Leonard Bernstein

 

Leonard Bernstein

Classical Music Composers of the 20th Century

(Lawrence, Massachusetts, 1918 - Nueva York, 1990

A versatile musician, his gifts and undeniable talent not only allowed him to shine in the field of acting, but he also managed to succeed in composition, both in the so-called "serious" and in musical comedy. Two of his forays into the latter genre, On the Town (1944) and West Side Story (1957), both popularized by cinema, earned him wide recognition among the public; In its plot, the second is a splendid update of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet that won ten Oscars in its film version (1961), directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins and starring Richard Beymer and Natalie Wood.

 

Bernstein's first steps as a conductor were encouraged by Sergei Koussevitzky, his mentor during his student days at Tanglewood. In this facet, his defense of an openly subjective interpretation, within the purest romantic tradition, made him obtain his best fruits in the works of composers with a high expressive component in their music, such as Franz Liszt (his version of the Faust Symphony is a classic of phonography), Gustav Mahler or Dimitri Shostakovich, while in the classical repertoire his achievements, although appreciable, did not reach the same height. In addition, Bernstein was an enthusiastic defender and popularizer of new American music: authors such as Aaron Copland, Charles Ives and George Gershwin were part of his concert programs until his death.

 

Faithful reflection of his varied hobbies and tastes, which in music ranged from Haydn's classicism to jazz, Bernstein the composer's style is distinguished by its eclecticism. An opera, A Quiet Place (1984), three large symphonies (1942, 1949 and 1963), a Serenade (1954) and several songs constitute the best of his catalogue. However, despite their appreciable value, none of these scores has reached the level of popularity of his musical comedies.

Bernstein married actress Felicia Montealegre on September 9, 1951.^[189] They had three children: Jamie, Alexander, and Nina.^[190] The Bernstein family lived in New York City and Fairfield, Connecticut, and maintained a close-knit atmosphere surrounded by extended family and friends.

Leonard Bernstein led some of the world’s best orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, sometimes from the piano. Picture: Getty images

By Sophia Alexandra Hall

Leonard Bernstein is the subject of musical biopic ‘Maestro’. However, who was the legendary conductor-composer and why did his career change the face of American classical music forever?

American conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein is one of classical music history’s most significant figures.

Born in 1918, Bernstein was an acclaimed conductor, composer and pianist, who earned a remarkable 16 Grammy Awards throughout his career.

From leading one of the world’s greatest orchestras, the New York Philharmonic, to composing the multi-award-winning musical West Side Story alongside Stephen Sondheim, Bernstein’s list of achievements is unrivalled.

But Bradley Cooper was the man behind the music? With the upcoming musical biopic Maestro portraying the musician’s life hitting cinemas .

A acto celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall, changing "Joy" (Freude) to "Freedom" (Freiheit) in the "Ode to Joy" to reflect the historic moment, uniting musicians from East & West Germany and Allied nations for the "Ode to Freedom" concert. This iconic performance at the Konzerthaus symbolized unity and hope, with Bernstein leading international orchestras and choirs in a powerful message of goodwill, solidifying it as a legendary event.

I am experiencing a historical moment, incomparable with others in my long, long life.’ Leonard Bernstein was 71 when he spoke those words; six weeks after elated crowds began tearing down the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989.

For 28 years, the wall had split the city in two, preventing those living in communist-controlled East Berlin crossing to West Berlin, where the democratic values of the Federal Republic of Germany held sway. But communism in Eastern Europe had begun to crumble, and the convulsive shockwaves were causing the long-impregnable barriers between the two parts of a divided Germany, both ideological and physical, to crumble too.

Ever a master of the dramatic moment, Bernstein instinctively grasped that he, an elder statesman of international music, had a unique contribution to make at this historic juncture. So when asked to conduct two concerts celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall, he jumped at the opportunity.

When were Leonard Bernstein's Berlin concerts?

The concerts were scheduled for the 23rd and 25th of December 1989, and would be uniquely symbolic in nature. Three choirs would assemble from different parts of Germany, and the orchestra would be international in character, drawing players from New York, Paris, London, Leningrad, and both East and West Germany. Together they would perform Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, a work whose arduous transition from oppressive darkness into brilliant, joy-filled light seemed perfectly suited to the occasion.

·       Beethoven: a guide to his symphonies

When Bernstein arrived in Berlin, however, he was far from being in prime physical condition. While in London to record his operetta Candide earlier in December, he had caught a virulent strain of flu. Though still weak from its side effects, he summoned the energy to conduct not one, but two performances of the Ninth Symphony on December 23 – the first a preliminary run-through for an afternoon audience in East Berlin, the other in the West in the evening.

It was a gruelling day for Bernstein, and he was reportedly ‘dazed, shrunken and ashen-faced’ in the immediate aftermath of the evening performance. In typical fashion, though, he quickly bounced back. While in Berlin he mingled with local residents in the streets, lit Hannukah candles at Berlin’s oldest synagogue and borrowed a hammer to chip a piece of the Berlin Wall off for himself.

At work, did Bernstein perform in Berlin?

By Christmas morning, a Monday, the stage was set for the East Berlin performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in the historic Schauspielhaus, where in 1821 Weber’s opera Der Freischütz had its premiere. Outside, on the Gendarmenmarkt, thousands milled in cold but sunny weather, watching the concert on a big-screen relay.

Millions more saw it by satellite, with viewers in over 20 countries. It was Bernstein’s biographer Humphrey Burton later recorded, ‘the highest point in Leonard Bernstein’s public life as a citizen of the world.’

The 'Ode to Joy' - or 'Freiheit' (freedom)

The Berlin concerts were, however, not without controversy. Moved by the symbolism of the occasion, Bernstein had substituted the word ‘Freiheit’ (’freedom’) for ‘Freude’ (‘joy’) in the Schiller poem used for the symphony’s choral finale, the famous 'Ode to Joy'.

This created minor ructions among the traditionalist faction. How dare an upstart American tinker with Schiller’s sacred text? How dare he alter Beethoven’s original intentions? For a fleeting moment, the sound of cultural feathers being ruffled was the dominant impression.

In the event, the majestic sweep of Bernstein’s performance of the Ninth swept all before it. In addition, his personal response to the mini-furore was characteristically unflappable. ‘If there ever were a historical moment in which one can neglect the theoretical discussions of academics in the name of human freedom, this is it,’ he stated. ‘And I believe that Beethoven would have given us his blessing. Let freedom live!’

Terry Blain

 

Leonard Bernstein conducted a monumental Beethoven symphony to celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall. Picture: Getty

As Germany took its first bold steps towards reunification, Leonard Bernstein conducted a blistering Beethoven symphony in celebration of an extraordinary moment in world, and music, history.

The fourth movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No.9 nicknamed the ‘Choral’, rings out with the immortal words of German poet Friedrich Schiller, in a spine-tingling symphonic finale.

