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Unit 37.2 - Germany, 1871-1990: united, divided and reunited
Institution
PEARSON (PEARSON)
Book
Edexcel A Level History, Paper 3
A-Level History, as many of you already know is one of the hardest A-Levels given the enormous amount of content that you have to study and memorise. This unit is no exception, with many students struggling to achieve the highest grades as they struggle to grasp the idea that the module is a longit...
Unit 37.2 - Germany, 1871-1990: united, divided and reunited
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Germany 1871-1990
Ruling the Second Reich (1871-1879)
How far did the political system successfully overcome key divisions facing Germany in 1871?
Trying to reconcile unity and division;
At the Congress in Vienna (1815), the previous 360 German states had been consolidated into 38
sovereign states that were loosely connected through the German Confederation. The states were
independent, but through the German Confederation they co-operated in some limited aspects, for
example through a common defence policy. Ideas of German Nationalism were growing. However, a
long history of separate states meant that the connection to regional identity and the ruling families
remained very strong. Germany was also divided along religious lines, with the Catholic area of
Bavaria, for example, quite separate in its political outlook and values from the predominantly
Protestant state of Prussia. The idea of ‘Germany’ was largely geographical, but focussing on
language as the key definer of national identity. However, the idea that all those who spoke German
were unified in their national identity was rather vague in comparison to France and Britain, which
were cohesive sovereign states where the population was united by its shared citizenship. Linguistic
unity was only one aspect of identity and was not strong enough on its own to overcome historical
cultural and religious divisions. The two biggest and most powerful states in the German
Confederation were Prussia and Austria, which incorporated large populations that did not speak
German or consider themselves ethnically German. Austria viewed calls for German unification as a
threat to both its royal family and its powerful position in the German Confederation.
The role of Prussia;
The eventual unification of Germany into one united sovereign state was not an equal process
shared by all members of the German Confederation. Instead, it was a process driven by Prussia and
under its military and political dominance; driven by a combination of the massive industrial growth
experienced by German states in the 1850s, the inspiration of Italy’s wars for unification taking place
at the same time, and the coming to power of the more liberal Prince Wilhelm in Prussia in 1858, the
national question took on greater prominence. The Prussians were determined to control the
process, to ensure that the emerging nation would be under their control. After the wars against
Austria and France, Germany had become a united nation in 1871. However, the key questions that
German Nationalists wrestled with at the start of the 19 th century remained. What it meant to be
German was vague, and the many divisions between differing areas of Germany did not evaporate
with unification.
Problematically, German unification was not a shared process. Instead, it was driven by Prussia,
which now essentially ruled the new nation. Most significantly, the Prussian Prince Wilhelm was
crowned Kaiser of Germany, symbolising Prussia’s power over the newly created state and the ruling
dynasties of the other German regions. Thus while 1871 had been the culmination of a long process
aimed at creating a united German nation, it was the beginning of the process to create a united
German people.
One-third of the new German state was Catholic, and many viewed themselves as a discriminated
minority within the Protestant-dominated Germany. Many Germans, including Junkers, southern
Germans, non-Prussians and many within the German peasantry, viewed the newly created nation
with distrust. Thus, the constitution of Germany constructed by Bismarck aimed to achieve two main
functions;
, - To enshrine Prussian power.
- Overcoming some of the key divisions within Germany.
The potential for dynastic rivalry between Germany’s many royal families was overcome by allowing
the 22 different royal rulers to maintain substantial power under the Prussian King, who was also the
German Emperor. The constitution proclaimed that all German sovereigns were equal, although it
was clear that as the Emperor controlled the Civil Service and the military this was not true. Under
the constitution, the Emperor took precedence over the separate states through his ability to
proclaim Imperial Law, which superseded state powers. Despite this, the constitution dealt
successfully with the difficult question of how to integrate the royal families, who had ruled over the
separate German states before 1871, into one unified nation dominated by a single Emperor.
The constitution also established an elected Parliamentary body, the Reichstag. Although its role in
German politics was questionable, it served as a key aspect of unification. Universal suffrage for all
German men over 25 meant that the Reichstag elections were the only aspect of the political
process that Germans from across the country could engage in equally. This democratic engagement
provided a powerful sense of German unity. The creation of a single currency, sole measurements
and weights, a national legal system, a national civil service, a German military, and the linking up of
Germany’s railways systems, all helped to establish a greater sense of a unified nation, as did the
creation of national symbols such as the German flag in 1892.
Kaiser Wilhelm, I played a key role through his dignified but restrained leadership, which helped him
to bring the emotional respect of all Germans, thereby helping to create a unifying figure in the
Kaiser and the German Empire he represented.
The military is also a good example of the way in which the German constitution attempted to
reconcile unity and division. The German Army was made up of for separate armies; Prussia, Bavaria,
Saxony and Wurttemberg. Each separate army owed allegiance to the king of that particular state.
However, in a time of war, the Emperor would oversee the entire military, and thus the Prussian
command would take the lead over the army. So constitutionally, the sovereign powers of Bavaria,
Saxony and Wurttemberg still played an important role in the German military and did not simply
have their powers taken away, but in practice, the Prussian military elite, led by the Emperor and the
Junkers, essentially controlled the German military.
This hybrid form of unification shows the complexities in creating a unified Germany that reconciled
the two rather contradictory aims of maintaining Prussian dominance while integrating all German
citizens into a common identity within the nation. Prussian influence in politics and the military was
clearly disproportionate, and many diverse religions and regional groups within the newly created
nation were uneasy about its predominant power. At times, Bismarck sought to overcome this by
generating a defensive German nationalism focused on alleged threats to the Empire, predominantly
from France. Although successful, it was only able to create a short-lived and somewhat superficial
sense of shared German identity. However, while there were clearly limits to German unification,
given the historical separation of the German states and the vast array of differing cultural, regional
and religious identities this had created, the first ten years after 1871 were quite successful in
forging a sense of shared German citizenship within the newly created Reich.
The Federal Government and the Lander;
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