The German unification became a politically and administratively officially integrated nation state on 18 January 1871, at the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles in France. Prince of the German states, except Austria, gathered there to proclaim Wilhelm I of Prussia as the Emperor of Germany after the French capitulation in the Franco-Prussian War. Unofficially, the de facto transition from the vast majority of the German-speaking population into a joint-state organization has evolved over time through formal and informal alliances between princes rulers, but in conformity and start. Self-interest from various parties hampered the process for nearly a century of autocratic experimentation, beginning in the Napoleonic War era, which prompted the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire of Germany in 1806, and the subsequent German revival. nationalism.
Unification exposes tensions due to religious, linguistic, social, and cultural differences among the new population, indicating that 1871 represents only one moment in a larger series of unification processes. Holy Roman Emperor is often called "the Emperor of all Germans"; contemporary news accounts are often called "The Germanies". In the empire, the higher nobility is referred to as the "German Prince" or "German Prince" - because the land formerly called Eastern Francia has been organized and governed as a pocket kingdom since before the advent of Charlemagne (800 AD). In mountainous areas of most regions, isolated people developed cultural, educational, linguistic, and religious differences over a long period of time. By the nineteenth century, the increase in transport and communications brought these regions closer.
The Holy Roman Empire of the German State, which has included more than 500 independent states, was effectively dissolved when Emperor Francis II abdicated (6 August 1806) during the Third Coalition War. Regardless of the legal, administrative, and political disturbances associated with the end of the Empire, people from German-speaking areas of the old Empire had the same linguistic, cultural, and legal traditions that were further strengthened by their joint experience in the French Revolutionary War. and Napoleonic Wars. European liberalism offers an intellectual foundation for unification by challenging dynamic and absolutist models of social and political organization; Its German manifestations emphasize the importance of tradition, education, and the unity of linguistic society in a geographical region. Economically, the creation of Prussia Zollverein (customs union) in 1818, and subsequent expansion to include other countries of the German Confederation, reduced competition between and within the state. Emerging transport modes facilitate business and leisure travel, leading to contact and occasional conflicts between German speakers from all over Central Europe.
The model of the sphere of diplomatic influence resulting from the Vienna Congress in 1814-15 after the Napoleonic Wars supported Austrian dominance in Central Europe. Negotiators in Vienna ignored Prussia's growing forces within and among the German states and thus failed to predict that Prussia would rise up to challenge Austria for the leadership of the German people. This German dualism presents two solutions to the problem of unification: Kleindeutsche LÃÆ'¶sung , a small German solution (German without Austria), or GroÃÆ'Ÿdeutsche LÃÆ'¶sung , a larger German. solution (Germany with Austria).
Historians debate whether Otto von Bismarck - Minister of President Prussia - had a master plan to expand the North German Confederation of 1866 to include the remaining independent German states into a single entity or simply to expand the rule of the Prussian Kingdom. They conclude that the factors beside Bismarck's Realpolitic forces led the early modern government to reorganize political, economic, military, and diplomatic relations in the nineteenth century. The reaction to Danish and French nationalism focused on the expression of German unity. Military success - especially Prussia - in three regional wars inspires the enthusiasm and pride that politicians can use to promote unity. This experience echoes the reciprocal memory of the Napoleonic Wars, particularly in the Liberation War of 1813-14. By building Germany without Austria, political and administrative unification in 1871 at least temporarily solved the problem of dualism.
Video Unification of Germany
Short timeline
- 1797: The First Republic of France annexed the Left Bank of the Rhine as a result of the First Coalition War.
- 1802: The previous annexation by France was confirmed after his victory in the Second Coalition War.
- 1804: Francis I of Austria declares the new Kingdom of Austria in reaction to Napoleon Bonaparte's assertion of the First French Empire in 1804.
- 1806: As a result of the Third Coalition War, Napoleon I annexed several areas of the Rhine East, replacing the Holy Roman Empire by the Rhine Confederation as a country of French clients.
- 1807: Prussia lost half its territory after the Fourth Coalition War.
- 1815: After Napoleon's defeat, the Vienna Congress restored the Germanic state to the German Confederation under the leadership of the Austrian Empire.
- 1819: Carlsbad's decree suppresses all forms of pan-Germanic activity to avoid the creation of a "German state"; The Prussian kingdom, however, started a customs union with other Confederate nations.
- 1834: Prussian-led customary unions evolved into Zollverein covering almost all Confederate nations except the Austrian Empire.
- 1848: Revolts at the German Confederation, such as in Berlin, Dresden and Frankfurt, forced King Frederick William IV of Prussia to give the Constitution to the Confederacy. Meanwhile, the Frankfurt Parliament was formed in 1848 and sought to proclaim German unity, but this was rejected by William IV. The question of unified Germany under the Kleindeutsch solution (to exclude Austria) or so-called GroÃÆ'Ÿdeutsch (to include Austria) begins to surface.
- 1850: The Erfurt Union is a brief venture in a union of German states under the federation, proposed by the Kingdom of Prussia. The Erfurt Union Parliament (Erfurter Unionsparlament), which runs from March 20 to April 29, 1850, opened in the former Augustinian monastery in Erfurt. The union never prevails, and is completely undermined by the Punctation of OlmÃÆ'¼tz, an agreement between Prussia and Austria, signed 29 November 1850, where Prussia left the Erfurt Union and received a revival of the German Confederation under the leadership of Austria. li>
- 1861-62: King Wilhelm I became King of Prussia and he appointed Otto von Bismarck on September 23, 1862, Minister of the President and Minister of Foreign Affairs, who advocated a 'blood-and-iron' policy to create a united Germany under the leadership of Prussia.
- 1864: The Danish-Prussian War started when Prussia protested the merger of Denmark with Schleswig to the Kingdom of Denmark. The Austrian Empire was deliberately drawn into this war by Otto von Bismarck, the Prussian Chancellor. The Austro-Prussian victory led to Schleswig, the northern part, ruled by Prussia and Holstein, the south, governed by Austria, in accordance with the Vienna Treaty (1864).
