Week 2Lecture 1: What is the Nation

What were the contours and conditions of German unification?

From the Meuse to the Memel / From the Adige to the Belt

German Empire 1871

End of the July MonarchyParis Barricades of February 1848

H. Vernet, Barricade in the Rue Soufflot, Paris1848

Republican Uprising in Baden, 1848

http://www.bild.bundesarchiv.de/cross-search/search/_1255276722/?search[page]=6

On the barricades, 1848

http://www.bundestag.de/blickpunkt/105_Unter_der_Kuppel/0409014.html

March Demands

• A people’s army with freely elected officers• Freedom of the press• Trial by jury• Creation of a German parliament

Rough Breakdown of Political Associations

• Workers’ Associations• Democrats• Constitutionalists• Catholics• Conservatives

Bundestag Decrees

• Press Freedom• Revision of the Federal Constitution• Recognition of the colors red, black,

and gold as federal colors• Creation of the Committee of Seventeen

to oversee the creation of a constitution

Counterrevolution

1850: Olmütz Agreement resurrects a conservative German Confederation and the balancing act between Austria & Prussia

Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Friedrich_christoph_dahlmann.jpg

“Injustice has lost all sense of shame.”

The Road to Unification

Otto von Bismarck, 1815-98“Man cannot create or control the tide of time, he can only move in the same direction and try to direct it.”

Germany

The leading alternatives:Greater Germany / Lesser GermanyGrossdeutschland / Kleindeutschland

Crown v. Parliament

• 1858: Wilhelm I becomes regent of Prussia to succeed Friedrich Wilhelm

• Budget Crisis of 1860s• 1862: Prussian isolation in the

Confederation and the Zollverein

Shifting the Balance of Power• 1863: War of Danish Succession and

the take-over of Schleswig-Holstein• July 1866: Seven-Week War against

Austria over tensions concerning the adminstration of S-H & power plays in the Confederation; Koniggrätz victory for Prussia in July

Making Good

• 1866 Bill of Indemnity• Split among Liberals (Progressive Party

& National Liberal Party)• Creation of North German

Confederation: Prussia and 21 principalities

Bismarck’s Concessions• King of Prussia held executive authority as president• Chancellor was named by King and responsible only

to him• Two legislative houses: Federal Council, or

Bundesrat, appointed by the state governments; and a lower house, the Imperial Diet, or Reichstag, elected by equal manhood suffrage.

• Prussia controlled 17 votes out of 43 in the Bundesrat

Revolution from Above?January 18, 1871: The German Empire is founded. Lesser-Germany under Prussian domination (approx. 3/5 of the land area and 3/5 of the population).

Shifting the Balance of PowerDeclaration of the German Empire

The German Empire

The Constitution of the German Empire, 1871

ReichGovernment

The Chancellor (Reichskanzler)• The ‘highest official in the Reich’• Also Minister-President of Prussia• Responsible to the Emperor, not parliament• Chairman of the Bundesrat• Appointed government ministers• Could ignore resolutions passed by the Reichstag

The Emperor (Kaiser)• Always the King of Prussia• Could appoint/dismiss the Chancellor• Could dissolve the Reichstag• Could make treaties/declare war• Commander-in-Chief of the army• Had to approve all federal laws• Possessed the right to interpret the constitution

Bundesrat (upper house)• The Federal Council• Made up of 58 members nominated by states• Not directly elected• Consent required in passing new laws• 14 votes needed to veto legislation• Prussia had 17 of the 58 seats• Bavaria had 6, the other states had 1 each

Reichstag (lower house)• The National parliament• Elected by all males over 25• Limited powers to initiate new legislation• Government ministers could not be members• Members were not paid• Could approve or reject the federal budget• Elections normally held every 5 years

FederalCentralised government with specific Responsibilities for the Reich as a whole(foreign policy, defence, customs etc.)

StateRegional government with responsibilitiesFor individual states (education, direct Taxation, health, local justice etc.)

Questions• Did Germany need a strong statesman,

namely Chancellor Bismarck, to unite? • Was this an indication of an underdeveloped

civil society? • And, did the liberals acquiesce their political

agenda in the face of successful unification?• What kind of state is this?• What tensions are relieved?• What new tensions emerge?