Within the context of the years 1789-1890, to what extent was the process of the unification of Germany shaped by war?
Introduction:
Previously to 1815 in central Europe, Germany consisted of 39 independent states, belonging to the Holy Roman Empire, which shared the same culture and language. In 1806 there was a shift in power as Napoleon I destroyed the Holy Roman Empire and 17 states were placed under direct French control in the Confederation of the Rhine. However, Prussia was determined to regain its position as the leading German state and in an alliance with Russia and Austria, Napoleon was defeated in 1814. In 1815, after Napoleon’s defeat, the Austrian Empire replaced the French control that was previously in place leading to the formation of the German Confederation. In 1862, Otto von Bismarck was appointed Minister President of Prussia to strengthen Prussia’s position above Austria and to further strengthen their position within Europe. During Bismarck’s politically active years, 1862-1890, he devised a plan to unify the German states and it is argued that the wars in Germany within the years 1860 and 1871 were the main cause of German unification. Nevertheless, it can also be argued that Otto von Bismarck’s personality, diplomacy and aims, the economy, the revolutions of 1848, the role of others and the emergence of Liberalism also played a role in the unifying the German states.
Napoleonic wars:
The French military occupied the part of Europe that was later named the German Empire. The French control saw the modernisation of the German states as before the Napoleonic wars Germany was even more diverse with an estimated one thousand states. The French control sparked the first signs of German nationalism and a...
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...ulturkampf’s main aims were to restrict political opposition; this is evident by Bismarck’s policies attempting to reduce the power of the Catholic Church and policies monitoring the freedom of the press. King Wilhelm I did not challenge Bismarck’s decisions and instead portrayed approval as Bismarck had threatened to resign and the King could see that he was a key vehicle in the unification of Germany. However, the Kulturkampf failed as a result of a third of the German population being Catholic and holding a strong belief in the Papal Infallibility Doctrine. The Kulturkampf’s policies led to these Catholic’s creating the Centre Party to oppose political oppression but this can be argued to have caused disunity in Germany. The Social Democratic Party threatened Bismarck’s ideologies of German society and for this reason, anti-socialist laws were introduced.
Germany was already on its way to unification in the early 1800s. The Congress of Vienna in 1815 had set up the German Confederation, with both Prussia and Austria-Hungary lacking the power to impose their rule over the area (Greusel 71). Austria-Hungary was generally seen as the more dominant of the German states. The capital of the German Confederation was Frankfurt, in the Austrian state of Hesse-Kassel (Headlam 87). Two solutions were considered to this duality: "Großdeutsche" and "Kleindeutsche." The Großdeutsche approach suggested a unification of all Ger...
He brought in the Carlsbad Decree, banning the teaching of nationalism and liberalism. Lecturers were expelled for teaching nationalism and students were not allowed to talk about liberal and nationalist ideas. On the other hand, the second most powerful Germanic state, Prussia was open to the idea of liberalism and nationalism. Prussia welcomed the idea of one German nation. Other states grew closer to Prussia and an economic union called Zollverein was created that did included Austria in it. This economic union allowed Prussia to improve its economic situation and its military. An attempt to unify Germany was made in 1848, which ended up in a partial failure. The 1848 attempt made it clear that the German’s wanted Germany without Austria. The attempt was partially a failure because Prussian king did not take the title of German Emperor since the commoners were giving it and it made the Prussian King feel
Berghahn Books. 2000 Germany and the Germans. After the Unification of the. New Revised Edition. John Ardagh.
The first major reason that the Weimar republic failed was that it was extremely inefficient and did not have clear goals set within the government. All the different ideas coming from the parties in the republic, created a situation where the people of Germany were getting very unclear, vague messages. This problem can be seen in the struggle between the German Democratic Party and the Communist Party. Troeltsch, a theologian and leader of the German Democratic Party said, “The development will not stop at democracy, and a ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ will assume the form of terrorist domination by a minority” (Doc 1). This statement is only somewhat reliable because Troeltsch was a politician, and he would benefit from over exaggerating what would happen if the opposing party were to gain control. The exact opposite of this idea is the view of Communist Party member Clara Zetkin. When she talks about how the only way that Germany can really get rid of monarchy is by having a proletariat uprising it can be seen that she obviously embraces communist policy. (Doc 3)....
