dividing
Coethen into two departments and introducing the Code Napoleon. Owing
to his extravagance he left a large amount of debt to his nephew and
successor, Louis II., and on this account the control of the finances
was transferred from the prince to the estates. Under Louis's
successor Ferdinand, who was a Roman Catholic and brought the Jesuits
into Anhalt, the state of the finances grew worse and led to the
interference of the king of Prussia and to the appointment of a
Prussian official. When the succeeding prince, Henry, died in 1847,
this family became extinct, a