- 1866: Bismarck accuses the Austrian Empire of stirring up trouble at Schleswig held by Prussia. The Prussian forces drove to the Austrian-controlled Holstein and controlled the entire state of Schleswig-Holstein. Austria declared war on Prussia and, after fighting the Austro-Prussian War (the Seven Sunday War), was quickly defeated. The Prague Treaty (1866) formally dissolved the German Confederation and Prussia created the North German Confederation to include all Germanic states except the pro-French, Bavarian, Baden, and WÃÆ'¼rttemberg south.
- 1870: When the French emperor, Napoleon III, sued the Rhineland territory in exchange for his neutrality in the middle of the Austro-Prussian War, Bismarck used the Spanish Succession Question (1868) and Ems Telegram (1870) as an opportunity to incorporate the southern kingdom. Napoleon III declares war against Prussia.
- 1871: The Franco-Prussian War ends with Prussian troops capturing Paris, capital of the Second French Empire. Bavaria, Baden, and WÃÆ'¼rttemberg were incorporated into the North German Confederation under the Frankfurt Treaty (1871). Bismarck later proclaimed King Wilhelm I, now Kaiser Wilhelm I, as the newly united German (Reich Germany) leader, except Austria. With the remaining German troops in Paris, Napoleon III dissolved the French Empire and a new republic, the Third Republic of France, created under Adolphe Thiers.
Maps Unification of Germany
German speaking in Central Europe at the beginning of the 19th century
Prior to 1803, the German-speaking Central Europe included more than 300 political entities, most of which were part of the Holy Roman Empire or the dominance of the vast Habsburg lineage. They range in size from small and complex regions of the royal family branch of Hohenlohe to large and undefined territories such as the Kingdom of Bavaria and Prussia. Their rule varied: they included free imperial cities, as well as of various sizes, such as the formidable Augsburg and the very small Weil der Stadt; ecclesiastical territories, as well as with various sizes and influences, such as the rich Reichenau Monastery and the mighty Archbishop of Cologne; and state dynasties such as WÃÆ'¼rttemberg. These lands (or parts of it - both the Habsburg and Hohenzollern Prussia domains also belong to regions outside the Empire's structures) form the territory of the Holy Roman Empire, which sometimes includes over 1,000 entities. Since the 15th century, with few exceptions, the Imperial Empire-electors have elected the heads of the House of Habsburg in succession to hold the title of Holy Roman Emperor. Among German-speaking countries, the administrative and legal mechanisms of the Holy Roman Empire provide a place to resolve disputes between peasants and landlords, between jurisdiction, and within jurisdictions. Through the organization of the imperial circle ( Reichskreise ), the group of countries consolidates resources and promotes regional and organizational interests, including economic cooperation and military protection.
The Second Coalition War (1799-1802) resulted in the defeat of imperial forces and allies by Napoleon Bonaparte. The agreements of LunÃÆ' Â © ville (1801) and Mediatization of 1803 secularized ecclesiastical kingdoms and abolished most of the free imperial cities and these areas along with their inhabitants absorbed by the dynastic nations. This transfer in particular increases the area of ​​WÃÆ'¼rttemberg and Baden. In 1806, after the successful invasion of Prussia and the defeat of Prussia and Russia at the joint Jena-Auerstedt battle, Napoleon dictated the Pressburg Treaty and led the formation of the Rhine Confederation, which, inter alia , provided for the mediatization of over a hundred small princes and and the absorption of their territory, as well as those of hundreds of imperial knights, by Confederate member nations. After the official separation of these member states from the Empire, the Emperor dismissed the Holy Roman Empire.
The rise of German nationalism under the Napoleonic System
Under the hegemony of the French Empire (1804-1814), popular German nationalism developed in the reorganized German states. Because part of the shared experience, albeit under French domination, various justifications emerged to identify "Germany" as one country. For the German philosopher Johann Gottlieb Fichte,
The first, original, and completely natural borders of the country are undoubtedly in doubt of their internal boundaries. Those who speak the same language join each other by many unseen ties by nature itself, long before the art of man begins; they understand each other and have the power to make themselves understood more clearly; they belong together and are essentially one and the whole that is inseparable.
The same language may have been seen as the basis of a nation, but as noted by contemporary German historians of the nineteenth century, it takes more than just linguistic similarities to unite these several hundred governments. The experience of the German-speaking Central Europeans during the French hegemony years contributed to a sense of common purpose to remove the French colonists and reassert control of their own land. The primacy of Napoleon's campaign in Poland (1806-07), the Iberian Peninsula, West Germany, and the invasion of Russian catastrophes in 1812 disappointed many Germans, princes and peasants. The Continental Napoleon system nearly destroyed the Central European economy. The invasion of Russia included almost 125,000 troops from German territory, and the loss of the army prompted many Germans, both born and tall, to imagine Central Europe free from Napoleon influence. The establishment of student militias such as LÃÆ'¼tzow Free Corps exemplifies this trend.
Disasters in Russia loosened France's grip on the German prince. In 1813, Napoleon conducted a campaign in the German states to bring them back into French orbit; The next Liberation War culminates in the Great Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations. In October 1813, more than 500,000 fighters engaged in a fierce battle for three days, making it Europe's largest land battle in the 19th century. The engagement produced a decisive victory for the Austrian, Prussian, Russian, Sachsen and Swedish Coalition, and ended French rule in the east of the Rhine. Successfully pushed Coalition forces to pursue Napoleon across the Rhine; his troops and his government collapsed, and the winning Coalition in Napoleon who was imprisoned in Elba. During the brief Napoleon restoration known as the 100 Days of 1815, the Seventh Coalition forces, including Anglo-Allied troops under the command of Duke of Wellington and the Prussian army under the command of Gebhard von BlÃÆ'¼cher, won at Waterloo (18 June 1815). The vital role played by the BlÃÆ'¼cher troops, especially after having to retreat from the field at Ligny the day before, helped to reverse the battle against France. The Prussian cavalry chased the losing French on the night of June 18, sealing the victory of the allies. From a German perspective, the actions of the BlÃÆ'¼cher forces at Waterloo, and the combined efforts at Leipzig, offer a point of pride and enthusiasm. This interpretation became the main building block of the Borussian myths described by pro-Prussian nationalist historians in the late nineteenth century.
