Although Germany
became a nation in 1871, there were many challenges that came along with the
unification of Germany, which mainly centered on the idea of freedom, rather
the lack of freedom. What I found interesting, while reading the complications
Germany faced trying to become a unified nation, was the three solutions that
were posed during the meeting at St. Paul’s.
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| St. Paul's Church in Frankfort |
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| The National Assembly gathered in the St. Paul's Church in Frankfort |
There were two completely opposite
solutions posed during the meeting – “Great Germany” which would consist of all
German regions including Austria and be ruled by a Hapsburg emperor was
solution #1 and solution #2 was “Small Germany” which would exclude Austria and
its areas and be ruled by a Hohenzollern emperor – and
because the conflict that erupted due to these two solutions, radicals of
southwest Germany decided to jump into the fight and pose a third solution – a
democracy (Schulze 125-126). I find this interesting because I find this situation to relate to
so many of our lives today. Well, I mean not exactly, but when things get tough
many people just jump directly to the easiest way out of a conflict and the
easiest way out this conflict for someone was to pose a solution to agree on a
democracy. This way everyone will be able to voice their opinions and make
decisions together, but I think this will cause more issues because back in
1871 being told what to do and when to do it was more favorable that making
agreements and having many different people in charge and working together.
Although
the solution involving Great Germany was favored by the majority of the
delegates, The National Assembly decided to offer Frederick William IV the
crown of a “small German” empire instead, but because it was offered from a
parliament and not from the hand of a prince, Frederick William IV declined. He
claimed the crown was “filthy” and carried a “stench of revolution.” He also
was afraid that if he would have accepted the position then a protest from the
other European powers would arise and Austria would end up getting involved,
which is what Small Germany wanted to avoid.
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| Frederick William II, who declined the crowning to becoming the emperor of "Small Germany" |
As if all of this wasn’t enough to try and stop Germany from unifying,
other European courts have had their fears confirmed with the spreading of
German nationalism and the possession of the Danish crown leading them to
believe that a unified German state in the center of the continent would only
disrupt things even more and offset the balance of power for the entire
continent. Going back to the idea of the third solution opposed when discussing
the unification of Germany in St. Paul’s, this suggestion of becoming a
democracy would help the identity of Germany as a whole, referring to back in
the 1800s because we all know it is a republic democracy today (Schulze 126).
This part of the reading compelled me the most because it ties directly with
the Catholic-Protestant divide that created tension and hostility between
Catholic and Protestant Germans after 1871, when Germany finally became
unified. Tension seems to be certain when it comes to democracy because everyone has their own opinions, but compromise must be learned, which is what happened with the religions. This connection compelled me because although there was a divide
created between the two religions, the religions eventually learned to live
with each other and accept the fact that everyone has different beliefs and
that is what builds an identity.
Everyone has challenges to face and issues to
overcome, but learning to accept those challenges and differences is when
someone or something truly grows and the German state is what it is today
because of all the challenges that it had to face and the tensions built
between individuals and groups that was trust upon it because an agreement
couldn’t be made. I am excited to see some of the past while we are in Germany
to get a better understanding of why Germany is the way it is today.
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