The biggest thing that drove the creation of a unified German state was the people within its borders. Through the entire history of Germany, it had remained a broad land made up of many small kingdoms. This kept them separated to the utmost extent. Everyone was so close together in terms of the area of Europe, but yet they were all separated by kingdoms - even those that were mere miles apart. This led to a country that lived together, grew up together, but yet when it came to declaring a joint decision such as war, or defending themselves against invading forces, there was little power that could organize the population of Germany.
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| Napoleon Bonaparte |
This was an enormous problem for the people who belonged to these territories. Being defeated rather easily simply because there was no central, focused power to guide them was something that was not taken lightly. This became especially apparent when Napoleon Bonaparte went on his warpath through Europe. At this time, he invaded Germany with ease and demanded huge sums for reparations. Again, still divided, Germany was humiliated (Schulze, 102). The people lived in separate lands. These lands were not connected and therefore were not able to pay these amounts. There was no organization to how they would be collected and paid in order to keep the German lands in good spirits with Napoleon after being so easily defeated by his organized army.
This is what drove them to demand a different way of life. The large separation and divide that they had always lived with had unfortunately left them incredibly weak and vulnerable. Perfect for the picking of a conqueror such as Bonaparte. They were shown their own weaknesses and refused to stand for it. They had been humiliated in front of the rest of Europe. Lucky for them, Bonaparte spared their lands for the most part in order to form a natural barrier between his own empire and Russia. Even then, his soldiers didn’t mind taking from the lands of the Germans and giving absolutely nothing back. This was a further insult to the already angered German people. This was a lasting feeling that would drive them towards unification.
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| Angry Peasants |
Having become increasingly fed up with their split situation, the people listened to the ideas that the French soldiers spoke of. The concepts of “nation” and “patriotism” (Schulze, 104). These things all instilled the concept of a common focus for the people of France. In the German’s eyes, it must have seemed as though these concepts led to the might and power of Bonaparte. After all, he had a great army full of people who believed in the civic duty and responsibilities in order to achieve their sense of belonging to their country (Schulze, 104). Even as Napoleon fell from power, the ideas stayed and continued to stay in the minds of Germans. Once the wars with Napoleon were completely over, the states were back in control once again. Overall, keeping the north eastern corner of Europe separated still (Schulze, 107).
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| German Confederation |
The idea of a “nation” could be ever so slightly seen in the concept of the German Confederation that struggled to be even a loose group of the states that ruled over the German people (Schulze, 107). Even while the states met to ensure that there would be no revolts or uprisings, people were still holding onto the ideas of a “nation” that they could belong to, instead of just a small state to which they were currently indebted (Schulze, 111). At least these states were having conversations between each other and establishing certain principles that all agreed upon. Cooperation could only help the shattered states of Germany eventually become whole.
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