Until the nineteenth century, the “German nation existed
solely on the plane of language and culture” (Schulze 90). Germany faced many
challenges in becoming a nation, most of which stemmed from the rest of Europe
objecting since at the time any major development in one country impacted the
other countries as well. Despite its
challenges, in 1871 Germany became a united nation. Along the way, a national identity evolved
within the people of Germany, and this national identity and subsequent protesting played a role in its journey toward
unification.
Contextualizing this political time period within the
broader time period, it is no surprise that people began to make demands of their
government after the birth of the Enlightenment Period, a time that reinforced ideas that were sparked by
Martin Luther such as having a voice for oneself and using that voice to fight
for what one believed in (Schulze 93).
Laukhard, who had served in the French army, noted that the
French had such a strong army because of “a warm love of their country that
Germans do not know, because as Germans they have no country” (Schulze
101). While Germans had no country at
the time, several events with the French pushed German citizens to
feel a sense of unprecedented nationalism.
At first, the German sense of nationalism seemed
to come from their disdain for France.
Around 1806, The Confederation of Rhine adopted many French
institutions, but soon Germans began to dislike the control that French
had and resented the fact that their government was allowing it to happen,
which sparked the beginning of the national movement (Schulze 104).
Above is a map of the Confederation of Rhine, which consisted of all German nations except Prussia and Austria (Schulze 104). (1)
Pictured above is Napoleon, who "crowned himself 'Emperor of the French'" in1804 (Schulze 98). (2)
Once Napoleon accepted defeat in 1814, those who had pushed for German
nationalism expected a united Germany, but unfortunately, the rest of Europe
did not want a united Germany because they wanted to use Germany as a "playing field to balance their own interests" (Schulze 110).
Consequently university students became enraged, burning
anti-nationalistic books, and even killing an anti-revolutionist writer (Schluze 110-111). These university students also represented themselves with the colors black, red, and gold, the current colors of the German flag, inspired by the uniforms of the volunteer corps many of them served in (Schulze 110). In addition to those protests, citizens also
protested and supported nationalism through written texts, pamphlets and
flyers, works of scholarship, speeches, and even a choral festival (Schulze 120-1).
Pictured above is August von Kotzebue, the German anti-nationalist writer who was killed by Carl Sand, the first political murder in Germany in 500 years (Schulze, 111). (3)
The government tried to suppress the nationalist movement, but some rulers knew deep down that they would not be able to contain
it. Austrian chancellor, Klemens Prince Metternich
chronicled in his diary, “My most secret thought is that the old Europe has
reached the beginning of the end” (Schulze 111). As the nationalist movement evolved and gained momentum, the authorities cracked down even further, wanting to prevent
anything akin to the French revolution from occurring in Germany. This suppression drove a "wedge" between the people and the state (Schulze 118).
In 1840, the nationalist movement gained even more momentum because the French desired to expand its borders toward German territory, and once again, the German people did not feel that their government was acting strongly enough, which ignited widespread protests (Schulze 119). The German nationalist movement seemed to be at its peak in 1848 when another French king was overthrown. Schulze noted, "There was fighting in the streets in virtually every German territorial capital" (Schulze 123).
Pictured above is a scene from the German Revolution of 1848. It is evident that by this point the national movement was extremely strong and the German national identity was widespread. As pictured, during this time, "the black, red, and gold flag of the national movement was hoisted almost everywhere in Germany" (Schulze 124). (4)
The German people were by no means solely responsible
for Germany gaining nationhood, and the founding of Germany as a nation had a
lot to do with Otto von Bismarck’s leadership. Ironically, Bismarck was disliked by the national movement, which he used to his advantage so that he could catch everyone off guard with his plan. It is evident, however that the push from
the people made a difference. For instance, since rulers were afraid of
a massive revolution, in many cases they eventually cooperated with citizens. For example, in 1848 Frederick William IV withdrew
troops and called a national assembly to “placate the populace” (Schulze 124). Additionally, the Southern German governments
“could see no viable path other than joining the North German Confederation, on
whatever terms might be offered” because they faced so much patriotism and pressure from the
populace (Schulze 145).
Pictured above is Otto von Bismarck, a conservative Prussian prime minster under whose leadership Germany was unified (Schulze, 138). (5)
As noted by Schulze, “German unification by no means came
about solely on orders from above, from the ruling princes and their
governments, but also as a result of clamor from below, from the forces of the
liberal, middle-class national movement” (Schulze 145). The German people demanded a unified nation,
and in the end, they got one.
Word Count: 773
Picture Sources
(1) http://www.napoleonguide.com/images/confedrhine_fron.jpg
(2) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/50/Jacques-Louis_David_-_The_Emperor_Napoleon_in_His_Study_at_the_Tuileries_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
(3) http://www.preussenchronik.de/bilder/190_August_von_Kotzebue.jpeg
(4) http://orig14.deviantart.net/e6a2/f/2010/355/7/1/german_revolution_1848_by_arminius1871-d35cd2s.jpg
(5) http://i.onthisday.com/otto-von-bismarck-200.jpg
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