“A constitutional enigma, booty for our neighbors, the butt of their ridicule, divided among ourselves, weakened by our partition, strong enough to harm ourselves, powerless to save ourselves, insensitive to the honor of our name, lacking unity on principles but violent in asserting them nevertheless, a great and yet despised people, fortunate in theory but in fact most pitiable.” (86-88). This quote by Friedrich Carl von Moser, a member of the Imperial Council, is just one example of the challenges Germany had to go through to become a nation state. To me, I feel this quote is showing how German lands had good intentions and ideas about being a united nation, but lacked the power and authority to make this dream a reality. This quote also mentions how German lands ‘lack unity.’ A nation needs to be united to be successful. If people living in the nation do not have nationalism and support their nation, then it will not succeed. I believe this is one reason why the United States was able to become so strong. A large majority of the people in our country are patriotic and would do almost anything for it. It is something that can bring the people together and make the nation stronger. A nation with support and nationalism succeeds and for a while, Germany was lacking this. This is why I find the Rhine Crisis of 1840 to be an important and compelling event in German history. France wanted to expand their borders into German lands and the people of Germany rebelled (118). This rebellion brought the nation together and promoted efforts to become more unified as a nation. Although this event may seem minor, it was a stepping-stone that needed to be taken on the path for Germany to one day declare themselves a nation. Other than becoming a more unified nation over the Rhine Crisis, there were several other factors that established a German identity. One major identity factor German lands have had is their German language. Before they were even a nation, they always had a common language that unified them (89). When the amount of people that learned how to read and write jumped from about 15% in 1770 to about 50% in 1840, the German language carried on. More books and articles were being written in this language and the people were reading and becoming more educated about important topics happening in time (119). This made German culture flourish and once again was bringing German lands together into one unified nation. Along with the language, Germany began coming together over the importance of physical fitness and education. Gymnastics became very popular in German lands and represented not only the positive effects of physical fitness, but also growing belief of patriotism and national defense (119). The Choral Society, otherwise known as Gesangverein, also became very influential in this time. It helped bring the nation closer together by promoting songs of patriotism and powerful speeches (120). Slowly, the German lands were becoming a nation. They had gone through many challenges but found key that patriotism was important. Their language and different movements were bringing the people together and eventually this bond will be strong enough to form what is the powerful Germany today.
Map of Germany in 1871
Rhine Crisis of 1840: Germany shows its patriotism to stop France from intruding..jpg)
Friedrich Carl von Moser