Some questions about German unification (1871)

[RedRalph]

I know what basically happened, but I'm not clear on why or how certain things occured, so if someone could clear them up it would be great!

1. For how long had their been a general acknowledgement that Germany was heading towards eventual unification? Was it perceived as a matter of time from one point on, or did people in the 1800s think that Germany may well have stayed fragmented indefinitely?

2. Legalistically and politically, how was unification achived? Was there a formal annexation process agreed, did any German states (bar Austria) have a genuine mechanism to opt out? Did any try?

3. Was it always Bismarck's intention to achieve unification?

4. How was unification received among the people?

 

[Lord Baal]

I know what basically happened, but I'm not clear on why or how certain things occured, so if someone could clear them up it would be great!

1. For how long had their been a general acknowledgement that Germany was heading towards eventual unification? Was it perceived as a matter of time from one point on, or did people in the 1800s think that Germany may well have stayed fragmented indefinitely?

Germany was long seen as a goegraphic and linguistic expression, possibly cultural, but never nationalistic. That began to change after the French Revolution helped spread nationalistic ideals throughout Europe - not that they weren't spreading among intellectuals beforehand.

Still, unification was never really perceived as a mater of time, until after Prussia's defeat of Austria in the Seven Weeks' War in 1866. After that, it became fairly obvious that it was a matter of time before the territory was unified under Prussian leadership, but there was always the chance that it may not be. The manner in which that unification would take place was also up in the air; several German states eventually joined more out of fear of Prussian arms than any nationalistic fervour, or fear of outsiders.

2. Legalistically and politically, how was unification achived? Was there a formal annexation process agreed, did any German states (bar Austria) have a genuine mechanism to opt out? Did any try?

I'm not too clear on this myself, other than the fact that Germany was a federation. The central government had a certain amount of power, but state governments remained under their previous leaders and had much autonomy in certain fields. Exactly how much power and in exactly what areas, I don't know.

3. Was it always Bismarck's intention to achieve unification?

This is actually a very interesting question. Bismarck muddied the waters after the fact by claiming to have deliberately provoked all three wars fought under his chancellorship - with Denmark, Austria, and France respectively - in order to achieve that very goal. While doing Grand Admiral Thrawn and Darth Sidious proud, this story is a total fabrication; Bismarck was a pretty fantastic opportunist, but no master puppeteer leading the world on a string.

Wat Bismarck's actual plans were is a matter of interpretration then, but I think it's safe to see that an eventual German unification under Prussian leadership was his primary purpose. I think even he was stunned by how quickly it came about though, and probably a little uneasy, as the end result probably weakened Prussia's position in the federation more than he would have liked. I don't think he actually wanted a war with France in 1870, nor complete unification that early. He probably wanted to slowly absorb German states over time, and provoking France to the brink of war, frightening small German nations, would have enabled Prussia to gobble up a few more princely states for the North German Confederation. Not all of them.

4. How was unification received among the people?

This I have no idea of. I would imagine positively by the common man and many intellectuals, but vested interests may have been pissed.

 

[Dragonlord]

I'm no expert, but my perception of the process:

There had been growing interest in the unification of Germany ever since the Napoleonic Wars, when a coalition of German states ousted the occupying French, giving rise to nationalistic fervor.
It was a central demand of the Revolution of 1848, which was suppressed forcibly in the end.
There was great pressure toward unification by the 1860s and it must have seemed inevitable that it was coming. The great question of the time was not so much whether to unify Germany, but whether it would be the Grossdeutsche or Kleindeutsche Lösung (Greater or Lesser German Solution).
Bismarck wanted to avoid the Greater German Solution, which would have includid Prussia's archrival Austria, at all costs - so he used the opportunity of the victory over the hated French, which its' attendant renewed national fervor, for a fait accompli, crowning the Prussian King as German Emperor, leaving Austria out in the cold.

As I see it, German unification wasn't in itself Bismarck's goal, he wanted to cement Prussia's dominance in Germany - a nice piece of Realpolitik, at which he was definitely one of the greatest experts in history!

AFAIK, unification was received enthusiastically among the people, coupled as it was with the overwhelming victory against Napoleon III.

Edit: x-posted with Lord Baal, with whom I pretty much agree. I like the description of Bismarck as a 'fantastic opportunist'... well put!

