Liberalism and Nationalism in Germany, 1815-71

Prior to 1815, Germany was made up of 314 states and was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The only thing
the states had in common was the German language.

By 1815, the Vienna Settlement, or Congress of Vienna, reduced the number of states to 39 and formed
the German Confederation. Austria led the German Confederation, better known as the Bund. Prussia
made territorial gains due to its contribution to defeating Napoleon I in his Napoleonic Wars.

● the Prussians defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813

The Bund was controlled mainly by Prince Clemens von Metternich of Austria.

● Napoleon I had successfully united the Germans in defeating, giving birth to German nationalism
and J.G Herder’s concept of Volksgeist (spirit of the people)
● Metternich was very conservative due to his royal background. He feared German nationalism and
saw it as a threat to Austrian supremacy
● Metternich was not helped by the growth of the Romantic movement
○ this influenced philosophy, literature, and criticism

What were the causes of the revolutions in 1848-49?

German nationalism grew particularly in the educated middle classes such as professional people
(teachers/professors, lawyers, businessmen) and student associations (Burschenschaften).

● The educated middle classes opposed the Junkers, the land-owning aristocracy, particularly in
Prussia

The middle classes wanted:

● a constitutional monarchy
● freedom of speech, free press, and the right to a fair trial
● free trade with the removal of tariffs

The lower classes were more radical and did not want a constitutional monarchy. They wanted to become a
democratic republic.

Metternich’s System

Metternich’s system was very repressive. He wanted to restore absolute monarchies, particularly after the
fall of Louis XVI in France. As a result, his policies were often centred on censorship.

● Metternich issued the Carlsbad Decrees in August 1819

○ university professors were fired if they were seen as liberal; Burschenschaften were
dissolved
○ newspapers were censored until only four newspapers were in circulation
■ articles had to be proofread before they could be published
● He also issued the Six Articles in June 1832, and the Ten Articles in July 1832 following the Paris
Revolution of July 1830
○ four German states (Saxony, Hanover, Hesse-Cassel, and Brunswick) were forced to give
concessions after the Paris Revolution
○ the Hambach Festival of May 1832 was a gathering of nationalists
 ■ while the festival had no immediate results, it is considered a milestone in German
history toward nationalism
○ the Six Articles and the Ten Articles encouraged German state rulers to impose absolute rule
over the people and crush liberal ideas
○ the Six Articles limited the rights of Diets in constitutional states; federal law superseded
individual state law
○ the Ten Articles forbade political organizations, meetings, appeals, and festivals

It is believed that Metternich would have done better in maintaining control over the Bund had he accepted
nationalism as a fact of life instead of suppressing it

However, religious differences within the German states often kept them apart. The northern states were
mainly Protestant. The southern states were Catholic.

The Zollverein

The Zollverein managed to unite Germany through the economy. Prior to the Zollverein’s establishment in
1834, tariffs and customs duties made it expensive to export goods to other German states. As a result,
Prussia established the Zollverein, which excluded Austria.

● Immediately, the effect of the Zollverein could be seen. With the removal of tariffs and customs
duties, free trade flourished
● the railway system across the German states was invested in and improved thanks to the surplus
capital from removing trade taxes
○ improvements in railways allowed travel between German states, hence, the growth of the
Romantic period in Germany’s literature, arts, and music
■ the poem, Deutschland über Alles - Germany over All, became the German national
anthem in 1922; the original music was made by Joseph Haydn in 1797
■ the Brothers Grimm, Jacob and Wilhelm, were famous thanks to their works such as
Cinderella, The Frog Prince, Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, and many other classical
folktales
■ Adam Müller is known as the main representative of political romanticism. He was a
literary critic and publicist

The Zollverein allowed Prussia to dominate the Bund economically due to the exclusion of Austria. Talks
began to rise around creating a Kleindeutschland (small Germany, excluding Austria) or a
Grossdeutschland (big Germany, including Austria). The Zollverein was a vital part of the process of
unification.

Problems leading up to the 1848-49 Revolutions

Despite the Zollverein’s benefits, poor harvests in 1846 and 1847 occurred. This led to rising prices,
particularly with food, and the rising population did not help this shortage of food.

The textile industry also experienced a recession in which workers received reduced wages.

What were the consequences of the 1848-49 revolutions?

By 1846, liberal politicians and the middle classes wanted political reform. The revolution in France also
encouraged a revolution in Germany. As a result;

● Baden allowed free press, trial by jury, and other reforms

● Saxony and Nassau also granted some reforms

But this wasn’t enough to appease the people. By March 1848;

 ● Ludwig I of Bavaria abdicated
● a Volparlament (pre-parliament) was summoned in Frankfurt by representatives of six states at
Heidelberg
● in Berlin;
○ workers protested about wages and working conditions
○ the middle classes wanted to protect their rights

In April 1847, the United Diet demanded a constitution. A liberal regime was only adopted in Prussia by
King Frederick William IV before he dissolved it.

