Too Many Germanies

Germany was not always a single, unified country. It used to be a collection of many different states. In the early 1800s, these states were loosely held together. They belonged to the Holy Roman Empire, a diverse collection of hundreds of smaller states.

Around this time, Napoleon I was leading the French army across Europe. He destroyed the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. What kind of government would take over in its place? Some hoped that it would be a single, united nation.

Snow White and the several Germanies

The 1800s were a period of growing interest in identity. People began to think about the creation of a German state, culture, and people. What defined the German people? Books and works of art started exploring this question.

Take, for example, the stories of the Brothers Grimm. They created a collection of German folk tales. These included Cinderella, Rumpelstiltskin, and Snow White. The collection gave Germans a feeling of shared history and values.

Nationalism is felt when a group of people strongly identifies with their country. There was a dark side to Germany’s developing nationalism. Things that were not “German” had to be excluded. This posed a danger to minority groups, like Jews. Minorities were attacked more often.

Half measures

A united Germany was still a long way off. Napoleon I was defeated in 1815. The European powers then created the German Confederation. This would unite the different German-speaking states. The confederation split power between the strongest two states, though: Prussia and the Austrian Empire.

In 1848, political rebellions broke out across Europe. Conservative politicians rose to power in Prussia. They wanted Prussia to bring Germany together. They also did not want Austria to gain power.

Prussia’s militarism creates Germany

King Wilhelm I, of Prussia wanted to defeat Austria. Liberals in his government, though, wanted to avoid war. So Wilhelm revealed his secret weapon: a man named Otto von Bismarck.

Bismarck was a strong conservative. When liberal politicians stood in his way, he simply ignored them. Bismarck expanded the military and passed new taxes. All the while, he had the king’s support.

The liberals wanted to make a deal with Austria. But Bismarck wanted to go to war. In 1862, Bismarck issued a warning to the parliament. He said that Prussia could not be kept safe by political deals. Prussia would win “by blood and iron.”

Bismarck got his war in 1866. Prussia attacked Austria. Prussian victory took only seven weeks. The war ended the German Confederation. With Austria defeated, many northern German states decided to join Prussia.

Bismarck was not done, though. He set his sights on war with France.

In 1870, France declared war on Prussia. The French emperor, Napoleon III, hoped other countries would join France to stop Prussia from becoming too powerful. He was wrong.

Bismarck had tricked France into starting the war. That way, he claimed that Prussia was defending the German states. The move turned the great powers of Europe against France. Germans united behind Prussia.

The French were outmatched. Prussian society had been built for war. They organized a million soldiers in a few weeks.

The Prussian army defeated the French. They surrounded Paris and starved the people. Soon, the citizens of Paris surrendered. France gave the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine to the new German Empire.

Juggling on horseback

Would Germany keep expanding? Bismarck said it would not. He did not want the rest of Europe to be afraid of Germany’s strength. His goal was to keep the powers of Europe in balance.

Bismarck did not want Germany to become too powerful. Then, it might upset the international balance. In 1884, Bismarck held a conference in Berlin. European countries decided how to divide up Africa to avoid war. Peace depended on each nation being strong, but not too strong.

King Wilhelm I claimed Bismarck was “juggling on horseback.” Uniting Germany was an almost impossible balancing act. Only Bismarck could hold it together. He lost his power in 1890, and things fell apart. This led, eventually, to the First World War. Bismarck’s nationalist model would reappear later. In the mid-1900s, during World War II, Germany saw a rise in nationalism.