 

[Lord Baal]

Edit: x-posted with Lord Baal, with whom I pretty much agree. I like the description of Bismarck as a 'fantastic opportunist'... well put!

Thanks. I think Bismarck was the closest we've ever gotten to Machiavelli's 'perfect prince.' All he'd have to do would be to overthrow the Emperor and put himself in place, and he'd be there.

 

[pop daddy]

I do not know many of the logistics of the unification, but I recently took an academic trip to Germany and was stunned at the lengths Bismark went to incite a nationalist fervor: statues of true Germans were all over the place and quite impressive. Furthermore, the way he used architecture to get people pumped about being German was out of control. What that says to me, though, is that people needed to be convinced that a unified Germany was worth becoming a nationalist for!

 

[Dachs]

Adding my own voice to certain parts, most of it looks covered already.

2. Legalistically and politically, how was unification achived?

Well, the already-extant North German Confederation originally just controlled everything in Germany north of the Main, but during the yeas 1867-70 already certain of the states south of it - including Baden, actually - petitioned to join the confederation. During 1870-1 with the French victory, the remaining non-Habsburg German states - basically a few bits of Hesse, Bavaria, Baden, and Württemberg - either asked to be allowed to join on their own initiative or were bludgeoned into doing so by von Bismarck. The NGC constitution was modified into what became that of the Empire, the new states were duly accepted along with the newly annexed Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen, and there you go, bada bing bada boom.

Was there a formal annexation process agreed,

As far as I know, representatives from the relevant south German states acceded to the new Constitution as though it was a treaty, since the system was a federal one.

3. Was it always Bismarck's intention to achieve unification?

Certainly not. The events surrounding the conclusion and repudiation of the Convention of Gastein show that well enough.

 

[RedRalph]

Why exactly was the victory over France the spur to unification?

 

[Lord Baal]

Why exactly was the victory over France the spur to unification?

It was more a combination of the declaration of war by France and Prussia's stunningly quick victory, rather than just the victory itself, that were the twin spurs to unification. France's declaration of war convinced some states that France was an aggressive threat and Prussian assistance was needed; remember, this was only 55 years after the defeat of Napoleon, and the French Emperor at the time happened to be his nephew. Prussia's virtually effortless victory over the so-called greatest power in Continental Europe frightened most of the other German states into latching onto Prussia's coattails before it could use that military might to stomp on them.

 

[Dachs]

And it wasn't the only spur to unification. There was some genuine nationalist feeling in the governments of some of the south German states, most notably Baden. All three of them, further, were in a defensive alliance against France with Prussia and the North German Confederation. It wasn't hard to manipulate that alliance tie into an accession to the Reich Constitution.

 

[LightSpectra]

Why exactly was the victory over France the spur to unification?

A combination of severe nationalistic fervor plus the fact that France was a rather feared entity in its day (in spite of its crushing defeat), and the German Civil War had demonstrated that the Austrians could not protect the southern states.

And I'd like to contribute that it was rather inevitable that German unification would happen eventually, due to the economic, cultural and historic ties of the German states. The only question is if whether it would've been under Prussian, Austrian or elective hegemony.

 

[cool3a2]

I am not that well informed about that matter, all I know is from school. There, they tought me that Bismarck saw the two possibilities - kleindeutsche and großdeutsche Lösung (as mention before) - and decided for the former. There was no third way. As about the opinion of the people about unification: I was thaught that it was desired even decades earlier. As mentioned the napoleonic wars played a role - the modern german tricolour was an invention of the Völkerschlacht near Leipzig (that's at least what they taught me). Also, nationalism played a role in 1848, too. Finally, when France attacked the north german confederation, all germans felt attacked (probably besides of the Austrians) which created kind of solidarity. That's of course how ordinary people felt, the opinion of officials may have been (and most certainly was) different. Again, that's what they taught me in german schools.

