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Question: Did the german confederation help the move towards German unification?
On the other hand, the view that the German Confederation helped unify
Germany is one which is was not shared by Prince Metternich of Austria in a
letter to Duke Karl Schmidt of Bavaria. In the letter Metternich states, ‘Lots of
smaller states arguing with each other and suspicious of each other makes it
easier for us to control them.’. This primary source would suggest that the
Federation did not in fact help aid the graduation to unity but deter it as he
claims it would make states suspicious of one another which would certainly
not help to promote nationalism.
A primary source, specifically, a direct quote from the Rules of the new
German Confederation Rule 2 states that, ‘the aim of the German
Confederation is to look after the safety and security of Germany’. This
statement harbours a nationalistic desire which would suggest that the
Confederation itself had the intent to unify Germany. However the second part
of this source would appear to contradict this viewpoint as it goes on to say,
‘and guard the independence of the separate German states’, a clear indication
that the Confederation itself had no desire to unify Germany. In terms of
reliability, this source can be interpreted as accurate and without bias as it is
from an official document directly related to the German Confederation.
However, as to its value in determining the intent of the federation it offers
little indication, as it contains stark conflict of intent within it.