Germany Issue 1Factors That Led to the

Growth of German Nationalism 1815 –

1850

Higher History

By the end of this unit we will…

• Identify how cultural factors helped the growth of Nationalism in Germany between 1815 and 1850

• Identify how political factors helped the growth of Nationalism in Germany between 1815 and 1850

• Identify how economic factors helped the growth of Nationalism in Germany between 1815 and 1850

By the end of this unit I can

• Make a plan for an essay on the growth of German Nationalism

• Produce this essay under exam conditions

Typical Questions

Questions usually focus on a particular reason/factor that helped to unify Germany but you must discuss them all.

• How important were cultural factors in the growth of national feeling in Germany between 1815 and 1850?”

• “To what extent was there a real growth in nationalism in Germany between 1815 – 1850?”

Background

• There had never been a united Germany, the area we now know as Germany had been a loose collection of 400+ states called the Holy Roman Empire up to 1789

• At this time nationalism (the desire for a united state) was weak.

• However there were factors that would draw these states together.

.

• .

There were various things that members of the Holy Roman Empire

had in common…• 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.

• BORDERS: There were distinct boundaries that separated Germany from other states e.g. Russian Empire, France

• HISTORY: Members of the Holy Roman Empire had along history of struggles with neighbours such as France, which they were proud of e.g. helped to defeat Napoleon.

Main Reasons for the Growth of German Nationalism

• Between 1815 and 1850 nationalistic feeling began to grow within the Holy Roman Empire

• There were several reasons for this;1. Cultural Reasons (to do with heritage

and history)2. Political Reasons (political

advantages of a united Germany)3. Economic Reasons (to do with

money)

CultureCulture • There was distinctive German literature – writers

such as German writer such as Hegel, Goethe and Schiller recognised common German characteristics – things that identified a person as German.

• There were 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, Grimm's fairy tales were very dark and violent aimed at adults as well as children, very different to the lighter, modern "Disney versions" of those tales – e.g. Snow White or Hansel and Gretel.

• The music of Beethoven also helped to inspire the German people, German music for Germans.

Cultural Nationalism - Cultural Nationalism - AnalysisAnalysisFOR:

• The biggest cultural factor was undoubtedly the German language which did unite all German speaking people’s and gave them an identity.

• Few Germans could read, simple German folk tales by the Brothers Grimm were important inspiring a feeling of being German.

. The growing popularity of German musicians and writers gave people a sense of belonging – in other words, a national identity was growing, especially among the educated elite of the towns and cities..

AGAINST:• 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 did not know about big national issues or German culture

• Cultural nationalism, especially language, was a factor in the growth of German nationalism but perhaps not the most important due to the lack of interest by most ordinary Germans.

Cultural Nationalism – Analysis Cultural Nationalism – Analysis contd.contd.

Political NationalismPolitical 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, like Britain’s, where rulers were elected by the people of the country as opposed to being ruled by a king alone

The Napoleonic Wars 1789-1815

• Between 1800 and 1815 the divided German states had been easily 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 them too.

• By 1813 it became clear Napoleon was a conqueror, the Germans united to force the French out of Germany, this provoked strong nationalist feelings.

• The German people felt when unified they were stronger and were proud to have beaten Napoleon

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 - The Deutscher Bund

• Nationalists hoped that this ‘Bund’ would be the beginning of a single united German state.

• In 1815 Austria was the strongest mainland European 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.

• He was totally against any form of German unification

Student Societies and the Carlsbad Decrees

• Feelings of a common German identity had grown under the French occupation.

• With a common enemy first Napoleon and later Metternich, many German students were attracted to the idea of a stronger and more united Germany.

• Inspired by their university teachers many set up nationalist societies or held nationalist meetings.

• 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 nationalist newspapers.

• The following year the power of the Bund Parliament was increased so that soldiers could be ordered to stop the spread of new ideas in any of the German states.

Political Nationalism Political Nationalism AnalysisAnalysisFOR:

• Although strong nationalist feelings had been stirred fighting napoleon & the French, German nationalists were still weak.

AGAINST:• The princes of each German state crushed the

nationalists once the war was over, they had no interest in giving up their thrones in a united Germany with only one king.

• After the German Confederation’s Carlsbad Decrees it seemed as if political nationalism were dead.

• Germans were forbidden to spread nationalist and liberal ideas, it would be very difficult for political nationalism to take hold

Economic NationalismEconomic NationalismAnalysis• We know that political nationalism was

virtually dead between 1820 and 1848, suppressed by the Confederation & the Carlsbad Decrees.

• We also know that cultural nationalism inspired only a few better off Germans but to most Germans it was not vital to their everyday lives.

• However, economic nationalism had a much greater positive 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, each state added its own taxes or duties which could eventually double the price!

• In 1815 Prussia was lucky that it had coal and iron, the vital ingredients for an industrial revolution. To encourage trade, Prussia formed a customs union in 1818 called the ZOLLVEREIN

• This 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 which made goods cheaper and encouraged people to buy more

• By 1836 25 German states were in the Zollverein and getting richer on the increased trade.

• Soon 38 German states were in the Zollverein.

•Only one German state was excluded – Prussia’s great rival for the domination of Germany - 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 Austrian empire became weaker, it was slowly losing the power to tell the others what to do•Increasingly Austria was pushed out of Germany the Zollverein made Prussia rich and powerful.

Economic - AnalysisEconomic - Analysis• The Zollverein showed even the poorest

German the benefits a united Germany would bring.

• The Zollverein brought German states together, excluded Austria who hated nationalism and increased the power of Prussia.

• Without the Zollverein, Prussia would not have had the muscle to defeat the power of Austria.

• Historian William Carr has called the Zollverein the, ‘mighty lever of German unification’.

The Growth of RailwaysThe Growth of Railways• As trade between German

states increased, the rail network grew.

• The new rail network centred in Prussia.

• Just like in Britain railways e.g. post, newspapers spread ideas of liberalism & nationalism.

Analysis: The Growth of Analysis: The Growth of RailwaysRailways

• Railways did not only spread goods but also broke down barriers between states and spread the idea of nationalism.

• As Germans travelled on the railways new ideas spread more easily.

• Germans now realised they had a lot in common and a

good reason for uniting, trade and money

Topic SummaryTopic SummaryThere were four important factors for the growth of

German nationalism:1. Cultural factors especially a common German

language did make Germans feel close to one another, as well as German writers, music, a common history etc .

2. Political developments such as the defeat of Napoleon or the German Bund gave Germans an example of how powerful they could be if they united.

3. Economic factors such as the Zollverein gave Germans a reason for co-operating as they made a profit from trade.

4. The growth of the railway system did bring Germans closer together and spread ideas e.g. travel, post, newspapers etc.