#5 - Unified by Words

            Germany was capable of being founded because it unified its higher, more educated class with its lower, common people. The nobles and the townspeople in the parliament were both in agreement when they finally were able to unite. The alleged nation tried to exist multiple times before, but both sides were never in sync with one another. In the early 1600s, the German people were considered weak and humiliating. Outsiders didn't think the Germans could form a separate nation since they couldn't exist without help from others, “the city’s rescue by imperial and Polish troops at the last minute…seemed like a miracle” (Hagen 73). The Germans actually fared quite well and became rather excited with victories in the Turkish Wars during the late 1600s, but Austria would go ahead and claim any credit. Austria was beginning to become its own power from all of this; however as a side effect it slowly let up its tight grip on the weak Germans as they weren't the main focus anymore.

Napoleon III

France was another force that helped the Germans by constantly pressuring them. When Bismarck took charge of trying to unify the Germans in the mid-1800s, he put his people to war against Napoleon III and his neighboring armies. Strategically speaking this wasn't in the German armies’ best interest, especially with future problems resulting from this, yet there was more to it, “Bismarck’s policies might appear utterly unprincipled, on the other hand they were clearly successful” (140). Organizations and smaller battles within the past hundred years had christened a feeling of nationalism before and Bismarck confirmed this against the French. His actions were right; patriotism was reignited and felt as the German armies strategically out-maneuvered the French in battle.

Nationalism and unification were accomplished for Germany, but it wouldn't have happened without the evolution of German identity which is the process I found most intriguing in these past few chapters read. Language is the glue for Germans; many things change, but language is one that generally stayed the same. The author constantly pointed at this, “existed solely on the plane of language” (90) and “powerless but intellectually supreme”(91). This and the idea of the German land being comprised of hundreds of little principalities is what creates this identity, this idea of Germany, yet without a physical Germany existing.

According to the German nation,
poets like Moser and not princes,
were the real heroes.

Rulers of these territories wanted to know what was going on in every region, but since they were so small in a vast area of land, they decided to implement qualifications and training to whoever they hired instead of being born outright into the royal role. Increased language skills and speech development was a result of this as these became necessary for higher positions. As intelligence and language improved, more literature, dramas, and poetry were produced. This was in part because writers “identified themselves with a modern spirit being embraced by the middle-class Germans throughout many regions” and less because their end products were being purchased (89). With all this happening, poets, artists, and philosophers became the real heroes as they helped unify the public's educated opinions with their writing.

1770's Map of German Principalities

Language and Germans evolved through this process, but unification only existed between the educated classes. Many lower class people were still in favor of an empire, but once the principalities were rearranged again and the number of areas decreased dramatically, they realized how they had closer relationships with their surrounding areas and the empire loving views disappeared. Each time Germans thought about joining together, they had the core piece, language, but something would always get in the way. After all those threats such as enemies, economic slumps, and differing opinions were taken care of with nationalism, rearrangement, intelligence, and other triggers, the power of language finally reached its fullest potential and united Germany.



Work Cited

Schulze, Hagen. "Germany: A New History". Trans. Deborah L. Schneider. Cambridge, MA:                             Harvard UP, 1998. Print

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