Schiller’s poem an die Freude, better known as ‘Ode to Joy’ in English, forms the triumphant pinnacle of Beethoven’s masterpiece as he brings in the full force of a choir to close his final large-scale work.

However, on Christmas Day 1989, ‘Ode to Joy’ became an ‘Ode to Freedom’ in a subtle but significant lyric change made by Leonard Bernstein, in a performance for the history books.

A large massed choir sang ‘Freiheit’, meaning ‘Freedom’, in place of ‘Freude’, or ‘Joy’, in the Berlin Konzerthaus just a stone’s throw from both the monumental Brandenburg Gate and Checkpoint Charlie.

Bernstein’s concert took place a month and a half after it was announced that the border between East and West Berlin, which had divided the country for 28 years, was now open.

In Berlin’s great Konzerthaus, in the heart of the city, Leonard Bernstein brought together an international roster of Europe’s great orchestral musicians for the occasion.

An epic choir filled the concert house stalls, as Bernstein combined not one, not two, but three German choirs spanning the breadth of the country, to achieve a thunderous and triumphant finale.

From Bavaria to Dresden, St Petersburg, London, New York and Paris, the Berlin Celebration Concert united musicians from all sides of the Cold War to mark the fall of the Iron Curtain.

 West German citizens flock to the Brandenburg Gate on Christmas after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Picture: Getty

20,000 people are said to have gathered on the streets of Berlin, as East and West Germans mingled freely for the first time in almost 30 years, to watch the concert broadcast on huge five-by-ten metre screens erected for the occasion.

20,000 people are said to have gathered on the streets of Berlin, as East and West Germans mingled freely for the first time in almost 30 years, to watch the concert broadcast on huge five-by-ten metre screens erected for the occasion.

After the concert, Bernstein headed west to carve his own section of the Berlin wall, which he sent back to his family in New York.

It was a moment remembered fondly by concert pianist Craig Urquhart, who was Bernstein’s personal assistant at the time: “Lenny and I, with a couple of friends drove to the western side of the wall behind the Reichstag: no television, no reporters, just us private citizens of the world.

“Lenny borrowed a hammer from a young boy, and he took his turn at tearing down, at least this wall, among all those he’d so worked so hard to dismantle in the hearts and minds of man.”

 

After the concert, Bernstein headed west to carve his own section of the Berlin wall, which he sent back to his family in New York.

It was a moment remembered fondly by concert pianist Craig Urquhart, who was Bernstein’s personal assistant at the time: “Lenny and I, with a couple of friends drove to the western side of the wall behind the Reichstag: no television, no reporters, just us private citizens of the world.

“Lenny borrowed a hammer from a young boy, and he took his turn at tearing down, at least this wall, among all those he’d so worked so hard to dismantle in the hearts and minds of man.”

How did Leonard Bernstein die?

Bernstein announced that he would retire from conducting in 1990 at the age of 72 years old. He passed away five days after this announcement.

The conductor died of a heart attack in his New York home, which was brought on by Mesothelioma, a relatively rare type of cancer.

His wife had died 12 years prior of lung cancer, and the composer was buried next to her in a plot at Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.

According to the conductor’s biographer, Allen Shawn, Bernstein was buried with a pocket score of Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, a piece of amber, a lucky penny, a copy of Alice in Wonderland, and a baton.

Leonard Bernstein’s music: 10 best works by the American maestro

21 December 2023, 09:23 | Updated: 21 December 2023, 11:33

From the famous West Side Story and collaborations with Sondheim, to symphonies and serenades, here are the definitive top 10 pieces of music that Leonard Bernstein wrote.

Leonard Bernstein is one of the greatest figures of the American 20th century music scene. A charismatic conductor and brilliant composer, Bernstein wrote many great works from operas and ballets to symphonies, that are still well loved and much performed to this day.

The celebrated musician even became the subject of Netflix hit Maestro in 2023, which sees him portrayed by Bradley Cooper.

Bernstein spent his time away from the podium championing humanitarian issues, from civil rights and the Vietnam War to HIV/AIDS research.

Remembered fondly for his innovative Young People’s Concerts, Bernstein was a brilliant music educator and introduced many to classical music for the first time, sparking lifelong joy in those he inspired.

As a conductor, he was known for his enigmatic podium performances, and was particularly celebrated for his interpretations of Mahler. He is even said to be buried with a manuscript of Mahler’s Symphony No.5 over his heart, open to the heart-rending second movement, the ‘Adagietto’.

As a composer, he blended this Germanic influence with his New York surroundings, capturing the brassy sound of the city’s jazz, big band, and Broadway traditions, mixed with traditional Jewish music and all conveyed through imaginative percussion, raucous brass and lyrical strings.

A one-of-a-kind musician, Bernstein’s creativity spanned musical theatre, film scores, large-scale symphonies and operettas. Here are 10 of his all-time best...

1. West Side Story    
   
   
   

With two film adaptations and many successful stage runs, West Side Story is Bernstein’s best-known work by far. A collaboration with lyricist Stephen Sondheim and director-choreographer Jerome Robbins, it It is considered by many to be one of the greatest musicals of all time.

Based on Romeo and Juliet, it tells of two star-crossed lovers against the backdrop of fierce feuds and rival gangs in 1957 New York City.

Musically, the harmonic and melodic backbone of the entire score is the tritone, otherwise known as the Devil’s interval, which Bernstein uses to create a sense of unease amid the hope of young love. We’d estimate it nearly impossible to find a soul who hasn’t heard at least one of the show’s hit songs: ‘America’, ‘Maria’, ‘Somewhere’, ‘I Feel Pretty’.

2.0 Candide   

 

Originally intended as a play, Candide was transformed into an operetta when an enthusiastic Bernstein convinced librettist Lillian Hellman of his vision. It took a team of lyricists to write, with Richard Wilbur doing the bulk of the work, plus additional contributions from Stephen Sondheim and Bernstein himself, who co-wrote ‘I Am Easily Assimilated’ with his wife, Felicia.

Based on Voltaire’s work of the same name, Candide is a comical love story, as the titular character Candide pursues his great love (and cousin) Cunegonde through all manner of trials and tribulations that try to keep them apart.

      Bernstein’s overture is the best known piece from the operetta, and is one of his         most performed works to this day. It switches masterfully from lyrical strings to oom-pah brass band sections, to flighty wind motifs, in a brilliantly exciting and inventive five minutes of music.

Originally intended as a play, Candide was transformed into an operetta when an enthusiastic Bernstein convinced librettist Lillian Hellman of his vision. It took a team of lyricists to write, with Richard Wilbur doing the bulk of the work, plus additional contributions from Stephen Sondheim and Bernstein himself, who co-wrote ‘I Am Easily Assimilated’ with his wife, Felicia.

