In the eighteenth century, Germany was fragmented into many different states that were grouped under the Holy Roman Empire. Before the revolutions of 1848, different groups of people expressed their concern about the political, economic, and social order in the German states. The liberal middle class wanted to unify Germany because of their nationalistic views; the aristocrats were mainly conservative who feared unification because it would bring disaster to them politically; the working class was oppressed economically and socially.
The liberals wanted Germany to unify, so it could become politically and economically stronger. During Napoleon’s rule there became a movement of nationalism through the German state. Unification could not happen …show more content…
If Germany were to unite, the aristocrats of each state would have to consider themselves inferior to the new government. Joseph von Goerres believed that the nationalism among the people would bring horrific events that would be part of a revolution. They feared that a revolution to get a unified Germany would be similar to the precedented French revolution.The fear in his statement shows the worry among all the powers and aristocrats due to the rising nationalism that was becoming popular among the German states. The powers tried to find blame for the rising nationalism and General Joseph von Radowitz blamed it on the bourgeoisie by saying that they had been corrupted. Moreover, Klemens von Metternich who is extremely conservative believed that unification was an evil idea. Hans von Gagern described the growing nationalism as a spirit that was asserting in Germany. The powers, aristocrats, and all other conservatives continuously feared the rising spirit of nationalism because it would lead to revolution which would jeopardize their political role. The authors of these sources are not reliable; they would not support a revolution for a unified Germany because it would not benefit