April 2010

Nineteenth Century German History: Conclusion

Germany in the nineteenth century was a place of unimaginable political unrest. The collapse of the Holy Roman Empire at the beginning of the century set the precedent for how the political scene of most of the rest of the century would play out. It would be chaotic, unnavigable and yet somehow the German people … more →

April 18, 2010

Nineteenth Century German History: Rise and Fall of a New Empire (1850-1918)

By midcentury a fairly clear picture was beginning to emerge that unification of the German states was going to be inevitable in one form or another. One of the largest and more pressing hurdles yet to overcome, however, was which state was going to dominate and lead this unified Germany. The key players in this … more →

April 17, 2010

Nineteenth Century German History: Revolution in Nineteenth Century Germany (1848-1849)

By the end of the fifth decade of the nineteenth century, the prevailing atmosphere in Germany was that of extreme change. The people were tired of oppression, censorship and of the ruling class thinking of themselves as immune to these issues. Hans Joachim Hahn sums it up nicely when he writes that “a general feeling … more →

April 11, 2010