nationalism of german

Important Factors for the Growth of German Nationalism

Political Nationalism
Political nationalism grew with the spread of new ideas about Liberalism and Nationalism. also Nationalism was the desire of people with a common national identity to have their own country. furthermore, 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. Especially, In the years initially following 1815, support for political nationalism in Germany was very small- it was limited to small groups of radical students from a middle class background known as the Burschenshaften. They were often encouraged by their lecturers who made speeches reflecting their motto, ‘Honor, Freedom, and Fatherland’. Also Repressive laws were issued by the Austrian Chancellor Metternich in 1819 called the Carlsbad Decrees which banned student societies and censored newspapers. The following year the power of the Diet was increased so that soldiers could be ordered to stop the spread of new ideas in any of the German states. Nonetheless the growth of nationalism continued with the emergence of the student societies of the 1830s which were far more radical in their outlook. For The growth of nationalism culminated in the revolutions of 1848. For the first time an all-German Parliament (The Frankfurt Parliament) met to create a united Germany. It consisted mainly of Liberals and Nationalists. Despite its eventual defeat the following year by the forces of Austria and Prussia, the setting up of this Parliament was a clear sign that support for unification was growing. for example The Napoleonic Wars
1789-1815 Between 1800 and 1815 the divided German states had been easily conquered by the French leader Napoleon Bonaparte and Napoleon merged the hundreds of German states into 38 larger states called the Confederation of the Rhine. Also 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 and The German people felt when unified they were stronger and were proud to have beaten Napoleon . Furthermore, After Napoleon’s defeat, and the expulsion of the French, ‘Germany’ was reformed in 1815 into 39 states. and The Confederation of the Rhine was replaced by the German Confederation - The Deutscher Bund so, Nationalists hoped that this ‘Bund’ would be the beginning of a single united German state. Finally 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
Culture Nationalism
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. Also, 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. And 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. Furthermore, the biggest cultural factor was undoubtedly the German language which did unite all German speaking people’s and gave them an identity. And sometime have a 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. Finally Historian Golo Mann questioned the importance of cultural nationalism when he wrote that most Germans ‘seldom looked up from the plough’ And In other words most did not know about big national issues or German culture also 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.

Economic Nationalism
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! And 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. 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. Finally, 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 Railways
As trade between German states increased, the rail network grew and the new rail network centred in Prussia. Also Just like in Britain railways e.g. post, newspapers spread ideas of liberalism & nationalism.
Finally:
Railways did not only spread goods but also broke down barriers between states and spread the idea of nationalism. 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