Reorganization of Central Europe and the rise of German dualism
After Napoleon's defeat, the Vienna Congress established a new European political-diplomatic system based on the balance of power. This system reorganized Europe into a sphere of influence, which, in some cases, suppressed the aspirations of various nations, including Germany and Italy. In general, the enlarged Prussia and the other 38 consolidated countries from territories legalized in 1803 were confederated within the sphere of influence of the Austrian Empire. The Congress formed a loose German Confederation (1815-1866), chaired by Austria, with a "Federal Diet" (called Bundestag or Bundesversammlung, designated assembly leader) who met in the city Frankfurt am Main. In recognition of the position of the empire traditionally held by the Habsburgs, the Austrian emperor became the titular president of this parliament. Problematically, embedded Austrian domination failed to account for the emergence of Prussia in the 18th century in Imperial politics. Ever since the Prince-Voters of Brandenburg had established themselves as King in Prussia earlier in the century, their domain continued to increase through war and inheritance. Prussia's consolidated powers became evident during the Austrian War of Succession and the Seven-Year War under Frederick the Great. When Maria Theresa and Joseph attempted to restore Habsburg hegemony in the Holy Roman Empire, Frederick retaliated with the formation of the Fauchery of the Prince of Prussia in 1785. Austrian-Prussian dualism lies in the strong roots of old Imperial politics.. Their balance of maneuvers power is symbolized by the Bavarian War of Success, or "Potato War" among the common people. Even after the end of the Holy Roman Empire, this competition affected the growth and development of the nationalist movement in the 19th century.
Reorganization issues
Despite the nomenclature of the Diet (Assembly or Parliament), it should not be construed as a widely chosen, or popular, representative group. Many states have no constitution, and those who do so, such as the Duchy of Baden, are based on the right to vote on strict property requirements that effectively limit the right to vote for a small minority of the male population. Furthermore, this impractical solution does not reflect the new Prussian status in the overall scheme. Although the Prussian army had lost dramatically in the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt in 1806, the troops had made a spectacular comeback at Waterloo. As a result, Prussian leaders are expected to play an important role in German politics.
The spurt of German nationalism, fueled by the experience of the Germans in the Napoleonic period and initially allied with liberalism, shifted political, social and cultural relations in the German states. In this context, one can detect its roots in the experience of the Germans in the Napoleonic period. The student organizations of Burschenschaft and popular demonstrations, such as those held at Wartburg Castle in October 1817, contributed to the growing sense of unity among German speakers in Central Europe. Furthermore, the implicit and sometimes explicit promises made during the Liberation War gave rise to hope for popular sovereignty and wide participation in the political process, promises that were largely unfulfilled once peace was achieved. Agitation by student organizations led conservative leaders such as Clement Wenzel, Prince von Metternich, to fear the rise of national sentiment; the murder of German dramatist August von Kotzebue in March 1819 by a radical student seeking union followed on 20 September 1819 by the proclamation of the Carlsbad Decree, which impeded the intellectual leadership of the nationalist movement.
Metternich was able to exploit conservative anger at the assassination to consolidate the law which would further restrict the press and limit the rising liberal and nationalist movements. As a result, these decrees encouraged underground Burschenschaften, limiting the publication of nationalist material, expanding press censorship and personal correspondence, and limited academic speech by banning university professors from encouraging nationalist discussion. The decree was the subject of Johann Joseph von Gonz¶¶rres Teutschland [archaic: Deutschland] and Die Revolution ( German and Revolution ) (1820), where he concluded that it is possible and undesirable to suppress public opinion free speech with reactionary measures.
Economic collaboration: customs union
Another key institution to unite the German states, Zollverein , helps create a greater sense of economic unification. Originally conceived by Finance Minister Prussia Hans, Count von BÃÆ'¼low, as the Prussian customs guild in 1818, Zollverein connects many Prussian and Hohenzollern regions. For the next thirty years (and more) other German states joined. The Association helps to reduce protectionist barriers between German states, especially improving the transportation of raw materials and finished goods, making it easier to move goods across territorial borders and cheaper to buy, transport, and sell raw materials. This is especially important for emerging industrial centers, mostly located in the Prussian region of Rhineland, Saar, and the Ruhr valleys. Countries further away from the coast joined the former Customs Union. Not becoming a more important member of the southern German state, because the external tariffs of the Customs Union prevented duty-free access to shore (which gave access to international markets). Thus, in 1836, all states in southern Prussia joined the Customs Union, except Austria.
By contrast, coastal countries have had barrier-free access to international trade and do not want consumers and producers to be burdened with the import duties they would pay if they were within Zollverein's customs borders. Hanover on the north coast formed his own customs union - "Union Tax" or Steuerverein - in 1834 with Brunswick and with Oldenburg in 1836. External tariffs for finished goods and raw materials abroad and were below the Zollverein tariff. Brunswick joined the Zollverein Customs Union in 1842, while Hanover and Oldenburg eventually merged in 1854. After the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg were annexed by Prussia and thus annexed to the Customs Union, while the two states of Mecklenburg and the country the cities of Hamburg and Bremen were late to join because they were dependent on international trade. Mecklenburg joined in 1867, while Bremen and Hamburg joined in 1888.
