Factors that Influenced the German Boundary - Case Study Example

Introduction and Thesis ment Germany’s unification came about on 18th January 1871 in France at Versailles Palace’s Hall of Mirrors. During that period it was separated into 300 states in the middle age .Germany had undergone through foreign wars like the Danish war, France’s war Austria and Prussia. Napoleon also was involved in Germany’s war through Napoleon’s rule though he led to the nationalism by putting it into 38 states (Pohlsander 19). In this paper, I aim to show that Europe and other European powers had a major influence on Germany’s growth, development and emergence as a world power going into World Wars 1 and 2. There was competition in leadership between Austria and Prussia before the Napoleon’s domination in which Prussia won as it was better organized and progressive even though Austria had a larger territory to dominate. Otto von Bismarck is known to have led Prussia in Germany’s unification. He managed to bring reforms in Germany enabling to take Austria by them joining and also making the Prussia military be well trained to the coming wars. There was the France and Germany war known as Franco-Prussian war to which the Prussians side won. This showed how Otto von Bismarck had trained them well by giving them the equipment and led to the border emergence between Germany and France. Unification exposed Cultural, political religious ‘social and political in the new nation (Pohlsander 52). Factors that Influenced the German Boundary Politics The westward shift from the French contributed to the German unification as the states joined to form one government. This would not have been achieved if France could succeed in the division of Baden and Bavaria states whose government ship were not strong .This could have led to stopped the forces of these states unification. Nationalism The unification of the states led to political borders as they had won the war from France and proved to have a strong military force. Through this they saw the need of nationalism as majority of the population in the Reichsland period spoke German dialects to which German justified its annexation on nationalistic grounds. Strategy The Germany’s military strategy was to control Alsace region to the mountain range, the Thionville and Metz in order for the protection of Germany. The military had also planned to control the Thionville and Metz during the war. By developing the strategies it guided them through the Franco-Prussia war in 1871.This also contributed to the defeat over France. Economy According to Pohlsander (27), the military had interest in some states like the Alsace-Lorrain which had iron-ore and coal through which these natural resources it would develop the country’s economy but did not mainly concentrated on that. The main goal was military annexation since France had lost land and also inhabitants. It had also lost its mining and steel potential. The Germany Empire wanted a growth in its economy and so had to be a free state and opted to go for war for its nationalism. Factors from European world that led to Germany’s Development from 18 Century through 1871 Germany’s development was contributed by different factors during this period; these included political, military, states, French culture, and religious reforms among others. The Prussian State The German Prussia state played a bigger role in the development of Germany. Prussia was the bigger state and also most developed which controlled Zollverein which controlled most of the German’s states during that period. Zollverein was a union that was used in the state’s involvement by enabling the states to compare their developments and status in policies improving its economy (Pohlsander 33). This led to competition between states and also bond formation. Through that there was an improvement in trade improving its economy. It also led to Germany unification as all the states came together in Germany’s formation as a country. French Culture The French revolution influenced German artists and also its intellectuals change to Romantism. This contributed to the German interest in humanities which led to a different perspective to political history, language, theology among others. This also come be seen from the emergence of University of Berlin founded in 1810. Intellectuals like Von Ranke set history in a different level. The youths were able to turn to politics though they failed from the support they had and were forced into exile (Pohlsander 26). The Military The military of all the states were unified which led to a stronger military. Its reorganization by Roon and also the operational strategy by Moltke enabled its win over France (Pohlsander 8). The Prussian state was trained and had skillful military using Napoleon’s 1’s policies led to its success. The Prussian troops were used to battle and made ready for war. They were able to capture the French empire and took France’s army as prisoners. Their strength and its strategic ways enabled its defeat and also the confidence of other states which led to other states to join the Prussia state. The German leader was skillful and was able to create an environment in which they were the first to declare war enabling the other states aid in the external aggregation. The Prussian military was far much better or outdid that of Austria and also the strongest among the other states in that territory. This made the other states come to form the alliance with Prussia by 1870 making it better (Pohlsander 46). Religious Reform The emergence of the Jewish community since 1780 they were advantaged as they could enjoy the legal and the economic privileges that the German speaking territories were not. They were given the freedom of owning land, live in Judengasse, attend universities and also be professionals (Pohlsander 35). This was different after the revolutionary and Napoleonic eras by dropping the hatred or rather barriers between Jews and Christians. This reformed the religious view among Jews. By the time of unification Germans were able to enjoy there reforms as there was freedom of enjoying what the Jews. The religious reform led to diversification of religion to the Germans. Through religion people were able to interact to which led to unity in the system even after independence. Political Influence The German kingdom comprised of twenty five states. The 1866th North Germany’s constitution had some Semitic adjustments to which in 1871 it became the constitution of the German empire. According to Pohlsander (71), this constitution made the country become democratic enabling citizens to be chosen by election as not liked by Otto Von Bismarck. This however required Bundesrat consent and the federation council of deputies from the states due to their influence by Prussia. Prussia being a powerful state was known for its influence and with his king Kaiser he was able to appoint the federal chancellor. The political disunity experienced in Germany to the formation of leaders like chancellors and also after the unification the states joined to form one nation. The German system was able to develop a judicial system by having leaders who governed them (Pohlsander 11). There was the emergence of hierarchy of leadership among the Germans, the state unity led to politics in the region. Growth in Cities There was a population increase after 1815 especially in the urban areas led by the migration off youths from rural areas. Most of the people who migrated to the urban region led to industrialization as they led to the economic growth by participating in trade and other event. Emigration was also seen to the United States which was 480,000 in 1840’s, 1,200,000 in 1850’s and 780,000 in 1860’s. Through this we can clearly see that the rate of civilization increased from the country’s economic growth. The city’s population increased rapidly.….. Berlin grew from 172,000 people in 1800, to 826,000 in 1870; Hamburg grew from 130,000 to 290,000; Munich from 40,000 to 269,000; Breslau from 60,000 to 208,000; Dresden from 60,000 to 177,000; Konigsberg from 55,000 to 112,000 (Pohlsander 62). The Rise of Prussia Prussia was a strong city with Otto Von Bismarck being the ruler. He was a hardworking man who wanted to achieve his dreams and so used military forces in order to fight with the French. Through his organization he was able to facilitate equipment which was needed for the military training to protect his territory (Pohlsander 5). Through this Prussia grew stronger and was also joined by other cities to come up with one nation, and although some states were either reluctant or tried to be resistant they later joined to form the nation. Economic Growth German economy developed as there were railways improving the transportation system. Through the trades developed from different states there was interaction leading to marriages and the population increased in which it helped in developing Germany and strengthen their territories against the European world. Pohlsander (30), says that most of the people developed businesses came up with ideas on how to start a government to which was developed during that period. The victory was the country’s satisfaction and brought unity among the Germans. Through the Prussian state they were able to settle down on agricultural, business activities to which it boosted the German’s economy. Conclusion The European world contributed majorly to Germany development. The win from the war led to the nation become stronger as from 1871 the military forces continued becoming stronger and also increased widely though the French wanted to revenge (Pohlsander 53). There was economic growth due to the unification of the states which enabled them to trade and also civilization growth. Despite the fact that a lot of citizens lost their lives either in war or epidemics like diseases, Otto von Bismarck was able to win over France worked. Germany became its own state to which it is still among the most powerful nations in the world increase we therefore learn that the economic development from 1815-1871 contributed to Germany’s unification as the economy developed after the war as it became a nation. Work Cited Pohlsander, Hans A. National monuments and nationalism in 19th century Germany. Oxford: Peter Lang, 2008. Print. Read More