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Influence of the industrial revolution
Influence of the industrial revolution
Influence of the industrial revolution
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Prior to unification in 1871 the territory that would become Germany was comprised of thirty-nine independent states and city states joined together in a loose German Confederation. The most powerful among these states was Prussia, both geographically the largest state and that with the largest population. The influential politicians and policies that came out of Prussia were instrumental in the gradual formation of a united Germany. Beginning with the rise of Napoleon, the nineteenth century was a time of incredible change which dramatically altered the political balance of Europe. In order to understand the factors that culminated in official German unification on January 18 1871, it is necessary to examine the preceding decades. No single factor can be credited for the unification of the German states. Rather, the combined forces of social change, economic strength within a unified customs union, the moral justifications provided by nationalism, Bismarck’s careful manipulation of internal politics and the advantages gained through military action resulted in the unification of Germany.
One factor with somewhat minimal impact in the unification of Germany, however one still worthy of mentioning, was cultural cohesion and social change. During the nineteenth century the Romantic movement developed throughout Europe and in Germany it took the form of celebrating the German heritage and promoting cultural pride. Romantics such as Friedrich Ludwig Jahn glorified the rich history of the German peoples. Through literature and art romantics expressed the idea of Germany as “an organic folk community wrapped in a cloak of tradition” They strived to create a homogenous identity for all Germans. Another force with widespread social impac...
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Even prior to the Austro-Prussian War, there were divisions between the two states. Though they were allies for many years due to the German population that existed in both, they began to both grasp for power within the German states. One example of this power struggle occurred in the Zollverein, an economic association that Prussia led. Prussia did not want Austria to be part of this economic group and thus “blocked Austrian entry into the Zollverein.” In 1849-1850 the states were even on the brink of war. Prussia attempted to create a German union, with itself at the forefront, but Austria “called the Prussian bluff by adopting a belligerent posture.” As a result, Prussia lost what power it had accumulated in the maneuver when it signed the Olmutz Convention, which “re-established the old German Confederation.” Two wars were also influential on the conflict between Austria and Prussia. In the Cri...
When Otto von Bismarck was recalled from Paris to become Minister-President of Prussia in 1862, German nationalism was already more than 40 years old. First apparent in the opposition to Napoleon´s occupation of the German states, national feeling grew into a movement after 1815. This feeling was encouraged by a growth of interest in German literature and music and by increased economic cooperation between the north German states. By 1848 it was strong enough to make the creation of a united Germany one of the main demands of the revolutionaries. Otto von Bismarck was a Prussian patriot who inherited the traditions of love of king, army and country from his family.
In 1914, Europe was diving into two separate powers. One was Triple Entente composed of France, Russia and Britain. Other one was Triple Alliance, consists of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy. (Pope 2) Each of the countries was connected with different treaties. The caused of European countries’ unstable political situation and threat of war was present. By arranging alliances with other governments, most countries found ways to protect themselves from assault. While Germany was becoming the center of the struggle, Europe made a spider web of tangled alliance that led most countries into two opposing powers. (Hamilton 16) In the late nineteenth century, the most surprising event in Europe was the birth of united state of Germany. Under the leadership of the Chancellor of Germany, Otto von Bismarck, system of alliances was established to achieve peace in Europe. By 1890, Bismarck succeeded in having every major power into his alliance system...
The Songerweg emphasizes the particular model of history that Germany, unlike other Western countries, has gone through. Specifically, ‘proponents of this concept emphasize the peculiarities of German history, such as political institutions, social structures, or mentalities and experience, usually in comparison with other Western countries, to demonstrate the unique course of German history’ (Buse & Doerr, 1998, p. 934). Although initially the theory of Sonderweg viewed the characteristics of German historical development as positive, the situation has changed after the World War II. Specifically, in the 19th and early 20th centuries historians applied the Sonderweg model to stress a focus on the role of strong central state and military as the driving force of the development of the country (Buse & Doerr, 1998). In addition to this, historians regarded social reforms in Germany that were made from ‘above’ rather than being the outcomes of revolution to be a positive feature that depicted German state in a favorable way. Finally, the historical school viewed the course of German industrialization and culture as superior to similar processed in the rest of Western European
The general public of Germany had never had any say in political matters; they allowed the Kaiser to make all the decisions regarding themselves and their once-prosperous country. The groups controlling Germany began to change during October and November 1918. More power began to fall into the hands of the people as they realised the blame for their involvement in the war was the Kaiser’s. People such as the armed soldiers, sailors and workers started protesting and going on strike. This was a far cry from before the war, when Germany was wealthy, proud and ambitious. So for a brief period, it seemed that a revolution would take place, with the people of Germany wanting a social and political revolution.