In 1866 the Austro-Prussian War broke out between the two German states of Prussia and Austria. There had been conflicts between the two in previous decades, but Prussia, under the command of Otto von Bismarck, had sought a more lasting split. Under Bismarck’s control, conditions had been orchestrated to make war possible between the two and to ensure Prussia’s victory. Thus, when the opportunity was presented by the Duchies question, Bismarck took his chance and provoked a war. The war itself was over in seven weeks, with a Prussian victory, it was important as it symbolized the permanent separation of the two states. Though the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 had origins before Bismarck, Bismarck actively chose to prepare for and provoke a conflict with Austria in hopes of removing its influence from the German states.
Bismarck believed that Germany should be united under Prussian leadership and that Austria should have nothing to do with Germany. Bismarck was chosen as chancellor by the Prussian king as he had a proven record as a monarchist and had little time for liberal and excessive parliamentary ideas. Bismarck helped his long term plan to unite Germany and to be the ruler by getting in a strong position with the king. The king owned Bismarck a 'favour´ as Bismarck had solved the king´s constitutional crisis. Bismarck played a crucial part in the unification of Germany as he helped to set up the Northern German Confederation after defeating Austria in the second of three wars.
The German state was forged out of the fires of the Franco-Prussian war in 1871 by the Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Prussia was by far the largest and most dominant state of the 25 unified in the creation of Germany, with the King of Prussia automatically becoming the Kaiser (Emperor) of the German Reich. In 1888, Kaiser Wilhelm II ascended to the throne, obtaining absolute and total control of the country. However, there is still debate as to whether Wilhelm II exercised full control of Germany or if true power lay in the hands of others in the years preceding the First World War.
The German nation was born in January 1871 at the Palace of Versailles. Many factors have been noted by historians as to what led to the eventual unification of Germany such as; economic and industrial factors and the role of Otto Von Bismarck. A debate that has emerged over German Unification is whether it was united by ‘coal and iron’ or ‘blood and iron’; this looks at whether economic or political factors were the main driving force behind unification. In this essay I will explore these factors and gain an understanding of how these factors contributed to German Unification and come to a decision as to whether it was a nation unified by economic
The origins of the German Imperialistic machine begin where most did, in competition. With Britain, France, and Spain all also jockeying for position, it was ensured Germany would also join that race. All European countries wanted a piece of the African pie as well as the riches and prestige that came with being a colonial power.
The Congress of Vienna in 1814-15 created the so-called German Confederation under Austrian and Prussian hegemony, but this unit disappointed the dreams of nationalists. The rivalry of Austria and Prussia paralyzed it in a way comparable to the effects of Soviet-American dualism on the United Nations during the Cold War. Almost everywhere, the old rulers repressed the nationalist movement after 1815. The German princes realized that nationalism required reform.... ...
Schorske, Carl E. German Social Democracy, 1905-1917: The Development of the Great Schism. Vol. 65. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1955.
Turner, Henry Ashby. Germany from Partition to Reunification. New Haven, CN: Yale University Press, 1992. Print.
...2. Between the July and November elections the Nazi party lost 34 seats. However the implementation of Schleicher, to attract trade unionists and members of the NSDAP, only succeeded in making Hitler’s position in the Nazi party stronger. This was because Schleicher’s ‘policy of diagonal’ only attracted Strasser, for which he was ousted from the Nazi party. This was Hitler’s main opponent in the quest for leadership of the nazi party.
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.
Jens George Reich stated, “People imagine the reunification will be the answer to all their dreams.” While reunification marked the official end of communism within Germany, in reality problems were arising from the processes that were unexpected by the people of Germany. The reunification was implemented ineffectively by incompetent management amidst unfavourable economic and social circumstances which resulted in political, economic and social consequences as problems associated with the East far outweighed the advantages that could be provided by the West. Indeed, German citizens dreamed that the West could provide a degree of peace and economic stability that would reinforce a cohesive German identity.