German Nationalism Lecture Notes

My Lecture Outline

  • Neither holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire: “300 Germanies”
  • Impact of the Congress of Vienna on Germany and Prussia
  • “Siamese Twins”: Zollverien and Railroads
  • Struggles for Nationalism, Liberalism and Democracy in Vormaerz:
    • Wartburg Festival (1817)
    • Carlsbad Decrees (1819)
    • Hambach Festival (1832)
    • Gottingen Seven (1837)
  • The Spirit of ‘48
  • Frankfurt Parliament
  • Constitution of St. Paul’s Church
  • Erfurt Union & Punctuation/Humiliation of Olmutz
    • Germany: Born of War?
    • Von Roon, von Moltke, and the Prussian military machine
    • Schleswig-Holstein Wars (1848-52, 1864)
    • Austro-Prussian War (1866)
    • Franco-Prussian War (1870-71)
  • Proclamation of German Empire (18 January 1871)
  • More Than Iron & Blood: Karl Baedeker, Brothers Grimm, von Fallersleben, and von Humboldt

Here is my Power Point on the road to German unity.  Enjoy!

STW: Germany and the EU

On Start the Week Andrew Marr looks at Germany’s role in Europe. Katinka Barysch argues that despite the crisis, support for EU integration still dominates, and that unlike Britain, the ability to compromise is seen as a skill, not a weakness. Two British MPs, from left and right, Gisela Stuart and Douglas Carswell, remain sceptical about the EU, but German-born Stuart understands her birth country’s emotional connection to it. Carswell argues that the digital revolution calls for smaller, not larger governments, and Karen Leeder believes that despite Germany’s belief in the European project it still has not laid to rest the ghosts of unification.