Roads and trains
At the beginning of the 19th century, the streets of Germany had deteriorated to a terrible degree. Tourists, both foreign and local, complained bitterly about the state of HeerstraÃÆ'Ÿen, military streets previously maintained for ease of moving troops. However, since the German states are no longer a military junction, the roads are improving; the length of the winding road in Prussia increased from 3,800 kilometers (2,400 mi) in 1816 to 16,600 kilometers (10,300 mi) in 1852, partly helped by the discovery of the macadam. In 1835, Heinrich von Gagern wrote that the path is "the veins and arteries of the political body..." and predicts that they will promote freedom, independence, and prosperity. As people move around, they connect with others, on trains, in hotels, in restaurants, and for some, in fashionable resorts like the spa in Baden-Baden. Water transport also increases. The blockade on the Rhine was removed by Napoleon's order, but in the 1820s, the steam engine freed the river boats from the intricate systems of humans and animals that drew them upstream. In 1846, 180 steamers transported the German rivers and Lake Constance, and a network of canals extended from the Danube, Weser, and Elbe rivers.
As important as this increase, they can not compete with the impact of trains. The German economist, the Friedrich List calls rail and Customs Union "Siamese Twins", stresses their important relationship with each other. He is not alone: ​​the poet August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben wrote a poem in which he praised the goodness of Zollverein, which he began with a list of commodities that have contributed more to German unity than to politics or diplomacy. The historians of the Second Empire then regarded trains as the first indicator of a unified state; the author of a patriotic novel, Wilhelm Raabe, writes: "The Kingdom of Germany was founded by the construction of the first train..." Not everyone greets the iron monster with enthusiasm. The Prussian King Frederick William III saw no advantage on the way from Berlin to Potsdam a few hours earlier, and Metternich refused to ride one at all. Others wonder whether trains are "evil" that threatens the landscape: Nikolaus Lenau's 1838 poems An den FrÃÆ'¼hling ( Toward the Spring ) laments the way the train destroys the pure calmness of Germany Forest.
The Bavarian Ludwig Railway, which was the first passenger or railway on German soil, linked Nuremberg and FÃÆ'¼rth in 1835. Despite its length of 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) and only operating during the day, it proved profitable and popular. Within three years, a 141-kilometer (88 mi) course was installed, in 1840, 462 kilometers (287 mi), and in 1860, 11,157 kilometers (6,933 mi). Because it lacks geographical organizing features (such as national capitals), rails are laid in nets, connecting cities and markets within regions, territories within larger areas, and so on. When the rail network widened, it became cheaper to transport goods: in 1840, 18 Pfennigs per ton per kilometer and in 1870, five Pfennigs . The effect of the train was immediate. For example, raw materials can travel up and down the Ruhr Valley without having to disassemble and return. The railways encourage economic activity by creating demand for commodities and by facilitating trade. In 1850, ground deliveries carried three times more freight than rail; in 1870, the situation was reversed, and the train was done four times as much. Train travels change how cities look and how people travel. Its impact reaches the whole social order, which affects the highest born to the lowest. Although some remote German provinces were not served by trains until the 1890s, the majority of the population, manufacturing centers, and production centers were linked to the railway network in 1865.
Geography, patriotism, and language
As travel becomes easier, faster, and cheaper, Germans begin to see unity in other factors than theirs. The Brothers Grimm, who composed a large dictionary known as The Grimm , also composed a summary of folklore and fairy tales, which highlights the parallel stories between different regions. Karl Baedeker writes guidebooks to various cities and regions of Central Europe, shows residence, sites to visit, and gives a brief history of castles, battlefields, famous buildings, and famous people. The guide also includes distance, roads to avoid, and climbing tracks to follow.
The words of August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben not only reveal the linguistic unity of the Germans but also their geographical unity. In Deutschland, Deutschland ÃÆ'¼ber Alles , officially called Das Lied der Deutschen ("Song of the Germans "), Fallersleben asks rulers throughout the German States to admit unifying characteristics of the German people. Other patriotic songs such as "Die Wacht am Rhein" ("The Watch on the Rhine") by Max Schneckenburger began to focus on the geographical space, not restricting "Germanness" into the same language. Schneckenburger wrote "The Watch on the Rhine" in particular patriotic response to the French statement that Rhine is the "natural" eastern boundary of France. In the refrain, "Dear homeland, my dear homeland, put your mind to rest/This watch stands right on the Rhine", and in other patriotic poems like Nicholaus Beck's "Das Rheinlied" ("The Rhine"), the Germans are called to retaining their territorial waters. In 1807, Alexander von Humboldt argued that national characters reflect geographic influences, connecting landscapes with people. Along with this idea, movements to preserve old fortresses and historic sites emerged, and this was primarily focused on the Rhineland, the scene of many confrontations with France and Spain.
VormÃÆ'¤rz and nineteenth-century liberalism
The periods of the Austrian and Prussian police nations and the major censorship before the German Revolution of 1848 later became widely known as VormÃÆ'¤rz , "before March", referring to March 1848. During this period, European Liberalism gained momentum ; The agenda includes economic, social and political issues. Most of the European liberals in VormÃÆ'¤rz seek unity under nationalist principles, promoting the transition to capitalism, seeking the expansion of men's suffrage, among other issues. Their "radicality" depends on where they stand on the spectrum of men's suffrage: the broader the definition of suffrage, the more radical.
Hambach Festival: liberal nationalism and conservative responses
Despite many conservative reactions, unity ideas join the idea of ​​popular sovereignty in German-speaking countries. Hambach Festival ( Hambacher Fest ) in May 1832 was attended by a crowd of over 30,000. Promoted as a county fair, its participants celebrate fraternity, freedom, and national unity. The celebrities gathered in the city below and marched to the ruins of Hambach Castle at an altitude above Hambach township, in the Bavarian Palatinate province. Bringing flags, beating drums, and singing, the participants took better parts of the morning and midday to arrive at the castle grounds, where they listened to speeches by nationalist orators from across the spectrum of conservative politics to radicals. The whole contents of the speeches shows the fundamental difference between German nationalism in the 1830s and French nationalism of the July Revolution: the focus of German nationalism rests on the education of the people; so educated people like what is needed, they will achieve it. Hambach's rhetoric emphasized the overall peaceful nature of German nationalism: the point is not to build barricades, a very "French" nationalism, but to build an emotional bridge between groups.
