The Division of the German Confederation

In the aftermath of the revolutions of 1848/49, Monarchists such as Otto von Bismarck appropriated nationalism, which had beforehand been intrinsically linked to the democratization of German society. Stripping nationalism of its liberal roots, Monarchists were able to integrate nationalism and monarchism. Nineteenth-century historians traced back the roots of the monarchical German states of their time to Germanic tribes that had roamed Central Europe in the third century and created tribal states after the disintegration of the Roman Empire. This historical connection between ancient Germanic tribes and nineteenth-century duchies and kingdoms afforded ruling families the opportunity to portray their rule as more than a temporary experience. And these tribal identities could be fitted into one national and monarchical identity. Otto von Bismarck’s historical accomplishment was the recognition of the power of German nationalism and its subordination to the expansion of Prussian power. The appropriation of the national idea by Monarchists set the stage for the creation of a German nation state, with the only remaining question concerning its geographic reach and space. And it was this question that led, in the 1860s and early 1870s, to three wars against Denmark, Austria, and France.