Germany – Blog #5 - The Development of a Modern German Nation

Despite being a relatively young country, Germany has a quite long and tumultuous road of history.  Before finally unifying in 1871, Germany subjected itself to a great deal of strife among its neighbors and even bouts of civil war between kingdoms lying within its borders.  After years of fighting and constant changing hands of land, the people of Germany, along with pressure from outside the country, pushed them to an increased sense of nationalism and forced their need for unification.

In this long road to unification, one of the largest powers in Germany was Prussia, which put a strong emphasis on the power of their military.  With the crowning of Prince Elector Frederick III and being centrally located in Europe, Prussia armed itself heavily as it was vulnerable to attacks on most of its borders in a fight for control of central Europe.  As the book states on pg. 79, and a theme that carried on for two centuries, winning was essential for the fact that there was the expectation that the payment of reparations, or land, would be forced on the loser. So, while it was the tenth largest in size and thirteenth in population, Prussia maintained the third or fourth largest military in Europe.  Consequently, Prussia did the task of occupying many European forces as Britain controlled the seas during the colonization of America.

Price Frederick William III of Prussia who helped to develop a strong military 

While Prussia maintained a bulk of the power during this time, Germany was building both within its borders and beyond, as according to pg. 89 in the text, “the nation grew, in fact, precisely because of its fragmented identity and the practical requirements of a multitude of small states and governments.”  The expansion of these territories came about through a need for education and understanding of law and public finance and the “educational elite” of were pulled from both the lesser aristocracy and the middle class to represent a wider span of the population.  Many of the conflicts and unrest that arose during this time were a result of economic struggles and poor farming seasons and resulted in high food prices, the kind of events that called for cooperation and partnership between kingdoms.   The power of Prussia would eventually be met in 1806 by Napoleon Bonaparte who received a strong welcoming in his march on Berlin.  Prussia however, did not join the resulting Confederation of the Rhine, and sought to overcome their defeats by Napoleon and regain their control.

Napoleon Bonaparte, who would prove to be one of Germany's greatest challengers in their movement toward unification

France became a major hatred for the people within German borders and as writer Ernst Moritz Arndt said, “Let unanimity be your church! Make the hatred of the French your religion, and let freedom and fatherland be the saints to whom you pray!” (pg. 105).  This thought and others formed a nationalistic movement and a shift was seen in Germany when they learned of the defeat of Napoleon in Russia and a call to arms in 1813.  With the allied forces of Russia, England, Prussia, Sweden, and eventually Austria, Napoleon finally stood down outside of Paris.  Life in Germany changed and hopes for a unification and constitution grew in response to this victory. 

German nationalism would be challenged again in 1840 by the French as they made efforts to expand their borders, but after a protest on the German Confederation for a lack of action, nationalism grew once again.   In 1848, an assembly of 585 officials met at St. Paul’s Church in Frankfurt that guaranteed a list of freedoms and to elect a national government.  The challenge that came about was what regions would be included in the new Germany.  Would it be a “Great Germany” or a “Small Germany?”  The difference between the two would be the inclusion of the Austrian lands and the emperor who would rule.  As the debate went on, southwest Germany was fighting for a democracy and revolt sprung out. 

St. Paul's Church in Frankfort was the meeting place of 585 representatives who developed a list of freedoms and elected a national government in 1848.

The period of 1848-1871 saw in increase in the economies by the growth of the rail system in Germany and from 1850 to 1857 the size of money in circulation tripled through the unified economy that resulted.  The growth within the area resulted in a decrease in unemployment and the rail system helped to quiet the hunger revolts that had been seen prior to the expansion of the rail system.  This increase in industrialization helped to bring together German society and populations grew significantly in rural and industrial epicenters across Germany and around Berlin. 

A battle once again broke out, this time between Prussia and Austria as Prussia allied with Italy and then declared that the constitution was not applicable and declared it void.  As a result, Southern Germany joined forces with Austria and thus the battle between Prussian and Austria became a fight between northern and southern Germany and resulted in the Treaty of Prague that removed Austria from Germany.  The end result was the conclusion of the Germany Confederation and a Prussia-dominated confederation that eventually joined with the southern states of the Main River through a military agreement.  Unification then became a necessity for Germany’s ability to remain strong to outside pressures and one final war with France in 1870 ended in a truce in January of 1871 and shortly thereafter followed the Treaty of Frankfurt.  The political unification of Germany and the battles fought created a stronger sense of patriotism among Germany and the bridge between the southern states and the Northern German Confederation was built.

The Treaty of Frankfurt put an end to the Franco-Prussian war and lead to the further unification of Northern and Southern Germany.