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Explore the reasons behind the rise of German nationalism in the early 19th century, including shared language, anti-French sentiment, romantic nationalism, cultural pride, the concept of the German "volk," and economic interdependence.
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About 25 million Germans spoke the same language, (although dialects were common). Johann Fichte, who was a philosopher, German nationalist, the first rector of Berlin University and who became known as the ‘father of German nationalism’ stated that ‘Whenever a separate language is found there is also a separate nation which has the right to ….. rule itself’. A common German language
Anti-French Sentiment • Anti French sentiment was a huge part of German nationalism in the nineteenth century. It was, of course, sparked off by the French occupation of the German states during the Napoleonic Wars. • In 1840, when the French threatened to take over the western Rhineland, a wave of anti-French nationalism swept the German states. Forces hostile to the French were mobilised, not just from Prussia – who controlled the Rhineland, but from many of the other German states. • Several nationalist poems and songs were written during this ‘crisis’, including ‘Die Wacht am Rhein’ (The Watch on the Rhine) and ‘Deutschland Uber Alles’ (Germany Above All), which was later to become the German National Anthem.
A Shared Culture – Romantic Nationalism • The Romantic Movement began in Germany and spread throughout Europe in the early 1800s. • The movement was emotional, imaginative and often looked to the past for inspiration. • ‘Romantic’ ideas can be seen in the art, music and literature of the period and these things contributed a great deal to nationalist sentiment in the German states. • German composers such as Weber, Beethoven and Wagner began to look inwards at their own culture – folk songs, traditions and landscape, to provide inspiration for their music.
A Shared Culture • There was a pride in the shared history of the German states, for example, the German tribes were not conquered by the Romans, unlike most of Europe, the Germans had also united to defeat the Napoleon and the French. • The Brothers Grimm published collections of German folk tales (Snow-White, Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, Puss in Boots, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, to name only a few!). The bothers were scholars and also wrote a history of the German language and a German dictionary. All of this helped to fuel German nationalism in the early nineteenth century.
A Shared Culture(contd.) • Culture was undoubtedly something that the people of the German states shared. German music, art (eg Caspar David Friedrich) literature and history were certainly celebrated within many of the German states. • It is debatable, however, if this ‘cultural nationalism’ was a real driving force behind the movement to unify the German states or not. • Many historians argue that this type of cultural, or ‘romantic’ nationalism was limited to only a small number of intellectuals, students and some of the middle classes.
The German ‘volk’ (people) • Hitler did not invent the idea of a German ‘Master-Race’. As with most forms of nationalism there is a race and racist element to German nationalism. • As Arndt, nationalist writer, poet and Professor at the University of Bonn stated: ‘The Germans are not bastardised by alien peoples. They have not become mongrels, they have remained more than other peoples in their original purity.’ • It was certainly felt by many nationalists that the Germans were a people or ‘volk’ and should, therefore rule themselvesand be part of one, united country.
Economic Interdependence • Many nationalists believed that the German states needed to unite for economic reasons. The industrialisation of Britain and France had left the German states at a disadvantage. • German businessmen wanted to end trade barriers between the German states in the Bund and build railways connecting the German-speaking states.