Based on Voltaire’s work of the same name, Candide is a comical love story, as the titular character Candide pursues his great love (and cousin) Cunegonde through all manner of trials and tribulations that try to keep them apart.

Bernstein’s overture is the best-known piece from the operetta, and is one of his most performed works to this day. It switches masterfully from lyrical strings to oom-pah brass band sections, to flighty wind motifs, in a brilliantly exciting and inventive five minutes of music.

3.0Chichester Psalms  

Epic and jovial, serene and pure, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms is a large choral work written for choir and orchestra, and boy treble or countertenor soloist.

The composer’s Jewish identity is front and centre in this work, as Bernstein takes the original Hebrew words from the Book of Psalms as his text.

The Chichester Psalms were commissioned by Walter Hussey, Dean of Chichester Cathedral, for the Southern Cathedrals Festival that was hosted by the city in 1965. It was performed there in July of that year, but not before it premiered at New York City’s Philharmonic Hall two weeks earlier, with Bernstein on the podium.

4.0 MASS: A Theatre Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers 

5.0 With his trademark flair for the eclectic, Bernstein takes the traditional Catholic mass and transforms it into a Broadway-infused showpiece, complete with orchestra, dancers, rock band, and a marching band for good measure.

From its toe-tapping rhythms and tongue-tangling choral passages, to stripped-back and heart-felt sermons through song, MASS is a brilliant blend of its composer’s many musical influences.

This remarkable work was commissioned by Jackie Kennedy, for the opening of Washington’s Kennedy Center in September 1971. Today, it remains one of Bernstein’s most striking works.

5. 0 On the town

Bernstein’s first foray into musical theatre, On the Town was born from a ballet called Fancy Free, that the composer scored the same year to accompany Jerome Robbins’ choreography.

It tells of a love affair with New York, the city Bernstein considered home. Three American sailors are set loose in Manhattan for 24 hours during World War II, performing big tunes and ballads like ‘New York, New York’ and ‘Lonely Town’ along the way.

Although Bernstein was a relatively unknown composer at the time, On the Town was an immediate hit on Broadway.

The production made him the first symphonic composer to collaborate on an American musical. It was also the first musical to incorporate black and white characters on stage in equal roles, and the show’s conductor Everett Lee made history by becoming Broadway’s first black conductor and musical director.

6.0 Symphony No.1, ‘Jeremiah’  

Bernstein’s named his First Symphony ‘Jeremiah’ after the major Hebrew prophet born in 650 BCE.

In three movements, titled ‘Prophecy’, ‘Profanation’, and ‘Lamentation’, Bernstein’s work follows the prophet’s story.

The final movement borrows its name and text from the third and final book Jeremiah authored, the Book of Lamentations, according to Jewish tradition.

Several elements of the piece make reference to Jewish music. Bernstein noted that the first theme from the second movement was “paraphrased from a traditional Hebrew chant,” and the start of the mezzo-soprano line in the final movement is “based on a liturgical cadence still sung today.”

7.0On the Waterfront

On the Waterfront  

Bernstein only wrote one original film score in his career. And that was this, On the Waterfront, a score for Elia Kazan’s 1954 film starring Marlon Brando, for which the composer earned an Oscar nomination.

The composer later reshaped his score, which skilfully captures the corruption and extortion of New Jersey’s waterfronts in the 1950s, into a symphonic suite, which is sometimes performed by orchestras today after enjoying a revival during the Bernstein centennial in 2018.

Bernstein biographer Humphrey Burton sees the score as a “20th-century equivalent of Tchaikovsky’s fantasy overture Romeo and Juliet, with the film’s principal characters, Terry and Edie, as the star-crossed lovers.”

 

 

Bernstein only wrote one original film score in his career. And that was this, On the Waterfront, a score for Elia Kazan’s 1954 film starring Marlon Brando, for which the composer earned an Oscar nomination.

The composer later reshaped his score, which skilfully captures the corruption and extortion of New Jersey’s waterfronts in the 1950s, into a symphonic suite, which is sometimes performed by orchestras today after enjoying a revival during the Bernstein centennial in 2018.

Bernstein biographer Humphrey Burton sees the score as a “20th-century equivalent of Tchaikovsky’s fantasy overture Romeo and Juliet, with the film’s principal characters, Terry and Edie, as the star-crossed lovers.”

8.0 Symphony No.3, ‘Kaddish’  

The ‘Kaddish’ is a Jewish prayer recited in synagogue services, reflecting on death and loss.

Bernstein used this ancient hymn as the basis for his final symphony, and one of his most powerful works. The symphony is scored for full orchestra, choir, boys’ choir, with a soprano soloist and a narrator.

It was dedicated to John F. Kennedy, who was assassinated just a few weeks before the work’s premiere in 1963.

The composer remained deeply connected to this work, revising it in the late 1970s. Bernstein’s wife, Felicia Montealegre, narrated the American premiere of the work – perhaps adding to the layers of personal connection for the composer.

9.0 Divertimento for Orchestra 

After the death of his wife, Felicia, in 1978, Bernstein retreated from performance engagements to focus on composing. He worked on various projects, none of which made it to completion, until he received a commission from the Boston Symphony Orchestra in April 1980.

The orchestra were looking for a piece to help them celebrate their centennial, and Bernstein accepted. The composer had a long-term sentimental connection to the city, having grown up and attended university there, made his directorial debut at the Tanglewood Music Center, and conducted more then 130 concerts with the orchestra itself.

It consists of eight movements, with more and less traditional titles from ‘Waltz’ and ‘Mazurka’ to ‘Turkey Trot’ and ‘Sphinxes’. Bernstein based the music around the notes B and C, for ‘Boston’ and ‘Centennial’.

In his own words, the composer described the Divertimento as “a fun piece” that “reflects my youthful experiences here where I heard my first orchestral music.”

10.0 Serenade after Plato’s Symposium  

Always a composer who loved bringing together words, literature and music, this work resulted from Bernstein’s reading Plato’s charming dialogue, The Symposium.

Composed in 1954, when he was writing some of his most popular music, the Serenade is one of Bernstein’s most lyrical orchestral works. It’s scored for solo violin, harp, string orchestra, and percussion, and brings to life in music Plato’s famous reflections on the nature and purpose of love.

According to the composer, “The music, like the dialogue, is a series of related statements in praise of love, and generally follows the Platonic form through the succession of speakers at the banquet.”

