Nationalism in Germany
•
Two essay questions:
1.
Reasons for growth of German Nationalism,
e.g. “How important were cultural factors in
the growth of national feeling in Germany
between 1815 and 1850?” (2011)
2. How much German nationalism, e.g. “How
strong was nationalism in Germany by 1850?”
(2012)
Factors That Led to the
Growth of German Nationalism
1815 – 1850
Higher History
Main factors for growth…
1. Political Nationalism
(Napoleonic Wars,
Deutscher Bund, Carlsbad Decrees, 1848
revolutions)
2. Cultural Nationalism
language, literature, music)
(Geography, history,
3. Economic Nationalism
(Industrial
Revolution, Zollverein, Railways)
Background
• There had never been a united Germany,
the area we know as Germany up to 1789
had been a loose collection of 400+
states which were part of the Holy
Roman Empire.
• At this time nationalism (the desire for
a united state) was weak.
• However there were factors that would
draw these states together.
• The French writer Voltaire argued the
following about the Holy Roman Empire
• "This agglomeration which was called
and which still calls itself the Holy
Roman Empire was neither holy, nor
Roman, nor an empire."
Holy Roman Empire Crown
Geography
• There were distinct boundaries that
separated Germany from other states
e.g. the Rhine in the west, the Alps to
the south.
• THINK of Scotland’s borders.
History
• A long history of struggle against its
neighbours, especially the French, was
something that most Germans were
proud of.
1. Political Nationalism
• Political nationalism grew with the
spread of new ideas about Liberalism
and Nationalism.
• Nationalism was the desire of people
with a common national identity to have
their own country.
• Liberalism was the desire to have a
parliament where rulers were elected by
the people of the country.
(a) The Napoleonic Wars
1789-1815
•
•
Between 1800 and
1815 the German
states had been
conquered by the
French leader
Napoleon Bonaparte.
Napoleon merged the
hundreds of German
states into 38 larger
states called the
Confederation of the
Rhine.
• At first German nationalists were
inspired by the French Revolution’s
ideas of liberty and nationalism, they
hoped the invading French would free
and unite them too.
• By 1813 when it became clear Napoleon
was a conqueror the Germans united to
force the French out of Germany, this
provoked strong nationalist feelings.
(b) The Deutscher Bund
(German Confederation)
•
•
•
After Napoleon’s defeat, and the
expulsion of the French, ‘Germany’ was
reformed in 1815 into 39 states.
The Confederation of the Rhine was
replaced by the German
Confederation.
Nationalists hoped that this ‘Bund’
would be the beginning of a united
German state.
• In 1815 Austria was the
strongest European
mainland power but new
ideas like liberalism and
nationalism threatened
the unity of the
Austrian Empire.
• The man associated with
protecting the unity and
power of the Austrian
Empire was Prince
Metternich.
Analysis
• Although it would be convenient to see the
confederation as a step towards unification it
would not be a fair assessment.
• The rulers within the German Confederation
did not support Liberalism or Nationalism. The
German Confederation was mainly a renamed
Confederation of the Rhine, with very few
changes. The Assembly of the German
Confederation – also called the DIET –
represented the rulers of the German states,
not the people. Rule 2 of the Confederation
said “The aim of the German Confederation is
to … guard the independence of the separate
German states”.
(c) Student Societies and the
Carlsbad Decrees
• Feelings of a common German identity
had grown under the French occupation.
With a common enemy to dislike, many
German students were attracted to the
idea of a stronger and more united
Germany. As part of their university
courses, these students moved between
the German states and so nationalist
ideas spread. The students hated
Metternich.
• In 1817, conflict between Metternich
and the students reached a peak at the
festival in Wartburg Saxony when a life
sized model of Metternich was thrown
onto a fire.
• Metternich was furious and worried. If
nationalist and liberal ideas spread,
Austria’s power would be weakened.
• The result was the Carlsbad Decrees of
1819, which banned student societies
and censored newspapers.
• The following year the power of the
DIET was increased so that soldiers
could be ordered to stop the spread of
new ideas in any of the German states.
Analysis
• After the Carlsbad Decrees it seemed
as if moves towards political nationalism
were dead.
• As people were forbidden to spread new
ideas it would be very difficult for
political nationalism to take hold.
• Metternich appeared to have won his
battle against nationalism and liberalism.
(d) 1848 Revolutions
• Will study in detail in issue 2.
• Issue 1 covers up to 1850 so be careful
when reading the essay title – if title
goes up to 1850 then the revolutions
should be mentioned.
