History of German Unification (1815-1871) Study Notes

Origins of German Unification: The Impact of the Enlightenment and Napoleonic Wars

• Status of Germany in 1815: Germany did not exist as a single unified country. It consisted of a series of different states, many of which lay within the boundaries of an organization known as the German Confederation.
• The Medieval Legacy: Before the Napoleonic Wars, most of the German area was part of the medieval Holy Roman Empire, a collection of semi-independent states under the rule of the Austrian emperor. This system collapsed in 1806 following Napoleon's invasion.
• The Confederation of the Rhine: Napoleon reorganized the west German states into a single organization called the Confederation of the Rhine.
• The Enlightenment Influence: French armies introduced ideas of the 18th-century Enlightenment, an intellectual movement emphasizing the power of reason and seeking to dismantle outdated political and social structures. One major example was the replacement of diverse local laws and judicial processes with the French legal system.
• Romantic Reaction and Nationalism:
      * German thinkers reacted by emphasizing cultural distinctiveness.
      * Romantic writers stressed emotion and imagination in opposition to French rationalism.
      * J.G. Herder: An influential writer who popularized the concept of Volksgeist (‘spirit of the people’), the idea that each nation possesses an individual identity based on shared heritage and language.
• The Battle of Leipzig (1813): Known as the 'Battle of the Nations,' this decisive defeat of Napoleon by Prussia, Austria, and Russia helped foster national pride. It was later marked by a monument $91\,\text{metres}$ high to celebrate its centenary, despite German-speaking troops fighting on both sides.

The Post-War Settlement and the Metternich System

• The Congress of Vienna (September 1814): A meeting of European nations to establish new boundaries and restore stability. Key representatives were from Austria, Prussia, Britain, and Russia. France attended but lacked decision-making power.
• Ideological Conflict: Conservatism vs. Liberalism and Nationalism.
      * Leaders at Vienna were social and political conservatives who wanted to restore old royal families and stability after $20$ years of upheaval.
• Prince Klemens von Metternich (1773–1859):
      * Austrian Foreign Minister ($1809–1848$) and Chancellor ($1821–1848$).
      * His goal was to protect Austrian interests and uphold international order.
      * Viewed 'liberty' and 'equality' as misleading 'evils.'
      * The Austrian Empire: A fragile structure of $25\,\text{million}$ people over $647\,000\,\text{square kilometers}$. It included Austrians, Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks, Croats, Poles, and Northern Italians. Most were Roman Catholic.
      * Metternich’s Methods: Relied on censorship and a network of secret agents to spy on radicals and intercept correspondence. He avoided stationing troops in their home regions to prevent nationalist organization.

The German Confederation (Bund)

• Organization: A confederation of $39$ states under Austrian control. It included kingdoms (e.g., Bavaria, Saxony) and self-governing city-states (e.g., Hamburg).
• Purpose: Intended to avoid a united Germany and maintain Austrian power.
• The Diet: A conference of ambassadors meeting in Frankfurt, chaired by an Austrian representative. It controlled foreign policy but lacked a civil service, economic unity, or a strong federal identity.
• Geopolitics and Voting:
      * Austria held a veto over constitutional changes.
      * Southern states (Bavaria, W61rttemberg, Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt) were predominantly Catholic and often supported Austria over Protestant Prussia.
• Prussia's Rise: The largest state in the north-east ($1815$ population: $10\,\text{million}$). Ruled by King Friedrich Wilhelm III and supported by the Junkers (conservative landowning class/military officers). Gained the industrialised Rhineland in $1815$.

Rise of Liberalism and the Middle Class

• Demographics: Primarily educated middle-class professionals: lawyers, doctors, officials, university teachers, and merchants.
• Growth: University population doubled between $1817$ and $1831$. Growth in literacy led to a thriving newspaper press.
• Liberal Goals:
      * Constitutional monarchy and representative assemblies elected by property owners.
      * Guarantees of free speech and fair trials.
      * Opposition to both absolute monarchy and full democracy (seen as 'mob rule').
• Economics: Support for laissez-faire (‘leave it alone’) economics. Desire to remove internal tariffs and promote competition.
• Radicalism: Favoured by some workers, supporting a democratic republic focused on popular uprising rather than debate.