With affection,

Ruben

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unification of Germany 2

 

Unification of Germany 2

1871),Oleo paint of  Anton von Werner, 1885.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 Second, his emphasis on blood and iron did not imply simply the unrivaled military might of the Prussian army but rather two important aspects: the ability of the assorted German states to produce iron and other related war materials and the willingness to use those war materials if necessary.[72]

 

By 1862, when Bismarck made his speech, the idea of a German nation-state in the peaceful spirit of Pan-Germanism had shifted from the liberal and democratic character of 1848 to accommodate Bismarck's more conservative Realpolitik. Bismarck sought to link a unified state to the Hohenzollern dynasty, which for some historians remains one of Bismarck's primary contributions to the creation of the German Empire in 1871.[73] While the conditions of the treaties binding the various German states to one another prohibited Bismarck from taking unilateral action, the politician and diplomat in him realized the impracticality of this.[74] To get the German states to unify, Bismarck needed a single, outside enemy that would declare war on one of the German states first, thus providing a casus belli to rally all Germans behind. This opportunity arose with the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. Historians have long debated Bismarck's role in the events leading up to the war. The traditional view, promulgated in large part by late 19th- and early 20th-century pro-Prussian historians, maintains that Bismarck's intent was always German unification. Post-1945 historians, however, see more short-term opportunism and cynicism in Bismarck's manipulation of the circumstances to create a war, rather than a grand scheme to unify a nation-state.[75] Regardless of motivation, by manipulating events of 1866 and 1870, Bismarck demonstrated the political and diplomatic skill that had caused Wilhelm to turn to him in 1862.[76]

 

 

From north to south: The Danish part of Jutland in purple and terracotta, Schleswig in red and brown, and Holstein in lime yellow. The Schleswig-Holstein Question was about the status of those territories.

Three episodes proved fundamental to the unification of Germany. First, the death without male heirs of Frederick VII of Denmark led to the Second War of Schleswig in 1864. Second, the unification of Italy provided Prussia an ally against Austria in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. Finally, France—fearing Hohenzollern encirclement—declared war on Prussia in 1870, resulting in the Franco-Prussian War. Through a combination of Bismarck's diplomacy and political leadership, von Roon's military reorganization, and von Moltke's military strategy, Prussia demonstrated that none of the European signatories of the 1815 peace treaty could guarantee Austria's sphere of influence in Central Europe, thus achieving Prussian hegemony in Germany and ending the dualism debate.[77]

 

The Schleswig-Holstein Question

Main article: Schleswig–Holstein question

The first episode in the saga of German unification under Bismarck came with the Schleswig-Holstein Question. On 15 November 1863, Christian IX became king of Denmark and duke of Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg, which the Danish king held in personal union. On 18 November 1863, he signed the Danish November Constitution which replaced The Law of Sjælland and The Law of Jutland, which meant the new constitution applied to the Duchy of Schleswig. The German Confederation saw this act as a violation of the London Protocol of 1852, which emphasized the status of the Kingdom of Denmark as distinct from the three independent duchies. The German Confederation could use the ethnicities of the area as a rallying cry: Holstein and Lauenburg were largely of German origin and spoke German in everyday life, while Schleswig had a significant Danish population and history. Diplomatic attempts to have the November Constitution repealed collapsed, and fighting began when Prussian and Austrian troops crossed the Eider river on 1 February 1864.[citation needed]

 

Initially, the Danes attempted to defend their country using an ancient earthen wall known as the Danevirke, but this proved futile. The Danes were no match for the combined Prussian and Austrian forces and their modern armaments. The needle gun, one of the first bolt action rifles to be used in conflict, aided the Prussians in both this war and the Austro-Prussian War two years later. The rifle enabled a Prussian soldier to fire five shots while lying prone, while its muzzle-loading counterpart could only fire one shot and had to be reloaded while standing. The Second Schleswig War resulted in victory for the combined armies of Prussia and Austria, and the two countries won control of Schleswig and Holstein in the concluding peace of Vienna, signed on 30 October 1864.[78]

 

War between Austria and Prussia, 1866

Main article: Austro-Prussian War

 

Situation at the time of the outbreak of the war:

  Prussia

  Austria

  Prussia's allies

  Austria's allies

  Neutral members of the German Confederation

  Under joint administration (Schleswig-Holstein)

The second episode in Bismarck's unification efforts occurred in 1866. In concert with the newly formed Italy, Bismarck created a diplomatic environment in which Austria declared war on Prussia. The dramatic prelude to the war occurred largely in Frankfurt, where the two powers claimed to speak for all the German states in the parliament. In April 1866, the Prussian representative in Florence signed a secret agreement with the Italian government, committing each state to assist the other in a war against Austria. The next day, the Prussian delegate to the Frankfurt assembly presented a plan calling for a national constitution, a directly elected national Diet, and universal suffrage. German liberals were justifiably skeptical of this plan, having witnessed Bismarck's difficult and ambiguous relationship with the Prussian Landtag (State Parliament), a relationship characterized by Bismarck's cajoling and riding roughshod over the representatives. These skeptics saw the proposal as a ploy to enhance Prussian power rather than a progressive agenda of reform.[79]

 

Choosing sides

The debate over the proposed national constitution became moot when news of Italian troop movements in Tyrol and near the Venetian border reached Vienna in April 1866. The Austrian government ordered partial mobilization in the southern regions; the Italians responded by ordering full mobilization. Despite calls for rational thought and action, Italy, Prussia, and Austria continued to rush toward armed conflict. On 1 May, Wilhelm gave von Moltke command over the Prussian armed forces, and the next day he began full-scale mobilization.[80]

 

In the Diet, the group of middle-sized states, known as Mittelstaaten (Bavaria, Württemberg, the grand duchies of Baden and Hesse, and the duchies of Saxony–Weimar, Saxony–Meiningen, Saxony–Coburg, and Nassau), supported complete demobilization within the Confederation. These individual governments rejected the potent combination of enticing promises and subtle (or outright) threats Bismarck used to try to gain their support against the Habsburgs. The Prussian war cabinet understood that its only supporters among the German states against the Habsburgs were two small principalities bordering on Brandenburg that had little military strength or political clout: the Grand Duchies of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz. They also understood that Prussia's only ally abroad was Italy.[81]

 

Opposition to Prussia's strong-armed tactics surfaced in other social and political groups. Throughout the German states, city councils, liberal parliamentary members who favored a unified state, and chambers of commerce—which would see great benefits from unification—opposed any war between Prussia and Austria. They believed any such conflict would only serve the interests of royal dynasties. Their own interests, which they understood as "civil" or "bourgeois", seemed irrelevant. Public opinion also opposed Prussian domination. Catholic populations along the Rhine—especially in such cosmopolitan regions as Cologne and in the heavily populated Ruhr Valley—continued to support Austria. By late spring, most important states opposed Berlin's effort to reorganize the German states by force. The Prussian cabinet saw German unity as an issue of power and a question of who had the strength and will to wield that power. Meanwhile, the liberals in the Frankfurt assembly saw German unity as a process of negotiation that would lead to the distribution of power among the many parties.[82]

 

Austria isolated

officer on horseback ordering his enthusiastic massed infantry into battle

Prussian Prince Friedrich Carl ordering his enthusiastic troops to attack at the Battle of Königgrätz

Although several German states initially sided with Austria, they stayed on the defensive and failed to take effective initiatives against Prussian troops. The Austrian army therefore faced the technologically superior Prussian army with support only from Saxony. France promised aid, but it came late and was insufficient.[83] Complicating the situation for Austria, the Italian mobilization on Austria's southern border required a diversion of forces away from battle with Prussia to fight the Third Italian War of Independence on a second front in Venetia and on the Adriatic sea.[84]

 

 

Aftermath of the war:

  Prussia

  Territories annexed by Prussia

  Prussia's allies

  Austria

  Austria's allies

  Neutral members of the German Confederation

A quick peace was essential to keep Russia from entering the conflict on Austria's side.[85] In the day-long Battle of Königgrätz, near the village of Sadová, Friedrich Carl and his troops arrived late, and in the wrong place. Once he arrived, however, he ordered his troops immediately into the fray. The battle was a decisive victory for Prussia and forced the Habsburgs to end the war with the unfavorable Peace of Prague,[86] laying the groundwork for the Kleindeutschland (little Germany) solution, or "Germany without Austria."