As he did in 1819, after Kotzebue's assassination, Metternich used popular demonstrations in Hambach to encourage conservative social policy. "Six Articles" on 28 June 1832 primarily reaffirmed the principle of monarchical authority. On July 5, the Frankfurt Diet picked up an additional 10 articles, repeating existing rules about censorship, restricted political organizations, and limiting other public activities. Subsequently, member states agreed to send military aid to governments threatened by unrest. Prince Wrede led half of the Bavarian army to the Palatinate to "conquer" the province. Some poor Hambach speakers were arrested, tried, and imprisoned; one, Karl Heinrich BrÃÆ'¼ggemann (1810-1887), a law student and a representative of the Burschenschaft secrets, was sent to Prussia, where he was first sentenced to death, but later pardoned.
Liberalism and response to economic problems
Several other factors complicate the rise of nationalism in the German states. Manmade factors include political competition between members of the German confederation, particularly between Austria and Prussia, and socio-economic competition between commercial and merchant interests and old land ownership and aristocratic interests. Natural factors include widespread droughts in the early 1830s, and again in the 1840s, and the food crisis of the 1840s. Further complications arise as a result of a shift in industrialization and manufacturing; when people are looking for work, they leave their villages and small towns to work for a week in the cities, returning for a week and a half at the weekend.
The economic, social and cultural dislocations of ordinary people, economic economic difficulties in transition, and the stress of meteorological disasters all contribute to the growing problems in Central Europe. The failure of most governments to deal with the food crisis of the mid-1840s, caused by potato disease (associated with the Great Irish Famine) and some bad weather seasons, prompted many to think that wealthy and powerful people were not interested in their problems. The powerful are concerned about the growing unrest, political and social agitation among the working class, and intellectual discontent. No censorship, fines, imprisonment, or expulsion, it seems, could stem the criticism. Furthermore, it is increasingly clear that Austria and Prussia want to be leaders in every union produced; each will inhibit the other drive to achieve unification.
First attempt at unification
Importantly, both the Wartburg rally in 1817 and the Hambach Festival in 1832 did not have a clear unification program. In Hambach, the positions of many speakers illustrate their different agendas. United only by the idea of ​​unification, their idea of ​​how to achieve this does not include a specific plan but instead rests on the vague idea that Volk (people), if educated, will result in its own union. Great speeches, flags, passionate students, and picnic lunches are not translated into new political, bureaucratic or administrative apparatus. While many are talking about the need for a constitution, no such document emerges from the discussion. In 1848, the nationalists tried to fix the problem.
German Revolution of 1848 and the Parliament of Frankfurt
The widespread revolution - especially Germany - in 1848-49 seeks the unification of Germany under a single constitution. The revolutionaries pressed various state governments, especially in Rhineland, for a parliamentary assembly that would have the responsibility for drafting a constitution. Finally, many left-wing revolutionaries hope this constitution will shape the universal man's vote, the permanent national parliament, and the united Germany, possibly under the leadership of the king of Prussia. This seems to be the most logical because Prussia is the strongest in the German state, and also the largest in geographical size. Generally, right-wing revolutionaries are seeking a sort of expanded suffrage in their country and potentially, a looser form of union. Their pressure generated elections, based on differences in voting qualifications, such as the three Prussian class franchises, awarded to some electoral groups - especially the richer ones, who landed - greater representative power.
On March 27, 1849, the Parliament of Frankfurt passed the Paulskirchenverfassung (St. Paul's Constitution) and offered the title of Emperor Kaiser to the next Prussian king Frederick William IV. He refused for various reasons. In public, he replied that he could not accept a crown without the consent of the real state, which he meant the princes. Personally, he is afraid of opposition from other German princes and military intervention from Austria or Russia. He also holds a fundamental hatred for the idea of ​​accepting the crown of popularly elected parliament: he will not accept the "clay" crown. Despite franchise requirements that often perpetuate many sovereignty issues and liberal political participation seeks to overcome, the Frankfurt Parliament succeeds in drafting the constitution and reaching agreement on a solution of kleindeutsch. While liberals failed to achieve the unification they sought, they managed to gain a partial victory by working with German princes on many constitutional issues and cooperating with them in reform.
1848 and the Frankfurt Parliament in retrospective analysis
German history scholars have been involved in a decades-old debate about how the successes and failures of the Frankfurt Parliament contributed to the explanation of the German development historiography. One school of thought, which emerged after the Great War and gained momentum after World War II, stated that the failure of German liberals in the Frankfurt Parliament led to a bourgeois compromise with conservatives (especially conservative Junker landowners), who then led to the so-called > Sonderweg (typical path) of 20th century German history. Failure to achieve unification in 1848, this argument holds true, resulting in the final formation of the nation-state in 1871, which in turn delayed the development of positive national values. Hitler often appealed to the German public to sacrifice everything for the purpose of their great nation, but his regime did not create German nationalism: he only made use of the intrinsic cultural values ​​of German society that are still common even today. Furthermore, this argument maintains, "failure" of 1848 reaffirms the longing of the latent aristocracy among the German middle classes; consequently, the group has never developed a self-aware program of modernization.
After the Frankfurt Parliament dissolved, Frederick William IV, under the influence of General Joseph Maria von Radowitz, supported the creation of the Erfurt Union - a federation of German states, except Austria - by the free treaties of German princes. This limited unity under Prussia has virtually eliminated the influence of Austria on other German states. The combined diplomatic pressures of Austria and Russia (guarantor of the 1815 treaty that constituted the sphere of European influence) forced Prussia to abandon the idea of ​​the Erfurt Union at a meeting in the small OlmÃÆ'¼tz town of Moravia. In November 1850, the Prussians - especially Radowitz and Frederick William - approved the restoration of the German Confederacy under the leadership of Austria. This is known as OlmÃÆ'¼tz Setback, but among Prusisi people it is known as "OlmÃÆ'¼tz Insult."
