unification of germany:...HELP! (1 Viewer)

[Kris_luv_angel]

i have an essay question due in a few days...and i am running out of things to talk about><

" How successful were the forces of liberalism and nationalism in achieving change in Germany by 1840?"

according to the question i cant use anything post-1840..which is stupid since most changed happened in that period. By anyway. Please help.

 

[jellybelly59]

LOL damn this is prelim work... My mind is kind of sketchy about this so i might be wrong but ill see what i can think of from the top of my head:

Change:
- imperial germany - colonies growth in economy
- industrial boom- growth in economy. Congestion in cities. Change from country to city due to industry. Boom in wealth of Middle Class.
- Cohesive government under the Kaiser--->Chancellor-----> Reichstag
-Reichstag (the people's parliament) had limited power under nationalist regime in 1840s. Dictated by Kaiser, Right wing conservative political values seen under such a regime hence it makes us question if there was much change.
-Liberalism and industrial regime furthers social and economic demarcation in Society. Working Class is extremely marginalised.
- Obtained one of the 'Great Nations of Europe' in Europe due to liberalism and nationalism.
- Expansion of economy furthered other sectors of the nation. Esp. military matters. Karl Marx comes out of the industrial revolution. Communist Manifesto and The German Ideology by Marx and Engels comes out in 1840s.

Hope i helped

 

[Kujah]

Refer to the Congress of Vienna in 1815, and how Metternich tried to suppress any thought of the German states unifying together. Instead, a loose confederation of German states was formed.

Certain events you can also consider:
- the creation of the Wartburg Festival (might be irrelevant) and the issuing of the Karlsbad Decrees.
- the tensions between Prussia (nationalistic goals) and Austria (old order), and the subsequent establishment of the Zollverein.
- the tensions between old aristocratic conservatives and liberal nationalists, and how that culminated to the 1848 Revolutions.

Know that Austria, with Metternich, tried to supppress German unification and how that caused the ire of the German nationalist movement. Nationalism was a much stronger force than liberalism. However, although the two concepts were successful in achieving the above events, it wasn't sufficient enough to create the complete unification of German states. It wasn't until a couple of decades later with Bismarck as Chancellor of Prussia that unification seemed a realistic goal.

Hope that helps.

EDIT: I was more so referring to the political and government side of it, especially on the issue of the German states trying to unify. Refer to the above post on changes to economic and social things!

 

[Kris_luv_angel]

Thank you to the both of you.
Unfortunately my internet died on me during the weekends so i couldn't actually read the posts in time.
But i will DEFINATELY use your points to study>.<...
God knows i need to..=]=]

 

[Empyrean444]

Trick question - Germany doesn't exist yet!

 

[love.is.around]

1870!

 

[Kujah]

Should be German states*, yeah.

 

[Kris_luv_angel]

LOL!>.<
i should've written that for my essay instead=.=
What a waste of time