 

Founding a unified state

There is, in political geography, no Germany proper to speak of. There are Kingdoms and Grand Duchies, and Duchies and Principalities, inhabited by Germans, and each [is] separately ruled by an independent sovereign with all the machinery of State. Yet there is a natural undercurrent tending to a national feeling and toward a union of the Germans into one great nation, ruled by one common head as a national unit.

 

— article from The New York Times published on July 1, 1866[87]

Peace of Prague and the North German Confederation

The Peace of Prague sealed the dissolution of the German Confederation. Its former leading state, the Austrian Empire, was along with the majority of its allies excluded from the ensuing North German Confederation Treaty sponsored by Prussia which directly annexed Hanover, Hesse-Kassel, Nassau, and the city of Frankfurt, while Hesse Darmstadt lost some territory but kept its statehood. At the same time, the original East Prussian cradle of the Prussian statehood as well as the Prussian-held Polish- or Kashubian-speaking territories of Province of Posen and West Prussia were formally annexed into the North German Confederation, thus Germany. Following adoption of the North German Constitution, the new state obtained its own constitution, flag, and governmental and administrative structures.[citation needed]

 

Through military victory, Prussia under Bismarck's influence had overcome Austria's active resistance to the idea of a unified Germany. The states south of the Main River (Baden, Württemberg, and Bavaria) signed separate treaties requiring them to pay indemnities and to form alliances bringing them into Prussia's sphere of influence.[88] Austria's influence over the German states may have been broken, but the war also splintered the spirit of pan-German unity, as many German states resented Prussian power politics.[89]

 

Unified Italy and Austro-Hungarian Compromise

Further information: Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867

The Peace of Prague offered lenient terms to Austria but its relationship with the new nation-state of Italy underwent major restructuring. Although the Austrians were far more successful in the military field against Italian troops, the monarchy lost the important province of Venetia. The Habsburgs ceded Venetia to France, which then formally transferred control to Italy.[90]

 

The end of Austrian dominance of the German states shifted Austria's attention to the Balkans. The reality of defeat for Austria also caused a reevaluation of internal divisions, local autonomy, and liberalism.[91] In 1867, the Austrian emperor Franz Joseph accepted a settlement (the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867) in which he gave his Hungarian holdings equal status with his Austrian domains, creating the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary.[92]

 

War with France

Biarritz is a city on the Bay of Biscay, on the Atlantic coast in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in the French Basque Country in southwestern France. It is located 35 kilometres (22 mi) from the border with Spain. It is a luxurious seaside tourist destinat

The French public resented the Prussian victory and demanded Revanche pour Sadová ("Revenge for Sadova"), illustrating anti-Prussian sentiment in France—a problem that would accelerate in the months leading up to the Franco-Prussian War.[93] The Austro-Prussian War also damaged relations with the French government. At a meeting in Biarritz in September 1865 with Napoleon III, Bismarck had let it be understood (or Napoleon had thought he understood) that France might annex parts of Belgium and Luxembourg in exchange for its neutrality in the war. These annexations did not happen, resulting in animosity from Napoleon towards Bismarck.[citation needed]

 

Background

Main article: Causes of the Franco-Prussian War

By 1870 three of the important lessons of the Austro-Prussian war had become apparent. The first lesson was that, through force of arms, a powerful state could challenge the old alliances and spheres of influence established in 1815. Second, through diplomatic manoeuvring, a skilful leader could create an environment in which a rival state would declare war first, thus forcing states allied with the "victim" of external aggression to come to the leader's aid. Finally, as Prussian military capacity far exceeded that of Austria, Prussia was clearly the only state within the Confederation (or among the German states generally) capable of protecting all of them from potential interference or aggression. In 1866, most mid-sized German states had opposed Prussia, but by 1870 these states had been coerced and coaxed into mutually protective alliances with Prussia. If a European state declared war on one of their members, then they all would come to the defense of the attacked state. With skilful manipulation of European politics, Bismarck created a situation in which France would play the role of aggressor in German affairs, while Prussia would play that of the protector of German rights and liberties.[94]

 

At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, Metternich and his conservative allies had reestablished the Spanish monarchy under King Ferdinand VII. Over the following forty years, the great powers supported the Spanish monarchy, but events in 1868 would further test the old system, finally providing the external trigger needed by Bismarck.[citation needed]

 

Spanish prelude

Spanish prelude

A revolution in Spain overthrew Queen Isabella II, and the throne remained empty while Isabella lived in sumptuous exile in Paris. The Spanish, looking for a suitable Catholic successor, had offered the post to three European princes, each of whom was rejected by Napoleon III, who served as regional power-broker. Finally, in 1870 the Regency offered the crown to Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, a prince of the Catholic cadet Hohenzollern line. The ensuing furor has been dubbed by historians as the Hohenzollern candidature.^[95] Over the next few weeks, the Spanish offer turned into the talk of Europe. Bismarck encouraged Leopold to accept the offer.^[96] A successful installment of a Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen king in Spain would mean that two countries on either side of France would both have German kings of Hohenzollern descent. This may have been a pleasing prospect for Bismarck, but it was unacceptable to either Napoleon III or to Agenor, duc de Gramont, his minister of foreign affairs. Gramont wrote a sharply formulated ultimatum to Wilhelm, as head of the Hohenzollern family, stating that if any Hohenzollern prince should accept the crown of Spain, the French government would respond—although he left ambiguous the nature of such response. The prince withdrew as a candidate, thus defusing the crisis, but the French ambassador to Berlin would not let the issue lie.^[97] He approached the Prussian king directly while Wilhelm was vacationing in Ems Spa, demanding that the King release a statement saying he would never support the installation of a Hohenzollern on the throne of Spain. Wilhelm refused to give such an encompassing statement, and he sent Bismarck a dispatch by telegram describing the French demands. Bismarck used the king's telegram, called the Ems Dispatch, as a template for a short statement to the press. With its wording shortened and sharpened by Bismarck—and further alterations made in the course of its translation by the French agency Havas—the Ems Dispatch raised an angry furor in France. The French public, still aggravated over the defeat at Sadová, demanded war.^[98]

