Chronology: Key Events in German nationalism, 1789–1919

1789: Outbreak of the French Revolution.
1806: Prussian armies defeated by France at Jena and Auerstadt.
1806: Napoleon destroys the Holy Roman Empire; Confederation of the Rhine established (1).
1807: German princes have their own constitution but no political liberty.
1809: Metternich becomes Austrian foreign minister.
1813: Rhine Confederation dissolved.
1815: Establishment of German Confederation.
1818: Burschenschaften founded.
1819: Carlsbad Decrees (2).
1821: Metternich becomes Austrian Chancellor.
1830: Risings in Brunswick, Hanover, Hesse and Saxony.
1832: Hambach Meeting – passage of Six Articles.
1834: Zollverein created (3).
1840: Frederick William IV becomes king of Prussia.
1848–49: Revolutions across Germany and Austria; fall of Metternich (4).
1850: Erfurt Union and Olmutz Agreement.
1859: National Association founded in Prussia.
1861: William I becomes king of Prussia.
1862: Bismarck becomes Minister-President of Prussia.
1863: Universal German Workers’ Association created.
1864: Schleswig-Holstein crisis and Danish War.
1866: Austro-Prussian War.
1867: Creation of North German Confederation (5).
1870–71: Franco-Prussian War.
1871: German Empire created.
1871–90: Bismarck becomes German Chancellor.
1872–73: Kulturkampf begins (6).
1875: Social Democratic Party founded (7).
1879: Dual Alliance with Austria–Hungary.
1883–89: Social Reforms.
1886: Settlement Law.
1888: William II becomes Emperor.
1890: Bismarck dismissed (8).
1893: Pan German League founded (9).
1989: Navy Law.
1905–06: Moroccan crisis (10).
1912: Strikes across Germany.
1913: German share of world manufacturing is 14.8% (UK is 13.8%).
1914–18: First World War.
1918: Revolution: Emperor abdicates; Republic declared.
1919: Treaty of Versailles; creation of Weimar Republic.

(1) The Confederation comprising 16 German states and the Grand Duchy of Warsaw was put under French protection and received the Napoleonic Code. States enjoyed economic and religious freedom but no political liberty.

(2) The laws were passed by Metternich to suppress student organisations, to censor the press and to establish a committee that would investigate liberal groups within the Confederation.

(3) A customs union started by Prussia in 1814 and extended to nearly all of the German Confederation except Austria. Its domination by Prussia increased with the industrialisation of Germany from the 1850s onwards and greatly assisted the union of German states under her leadership.

(4) The Austrian chancellor fell from office after liberal demonstrations in Vienna called for political reform. His fall precipitated liberal revolutions across the German Confederation.

(5) The North German Confederation replaced the German Confederation and contained the German states north of the River Main and was dominated by Prussia. The south German states of Baden, Bavaria and Württemberg were outside the Confederation but had a military alliance with Prussia. Its constitution formed the basis of the German imperial constitution of 1871–1918.

(6) Bismarck’s ‘struggle against culture’ was in essence a series of anti-Catholic policies between 1872 and 1885, whereby priests became state employees and religious orders were outlawed. Bismarck feared that the Catholics might try to undermine German unity by exploiting Polish groups in eastern Prussia. In practice, his plan to weaken the Catholic Church backfired. Catholics formed the Centre Party, which grew in popularity and strength, so much so that from 1878 Bismarck courted their political support.

(7) The Social Democratic Party supported the re-distribution of wealth in Germany and an extension of democracy. Their goals were seen as a major threat to the Prussian landowning oligarchy and to successive German governments between 1871 and 1914.

(8) Sometimes referred to as ‘dropping the pilot’, William II’s decision to dismiss Bismarck reflected their differences in personality, aims and age. The Emperor refused to approve Bismarck’s plans to suspend the Constitution and rule by martial law to nullify the growing influence of the SPD.

(9) The Pan German League was a radical German nationalist organisation (the ADV), which wanted to unite all German-speaking peoples, colonise Eastern Europe and pursue an aggressive Weltpolitik foreign policy.

(10) When France began to increase her colonial activity in Morocco, Germany threatened military and naval reprisals in an attempt to split the recently formed entente cordiale between France and Britain. But the plan backfired. Britain strengthened her resolve to support France, and Morocco was partitioned between Spain and France. Moreover, both Britain and France deepened their suspicions of German policy.