German nationalism
The year 1304 marks the creation of an imperial eagle that would eventually become the Bundesadler, the heraldic animal of today's national emblem. This symbol emerged from the coat of arms of Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Germany. By the early thirteenth century, a stronger sense of German identity had taken shape over the next two centuries. Scholars such as Alexander of Roes and Lupold of Bebenburg reflected on the role of the Germans within the European order. The Sachsenspiegel law book contains some of the earliest references to a collective German identity. More than ten passages refer explicitly to the 'German language', the 'German lands', the 'history of the Germans' and 'German descent'. These four elements are regarded by some scholars as the first appearance of key features of a national consciousness within a vernacular legal text of the Middle Ages. In the Schwabenspiegel around 1275, this criterion was modified to require only partial German ancestry. During the fifteenth century, German humanists began to celebrate German culture and language. Jakob Wimpfeling wrote in 1502: "There is something delightful about the happiness of being German and living in the blessed German land." It was not until the concept of nationalism itself was developed by Johann Gottfried Herder around 1770 that German nationalism truly began.
The invasion of the Holy Roman Empire by Napoleon's French Empire brought about a German liberal nationalism advocated primarily by the middle-class bourgeoisie. Fichte devoted the fourth of his Addresses to the German Nation in 1808 to defining the German nation. He argued there existed a dichotomy between people of Germanic descent who had left their fatherland during the Migration Period and those who stayed in native lands. Heinrich von Kleist's fervent patriotic stage dramas before his death were instrumental in shaping the character of German nationalism for the next one-and-a-half century. Ernst Moritz Arndt's war poetry during the German campaign of 1813 also played a key role. The Romantic movement spearheaded the upsurge of German nationalism especially after its defeat to Napoleon in the 1806 Battle of Jena. The Revolutions of 1848 led to many revolutions in various German states but widespread national feeling for a united Germandom still seemed elusive. Nationalists assembled an all-German parliament in Frankfurt in May 1848. The King of Prussia refused the offer of the imperial crown of Germany. By the late 1850s German nationalists emphasized military solutions. War seemed a desirable means of speeding up change and progress.
German colonial rule in Africa from 1884 to 1914 was an expression of nationalism justified by constructing and employing an image of the natives as "Other". Germany's cultural-missionary project boasted that its colonial programs were humanitarian and educational endeavors. Widespread acceptance among intellectuals of social Darwinism justified Germany's right to acquire colonial territories as a matter of the 'survival of the fittest'. Prussia achieved hegemony over Germany in the wars of unification including the Second Schleswig War in 1864 and the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. A German nation-state was founded in 1871 called the German Empire with the King of Prussia taking the throne as German Emperor. Unlike prior German nationalism based upon liberal values, the German nationalism utilized by supporters of the German Empire was based upon Prussian authoritarianism. It was conservative, reactionary, anti-Catholic, anti-liberal and anti-socialist in nature. Aggressive German nationalism and territorial expansion were key factors leading to both World Wars. Before World War I, Germany had established a colonial empire which became the third-largest after Britain and France.
The Nazi Party led by Austrian-born Adolf Hitler believed in an extreme form of German nationalism adding elements of racial ideology. The 1935 Nuremberg Laws sought to determine by law and genetics who was to be considered German. In 1920 the first point of the Nazi 25-point programme stated: "We demand the unification of all Germans in the Greater Germany on the basis of the people's right to self-determination." Hitler began to develop his strong patriotic German nationalist views from a very young age. He was greatly influenced by many other Austrian pan-German nationalists notably Georg Ritter von Schönerer and Karl Lueger. The Generalplan Ost called for the extermination, expulsion, Germanization or enslavement of most or all Czechs, Poles, Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians. The annexing of Austria known as Anschluss and the Sudetenland completed Nazi Germany's desire to unite ethnic Germans under the leadership of Adolf Hitler. This eventually led to the extermination of Jews, Poles, Romani, and other people deemed Untermenschen in the Holocaust during World War II.
After World War II the German nation was divided into two states West Germany and East Germany. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany which served as the constitution for West Germany was conceived and written as a provisional document with the hope of reuniting East and West Germany in mind. Saarland separated by France became its protectorate in 1946 but later joined West Germany in early 1957. Die Wende arrived in the late 1980s driven by the East German people leading to the 1990 elections. These elections put a government in place that negotiated the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany and reunited East and West Germany. The reunification was opposed in several quarters including Margaret Thatcher Jürgen Habermas and Günter Grass out of fear that a united Germany might resume its aggression toward other countries. Just prior to reunification West Germany had gone through a national debate called Historikerstreit over how to regard its Nazi past. One side claimed there was nothing specifically German about Nazism while others held that Nazism grew out of German identity and the nation needed to remain responsible for its past.
The desire of the German people to be one nation again remained strong but was accompanied by a feeling of hopelessness through the 1970s into the 1980s. Pride in being German remained a difficult issue until the 2006 FIFA World Cup which was held in Germany. Widespread displays of national pride took even the Germans themselves by surprise and cautious delight. In a 2011 article published by the University of Pennsylvania it was stated: "Patriotism in Germany has been a taboo topic since the time of Adolf Hitler." Tensions over the European debt crisis and the European migrant crisis sharpened questions of German identity around 2010. The Alternative for Germany party was created in 2013 as a backlash against further European integration and bailouts of other countries during the European debt crisis. From its founding to 2017 the party took on nationalist and populist stances rejecting German guilt over the Nazi era. In the 2014 European Parliament election the NPD won their first ever seat in the European Parliament but lost it again in the 2019 EU election. One of the key questions for the reunified government was how to define a German citizen.
Common questions
When was the imperial eagle created that became the Bundesadler?
The year 1304 marks the creation of an imperial eagle that would eventually become the Bundesadler, the heraldic animal of today's national emblem. This symbol emerged from the coat of arms of Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Germany.
Who developed the concept of German nationalism around 1770?
Johann Gottfried Herder developed the concept of nationalism itself around 1770 when German nationalism truly began. Scholars such as Alexander of Roes and Lupold of Bebenburg had reflected on the role of Germans within the European order during the early thirteenth century.
What were the key factors leading to World War I and World War II in German history?
Aggressive German nationalism and territorial expansion were key factors leading to both World Wars. Before World War I, Germany had established a colonial empire which became the third-largest after Britain and France.
Which laws did the Nazi Party use to determine who was considered German in 1935?
The 1935 Nuremberg Laws sought to determine by law and genetics who was to be considered German. The Generalplan Ost called for the extermination, expulsion, Germanization or enslavement of most or all Czechs, Poles, Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians.
When did East and West Germany reunify following the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany?
The 1990 elections put a government in place that negotiated the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany and reunited East and West Germany. Die Wende arrived in the late 1980s driven by the East German people leading to these events.