A revolution in Spain overthrew Queen Isabella II, and the throne remained empty while Isabella lived in sumptuous exile in Paris. The Spanish, looking for a suitable Catholic successor, had offered the post to three European princes, each of whom was rejected by Napoleon III, who served as regional power-broker. Finally, in 1870 the Regency offered the crown to Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, a prince of the Catholic cadet Hohenzollern line. The ensuing furor has been dubbed by historians as the Hohenzollern candidature.[95] Over the next few weeks, the Spanish offer turned into the talk of Europe. Bismarck encouraged Leopold to accept the offer.[96] A successful installment of a Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen king in Spain would mean that two countries on either side of France would both have German kings of Hohenzollern descent. This may have been a pleasing prospect for Bismarck, but it was unacceptable to either Napoleon III or to Agenor, duc de Gramont, his minister of foreign affairs. Gramont wrote a sharply formulated ultimatum to Wilhelm, as head of the Hohenzollern family, stating that if any Hohenzollern prince should accept the crown of Spain, the French government would respond—although he left ambiguous the nature of such response. The prince withdrew as a candidate, thus defusing the crisis, but the French ambassador to Berlin would not let the issue lie.[97] He approached the Prussian king directly while Wilhelm was vacationing in Ems Spa, demanding that the King release a statement saying he would never support the installation of a Hohenzollern on the throne of Spain. Wilhelm refused to give such an encompassing statement, and he sent Bismarck a dispatch by telegram describing the French demands. Bismarck used the king's telegram, called the Ems Dispatch, as a template for a short statement to the press. With its wording shortened and sharpened by Bismarck—and further alterations made in the course of its translation by the French agency Havas—the Ems Dispatch raised an angry furor in France. The French public, still aggravated over the defeat at Sadová, demanded war.[98]

 

Open hostilities and the disastrous end of the Second French Empire

a tired sick old man in French military uniform, sitting beside an erect senior officer in Prussian uniform, spiked helmet, and sword

Emperor Napoleon III (left) at Sedan, on 2 September 1870, seated next to Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, holding Napoleon's surrendered sword. The defeat of the French army destabilized Napoleon's regime; a revolution in Paris established the Third French Republic, and the war continued.

Napoleon III had tried to secure territorial concessions from both sides before and after the Austro-Prussian War, but despite his role as mediator during the peace negotiations, he ended up with nothing. He then hoped that Austria would join in a war of revenge and that its former allies—particularly the southern German states of Baden, Württemberg, and Bavaria—would join in the cause. This hope would prove futile since the 1866 treaty came into effect and united all German states militarily—if not happily—to fight against France. Instead of a war of revenge against Prussia, supported by various German allies, France engaged in a war against all of the German states without any allies of its own.[99]

 

The reorganization of the military by von Roon and the operational strategy of Moltke combined against France to great effect. The speed of Prussian mobilization astonished the French, and the Prussian ability to concentrate power at specific points—reminiscent of Napoleon I's strategies seventy years earlier—overwhelmed French mobilization. Utilizing their efficiently laid rail grid, Prussian troops were delivered to battle areas rested and prepared to fight, whereas French troops had to march for considerable distances to reach combat zones. After a number of battles, notably Spicheren, Wörth, Mars la Tour, and Gravelotte, the Prussians defeated the main French armies and advanced on the primary city of Metz and the French capital of Paris. They captured Napoleon III and took an entire army as prisoners at Sedan on 1 September 1870.[100]

 

Proclamation of the German Empire

painting of well dressed and portly princes and dukes cheering a king on a dais

January 18, 1871: The proclamation of the German Empire in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. Bismarck appears in white. The Grand Duke of Baden stands beside Wilhelm, leading the cheers. Crown Prince Friedrich, later Friedrich III, stands on his father's right. Painting by Anton von Werner

Main article: Proclamation of the German Empire

The humiliating capture of the French emperor and the loss of the French army itself, which marched into captivity at a makeshift camp in the Saarland ("Camp Misery"), threw the French government into turmoil; Napoleon's energetic opponents overthrew his government and proclaimed the Third Republic.[101] "In the days after Sedan, Prussian envoys met with the French and demanded a large cash indemnity as well as the cession of Alsace and Lorraine. All parties in France rejected the terms, insisting that any armistice be forged "on the basis of territorial integrity." France, in other words, would pay reparations for starting the war, but would, in Jules Favre's famous phrase, "cede neither a clod of our earth nor a stone of our fortresses".[102] The German High Command expected an overture of peace from the French, but the new republic refused to surrender. The Prussian army invested Paris and held it under siege until mid-January, with the city being "ineffectually bombarded".[103] Nevertheless, in January, the Germans fired some 12,000 shells, 300–400 grenades daily into the city.[104] On January 18, 1871, the German princes and senior military commanders proclaimed Wilhelm "German Emperor" in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles.[105] Under the subsequent Treaty of Frankfurt, France relinquished most of its traditionally German regions (Alsace and the German-speaking part of Lorraine); paid an indemnity, calculated (on the basis of population) as the precise equivalent of the indemnity that Napoleon Bonaparte imposed on Prussia in 1807;[106] and accepted German administration of Paris and most of northern France, with "German troops to be withdrawn stage by stage with each installment of the indemnity payment".[107]

 

War as "the capstone of the unification process"

Victory in the Franco-Prussian War proved the capstone of the unification process. In the first half of the 1860s, Austria and Prussia both contended to speak for the German states; both maintained they could support German interests abroad and protect German interests at home. In responding to the Schleswig-Holstein Question, they both proved equally diligent in doing so. After the victory over Austria in 1866, Prussia began internally asserting its authority to speak for the German states and defend German interests, while Austria began directing more and more of its attention to possessions in the Balkans. The victory over France in 1871 expanded Prussian hegemony in the German states (aside from Austria) to the international level. With the proclamation of Wilhelm as Kaiser, Prussia assumed the leadership of the new empire. The southern states became officially incorporated into a unified Germany at the Treaty of Versailles of 1871 (signed 26 February 1871; later ratified in the Treaty of Frankfurt of 10 May 1871), which formally ended the war.[108] Although Bismarck had led the transformation of Germany from a loose confederation into a federal nation state, he had not done it alone. Unification was achieved by building on a tradition of legal collaboration under the Holy Roman Empire and economic collaboration through the Zollverein. The difficulties of the Vormärz, the impact of the 1848 liberals, the importance of von Roon's military reorganization, and von Moltke's strategic brilliance all played a part in political unification.[109] "Einheit – unity – was achieved at the expense of Freiheit – freedom. The German Empire became," in Karl Marx's words, "a military despotism cloaked in parliamentary forms with a feudal ingredient, influenced by the bourgeoisie, festooned with bureaucrats and guarded by police." Indeed, many historians would see Germany's "escape into war" in 1914 as a flight from all of the internal-political contradictions forged by Bismarck at Versailles in the fall of 1870.[110]