Nationalist Movements and the Conservative Reaction

• Burschenschaften: Student associations promoting national unity; they were a minority in a largely peasant society with local loyalties.
• Barriers to Unity: Lack of religious unity (Catholic South/West vs. Protestant North/East) and poor communications.
• The Carlsbad Decrees (1819): Repressive measures triggered by the murder of August von Kotzebue. Features:
      * Censorship of the press.
      * University 'commissioners' to monitor teaching.
      * Removal of liberal professors and dissolution of student organizations.
• 1830 Revolutions: Triggered by the replacement of Charles X by Louis Philippe in France. Led to constitutions in Saxony, Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, and Brunswick.
• Hambach Festival (1832): A nationalist gathering in Bavaria. Triggered Metternich's Six Articles (limiting rights of assemblies and declaring supremacy of federal law) and Ten Articles (banning political meetings).
• The G61ttingen Seven (1837): Seven professors (including the Brothers Grimm) expelled from G61ttingen University for protesting King Ernest Augustus's abolition of the Hanoverian constitution.

The Impact of the Zollverein and Industrialization

• Economic Context: $70\%$ of the population remained in agriculture. Heavy industry grew in the $1840s$ via railways (stimulated coal/iron).
• Customs Barriers: Trade was slowed by internal tolls and bureaucratic paperwork across the Confederation.
• The Prussian Customs Union (1818): Prussia abolished $67$ internal barriers and set low import tariffs to discourage smuggling.
• The Zollverein (1834): A customs union of $18$ states (eventually $25$) with $26\,\text{million}$ people. Linkages included railways and common weights/measures.
• Exclusion of Austria: Austria stayed out to protect its domestic producers with high tariffs. This ceded economic leadership to Prussia.
• Kleindeutschland vs. Grossdeutschland:
      * Grossdeutschland: Large Germany including Austria (Austrian-dominated).
      * Kleindeutschland: Small Germany excluding Austria (Prussian-dominated).

The 1848 Revolutions: "The Year of Revolutions"

• Social/Economic Causes:
      * Two years of bad harvests ($1846–1847$).
      * High rents and population growth ($26.1\,\text{m}$ in $1820$ to $32.6\,\text{m}$ in $1840$).
      * Recession in the textile industry ($1847$) leading to wage cuts.
• Outbreak in Germany:
      * Baden: Grand Duke Leopold granted reforms (free press, trial by jury).
      * Bavaria: King Ludwig I abdicated for his son Maximilian after disturbances involving his mistress, Lola Montez.
      * The Vorparlament: Met in Frankfurt to set up a national constituent assembly.
• Revolution in Prussia:
      * Friedrich Wilhelm IV ($1795–1861$) called a United Diet in $1847$ to fund an eastern railway but dissolved it when it demanded a constitution.
      * March $1848$: Street fighting in Berlin led the King to make concessions, appearing in nationalist colors (black, red, gold).
• The Frankfurt Parliament (May 1848 – June 1849):
      * Represented primarily well-off professionals ("the professors' parliament").
      * Heinrich von Gagern: Its first president.
      * Approved "50 Fundamental Rights" in December $1848$.
      * Failure: No independent army; dependency on Prussian military. Disagreement over Kleindeutschland ($200$ lawyers, $95$ nobles, only $1$ peasant).
      * April $1849$: Friedrich Wilhelm IV rejected the crown of a unified Germany, calling it a ‘crown of mud and wood from the gutter.’

