GERMANY’S LEGACY OF DIVISION AND DREAMS OF UNITY

Germans developed the strongest kingdom in Europe around 1000 A.D., but it splintered by 1300.

The Protestant Reformation sparked bloody conflict along religious lines.

In 1848 German revolutionaries tried but failed to unify Germany through democratic methods by electing the Frankfurt Assembly.

Germany became unified only in 1871, as a result of three bloody wars launched by Prussia under Bismarck.

Bismarck perceived such threats to national unity that he sought to crush the Catholic Center Party in the 1870s, and in 1878 he outlawed the Social Democratic Party.

The Germanic Tribes, A.D. 100: German students read in Tacitus that their ancestors were

trustworthy, brave, loyal, truthful, and kind….

The “Wandering of the Peoples,” 373-500

King Otto the Great (r. 936-973) conquered Rome in 961 and was crowned Emperor

The “First Reich:” The “Roman” Emperor Otto III (r. 980-1002) receives tribute from all of Europe.

But in 1075 a fierce struggle between popes and emperorsbroke out that undermined royal power….

Emperor Henry IV begs forgiveness fromPope Gregory VII at Canossa in 1077: The

chronicles say that he stood for three days, barefoot in the snow

“The Court of Frederick II in Palermo,” painted in 1865

While France, England, and Spain consolidated strong central states in the late middle ages, Germany

splintered into 300 principalities and Free Cities by 1400

Martin Luther faces Charles V at the Reichstag of Worms in 1521: “The verses of Holy Scripture that I cite have overcome my conscience…. Therefore I cannot and will not recant, because acting against

one’s conscience does not bring safety or salvation. God help me!”

Estimated population

loss in Germany from the

Thirty Years’ War

(1618-1648), when

Swedish, French, and

Spanish armies

fought on German soil

Germany gained a “national hero” in Prussia’s King Frederick the Great (r. 1740-86): “Flute Concert at

Sans Souci” (1851)

Frederick defeated France, Austria, and Russia in the Seven Years’ War (painted here at the Battle

of Hochkirch by Adolph von Menzel in 1856)

Napoleon’s Entry into Berlin

through the Brandenburg Gate, 1806:

Most Berliners appeared to admire their conqueror

Johann Gottlieb Fichte

(1762-1814),who delivered his “Addresses to the German Nation” in Berlin in 1807/08,

just after Napoleon conquered Germany

Students of the University of Jena march off with the Lützow Free Corps in 1813 (painted in 1909)

The Congress of Vienna replaced the Holy Roman Empire with a loose-knit German Confederation

University students were the first to embrace nationalism: The Burschenschaften assemble in the

Wartburg Festival, October 1817

Germany became in integrated market with the Zollverein of 1834, formed at Prussian initiative

The Zollverein promoted industrialization:Harkort Steam Engine Factory, Burg Wetter on the Ruhr, 1834

Berliners celebrate on the barricades on the evening of March 18, 1848 (royal palace in background)

Ceremonial opening of the

National Assembly in

St. Paul’s Church,

Frankfurt a.M., May 18, 1848:

“Durch Freiheit zur

Einheit!”

German unification was in fact accomplished by the Prussian army in three bloody wars in the 1860s

(“The Battle of Königgratz, July 3, 1866”)

The Founding of the “Second Reich:” Prussia’s King William I Hailed as German Kaiser at Versailles, 18

January 1871

The German Empire of 1871-1918

BUT GERMANY REMAINED DIVIDED ON CLASS LINES

STATUS 1882 1907 1925 19391970

*

Self-employed

28% 20% 17% 13% 10%

White-collar 6% 10% 17% 22% 36%

Family helper 10% 15% 17% 16% 7%

Blue-collar 56% 55% 49% 49% 47%

100% 100% 100% 100% 100%

Total labor force in millions

19.0 28.1 32.0 35.7 26.7

* Right column refers to Federal Republic only

“To honor our elders and guide the young!”

(poster to commemorate

the Gotha unification congress of

1875)

DIVIDED ALSO BY CONFESSION: 64% Protestant, 32% Catholic, 1% Jewish

Bismarck employed harsh police methods against “Enemies of the Reich.” Here the police offer “Assistance” to Bebel, Liebknecht, and Bishop

Melchers (1874)

The Anti-Socialist Law (1878) prohibited any effort to propagate socialism or republicanism, but labor

unrest spread: Robert Koehler, “The Strike” (Munich, 1886)

“Revenge for our persecuted comrades,

1878-88. Long live Social Democracy”

“Only he deserves freedom and life who must conquer them

daily” (a “proletarian house blessing”)