Higher History - Obstacles to German Unification

Higher History - Obstacles to German Unification

1. Austrian Strength

2. Mistrust of Prussia

   • Prussia was becoming more and more powerful and smaller states, such as Wurttemberg, worried that they would be swallowed up by Prussia in a unified Germany.
     • This was important as each individual state did not want to lose its individual culture in a

3. Indifference of the Masses

   • Most peasants had no access to education so were unable to read or write nationalist works.
     • This was important as it restricted the growth of nationalism as the peasants could not be influenced by nationalist writers such a Schiller and Goethe.
       • However, urbanisation meant that more and more people were moving to the cities and so nationalist ideas began to spread by word on mouth and did not rely on methods such as literary works.

4. Divisions Among Nationalists