Despite seemingly small events, the proposals of the Erfurt Union and the Punctation of OlmÃÆ'¼tz bring the problem of influence in the German countries into a sharp focus. The question is not a matter of if but when unification will occur, and when depends on strength. One former member of the Frankfurt Parliament, Johann Gustav Droysen, summed up the matter:
We can not hide the fact that all German questions are a simple alternative between Prussia and Austria. In these countries, German life has a positive and negative pole - in the first, all national and reformative interests, in both, they are dynamic and destructive. The German question is not a constitutional question but a question of power; and the Prussian monarchy is now fully German, while Austria can not.
Unification under these conditions creates basic diplomatic problems. The possibility of German (or Italy) unification will reverse the overlapping influence system created in 1815 at the Vienna Congress. The main architect of this convention, Metternich, Castlereagh, and Tsar Alexander (with his foreign minister, Count Karl Nesselrode), has understood and governed a balanced Europe and is guaranteed by four "great powers": Great Britain, France, Russia and Austria. , with each force having a sphere of geographic influence. The scope of France includes the Iberian Peninsula and the spheres of influence in the Italian states. Russia belongs to the eastern region of Central Europe and the influence of balancing in the Balkans. The scope of Austria flourished in many parts of Central Europe previously held by the Holy Roman Empire. The British environment is all over the world, especially the oceans.
The scope of this system of influence depends on the fragmentation of the German and Italian states, not their consolidation. As a result, a German state united under one banner presents an important question. There is no definition ready to apply to who the Germans are or how far the German border will stretch. There is also the uncertainty of who best leads and defends "Germany", but it is defined. Different groups offer different solutions to this problem. In the Kleindeutschland ("Lesser Germany") solution, the German states will unite under the leadership of Prussian Hohenzollerns; in the Grossdeutschland ("Greater Germany") solution, the German states will unite under the leadership of the Austrian Habsburg. This controversy, the last phase of the German dualism debate that has dominated German politics and Austro-Prussian diplomacy since the creation of the Prussian Empire in 1701, will be a head for the next twenty years.
External expectations of a united Germany
Other nationalists had great hopes for the German unification movement, and frustration with lasting German union after 1850 seemed to make a national movement again. The revolutionaries associate national unity with progress. As Giuseppe Garibaldi wrote to German revolutionary Karl Blind on April 10, 1865, "The progress of mankind seems to have ceased, and you with the intelligence of your boss will know why.the reason is that the world has no true leadership, of course, it is necessary not to dominate others but to lead them along the path of duty, to lead them to the fraternal nations where all barriers erected by egoism will be destroyed. "Garibaldi looks to Germany for" the type of leadership, in the true tradition of medieval knights, will devote himself to correcting mistakes, supporting the weak, sacrificing temporary profits and material gains for a much better and more fulfilling achievement of eliminating the suffering of our fellow human beings. We need a nation brave enough to give us a clue to this direction, will be lang for the purpose of those who suffer from wrong or who want a better life and all those who now survive from foreign persecution. "
The unification of Germany has also been seen as a precondition for the formation of the European federation, which Giuseppe Mazzini and other European patriots have been promoting for more than three decades:
In the spring of 1834, when in Berne, Mazzini and a dozen refugees from Italy, Poland and Germany established a new association with the majestic name of the Young Europeans. The basic idea, and equally grandiose, is that, when the French Revolution of 1789 extended the concept of individual freedom, another revolution would now be needed for national freedom; and his vision goes further because he hopes that in the future free nations that no doubt might combine to form a loose federal Europe with some sort of federal assembly to organize their common interests. [...] His intention was nothing more than to undo the European settlement agreed in 1815 by the Vienna Congress, which had rebuilt the oppressive hegemony of some great powers and hindered the emergence of smaller states. [...] Mazzini hopes, but without much conviction, that his vision of the league or the society of an independent state will be manifested in his own life. In practice, the Young Europeans lack money and popular support for more than just short-term existence. Nevertheless he has always remained true to the ideals of a united continent, where the formation of individual nations will be an indispensable start.
The growing power of Prussia: Realpolitik
King Frederick William IV suffered a stroke in 1857 and could no longer rule. This led to his brother William becoming the Prince of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1858. Meanwhile, Helmuth von Moltke had been the head of the Prussian General Staff in 1857, and Albrecht von Roon would become Defense Minister of Prussia in 1859. This dragged the authorities into the formation of the Prussian military will have important consequences. Von Roon and William (actively interested in the military structure) began to reorganize the Prussian army, while Moltke redesigned Prussia's strategic defense by streamlining its operational command. Prussian military reforms (especially how to pay them) led to a constitutional crisis that began in 1860 because both parliament and William - through his war minister - wanted control over military budgets. William, crowned King Wilhelm I in 1861, appointed Otto von Bismarck to the position of Minister-President Prussia in 1862. Bismarck resolved the crisis after the war minister.
The Crimean War of 1854-55 and the Italian War of 1859 disrupted relations between Britain, France, Austria and Russia. Following this chaos, the convergence of von Moltke's operational redesign, the restructuring of the von Roon and Wilhelm armies, and Bismarck's diplomacy influenced the re-arrangement of Europe's balance of power. Their combined agenda formed Prussia as a leading German force through a combination of foreign diplomatic victories - supported by the possible use of Prussian military forces - and internal conservatism forged by pragmatism, later known as Realpolitik.