 

Internal political and administrative unification

The German Empire, also referred to as Imperial Germany, the Second Reich, or simply Germany, was the period of the German Reich from the unification of Germany in 1871 until the November Revolution in 1918, when Germany change

The new German Empire included 26 political entities: twenty-five constituent states (or Bundesstaaten) and one Imperial Territory (or Reichsland). It realized the Kleindeutsche Lösung ("Lesser German Solution", with the exclusion of Austria) as opposed to a Großdeutsche Lösung or "Greater German Solution", which would have included Austria. Unifying various states into one nation required more than some military victories, however much these might have boosted morale. It also required a rethinking of political, social, and cultural behaviors and the construction of new metaphors about "us" and "them". Who were the new members of this new nation? What did they stand for? How were they to be organized?[111]

 

Constituent states of the Empire

Though often characterized as a federation of monarchs, the German Empire, strictly speaking, federated a group of 26 constituent entities with different forms of government, ranging from the main four constitutional monarchies to the three republican Hanseatic cities.[112]

 

 

 

 

State   Capital

Kingdoms (Königreiche)

            Prussia (Preußen) as a whole         Berlin

            Bavaria (Bayern)      Munich

            Saxony (Sachsen)     Dresden

            Württemberg Stuttgart

Grand Duchies (Großherzogtümer)

            Baden Karlsruhe

            Hesse (Hessen)         Darmstadt

            Mecklenburg-Schwerin       Schwerin

            Mecklenburg-Strelitz          Neustrelitz

            Oldenburg     Oldenburg

            Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach)            Weimar

Duchies (Herzogtümer)

            Anhalt Dessau

            Brunswick (Braunschweig) Braunschweig

            Saxe-Altenburg (Sachsen-Altenburg)       Altenburg

            Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Sachsen-Coburg und Gotha)            Coburg

            Saxe-Meiningen (Sachsen-Meiningen)    Meiningen

Principalities (Fürstentümer)

            Lippe  Detmold

            Reuss-Gera (Junior Line)   Gera

            Reuss-Greiz (Elder Line)    Greiz

            Schaumburg-Lippe  Bückeburg

            Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt    Rudolstadt

            Schwarzburg-Sondershausen        Sondershausen

            Waldeck and Pyrmont (Waldeck und Pyrmont) Arolsen

Free and Hanseatic Cities (Freie und Hansestädte)

            Bremen

            Hamburg

            Lübeck

Imperial Territories (Reichsländer)

            Alsace–Lorraine (Elsass-Lothringen)       Straßburg

Political structure of the Empire

The 1866 North German Constitution became (with some semantic adjustments) the 1871 Constitution of the German Empire. With this constitution, the new Germany acquired some democratic features: notably the Imperial Diet, which—in contrast to the parliament of Prussia—gave citizens representation on the basis of elections by direct and equal suffrage of all males who had reached the age of 25. Furthermore, elections were generally free of chicanery, engendering pride in the national parliament.[113] However, legislation required the consent of the Bundesrat, the federal council of deputies from the states, in and over which Prussia had a powerful influence; Prussia could appoint 17 of 58 delegates with only 14 votes needed for a veto. Prussia thus exercised influence in both bodies, with executive power vested in the Prussian King as Kaiser, who appointed the federal chancellor. The chancellor was accountable solely to, and served entirely at the discretion of, the Emperor. Officially, the chancellor functioned as a one-man cabinet and was responsible for the conduct of all state affairs; in practice, the State Secretaries (bureaucratic top officials in charge of such fields as finance, war, foreign affairs, etc.) acted as unofficial portfolio ministers. With the exception of the years 1872–1873 and 1892–1894, the imperial chancellor was always simultaneously the prime minister of the imperial dynasty's hegemonic home-kingdom, Prussia. The Imperial Diet had the power to pass, amend, or reject bills, but it could not initiate legislation. (The power of initiating legislation rested with the chancellor.) The other states retained their own governments, but the military forces of the smaller states came under Prussian control. The militaries of the larger states (such as the Kingdoms of Bavaria and Saxony) retained some autonomy, but they underwent major reforms to coordinate with Prussian military principles and came under federal government control in wartime.[114]

 

Historical arguments and the Empire's social anatomy

Statue of the allegorical figure Germania

Germania, also called the Niederwald Monument, was erected in 1877–83 at Rüdesheim.

The Sonderweg hypothesis attributed Germany's difficult 20th century to the weak political, legal, and economic basis of the new empire. The Prussian landed elites, the Junkers, retained a substantial share of political power in the unified state. The Sonderweg hypothesis attributed their power to the absence of a revolutionary breakthrough by the middle classes, or by peasants in combination with the urban workers, in 1848 and again in 1871. Recent research into the role of the Grand Bourgeoisie—which included bankers, merchants, industrialists, and entrepreneurs—in the construction of the new state has largely refuted the claim of political and economic dominance of the Junkers as a social group. This newer scholarship has demonstrated the importance of the merchant classes of the Hanseatic cities and the industrial leadership (the latter particularly important in the Rhineland) in the ongoing development of the Second Empire.[115]

 

Additional studies of different groups in Wilhelmine Germany have all contributed to a new view of the period. Although the Junkers did, indeed, continue to control the officer corps, they did not dominate social, political, and economic matters as much as the Sonderweg theorists had hypothesized. Eastern Junker power had a counterweight in the western provinces in the form of the Grand Bourgeoisie and in the growing professional class of bureaucrats, teachers, professors, doctors, lawyers, scientists, etc.[116]

 

Beyond the political mechanism: forming a nation

high angle view the confluence of two major rivers, marked by the statue of a man on a horse, with a city behind

Monument to Kaiser Wilhelm, at Koblenz, where the Moselle River (upper river) meets the Rhine River (lower river), called the Deutsches Eck, or the German corner

If the Wartburg and Hambach rallies had lacked a constitution and administrative apparatus, that problem was addressed between 1867 and 1871. Yet, as Germans discovered, grand speeches, flags, and enthusiastic crowds, a constitution, a political reorganization, and the provision of an imperial superstructure; and the revised Customs Union of 1867–68, still did not make a nation.[117]

 

A key element of the nation-state is the creation of a national culture, frequently—although not necessarily—through deliberate national policy.[118][111] In the new German nation, a Kulturkampf (1872–78) that followed political, economic, and administrative unification attempted to address, with a remarkable lack of success, some of the contradictions in German society. In particular, it involved a struggle over language, education, and religion. A policy of Germanization of non-German people of the empire's population, including the Polish and Danish minorities, started with language, in particular, the German language, compulsory schooling (Germanization), and the attempted creation of standardized curricula for those schools to promote and celebrate the idea of a shared past. Finally, it extended to the religion of the new Empire's population.[119]