Reassertion of Austrian Power and the "Humiliation of Olm61tz"

• The Erfurt Union (1850): Prussia's attempt at a northern union (Three Kings' Alliance: Prussia, Saxony, Hanover). Abandoned under Austrian and Russian pressure.
• The Humiliation of Olm61tz (November 1850): Prussia agreed to abandon the Erfurt Union and return to the old Confederation framework.
• Prince Felix Schwarzenberg: Austrian minister who revitalized the Diet and maintained Habsburg authority.

Economic Lead and Manteuffel’s Reforms

• Coal Production Expansion:
      * $1850: 1\,961\,000\,\text{tonnes}$
      * $1865: 8\,526\,000\,\text{tonnes}$
• Otto von Manteuffel (Minister-President 1850–1858):
      * Conservatism through social reform.
      * Low-interest loans for peasants to buy land.
      * Reduced state control over coal and iron to foster private enterprise.
• The Nationalverein (National Society, 1859): A middle-class group (approx. $25\,000$ members) looking to Prussia for unification.

The Crisis and Rise of Otto von Bismarck

• Wilhelm I (Regent 1858, King 1861): Focused on military reform. Wanted to double the army size to $63\,000$ annual recruits and extend service to $3$ years.
• Constitutional Crisis: Liberals in the Landtag refused to vote for the budget to fund army reforms, fearing repression and the downgrading of the middle-class Landwehr (militia).
• Bismarck’s Appointment (September 1862): Recalled from Paris by War Minister Albrecht von Roon.
      * Personality: Arrogant, unprincipled, and cunning; famously said: "It is not by speeches and majority resolutions… but by iron and blood."
      * Strategy: Collected taxes without parliamentary approval for four years.

The Wars of Unification

• Danish War (1864):
      * Conflict over Schleswig-Holstein after King Christian IX tried to incorporate Schleswig.
      * Gastein Convention (August 1865): Temporary fix; Austria took Holstein, Prussia took Schleswig.
• Austro-Prussian War (1866) / The Seven Weeks' War:
      * Bismarck secured French neutrality (Biarritz meeting with Napoleon III) and an Italian alliance (promising Venetia).
      * Battle of K61niggr64tz (Sadowa): Decisive Prussian victory. Reasons: Prussian rail network ($5$ lines to Austria's $1$), Dreyse needle gun (fires $7$ shots/min vs. Austria's $2$/min), and commanders Moltke and Roon.
      * Treaty of Prague (August 1866): Light terms for Austria; no land lost except Venetia to Italy. Bismarck wanted Austria as a future ally.
• North German Confederation: Prussia annexed Hesse-Cassel, Nassau, Hanover, Frankfurt, and Schleswig-Holstein. Created a Federal Council (Bundesrat) and Parliament (Reichstag).

The Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871)

• Causes:
      * Luxembourg Crisis (1867): Bismarck whipped up public opinion to block Napoleon III's acquisition of Luxembourg.
      * Hohenzollern Candidature: Prince Leopold (Prussian relative) offered the Spanish throne. France felt encircled.
      * The Ems Telegram: Bismarck edited a report of a meeting between Wilhelm I and the French ambassador to provoke both nations. France declared war.
• Military Outcome:
      * Battle of Sedan (September 1870): French army of $100\,000$ encircled; Napoleon III surrendered and was toppled for a Republic.
      * Siege of Paris: Surrendered in January $1871$ after bombardment and starvation.
• Proclamation of the German Empire: Wilhelm I proclaimed "German Emperor" in the Hall of Mirrors, Versailles, on January $18, 1871$.

The Structure of the 1871 Reich

• Treaty with France: Reparations of $5\,\text{billion francs}$; annexation of Alsace and Lorraine.
• Constitution:
      * Kaiser: King of Prussia and Commander-in-Chief.
      * Chancellor: Bismarck, answerable to the Kaiser, not parliament.
      * Bundesrat: Prussia held $17$ of $58$ votes ($14$ required to veto).
      * Army: Budget not subject to parliamentary control.
• Power Balance: A F61rstenbund (confederation of sovereign princes). Southern states (e.g., Bavaria) retained local powers over taxation and education but joined the Prussian-led military system.