Bismarck expressed the essence of Realpolitik in his "Blood and Iron" speech which was then renowned to the Prussian Debate Room Budget Committee on September 30, 1862, shortly after he became President of the Minister: "The big question of time will not be resolved by speech and majority decision - it was a big mistake in 1848 and 1849 - but by iron and blood. "Bismarck's words," iron and blood "(or" blood and iron ", as is often attributed), are often misinterpreted as proof of Germany's desire for blood and power. First, the phrase of his speech "the big question of time will not be solved by speech and majority decision" is often interpreted as a rejection of the political process - Bismarck's refusal alone does not advocate. Secondly, its emphasis on blood and iron not only implies an unparalleled military power of the Prussian army but two important aspects: the ability of the German states to produce iron and other related war material and the willingness to use the material of war if necessary.
Establishment of an integrated country
There is, in political geography, no German is right to talk about. There are Kingdoms and Grand Duchies, and Duchies and Principalities, inhabited by Germans, and each separately governed by independent sovereignty with all State machines. But there is a subconscious that tends to become a national feeling and towards the unity of Germany into one great nation, which is controlled by a common head as a national unit.
The need for iron blood and immediately became clear. In 1862, when Bismarck delivered his speech, the idea of ​​the German nation-state in the spirit of Pan-Germanism peace had shifted from the liberal and democratic character of 1848 to accommodate the more conservative Bismarck of Realpolitik. Once pragmatic, Bismarck understands the possibilities, obstacles, and advantages of a unified state. He also understood the importance of linking the country with the Hohenzollern dynasty, which for some historians remained one of Bismarck's major contributions to the formation of the German Empire in 1871. While the conditions of treaties that bind German states to one another forbade Bismarck from taking unilateral action, politicians and diplomats in himself is aware of the impracticality of such an act. In order to get the Germans united, Bismarck needed an enemy from outside who would declare war on one of the German states first, thus providing a casus belli to rally all the Germans behind. This opportunity arose with the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. Historians have long debated the role of Bismarck in the events leading up to the war. The traditional view, enacted largely by 19th-century and early-twentieth-century pro-Prussian historians, states that Bismarck's intentions have always been a unification of Germany. However, the post-1945 historians, seeing more short-term opportunism and cynicism in Bismarck's manipulation of circumstances to create war, rather than the grand scheme to unite the nation-state. Regardless, Bismarck was neither a criminal nor a saint: by manipulating events of 1866 and 1870, he demonstrated the political and diplomatic skills that had led Wilhelm to turn to him in 1862.
Three episodes proved fundamental to the unification of German administration and politics. First, death without the heirs of Frederick VII's men from Denmark led to the Second War of Schleswig in 1864. Second, the unification of Italy gave Prussia an ally against Austria in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. Finally, the French - afraid of the Hohenzollern siege - declared war on Prussia in 1870, produced the Franco-Prussian War. Through a combination of Bismarck diplomacy and political leadership, von Roon's military reorganization, and von Moltke's military strategy, Prussia pointed out that no signing of the European peace treaty of 1815 could guarantee the sphere of influence of Austria in Central Europe, thus achieving Prussian hegemony in Germany and ending the dualism debate.
Schleswig-Holstein's Question
The first episode in the German unification story under Bismarck came with Schleswig-Holstein's question. On 15 November 1863, King Christian IX of Denmark became king of Denmark and duke of Schleswig and Holstein. On 18 November 1863, he signed the November Danish Constitution and declared Duchy Schleswig as part of Denmark. The German Confederation saw this act as a violation of the London Protocol of 1852, which emphasized the status of the Danish empire as distinct from the independent duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. The population of Schleswig and Holstein, furthermore, greatly appreciate this separate status. The German Confederation can use the ethnicity of these duchies as an appeal: most of both Schleswig and Holstein are from Germany and speak German in everyday life (although Schleswig has a sizeable Danish minority). The diplomatic effort to cancel the November Constitution collapsed, and the battle began when Prussian and Austrian troops crossed the border into Schleswig on 1 February 1864. Initially, Denmark tried to defend their country using an ancient land wall known as Danevirke, but this proved futile. Denmark is not suitable for Prussian and Austrian combined forces, and they can not rely on help from their allies in other Scandinavian countries because Denmark has annulled alliance rights by violating the London Protocol. The Needle Gun, one of the first barrel rifles used for conflict, helped Prussia in this war and the Austro-Prussian War two years later. The rifle allows a Prussian soldier to fire five shots while his stomach, while his rebel counterpart can only fire one shot and must be reloaded while standing. The Second Schleswig War resulted in victory for Prussian and Austrian combined forces, and both countries won control of Schleswig and Holstein in Vienna's final peace, signed on 30 October 1864.
War between Austria and Prussia, 1866
The second episode of Bismarck's unification effort took place in 1866. In concert with the newly formed Italy, Bismarck created a diplomatic environment in which Austria declared war on Prussia. A dramatic start to the war took place mostly in Frankfurt, where two powers claim to speak for all German states in parliament. In April 1866, Prussia's representatives in Florence signed a secret agreement with the Italian government, which committed each country to help others in the war against Austria. The next day, the Prussian delegation to the Frankfurt assembly presented a plan calling for a national constitution, directly elected National Diet, and universal suffrage. The German liberals were completely skeptical of this plan, having witnessed the difficult and ambiguous Bismarck relationship with Prussian Landtag (State Parliament), a relationship characterized by Bismarck's persuasion and sniffing representatives. These skeptics regard the proposal as a way to increase the power of Prussia rather than the progressive reform agenda.
Selecting sides
The debate on the proposed national constitution became controversial when news of the Italian troop movements in Tyrol and near the Venetian border reached Vienna in April 1866. The Austrian government ordered partial mobilization in the south; the Italians responded by ordering full mobilization. Although calls for rational thought and action, Italy, Prussia, and Austria continue to rush towards armed conflict. On May 1, Wilhelm gave von Moltke's command of Prussian armed forces, and the following day he began full-scale mobilization.
