How united was Germany in 1871 compared with 1815?
To consider the question ‘How united was Germany’ one must take into account the multitude of factors that constituted as unified. This myriad of factors spans across the social, economic, political, religious and military spectrums. One can argue that the sentiment of Nationalism, of unification, started and ended in very much the same vein. The abhorrence of French rule inspired a united Germany, and while it can be argued that the means of unification changed throughout this 50 odd year period the basic underpinning of the movement stayed the same. It is difficult to say that Germany was more united at one point than another, however there are clear events staked out in German history that clearly had an impact on the Nationalistic feeling at the time.
In 1800 some 23 million Germans were divided into 314 states; these were united under the banner of the Holy Roman Empire. One can argue that socially ‘Germany’ was not united at all, the arguments that arose between Prussia and Austria over the idea of a united Germany are testament to this. Furthermore it can be argued that the German confederation is an example of unity at this time; the main aim of the German Confederation was to maintain the status quo. Inevitably that entailed continuing on with a divided state system, so while the concept of a ‘German’ confederation sounds united it did in fact act as a stopper to unification. In general it is agreed by historians that in 1815 there was general apathy to the idea of a united Germany; many were too nationalistic in terms of their own individual states to worry about the bigger picture. That is not to suggest that there wasn’t a unification movement; student movements dotted around Germany, the most notable was the Wartburg festival involving around 500 students. The rise in Nationalism, and ultimately unification came about as a result of the countless threats made upon Germany by foreign entities. By 1871 the German empire had been established. Unification had been a long process, and it had built up, not through one event or by one overriding factor but by a combination of events. Unification at this time came about, mainly from the act of war. It can be argued that those who aimed for unification ultimately did not dictate social change but were in fact steered by the changes. The main ‘other’ factor war was really the turning point for German unification. It united the people against a common enemy, the French, and showed them how powerful they could become when they joined forces. This was something that had been an issue with many of the German people in the individual states since 1815. There was no rise in social awareness, Germany did not discover her own voice, and instead she found a form of attack. Furthermore the new Reich was far from united; each state continued with her own traditions also more than 10% of the Reich’s population were non-German minorities. There were economic and social divisions between rich and poor, north and south. It can be argued that not much changed in terms of social factors from 1815 to 1871; the main underpinning of the united movement was not for the sake of Germany, or for the want of the people. It was, undeniably as retaliation to the French, a form of uniting against them and being strong enough to defeat them. Too much anger had built up against the French for it just to be ‘let go’ and so it was channelled into defeating the French, both in 1815 and in 1871.
