Germany, Part 5: Empire

We left last time with a Germany victorious over Napoleon but humiliated and rattled by her defeat to the same ten years prior. The Holy Roman Empire is no more (replaced by a German Confederation), and more change is in the air.

During the Napoleonic occupation, the French introduced their equality and liberty ideas- and the idea of freedom is not easily removed when populations suffer in non-democratic regimes. Thirty years after Bonaparte's defeat, in 1848, revolutions would spread across Germany and Europe. It is around this time when the familiar black/red/gold flag begins to be waved (possible origin: in 1813, when fighting Napoleon, a group of volunteers in Prussia wore black uniforms with red buttons and gold trim). This flag was of a German people rather than a German state. Remember the patchwork nature of the Holy Roman Empire- Germany wasn't one state and hadn't ever been. That was soon to change.

The 1848 revolution wasn’t just about throwing off old princely power, it was about forging a new national entity for the Germans- a ‘Deutschland,’ above more specific regions like Prussia or Saxony. Though this revolution would be crushed within two years, 20 years later, Prussia would take a leading role in uniting the German people under a different flag- their own. But flags alone do not unite a people.

FAIRY TALES

In the 1800s, the Grimm Brothers set out to define “German-ness.” This drive was found in art, too, as a response to the French Aggression. People were looking for things that defined and united them and could not be taken by force of arms. Stories are powerful forces for doing so.

The Grimm Brothers collected tales from all parts of Germany. In 1812, they published a collection of 86 stories called “Children’s and Household Tales.” Subsequent editions would grow the collection until 1857’s edition had 210 tales. Over time, these stories changed to fit public desires for morality tales and other things. A German identity was taking shape . . . and one region would be the ultimate driver to unite them. We now turn our attention to Prussia.

PRUSSIA 

The German state of Prussia rose over the centuries from a tiny state of Brandenburg (the region surrounding Berlin) to become a huge territory through a combination of marriages, war, political maneuvering, and favorable/fortunate inheritances. (Christopher Clark’s Iron Kingdom provides more detail).

Prussia fought a series of wars in the 1860s-70s. Their Minister President was Otto von Bismarck, who made his intent clear. “I shall . . . declare war against Austria, dissolve the German Confederation, subdue the minor states and give national unity to Germany under Prussian leadership.” And he did.

An 1863 war with Denmark would grant Prussia more territory. In 1866, a short (seven-week) war with Austria created a new North German Confederation that excluded Austria and gave Prussia the leading role in German affairs (recall that, until this point, Austria had dominated German affairs during the HRE with a string of Holy Roman Emperors). In 1870-1, a six-month war with France found Prussia allied with the rest of German states to take down their traditional enemy. They took back Alsace-Lorraine. The German Empire had arrived.

EMPIRE (1871-1918)

After the Franco-Prussian war, the German Empire was declared in Versailles, with the King of Prussia (Wilhelm) declared Emperor, and the prime minister (Bismarck) declared chancellor. This new German Empire changed the balance of power in Europe. Prussia would dominate Imperial affairs, as they had such a large percentage of the territory before unification. Understandably, this didn’t always sit well with the other German states (or other countries, for that matter). But here our story shifts as we turn our attention to world war.