Too Many Germanies

Germany did not always look like it does today. For almost a thousand years, it was a collection of many different states. In the early 1800s, these states were loosely held together under the Holy Roman Empire.

Around this time, Napoleon I was leading the French army across Europe. Napoleon destroyed the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. What kind of government would take over in its place? Some hoped the new Germany would be more unified.

Snow White and the several Germanies

The 1800s saw growing interest in a single German state, culture, and people. But what was really German? Books and works of art started exploring this question.

The Brothers Grimm decided to tackle this identity question. They put together a collection of German folk tales. These stories included Cinderella, Rumpelstiltskin, and Snow White. The collection gave German-speakers a sense of shared history and values.

This new sense of identity went hand in hand with political nationalism. Nationalism is felt when a person or group of people identify strongly with their country. People wanted the new government to fight for the German people.

This kind of nationalism had a dark side. Built into it was the idea that the “other” had to be excluded. This posed a danger to minority groups, like Jews. In the coming years, racism and attacks on minorities became more common.

Half measures

In the mid-1800s, a united Germany was still a long way off. After Napoleon I was defeated in 1815, the European powers created the German Confederation. It was supposed to unite the different German-speaking states. It was also designed to limit the power of the strongest two, Prussia and the Austrian Empire.

Then, in 1848, political revolutions broke out across Europe. In Prussia, this helped conservative politicians come to power. Soon, they began to expand the state’s influence.

Prussia’s militarism creates Germany

King Wilhelm I of Prussia wanted to defeat Austria. Liberals in the Prussian Parliament, however, opposed war. The king had a secret weapon, however: Otto von Bismarck.

Bismarck was a fierce conservative. He also wanted to increase the power of the Prussian state. When liberal politicians stood in his way, he simply ignored them. With the king’s backing, he expanded the military and passed new taxes.

The liberals wanted to make a deal with Austria. Bismarck wanted war. In 1862, Bismarck warned the parliament that Prussia would win through political discussion, “but by blood and iron.”

In 1866, Bismarck got his war. Prussia attacked Austria and won in only seven weeks. The conflict ended the German Confederation. With Austria defeated, many northern German states decided to join Prussia.

The blood and iron strategy continued. Bismarck set his sights on war with France.

In 1870, France declared war on Prussia. The French emperor was Napoleon III. He believed other countries would support him to stop Prussia from becoming too powerful. But he was wrong.

Bismarck had tricked France into starting the war. That way, he could claim that Prussia was defending the German states. The move turned the great European powers against France. It also united Germans behind Prussia.

The French were outmatched. Prussian society had been built for war. In a few weeks, they organized a million soldiers.

In about one month, the Prussian army destroyed the French. Prussian soldiers surrounded Paris and starved the people. The citizens of Paris eventually surrendered. After, France gave the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine to the new German Empire.

Juggling on horseback

Bismarck then told the other European powers that Germany was done expanding. He did not want to challenge Britain’s large empire or control of the seas. He also negotiated treaties to keep a balance of power in Europe. In 1884, Bismarck held a conference in Berlin to agree on how the European empires would peacefully divide land in Africa.

He understood that sometimes strength came from balance. Bismarck believed that Germany could not become so powerful that it upset the regional balance. Peace in Europe depended on each nation being strong but not too strong.

King Wilhelm I compared Bismarck’s efforts to “juggling on horseback.” It was a delicate balancing act. Bismarck seemed to be the only one who could hold it all together. When Wilhelm II let Bismarck go in 1890, and tried to expand Germany, the balance of power crumbled. This led, eventually, to the First World War. Later, Bismarck’s nationalist state would influence German totalitarianism of the mid-1900s.