How and how extensivley did German Nationalism grow between 1848-71 - Essay Example

1 Friedrich List is placed among the leading economists of modern times. He strongly rejected the motion of abstract validity of economic doctrines through careful examination of accepted views and rejection of anything without practical value. He opposed the principle of cosmopolitanism in the economic system especially the doctrine of free trade. 2 Though he recognized the importance of the work of Adam Smith and the classical school of economics in assuring industrial and commercial supremacy of England in the first industrial renovation, list deemed that work unsuitable for Germany.

He rejected the parallelism imposed by Adam Smith between the economic conduct of the individual and that of a nation and asserted that the special interests of the individual members of the nation would not necessarily lead to the highest good of the nation as a whole.3 Hans Kohn described list as father of German economic nationalism but at the same time as one of the most extreme of Pan-German imperialists. Reasons for his judgment may be in the transformations of German political life from the unsuccessful liberal attempt to unify the Germanies in the revolution of 1848 to the blood and iron policy of Otto Von Bismarck.

In the struggle between a steadily intensifying nationalism in the Bismackian power-mold and the weakening German liberalism, list choose the side which world eventually be led by Bismarck.4 List predicted that European communities would think in terms of the creation of larger markets as a stimulus to economic growth and political integration was linked together. As a zealous German patriot, List looked forward to European economic unification eventually under Germany auspices. As stated by Roussakis he was sceptical of the economic viability of other nations in the continent especially in the face of British economic competition.

The 1850’s political framework and its qualitative