• Revolutions occurred in most European
countries during 1848. In March of that
year, demonstrations took place in
Berlin and other German cities.
• Both Liberals and Nationalists
supported the revolutions of 1848.
• Nationalists wanted the creation of a
united country ruled by an elected
national parliament. Liberals wanted
freedom of speech, freedom of the
press and political rights.
Analysis
• Those revolutions suggest there was
growing support for nationalism in
Germany.
• But the failure of the revolutions to
bring about big changes by 1850 suggest
that nationalists were not yet strong
enough to challenge the power of
Austria.
2. Cultural Nationalism
• In 1806 the head of the University of Berlin,
Fichte, summed up the meaning of cultural
nationalism when he wrote in his ‘Address to
the German Nation’ that Germans should see
themselves as German rather than belonging
to any small part of Germany. He described
Germany as the fatherland where all people
spoke the same language and sang the same
songs. He ended by saying that freedom is
the right to be German and sort out one’s own
problems without interference from
foreigners.
Cultural Nationalism - Language
• In 1815 there were strong pro – German
feelings as most people within the
borders of the old Holy Roman Empire
spoke German, this was a powerful
unifying force.
• Think: Britain has a ‘special relationship’
with which country, what is the main
thing they have in common?
Culture
• A distinctive German literature – writers such as
Hegel, Goethe and Schiller recognised common
German characteristics – things that identified a
person as German.
• German folk tales compiled and published by the
Brothers Grimm. The first collection of fairy
tales Children's and Household Tales was published in
1812 and it contained more than 200 fairy tales. In
the original published forms, the Grimm's fairy tales
were very dark and violent, in contrast to the lighter,
modern "Disney versions" of those tales – e.g. Snow
White or Hansel and Gretel.
• The music of Beethoven also helped to unify the
German peoples.
• Scotland has examples of a uniquely distinctive
culture too.
Cultural Nationalism - Analysis
• The growing popularity of German
musicians and writers gave people a
sense of belonging – in other words, a
national identity was growing.
• Cultural nationalism is a factor in the
growth of German nationalism but
perhaps not the most important.
Cultural Nationalism - Analysis
• Very few Germans could read and even
less could afford to go to musical
concerts to hear the music of
Beethoven.
• Historian Golo Mann questioned the
importance of cultural nationalism when
he wrote that most Germans ‘seldom
looked up from the plough’. In other
words most Germans either did not
know about big national issues or were
more concerned with surviving day to
day.
3. Economic Nationalism
• You know that political nationalism was
virtually dead between 1820 and 1848,
suppressed by the Carlsbad Decrees.
• You also know that cultural nationalism
was important to some people but to
most Germans it was not vital to their
everyday lives.
• However, economic nationalism had a
much greater effect on the lives of
most Germans and as a result was an
important factor in encouraging
nationalist feeling.
• As Germany was divided into so many little
states moving goods across Germany could be
a slow and expensive business. As each small
state imposed its own customs or taxes on
goods passing through their borders this
added to the overall price making goods
expensive e.g. moving goods like coal from
West Prussia to East Prussia meant passing
through 4 other German states which could
double the price!
• In 1815 Prussia was lucky in that it had coal
and iron, the vital ingredients for an
industrial revolution. To encourage trade,
Prussia formed a customs union in 1818. That
meant members of the union would not have
to pay taxes on goods as they were
transported from one state to another.
• By the 1830s the customs union was called the
Zollverein.
• This meant no country in the Zollverein would
put heavy taxes on its member’s goods, this
made them cheaper and so trade increased.
• By 1836 25 German states were in the
Zollverein and getting rich.
• Only one German state was excluded –
Austria.
• As a result, the German states began to look
to more nationalistic Prussia for leadership.
At the same time Austrian trade lost out and
the empire became weaker, increasingly
Austria was pushed out of Germany and even
the Catholic states of the south wanted to
join the Zollverein and follow Prussia.
Analysis
• The Zollverein showed many Germans
the benefits a united Germany would
bring.
• Without the Zollverein, Prussia would
not have had the muscle to defeat the
power of Austria. The Zollverein
brought German states together,
excluded Austria and increased the
power of Prussia.
• Historian William Carr has called the
Zollverein the, ‘mighty lever of German
unification’.
Growth of Railways
• As trade increased, the rail network grew.
• Again Prussia took the lead and became even
richer and more powerful. The new rail
network centred in Prussia.
• Towns and cities grew in size.
• Analysis - Railways did not only spread goods
but also broke down barriers between states
and spread the idea of nationalism. As more
people were living closer together new ideas
spread more easily.