German Unification Chapter 1 Flashcards
What did the treaty of Paris concern?
May 1814
This is to do with the defeat of Napoleon to Austria and Prussia
France losses small areas of territory along its Eastern Frontier
France committed itself to accept broader European Settlement from Vienna
Very Generous - No Colonies Lost
No Indemnity Imposed
The desire of other powers for a strong France
What were Austrias desire?
Led by Klemens von Metternich
Feared Revolution, wanted to constrain revolutionary forces
Did not want Russia to become the dominant force in Europe
Hates Liberalism as it led to the death of Nobles
Hates Nationalism as it led to War
What were Russias desire?
Led by Tsar Alexander 1
Unpredictable and possibly slightly insane
Wanted Poland to be a satellite state
Powerful army with 800 k
Backed the Prussians
What were Prussias desires?
Keen to acquire territory
Far weaker than their rivals
What was the Situation in Germany by 1815?
No real frontiers
Multi-Ethnic
Run by the Holy Roman Empire who were also the Emperors of Austria
314 states
23 million Deutschers
Napoleon’s impact on Germany?
France annexed the territory on the left bank of the Rhine
Reduced to 39 States
Brang with them liberal ideas and an increasing middle class hence the Germans becoming more educated
Many Germans were released from feudal systems
How did the Prussians change according to Napoleonic Power?
Army was reorganized
The new efficient system of Government was introduced as well as the new educational system
How did Prussia come back against Napoleon?
FW III
Teamed up with Russia
Russian and Prussian forces drove back Napoleon’s forces back towards France.
Austria teamed up with them in June and Napoleon was defeated in the Battle of Leipzig
What did this mean in terms of Nationalism?
It caused the “otherism”
They hated the French so to mock the French they would describe how German they were
It never became a mass national uprising
However, it was only because they hated France and not because they loved Germany
N Germans looked up to Prussia
S Germans looked up to Austria
What was the Diet?
Confederation had one executive body
They met in Frankfurt
Governments sent representatives
Little was ever achieved –> Too involved in self interests
Weaknesses of the German Confederation?
Each State had their own Ruler
Had little influence apart from being able to prevent them from making foreign alliances which might threaten the security of the confederation
There was no unification in the military and economically although the Federal Act told the Diet to organise a federal army.
These were due to local jealousies –> Therefore the defence of the confederation depended upon Austria and Prussia
Known as Holy Roman Empire Mark II
How were the States ruled by 1815?
Absolute Rule was restored in all but 4 dynasties
However, the Federal Act told the leaders of each state to make a ‘Constitution of Regional Estates’
How did the Leaders of their states react to The ‘Constitution of Regional Estates’?
- Some ignored
- Most N.German states allowed ‘estates’ to meet. However, these were not always elected and were usually composed largely of nobles.
- S Germany States such as Bavaria, Baden, Wurttemburg and Hesse-Darmstadt introduced constitutions that created elected assemblies
These assemblies could create laws and control taxation but Monarchs elected ministers and had their own power
What was the Political Situation like in Austria?
Little Democratic Reform
Francis I and Ferdinand I (his successor) wanted absolute power
Old Provincial Diets were eventually revived, but only as a means of preserving the existing social order. They were dominated by the local aristocracy
What was the Political Situation like in Prussia?
Had been a patchwork of disparate territories with a lot of cultural divides and especially religion.
Each Province enjoyed a high degree of independence and each maintained its own distinct identity.
Prussia remained without a constitution until 1848
How did the other states (excluding Prussia and Austria) develop politically, economically?
The majority of German rulers held on to their absolute power.
However, some states emerged as the French with better systems and education.
This ensured the educational provision in Germany was the best in Europe
How did the Students think of German Unification?
They started to care and became more liberal.
The defeat of Napoleon was a great encouragement to German nationalism.
In 1817, Martin Luther’s stand against the pope turned into a Leipzig demonstration against the princes.
Only 500 students attended the Festival so it was a flop
Who was Metternich?
Prince Klemens von Metternich (1773-1859), Austrian politician and diplomat, suppressed nationalistic and democratic trends in Central Europe
How did Metternich deal with the Leipzig Students?
Over exaggerated the basis on which the parade occurred
1819- a member of an extreme society murdered Kotzebue, a secret agent of the Russian Tsar
They created the Carlsbad degrees
What are the Carlsbad degrees?