 

Kulturkampf

Main article: Kulturkampf

For some Germans, the definition of nation did not include pluralism, and Catholics in particular came under scrutiny; some Germans, and especially Bismarck, feared that the Catholics' connection to the papacy might make them less loyal to the nation. As chancellor, Bismarck tried without much success to limit the influence of the Roman Catholic Church and of its party-political arm, the Catholic Centre Party, in schools and education- and language-related policies. The Catholic Centre Party remained particularly well entrenched in the Catholic strongholds of Bavaria and southern Baden, and in urban areas that held high populations of displaced rural workers seeking jobs in the heavy industry, and sought to protect the rights not only of Catholics, but other minorities, including the Poles, and the French minorities in the Alsatian lands.[120] The May Laws of 1873 brought the appointment of priests, and their education, under the control of the state, resulting in the closure of many seminaries, and a shortage of priests. The Congregations Law of 1875 abolished religious orders, ended state subsidies to the Catholic Church, and removed religious protections from the Prussian constitution.[121]

 

Integrating the Jewish community

Allegorical figure of Germania (woman with flowing robes, sword, flowing hair) standing, holding crown in right hand, sword partially sheathed

In this close-up of the Niederwald Monument (see long shot above), Germania towers 40 meters (131 ft) above the town of Rüdesheim. She holds a crown in her right hand and carries a sword at her side. The Niederwald Germania was erected 1877–1883.

The Germanized Jews remained another vulnerable population in the new German nation-state. Since 1780, after emancipation by the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, Jews in the former Habsburg territories had enjoyed considerable economic and legal privileges that their counterparts in other German-speaking territories did not: they could own land, for example, and they did not have to live in a Jewish quarter (also called the Judengasse, or "Jews' alley"). They could also attend universities and enter the professions. During the Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras, many of the previously strong barriers between Jews and Christians broke down. Napoleon had ordered the emancipation of Jews throughout territories under French hegemony. Like their French counterparts, wealthy German Jews sponsored salons; in particular, several Jewish salonnières held important gatherings in Frankfurt and Berlin during which German intellectuals developed their own form of republican intellectualism. Throughout the subsequent decades, beginning almost immediately after the defeat of the French, reaction against the mixing of Jews and Christians limited the intellectual impact of these salons. Beyond the salons, Jews continued a process of Germanization in which they intentionally adopted German modes of dress and speech, working to insert themselves into the emerging 19th-century German public sphere. The religious reform movement among German Jews reflected this effort.[122]

 

By the years of unification, German Jews played an important role in the intellectual underpinnings of the German professional, intellectual, and social life. The expulsion of Jews from Russia in the 1880s and 1890s complicated integration into the German public sphere. Russian Jews arrived in north German cities in the thousands; considerably less educated and less affluent, their often dismal poverty dismayed many of the Germanized Jews. Many of the problems related to poverty (such as illness, overcrowded housing, unemployment, school absenteeism, refusal to learn German, etc.) emphasized their distinctiveness for not only the Christian Germans, but for the local Jewish populations as well.[123]

 

Writing the story of the nation

Further information: Historiography and nationalism

Another important element in nation-building, the story of the heroic past, fell to such nationalist German historians as the liberal constitutionalist Friedrich Dahlmann (1785–1860), his conservative student Heinrich von Treitschke (1834–1896), and others less conservative, such as Theodor Mommsen (1817–1903) and Heinrich von Sybel (1817–1895), to name two. Dahlmann himself died before unification, but he laid the groundwork for the nationalist histories to come through his histories of the English and French revolutions, by casting these revolutions as fundamental to the construction of a nation, and Dahlmann himself viewed Prussia as the logical agent of unification.[124]

 

Heinrich von Treitschke's History of Germany in the Nineteenth Century, published in 1879, has perhaps a misleading title: it privileges the history of Prussia over the history of other German states, and it tells the story of the German-speaking peoples through the guise of Prussia's destiny to unite all German states under its leadership. The creation of this Borussian myth (Borussia is the Latin name for Prussia) established Prussia as Germany's savior; it was the destiny of all Germans to be united, this myth maintains, and it was Prussia's destiny to accomplish this.[125] According to this story, Prussia played the dominant role in bringing the German states together as a nation-state; only Prussia could protect German liberties from being crushed by French or Russian influence. The story continues by drawing on Prussia's role in saving Germans from the resurgence of Napoleon's power in 1815, at Waterloo, creating some semblance of economic unity, and uniting Germans under one proud flag after 1871.[e]

 

Mommsen's contributions to the Monumenta Germaniae Historica laid the groundwork for additional scholarship on the study of the German nation, expanding the notion of "Germany" to mean other areas beyond Prussia. A liberal professor, historian, and theologian, and generally a titan among late 19th-century scholars, Mommsen served as a delegate to the Prussian House of Representatives from 1863 to 1866 and 1873 to 1879; he also served as a delegate to the Reichstag from 1881 to 1884, for the liberal German Progress Party (Deutsche Fortschrittspartei) and later for the National Liberal Party. He opposed the antisemitic programs of Bismarck's Kulturkampf and the vitriolic text that Treitschke often employed in the publication of his Studien über die Judenfrage (Studies of the Jewish Question), which encouraged assimilation and Germanization of Jews.[127]

 

 

 Although the Prussian army had gained its reputation in the Seven Years' War, its humiliating defeat at Jena and Auerstadt crushed the pride many Prussians felt in their soldiers. During their Russian exile, several officers, including Carl von Clausewitz, contemplated reorganization and new training methods.[12]

 They traced the roots of the German language, and drew its different lines of development together.[44]

 The remainder of the letter exhorts the Germans to unification: "This role of world leadership, left vacant as things are today, might well be occupied by the German nation. You Germans, with your grave and philosophic character, might well be the ones who could win the confidence of others and guarantee the future stability of the international community. Let us hope, then, that you can use your energy to overcome your moth-eaten thirty tyrants of the various German states. Let us hope that in the center of Europe you can then make a unified nation out of your fifty millions. All the rest of us would eagerly and joyfully follow you."[64]

 Bismarck had "cut his teeth" on German politics, and German politicians, in Frankfurt: a quintessential politician, Bismarck had built his power-base by absorbing and co-opting measures from throughout the political spectrum. He was first and foremost a politician, and in this lied his strength. Furthermore, since he trusted neither Moltke nor Roon, he was reluctant to enter a military enterprise over which he would have no control.[71]

Beyond the political mechanism: forming a nation

Monument to Kaiser Wilhelm, at Koblenz, where the Moselle River (upper river) meets the Rhine River (lower river), called the Deutsches Eck, or the German corner

End

 

With affection,

Ruben