● He allowed the election of an assembly but then established a new constitution: a two-chamber
parliament but the king still had absolute control and the Junkers’ rights were protected

Metternich encouraged state rulers to reassert their authority. Prussia helped restore order in other states
such as Baden and Saxony. Austria and Prussia helped recover monarchies in other German states.

In the end, the revolutions failed due to the divisions in the revolutionary movements between the people.
Liberals were moderate, but the radicals wanted major political changes while the middle- and
working-classes had differing aims. The people could not unite under a single movement.

The Frankfurt Parliament

The Frankfurt Parliament (established on May 1848, dissolved in May 1949) was a constituent assembly of
800 representatives sent from each state. The members were mainly well-off professionals.

The Frankfurt Constitution was drawn up in March 1849. King Frederick William IV of Prussia would
become the emperor and there would be two houses of parliament: one elected, and one consisting of state
princes.

The Frankfurt Parliament collapsed for five reasons:

1. an unrepresentative body
1. due to the representatives being mainly professionals, representation for the industrial and
working classes was limited
2. too much time was spent on legalistic discussions
2. divisions within the parliament
1. disagreements over a Grossdeutschland or a Kleindeutschland
2. the southern states wanted a Grossdeutschland
3. Prussia was not exactly to be trusted
3. limited appeal
1. the revolution lacked popular support
2. no representation for the peasants or proprietors
4. overreliance on Prussia to enforce decisions
1. Prussia was already very powerful despite not being very popular among the German states
2. the Bund needed Prussia’s army to defend Schleswig and Holstein from the Danish king
5. the revolution itself
1. the popularity of the revolution diminished, undermining the assembly
2. due to their opposing viewpoints, the parliament was not united enough to fight for control
against the monarchy
3. King Frederick William IV did not want to “accept a crown from the gutters” and become the
emperor of the Frankfurt Constitution

In short, the assembly never got to implement their new constitution.

Reassertion of Austrian Power

Following the events of 1848, the Austrian emperor famously said, “tell the people I agree to everything“.
There were too many uprisings for the emperor to crush by force immediately and thus, had to make
concessions for countries like Italy, Hungary, and the German & Slav states.

However, by the summer of 1849, Austria was ready to reassert its domination of Germany.

● Austria had strong and vicious armies to defeat nationalism in states such as the Czechs, Poland,
Hungary, and Italy
● Austria had military support from Russia as Tsar Nicholas I was a firm believer in absolute monarchy
● Germany’s attempt at unification had failed and Germany was left divided
● Austria’s only rival was Prussia, but Prussian armed forces were not strong enough to withstand
Austrian pressure
● Prussian conservatives would not have supported any conflict with Austria and the Prussian king
was not a dominant or decisive figure

The Erfurt Union and the Humiliation of Olmütz

By 1849, King Frederick William IV’s advisor, General von Radowitz, wanted to unify northern and central
Germany under Prussian control. This was known as the Erfurt Union. He was to do this by imposing
Prussia’s three-tier system.

● the three-tier system decided who could be elected to the lower house of Parliament
● the lower house still had to answer to an upper house of nobles
● the three-tier system was divided depending on the amount of tax paid by an individual:
○ Class 1 were generally the richest and made up around 5%
○ Class 2 were the next richest and made up 13%
○ Class 3 were the majority and made up 82%
● only men over the age of 21 could vote

Saxony and Hanover agreed to this union while other states feared Prussian domination. Prussia was
already dominating via the economy thanks to their establishment of the Zollverein. Some 28 states joined
the Erfurt Union due to pressure from Prussia.

Eventually, the constitution was delayed and Prussia was forced to demobilise its forces and give back
Austria’s power in the Bund. This outcome is known as the Humiliation of Olmütz.

While Prussia appeared to have been defeated by Prussia, it still had economic domination over the
German states. By 1856, Austria lost the support of Russia after failing to aid them in the Crimean War.
Prussia could finally go ahead with unifying Germany.

Economic Developments after 1849

Despite the political drawbacks due to Austria’s reassertion of power, Germany still developed
greatly.Prussia continued to dominate the Zollverein. There was an increased expansion of coal, iron, steel,
railways, and many other industrial aspects.

● 640,000 peasants were freed and could farm independently, leading to increased food supply and
internal market
● internal trade doubled between 1850 and 1857
● railways doubled in the 1850s from 5,800 km to 11,300 km

By the 1860s, Germany had developed its economy. Austria was facing an economic downturn and a
decline in influence among the Bund.