To what extent was Metternich responsible for the lack of change In Germany between 1815 and 1848?

Vormrz was usually seen as the period of restoration between the 1815 congress of Vienna and the failed march revolution in the German confederation in 1845, it was mainly a period of Austrian and Prussian police states and vast censorship in response to revolutionary calls for liberalism. This period was internationally known as the Age of Metternich. Metternich was chancellor from 1821 until 1848, and it can be argued that he was one of the main opponents to liberalist and nationalist ideas and he devoted most of his energies into the maintenance of Austrian power. He was a staunch defender of the status quo and used his influence encouraged German prices to crush revolutionary movements, but just how influential was Metternich? It could be argued that without the Hapsburgs power, without the help of other German princes , the lack of strength within liberalist and nationalist ideas, that his role in the lack of change during the Vormaz period was not as great as previously believed. There is no arguing that Metternichs had great influence and was responsible for lack of change but how far did that go and was other factors could be taken into account when doing so, for example when comparing Metternich to the Austrian empire we see , to great extent, that Metternichs role of suppressing change was greater, since the Austrian empire even though having great influence and prestige among German rulers, left the day to day control over policy and administrations to the chancellor, and prince, Metternich; under his jurisdiction the education system of the empire was strictly controlled, newspapers and pamphlets were under official censorship, and spies and secret police officers reported on the activities of people who were suspected of subversive activities. Through the Austrian leadership of the German confederation, Metternich was able to persuade other rulers to apply the same policies in their own territories; through these tactics and methods it shows Metternichs importance in repression, however the fact that he had to first talk his way through Austrian leadership and that he needed the other aristocrats help then diminishes the view of the extent of his power, furthermore the princes were also powerful defenders of the status quo and contributed to the lack of reformation in Germany since any change would also weaken their power. They were rulers of their own states and their coronations had conferred on them absolute powers to direct their governments; This again shows that Metternich wasnt as important to the lack of change since he couldnt the territories claimed by each individual prince was out of his reach in terms of power. On the other hand these princes thirst for power and ambitions to maintain it lead to Metternich being able to once again influence them since at the federal diet, an assembly of representatives sent by the rulers, since he kept them focused on the idea that they should see the Federal diet as a means to maintain power rather than let them believe that they could of begun to unify and increase the power of Germany as a whole; it could be argued that it was their poor leadership skills and hunger for power is what caused lack of unification but with

Metternichs influence it almost erased that possibility anyway, and therefore it can be acknowledged that he had a great influence in that manner. The peasants made up 75% of the German population and even though in Prussia and the south German states, the medieval institution of serfdom still applied to the rest of Germany, this meant that peasants were obliged to perform services for land owners and pay dues to the land owners this meant that the majority of the population were weakened and been exposed to a system that was meant to keep them in place for a long period of time, this meant the serfdom system was causing the peasants to self-harm their own chances of change. In some cases among the poorest and the most depressed peasants poverty and ignorance went hand in hand, for example it is said that In Mecklenburg a place in the north, they didnt have a concept of fatherland only father village Metternich was aware of the implications of keeping the peasants in this state when he said The labours to which this class the real people are obliged to devote themselves are too continues and too positive to allow them to throw themselves into vague abstractions and ambitions. The churches were another powerhouse in terms of repression and lack of change since they were key instruments and powerful allies of the kings and princes of Germany since the south of Germany and the Rhineland were predominantly Roman Catholic in religious loyalties this gave people strong links with Austria. Under Pope Pius IX the Catholic Church set its face against the trends of the time which conveniently happened to liberalism and nationalism and were believed as the greatest evil of the age Catholics were taught to respect their kings and princes. In the north the predominant church was the Lutheran Evangelical and the main religion was protestant, they were taught that the kings had divine right and the god has made it so they were in their positions so respect and belief was mandatory. Metternich may have had influence over kings and prices but without the church to gain the rulers, which he manipulated, the worship and respect they might have not been as useful as suppressing change, since the faith of the people under each ruler and the way they were brought up would have lead them to be brainwashed by the church and without it they could have questioned things without fear of going to hell, thus leading to better unification and spread of political ideas. Liberalism and nationalism were both new political ideas which later on lead to a unified and new Germany however during this time period the ideas lead to further division with liberalism appealing more to the middle class, educated people who felt they and the right to vote and get a say in government but many were opposed to full democracy since this would lead to peasants and workers gaining voting rights thus leading to mob rule. This further separated the middle and lower classes which meant lack of change was even more certain this also had nothing to do with Metternich's influence which means that his part is repression of change is further diminished by another contributing factor. Nationalism also created even more divide since the idea was too vague and there was no specifics to which people agreed upon, some radicals even believed that they were superior race due to their

ambitions for unification and pride in German spirit, another idea that wasnt supported enough and without communication only lead to strife and separation of German ideals which didnt involve Metternich and his influence. Metternich did have political prowess and did instigate a lot of reforms to ensure repressiveness for example the strict control of education, the censorship of pamphlets and some other things mentioned, but it can be argued weather he was or was not the cornerstone of the status quo; he did influence most rulers during the federal diet but yet that wasnt created by him and the reason why many were so swayed was to keep their own power which means they must have had some pre-established idea in their minds about where people were supposed to be placed in society, for example there has always been the case of aristocracy during the middle ages, an example of this would be the medieval institution of serfdom that established peasants being under the law of a higher class landowners. Furthermore the German states rulers were ruling the lower class and had a social ladder and status before Metternich was chancellor in 1821, thus he was not the cornerstone of the status quo, he may have developed it and helped it become more solidified but the attitudes and social status were there long before he had any influence over it. Overall it can be seen that as a whole Metternich was indeed the largest force for lack of change since he had a large political influence over political factors, however this is only when looking at other factors as separate institutions but when looking them as a whole, for example the link between church and royalty, these cumulative factors outweigh the influence of Metternich, since his influence was only able to be created due to the pre created factors that were already in existence, thus without them he would not have had the possibility to even suppress the lack of political radicalism and change in the first place, especially when considering each state as having its own government, the only way Metternich was able to gain influence was due to their lust for power and the federal diet.