German nationalism Flashcards
Factors
*French revolution & Napoleonic wars
*Cultural reasons
*Political reasons
*Economic reasons
Background
*Between 1815 and 1851, there was a significant growth in nationalism in Germany.
*Germany as a united country did not exist and was made up, instead, of 39 states which shared a common language, customs and traditions.
*When Napoleon was defeated in 1815 the states set up the German Confederation or Bund to create a common defence policy to agree to cooperate in the even of future French invasion.
Line of Argument
Economic developments were the most important.
French Revoltion and Napoleonic wars (1)
*(K) In the early nineteenth century, pre-1815, Napoleon had successfully invaded and taken control over the 300 German Principalities that existed at the time. France ruled over them for nearly a decade until 1815, after which the Bund was created as a defence policy between states.
*(A) The shared fear of another French invasion gave the German people a feeling of solidarity due to having a common enemy and the creation of the Bund allowed people to see how the states could work together and be stronger.
*(A+) Its possible the increased nationalistic feelings lasted only as long as the French invasion, after which the Germans were more concerned with their own states.
French revolution and Napoleonic wars
*(K) The French Revolution in 1789 was a violent uprising against the upper classes fuelled by a combination of ideals of equality, liberty, freedom, and nationalism. These ideas spread quickly across Europe due to the shock of the revolution.
*(A) Many of these ideas resonated heavily with the German middle and lower classes, inspiring feelings of nationalism within the population
*(A+) These ideas were feared by much of the aristocracy, for whom it was possible would face severe persecution should the German states follow France down the path of revolution and so caused them to suppress ideas of German nationalism.
French revolution and Napoleonic wars (E)
N/A
Cultural reasons (1)
*(K) Despite existing as many separate states at the time, all of the states shared German as a common language, with over 25 million Germans speaking it at the time.
*(A) This gave the German people a common identity to rally behind and inspired feelings of a shared German consciousness.
*(A+) This would have been of little interest to many of the lower classes, who would have likely been more concerned with providing for their families than caring for political movements.
Cultural Reasons (2)
*(K) Pro-nationalism student societies (Burshenstaffen) often held demonstrations showing their support for the cause of German Nationalism and were dedicated to seeing the French driven from German soil.
*(A) The demonstrations spread the word and concepts of German nationalism and encouraged more nationalist feelings amongst the German people.
Cultural reasons (E)
Important to a large extent but economic reasons were more important. One of the Romantic movement leaders, Fichte, also beleived that Germany had to unite for economic reasons. The industrialisation of Britain and France had left the German states at a disadvantage economically and intellectuals such as he understood the potential of progressing nationalist feeling throughout the states to encourage unity.
Political reasons (2)
*(K) In 1848 revolutions broke out across the German states with many of the monarchies being overthrown and a parliament being set up in Frankfurt by nationalists.
*(A) This showed that monarchies could be challenged and overthrown if the people were united against them which gave the movement new strength.
*(A+) The revolutions failed and the Frankfurt parliament collapsed with the monarchies regaining control which in turn, was a huge set back for the nationalists and nationalist feeling in the states.
Political reasons (E)
Political factors were moderately important. The Carlsbad Decrees (1819) all but killed political nationalism when the people were forbidden to spread nationalist beliefs and liberal ideas. However, economic nationalism was more important because political nationalism was reignited from economic successes such as the Zollverein. This influenced the growth of nationalism. because they drove the nationalism movement towards the realisation that political nationalism was the next feasible step towards unity and th potential benefits of nationalism.
Economic reasons (1)
*(K) The sheer number of German states made trade difficult within Germany as each state had its tax, making interstate trade very expensive. This affected Prussia most due to its isolated western territories. In response, the Prussians formed a trade agreement with some other states to remove the taxes on trade between states.
*(K) This economic free trade area was known as the Zollverein and by 1836, 25 of the 39 had poined. Prussia then built extensive road networks with participating states.
*(A) This helped the spread of nationalism as many Germans argued that the success of the Zollverein was proof that the German states would benefit from continued cooperation so nationalism was stirred.
*(A+) These economic expansions couldn’t continue without the other states, but many states recognised that Prussia benefited the most from the agreement and felt threatened by Prussian dominance.
Economic Reasons (E)
The most important reason. William Carr declared the Zollverein was the ‘mighty level’ of German unification and the fact that individual member states were willing to restrict their sovereignty to allow for economic gain shows that the desire for economic power and the benefits to the whole population that that would bring were the biggest driver behind the growth of nationalism.
