History Essay

Question: Did the german confederation help the move towards German unification?

The unification of Germany in 1871 occurred due to a variety of factors, each

contributing to their varying extents. It is this dispute over how significant each
factor was that causes conflict amongst historians, each offering their own view
point on the importance of particular aspects to the overall product. One such
factor is that of the German confederation and it’s importance to the unification
of Germany, an angle which offers a interesting contrast in opinion between
historians and groups, both present at the time and those in possession of
hindsight.

A secondary source in ‘The Rise of Germany 1800-1914’ written in 1995

provides a solid viewpoint that, ‘The old system of 400 states was replaced by
an organisation of only 39 states. The new system was obviously closer to a
united Germany than before.’ This source claims a direct correlation on the
importance of the confederation and the move towards unification for Germany
as the number of states had been compressed from 200 to 39. Conversely
however, the accuracy of this source has to be scrutinized as it was not written
during the time frame of the German Confederation, but in 1995, and thus
could contain hindsight bias.

In addition to this, it can be argued that the German Confederation did

indirectly help the move towards unification for Germany, as without its
presence, the Zollverein would have not been created, and the rise in
nationalism amongst Germans would not have occurred. A statement from the
Prussian Foreign Minister in 1845 said that ’Unification of states through trade
will eventually lead to the creation of a unified political system under our
leadership.’ This speech contains a tone of inevitability that the unification of
Germany was near as a result of the Zollverein, and unarguably this trade group
was of direct relation to the German Federation.

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.

In conclusion, the German Confederation can without doubt be attributed as a

contributing factor to the move towards the unification of Germany. Although
believed to be a tool by those such as Metternich, in deterring those in support
unification, it in fact acted as a catalyst in a move towards unification in its
compressing of the 200 states to 39. In addition to this, in what is arguably an
even more significant case for the importance of the German Confederation is
its indirect increase in nationalism as a result of the creation of the Zollverein.
Although not intended, the importance of this trade group cannot be ignored as
being key to the unification of Germany