Did Imperial Germany remain a 'disunited nation' until 1914 - Essay Example

Although imperial Germany was held together by the brilliant diplomatic policies of Bismarck, it is a fact that there was too much diversity and suspicion in Germany. The political and religious conflicts left Germany a disunited nation and created an environment of hatred and one-upmanship that resulted in isolation of many minorities such as German Jews and the Catholics.2 The causes of the disunited state of Germany lie with its very unification process. Although there did exist a common language in the region, the unity of Germany didn’t manifest itself before Napoleonic wars.

The resentment towards French occupation made German speaking people realize the need for freedom.3 This could only be possible if German speaking states of Prussia and Austria came together and formed a separate country. There also occurred many other significant events which promoted feeling of unity among German people. The Prussian empire had achieved military success in three separate wars. People were also influenced by the rise of French nationalism which followed the French revolution.

A sense of unity cannot exist if the different societies or communities are not aware of each other’s existence. . The development and spread of German literature identified the existence of Germany. The literary works of The Brothers Grimm and Karl Baedekar glorified the natural beauty and cultural heritage of various German states. There were many common grounds of which formation of a German state was an inevitable consequence. But there were many factors which dampened any sudden rise of nationalism.

For long, the two German empires of Austria and Prussia had been involved in political and economic rivalry. A great deal of ‘threshold’ energy was required to break the current sequence of political pattern and motivate people to aspire for a single country. The remarkable leadership of Bismarck and his manipulation of events in 1866 and 1870 led to the creation of the imperial Germany.4 The initial years of the imperial Germany were marked by huge divisions at various levels. To begin with, there was stark contrast in the economic status of Germans.

The rich class of Prussian landlords and elites continued to exercise significant amount of influence over the political structure of the new empire.5The junkers, as they were called, were immensely powerful as the formation of the German empire occurred without any political upheaval or social revolution. Unlike other revolutions, there wasn’t any redistribution of land or restructuring of the political system. The diversity of a country cannot be counted as the only sign of disunity. There are many countries in the world which have class conflict but they stay together.

Even the revolutions such as French revolution and Russian revolution don’t create a disunited country. The revolutions may increase or decrease the territorial size of a country but they hardly have an impact on the very concept of a