 

[Dachs]

Well, a Third Way was bandied about early in the nineteenth century, and the Rheinbund of Napoleon was its apotheosis. Bavaria especially wanted scope to play as a power on the European stage instead of constantly being second fiddle to the Austrians and Prussians. For a few years after Vienna, the Bavarians thought they could use the new Deutscher Bund for the same purpose - extension of Bavarian power in alliance with the small states of Germany against the Austrians and Prussians, with Prussia and Austria excluded from the Bund entirely. But that failed when the Bavarians themselves nearly got thrown out of the Bund over the Baden Crisis of 1816-8 - their territorial demands on Baden pissed off the other small states, who figured they could expect Bavarian imperialism if they ever stopped letting Prussia and Austria protect them. So the final form of the Bund constitution retained Austro-Prussian dualism, and no other solution was seriously discussed after that.

Except for a brief revival of the idea of a South German Confederation alongside the North German one, comprised of Bavaria, Baden, and Württemberg, but it would have just been a French tool, and the three southern states figured that out quickly enough and tied themselves to Prussia instead with their defensive treaties.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

A few remarks:

1. For how long had their been a general acknowledgement that Germany was heading towards eventual unification? Was it perceived as a matter of time from one point on, or did people in the 1800s think that Germany may well have stayed fragmented indefinitely?

Officially since the Congress of Vienna 1816-1818. In article 13 of the "Bundesakte" of the "Deutscher Bund" it was said, that on the long run an all-German constitution was supposed to be created. Due the lack of interest on the part of the states which saw their sovereignty threatened this never happened.
And I hold the view that the unification was in deed inevitable. During the Napoleonic Wars the German states intentionally fueled German nationalism to fight the French who had introduced nationalism as a powerful tool to mobilize the masses. When the war ended, the "harm" was done. The desire for a united German nation had been awakened and was already very strong during the Congress of Vienna.
But not only a common enemy united the spirits of the German people. The crackdown of the Holy Roman Empire as well as the extensive reformations in the German states (Austria not included) during the Napoleonic reign contributed to the believe that further sweeping changes were possible.

4. How was unification received among the people?

They were freaking out and cheering. Until 1849 there had been a strong movement among the people opposing the "System Metternich" (Metternich had been a very influential Austrian minister of the time, who opposed nationalism as well as liberalism and wanted the monopoly on legitimate use of force by the monarchs to stay untouchable). Through various measurements it was tried to suppress this mass movement (harsh limitations of basic rights, pursuit of nationalists who were called demagogues by the authorities) but unsuccessfully.
The "March revolution" 1849 than at first seemed to be the finale victory of the nationalist. Western states bowed down to the will of the people and actively pursued a unification. Prussia ensured its support, the Austrian government had been kicked out of Vienna.
When the revolution had yet been crushed (a very interesting story for itself) resentment took over, the bourgeoisie as well as the lower classes had lost their confidence gained in the decades before.
And to avoid confusion terms-wise: It is important to know that back then nationalism and liberalism were basically the same thing proclaimed by the same people.

When than Bismarck united Germany the nationalists found themselves in a dilemma. They had to decide weather to betray liberalism or nationalism. Both together had already been tried 1849 and did not seem possible for the near future. They had chosen liberalism and gladly supported this new only semi-democratic Germany. This betrayal alone proves the strong and by that time deep-routed yearn for a unification.

 

[Quackers]

So is Germany's history over or will it absorb Austria and German-speaking parts of Swizterland, Czech Republic, Poland etc into the 4th reich?

 

[Dachs]

You seriously expect somebody to make a predi-no. Germans are just biding their time, irredentism still burns in their hearts, and they will return to their annexationist designs in due time.

 

[ParkCungHee]

As far as I know, representatives from the relevant south German states acceded to the new Constitution as though it was a treaty, since the system was a federal one.

This is precisely right, but you've understated the point. Technically the German state had no Constitution. It had a series of constitutions lashed together through treaties into one state. While in practice, this meant that it was one state, in theory Germany remained a series of independent sovereignties with very binding agreements.

This meant in practice:
A) That regional seperatists had something to argue about in the Reichstag going as far as to say "we do not live in Germany"
and
B) After they lost WWI several plans were floated to break off from Germany, because they lost the war not Bavaria/Batten Wurtenburg/whatever.

In practice it never amounted to anything, but it was an important theoretical base for German Federalism.

 

[Lord Baal]

You seriously expect somebody to make a predi-no. Germans are just biding their time, irredentism still burns in their hearts, and they will return to their annexationist designs in due time.

Never turn your back on a German.