Provided inspectors fro universities
Ensured that student societies were disbanded
Introduced Press Censorship
Set up a commission to investigate ‘Revolutionary’ Movements
Some professors were dismissed and imprisoned
What did the Liberals want?
Freedom of Speech
Freedom of the Press
Freedom of Worship
Freedom to form Political associations and hold political meetings
What did Johann Herder say about German Nationalism?
He believed that all people or cultures had their own special unique spirit, which made them different from neighbouring peoples.
Thes should be cherished and from the basis for a national identity
What did Johann Goethe say about German Nationalism?
He believed that there was no need for a formation of a nation-state. Instead, Germany should essentially be a cultural community, based on the models of ancient Greece.
What did George Hegel say about German Unification?
A man without his nation is nothing but if he was part of a national community he was everything
What were most German nationalists feeling by the early 19th century?
Most German nationalists wanted an independent German state with fixed geographical boundaries and its own government.
One problem was there were no clearly defined frontiers nor was there religious unity
However, there was a common language and a shared cultural tradition based on a literary and artistic heritage
In addition there was felt to be an ethnic bond uniting all true Germans
How strong were German nationalism and liberalism?
For many ordinary Germans, nationalism arose simply as a resentment from French rule
Once French occupation ended, nationalist sentiment declined
What were Metternich’s views on German Unification?
Metternich believed that the maintenance of international peace was linked with the prevention of revolution in individual states
the SOCIAL ORDER HAD TO BE DEFENDED AGAINST THE FORCES OF Destruction.
For Metternich, these forces were liberalism and nationalism
Therefore, Metternich set his face against any constitutional change, however modest
What happened at the Congress of Troppau?
Discussion centred on revolutions that had broken out in Spain, Portugal, Piedmont, and Naples
Tsar Alexander I of Russia, in sympathy with Metternich’s reactionary beliefs, put forward a proposal that Russia, Austria and Prussia should act jointly, using force, if necessary, to restore any government which had been overthrown by force
The proposal was accepted
Austria and Prussia announced that they ‘would never recognise the rights of a people to restrict the powers of their King’
How did Metternich repress German Nationalism in the 1820s?
As well as the weapons of diplomacy and threats of force, Metternich used those of the police state to maintain the status quo
A special office was set up in Vienna to open, copy and then reseal foreign correspondence passing through Austria
This gave him an enormous amount of secret information and it was backed up by the work of his secret police
How successful were Metternich’s secret police?
Repression and press censorship varied in severity from state to state
People could still think about what they wanted
What liberal reforms were there in the 1830s?
July Revolution in Paris of 1830
They used demonstrations and riots in several S German states
The demands were for a constitution as laid down in the Federal Act of 1815; or, if a constitution already existed, for its liberalisation
In Brunswick, the Duke was driven out and his successor was forced to grant a more liberal constitution
In Saxony and Hesse-Cassel more liberal constitutions were obtained
In Hanover, the King granted a constitution in 1832
What events happened in the early 1830s in terms of German Nationalism?
A few republican groups were busy with plans for the unification of Germany
1832 - 25,000 nationalists met at the Hambach Festival in Baria to drink, talk, and plan revolution
The Tricolour flag, symbol of revolution, was hoisted and toasts drunk to the notion that power should lay with the people
How did Metternich react to the Hambach Festival?
He panicked and persuaded the Diet to pass the Six articles
These increased the Diet’s control over the internal affairs of individual states, and its control of the universities and the press
What was the Prussians Customs Union?
Zollverein, (German: “Customs Union”) German customs union was established in 1834 under Prussian leadership. It created a free-trade area throughout much of Germany and is often seen as an important step in German reunification.
The law did away with the web of internal customs duties and replaced them with a tariff to be charged at the Prussian frontier
Problems with the Prussian Customs Union?
It wasn’t what the Rhineland industrialists sought:
They had hoped for a high protective tariff, particularly against British goods
Instead, the tariff was low: nothing at all on raw materials, an average of only 10 per cent on manufactured goods and 20 per cent on luxury goods such as sugar or tea
Moreover, they would have led to a tariff war:
other countries would have responded by putting high duties on Prussian exports
What was the main custom union that opposed Prussia?