In the Diet, the middle-class group, known as Mittelstaaten (Bavaria, WÃÆ'¼rttemberg, grand duchies of Baden and Hesse, and districts of Saxony-Weimar, Saxony-Meiningen, Saxony-Coburg, and Nassau) complete demobilization in the Confederation. These individual governments rejected the powerful combination of the alluring promises and subtle (or direct) threats that Bismarck used to try to gain their support for Habsburg. The Prussian war cabinet understands that its only supporters among the German states against Habsburg are two small kingdoms bordering Brandenburg with little military or political influence: the Grand Duchies of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz. They also understand that Prussia's only overseas ally is Italian.
Opposition to Prussia's strong-armed tactics appears in other social and political groups. Across the German state, city council, liberal parliamentarians who favor a united state, and chamber of commerce - who will see the great benefits of unification - against any war between Prussia and Austria. They believed that such conflicts would serve only the interests of the royal dynasty. Their own interests, which they perceive as "civil" or "bourgeois," seem irrelevant. Public opinion also opposes Prussian dominance. Catholic populations along the Rhine - especially in cosmopolitan areas such as Cologne and in the heavily populated Ruhr Valley - continue to support Austria. At the end of spring, most of the important states opposed Berlin's attempts to reorganize the German states by force. The Prussian Cabinet sees the unity of Germany as a question of power and the question of who has the power and the will to exercise that power. Meanwhile, liberals in the Frankfurt assembly see German unity as a negotiating process that will lead to the distribution of power among many parties.
Austria Isolated
Although some German states initially favored Austria, they persisted and failed to take effective initiatives against the Prussian army. The Austrian army therefore faced a technologically advanced Prussian troop with the support of only Saxony. France promised help, but it was too late and insufficient. Complicating the situation for Austria, the Italian mobilization on the southern border of Austria requires the transfer of forces away from the battle with Prussia against the Third Italian War of Independence on the second front in Venetia and in the Adriatic Sea.
In the Battle of KÃÆ'¶niggrÃÆ'¤tz which lasted all day, near the village of SadovÃÆ'¡, Crown Prince Friedrich Carl and his army arrived late, and in the wrong place. But as soon as he arrived, he immediately ordered his troops into battle. The battle was a decisive victory for Prussia and forced the Habsburg to end the war, laying the foundation for the solution of Kleindeutschland (small German), or "Germany without Austria."
Realpolitik and North German Confederation
Rapid peace is essential to prevent Russia from entering the conflict on the Austrian side. Prussia annexed Hanover, Hesse-Kassel, Nassau, and the city of Frankfurt. Hesse Darmstadt lost some territory but not its sovereignty. The southern Main River states (Baden, WÃÆ'¼rttemberg, and Bavaria) signed a separate agreement that required them to pay compensation and form an alliance that took them into the sphere of influence of Prussia. Austria, and most of its allies, were expelled from the North German Confederation.
The end of Austria's dominance of the German states turned Austrian attention to the Balkans. In 1867, the Austrian emperor Franz Joseph received a settlement (Austro-Hungarian Compromise in 1867) where he gave the same status in Hungary to his Austrian domain, creating the Austrian-Hungarian Dual Monarchy. The Peace of Prague (1866) offers soft terms to Austria, where Austria's relations with the new Italian nation-states are undergoing major restructuring; although Austria was far more successful in the military field against Italian troops, the monarchy lost the vital province of Venetia. The Habsburg surrendered Venetia to France, which then officially shifted control to Italy. The French public hate Prussian victory and demand Revanche pour SadovÃÆ'¡ (â € Å"Ray for Sadovaâ €), depicting anti-Prussian sentiments in France - a matter that will accelerate in the months leading up to Franco-War Russia. The Austro-Prussian War also damages relations with the French government. At a meeting in Biarritz in September 1865 with Napoleon III, Bismarck had let him be understood (or Napoleon thought he understood) that France might be annexed parts of Belgium and Luxembourg in exchange for its neutrality in war. This annexation did not occur, resulting in enmity from Napoleon against Bismarck.
The reality of defeat for Austria led to the re-evaluation of internal divisions, local autonomy, and liberalism. The new North German Confederation has its own constitutional structure, flag, and government. Through military victory, Prussia under the influence of Bismarck has overcome Austrian active resistance to the idea of ​​a united Germany. Austria's influence over the German states may have been damaged, but the war also destroys the spirit of German unity: most Germans resent the politics of Prussian power.
War with France
In 1870, three important lessons from the Austro-Prussian war became clear. The first lesson is that, through the strength of weapons, a strong state can challenge old alliances and influence environments established in 1815. Second, through diplomatic maneuvering, a skilled leader can create an environment in which the competing state will declare war first, thus forcing the state to ally with "victims" of external aggression to come to the aid of the leader. Finally, as Prussian military capacity far outstrips Austria, Prussia is clearly the only country in the Confederation (or among German countries in general) capable of protecting them all from potential interference or aggression. In 1866, most of the middle German states opposed Prussia, but by 1870 these countries had been forced and induced into protective alliances with Prussia. If a European country declares war on any of its members, they will all come to defend the country that is attacked. With clever European political manipulation, Bismarck created a situation in which France would play the role of aggressor in German affairs, while Prussia would play the role of protector of German rights and freedoms.
Spread of influence split in spanish
At the Vienna Congress in 1815, Metternich and his conservative allies had rebuilt the Spanish monarchy under King Ferdinand VII. Over the next forty years, great powers supported the Spanish monarchy, but the events of 1868 would test further the old system. A revolution in Spain overthrew Queen Isabella II, and the throne remained empty while Isabella lived in a luxurious exile in Paris. The Spaniards, looking for a suitable Catholic substitute, have offered a post to three European princes, each rejected by Napoleon III, who served as a regional power broker. Finally, in 1870, the District offered the crown to Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, a prince of the Catholic cadre Hohenzollern line. The subsequent furor has been dubbed by historians as the nomination of Hohenzollern.
Over the next few weeks, Spain's offer turned into European talks. Bismarck encouraged Leopold to accept the offer. The success of the successful King of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen in Spain would mean that two n
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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