GERMANY EXERCISE - Term Paper Example

subsequent victory at Sedan on 2 September last year is a true case study that our survival depends on our ability to unite as German speaking people and proclaim German unity. The history of the national movement in the German speaking lands dates back to the periods of Napoleonic wars when romantic nationalism and pan Germanism began to rise. For example, the advocacy of building a German nation as a political force was particularly started as a response to the constant invasion of German territories by the French under Napoleon.

However, many of the past attempts to create a federation among German states based on common nationhood have always faced numerous difficulties some of which include hostilities and tension between Prussia and the other German speaking lands as well as the Catholic-Protestant divide just to name a few. The original philosophy of the German nationalist movements has always been premised on the principles of collective self determination of the German speaking people, and the need for territorial unification to achieve these ends.

According to early German philosophers such as Johann Gottfried Herder, who first developed the concept of German nationalism particularly argued that ethno-linguistic nations are the only legitimate nations. Throughout the history, the definition of being German has always presented numerous difficulties. This is particularly owing to the linguistic diversity in the German speaking lands with the main German dialects currently being Bavarian, Swabian, Cologne and Saxon. In this regard, despite our common history as German speaking peoples, the us of terms like “Sprachnation”-people united by a common language, or “Kulturnation”-a people united by a singular culture can not properly define what a German is.

In my humble opinion, I would define German a unique people with a rich tied history dating back to the Middle Ages. From Prussia to Baden to Württemberg and to Bavaria, We the Deutsche are one