,-Middle German Commercial Union
Hannover, Brunswick, Saxony and other small states
Prussia was geographically well placed to control north-south routes through north Germany and to generate a large income out of duties charged on foreign goods carried along these routes
The Middle Union worked to protect and keep open the existing roads from the North Sea ports to the central German cities of Frankfurt and Leipzig and to build a series of new roads that would go round the states of the PCU
What was the Zollverein and what did it do?
Zollverein was customs Union.
It was formed in 1834 at the initiative of Prussia
Most of the German States join this union.
This Trade union aimed at abolishing tariff barriers and reducing the number of currencies from 30 to 2.
How was the Zollverein run?
The organisation and supervision of the Zollverein was carried out by a specially appointed body, the Zollverein Congress
All Zollverein member states had a common system of tariffs and abolished all internal customs barriers
Implications of the Zollverein?
- The Zollverein administration did not always work smoothly
- As any member state could veto a proposal at the Zollverein Congress, decisions were often held up or not made at all
Why did Austria not join the Zollverein and what did this mean for Austria and Prussia?
She disagreed with the policy of free trade
Protectionist policy
Already had large markets within the empire for home-produced goods, and therefore wanted high import duties to protect its industries and markets from cheap imports
Austria gave Prussia a fantastic opportunity when it refused to join
Prussia took this opportunity, established a position of leadership, and made sure that Austria would stay outside
By 1848 while Austria still retained political control of the Confederation, Prussia had the economic leadership
What was the 1840 Crisis?
France seemed likely to invade the German states along the Rhine in an attempt to force the other major powers to bow to its wishes over a crisis in the Near East
The German press threw its weight behind the nationalist upsurge and there was a flurry of songs and poems such as Deutschland uber Alles
France backed down but nor before much nationalistic feeling had been generated throughout Germany in the face of a threat from the ‘old enemy’
How did Schleswig Holstein contribute to German Unification?
Immediately to the south of Denmark proper lay the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein
The King of Denmark ruled them
Schleswig, half German and half Danish speaking, was not a member of the German Confederation
Holstein, by contrast, had an overwhelmingly German-speaking population and was one of the member states of the Confederation
When the King of Denmark was about to incorporate the duchies into his kingdom. the outcry throughout Germany was enormous
What seemed merely legal technicality was viewed by Germans as violation of the Fatherland
How did Railway developments in the 1840s contribute to German Unification?
One German economist described the growing railway network as
‘the firm girdle around the loins of Germany binding her limbs together into a forceful and powerful body’
Railways made Germans more mobile and contributed to the breakdown of local and regional barriers
How did Liberalism grow in the 1840s?
In 1846 the liberals in Baden managed to obtain a relaxation of press censorship, and reforms of the police and of the judicial system
In Hesse-Darmstadt there were strong liberal parliamentary campaigns for changes in electoral rules and for a free press.
In Bavaria the liberals were helped by an unexpected change of policy on the part of the half-mad King, Ludwig I
His passion for a dancer led him to propose that she should be given a title and land and be introduced to court
When his advisers criticised him, he replaced his reactionary ministers with liberal ones
How did Frederick William the III of Prussia help bolster Unification in the 1840s?
He released many political prisoners
He abolished censorship
In 1842 he arranged for the Prussian provincial Diets to elect representatives to meet as an advisory body on a temporary basis in Berlin
He extended the powers of the provincial Diets and allowed them to publish reports of their debates
How did German Newspapers in the 1840s bolster German Unification?
In the 1840s the pace of political debate picked up and public opinion grew bolder
More books were published
Newspapers and political journals flourished
The fact that Germans were the most literate people in Europe helped
Popular journals played a crucial role in arousing interest in issues such as Schleswig Holstein in 1846
In 1847 liberal and nationalist sentiments found expression in the foundation at Heidelberg of a newspaper with the prophetic title of Die Deutsche Zeitung
How did the Heppenheim meeting bolster German Nationalism?
In 1847, liberal representatives of the south-western states met at Hippenhelm
They demanded an elected national Diet and detailed their complaints which were published in DIE DEUTSCHE ZEITUNG
The Heppenheim delegates proposed Constiutional change and
- The liberation of the press
- Open judicial proceedings with juries
- The end of feudal restrictions
- Reduction of the cost of the standing army and the creation of a national guard
- Reformation of the system of taxation
Summary of Pg 22
Noted
Reid Essay
Noted