Richard Bessel’s article stresses the political structure of Weimar Germany as the cause of its failure. Its structure was flawed in numerous ways, all of which contributed to its inevitable failure. First of all, the problems within Germany due to the First World War were massive. This caused economic, political and social problems which first had to be dealt with by the new Weimar government. The loss of the war had left Germany with huge reparations to pay, and massive destruction to repair. In order to gain the capital needed to finance efforts to rebuild, and repay the Allies, the economy had to be brought back to its prewar levels. This was not an easy task.
In an era riddled with unrest, massive expansion, technological advances and widespread migration of people, the German Empire remains the quintessence of it. An empire of unparalleled impact, even today we are discovering more and more information about this empire. The German Empire was officially created in 1871 after the defeat of the French in the Franco-Prussian War. The unification of the German people created an environment that allowed for the rapid development and rise on the global stage of the German Empire. The people under the rule of the German empire ultimately had their livelihoods increased because of it.
In 19th century Italian states united to make Italy while the Germanic states united and made Germany. For Italy there were three people who had a major role in unifying Italy. They were Mazzini, Garibaldi and Cavour. For Germany it was more like one person who united the German states to make Germany and that was Bismarck. On the other hand there was a strong Austrian empire that would not tolerate any nationalist feelings to rise anywhere in Europe.
The German Reunification failed in its attempt to bring the two Germanys together after being separated for nearly 45 years. The myriad of negative ramifications brought about by the Reunification only strengthened the divide between the East and West Germans. The devaluation of the East German mark and depopulation of East German cities, along with unemployment and poor living conditions, instigated discontent among the East Germans. West Germany’s “taking over” of East Germany in the act of Reunification induced a lopsided economy with its Eastern half still trying to catch up to its Western half, establishing the myth of German Reunification.
desires for constitutional and parliamentary reform, the nationalist. movement pushed for unification through the violent revolutions of March 1848. They succeeded and their ruling princes granted... ... middle of paper ... ...southern states and Alsace-Lorraine were incorporated into the new The German Empire.. Therefore, it is evident that whilst nationalism was one factor that contributed to the unification of Germany.
Fulbrook, Mary. A Concise History of Germany. 2nd ed. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Print.
Generally speaking, Germans’ federalism suffers several logic flaws. Firstly, they view the cooperation between the countries too simply and strongly influenced by the "economic determinism". The achievements mainly in the field of economic and monetary integration so far cannot be equal to the future success of the integration in the political arena. Secondly, German vision is overly idealistic and thinks that as long as to establish a United States of Europe can get rid of the all the complex problems in Europe and less decision-making efficiency. Realistic and logical conclusion should be: although European integration to some extent will has in-depth development, but this development ultimately has its limitations, which can only reach
In the early 1800’s there wasn’t a real Germany, there were several small states that were all speaking German. Then, in 1862 King William 1 makes Otto von Bismarck the prime minister of Prussia, the biggest German state at the time. Otto von Bismarck had the second highest political position and thus a lot of power. Prussia was the online state that was comparable to Austria in wealth and size at that time. Austria did not like the idea of German unification because they saw it was a threat to them. At that time Prussia was the most industrialized state, producing more resources like coal and iron than Austria. Bismarck’s idea is that the power of a country comes from “blood and iron”, or warfare and industrialization. Thus, Bismarck’s first move is to strengthen the Prussian army for use when his plan to unification leads to war. However, the Prussian parliament didn’t want to pay for this. Bismarck neglected this and collected money through taxation. Bismarck wants to unite the German states under Prussian rule, however there are 2 main obstacles; France and Austria. France and Austria did not want to see a united Germany because a united Germany would have much more power and was seen as a threat to their own countries/empires.
The Unification of Germany Bismarck Otto von Bismarck achieved the unification of the disjointed German states through the skillful understanding of realpolitikand the Machiavellian use of war as a political tool to eliminate Germany's rival nations, gain the support of the German people and gain territory. This ultimately created a German legacy of strong militaristic tendencies, scheming national relations, and economic clout challenging the European heavyweights like England and France. Bismarck's plan for unification began with his instigation of war with the small German states of Schleswig and Holstein over an insignificant dispute concerning the governing of the states. Bismarck's next move was to bring on a war with Austria resulting from minor disputes over the Schleswig-Holstein conflict. With a victory for Prussia in this second conflict, Bismarck's remaining European rival was France.