Cambridge A Level World History (9489): Liberalism and Nationalism in Germany, 1815-71 – Study Guide

Liberalism and nationalism in Germany, 1815-71 is the second AS topic in the European option of Cambridge International History 9489. It asks why revolution came in 1848, why the revolutions failed, why Bismarck came to power and what he wanted up to 1866, and how unification was completed by 1871. Strong answers keep two threads apart – liberalism (constitutions, rights, parliaments) and nationalism (one German state) – and show how Bismarck delivered the second while taming the first.

Where this fits in 9489

The three AS European topics rotate between Paper 1 (Historical Sources, 15 + 25 marks) and Paper 2 (Outline Study, two questions of 10 + 20 marks). Under the 2027-2029 rotation this topic is on Paper 2 in 2027 and 2029 and on Paper 1 in 2028. Companion pages: Modern Europe revision notes, Modern Europe practice, and the topic 1 guide, France, 1774-1814.

Syllabus coverage

CAMBRIDGE INTERNATIONAL AS & A LEVEL HISTORY (9489), 2027-2029 – TOPIC 2: LIBERALISM AND NATIONALISM IN GERMANY, 1815-71

• 2.1 What were the causes of the Revolutions of 1848? The Congress of Vienna and the Confederation; Metternich’s system and the Carlsbad Decrees; liberal aims, the middle class and liberalism in Prussia; nationalism after 1830, in the universities, the Six and Ten Articles (1832); the Zollverein and railways; the crisis of 1846-47, urbanisation and skilled workers.
• 2.2 What happened in 1848-49 and with what consequences? Metternich’s fall; revolution in Prussia and Friedrich Wilhelm IV; the Frankfurt Parliament and its collapse; Austrian recovery; Olmütz; Zollverein disputes, Prussian growth and Austrian weakness; liberalism, Prussia’s position and Bismarck’s role to 1859.
• 2.3 Why was Bismarck appointed and what were his aims to 1866? The constitutional crisis (Wilhelm I, army reform, the Progressive Party); Bismarck’s appointment; the Congress of Princes (1863); the Danish war (1864) and Gastein; Biarritz, the Italian alliance and the outbreak of war; the Seven Weeks’ War, the Treaty of Prague, the North German Confederation, the liberals and the Indemnity Bill.
• 2.4 How and why was unification achieved by 1871? Nationalist pressure; the southern states and the Zollparlament; Napoleon III, the Luxemburg crisis and the Hohenzollern candidature; the Ems Telegram; the Franco-Prussian War (Moltke, Sedan, the armistice of 28 January 1871, the Treaty of Frankfurt); the Empire, southern concessions and the Reich constitution.

2.1 What caused the revolutions of 1848?

A weak framework. The Congress of Vienna (1815) replaced the old Holy Roman Empire with a German Confederation of 39 states under Austrian presidency, meeting in a Diet at Frankfurt. It protected the rulers’ sovereignty and kept the peace, but had no common army or government and could not satisfy nationalists.

Metternich’s system. The Austrian chancellor saw liberalism and nationalism as threats to a multinational empire. After a nationalist student murdered the writer Kotzebue, the Carlsbad Decrees (1819) imposed censorship, supervised universities and banned the student societies (Burschenschaften). After the 1830 revolutions brought constitutions to several smaller states and the Hambach Festival (1832) displayed nationalist colours, the Six Articles and Ten Articles (1832) tightened control further.

Ideas and social change. Liberals – mostly professional and commercial middle class – wanted constitutions, a free press and representative assemblies; liberalism was strong in the south-west and Rhineland, while Prussia’s king had not granted the constitution promised in 1815. Nationalism grew through the universities, writers and the French war scare of 1840.

Economics. The Prussian customs union of 1818 grew into the Zollverein (1834), which excluded Austria and drew the smaller states towards Prussia economically; railways from the mid-1830s linked markets. But the economic crisis of 1846-47 – harvest failures, high food prices and unemployment – coincided with crowded towns and skilled artisans losing out to factory production. Hunger turned political grievance into revolt.

2.2 What happened in 1848-49, and why did the revolutions fail?

News of revolution in Paris in February 1848 spread east. Metternich fell in March. In Berlin, street fighting led Friedrich Wilhelm IV to withdraw troops, promise a constitution and appear wearing the black-red-gold colours. The Frankfurt Parliament met in May 1848 and drafted fundamental rights, but divided over whether a united Germany should include Austria (grossdeutsch) or not (kleindeutsch), lacked an army, depended on Prussia in the Schleswig-Holstein dispute and feared the radicalism of workers. When it offered the imperial crown to Friedrich Wilhelm in April 1849 he refused a crown offered by a parliament, and the assembly broke up.

Austria reasserted control because the conservatives kept the loyalty of their armies, while revolutionaries were divided between liberals and radicals and between national groups. Prussia’s own union plan was abandoned at Olmütz (1850), a humiliation that restored the Confederation under Austrian leadership.

Consequences. Austria failed in its attempts to enter the Zollverein, which was renewed without it, while Prussian industry, coal and railways grew fast in the 1850s and Austria faced financial strain and defeat in Italy in 1859. Liberalism revived in Prussia’s parliament. Bismarck, Prussian envoy to the Diet at Frankfurt in the 1850s, became convinced that Austria was Prussia’s rival for leadership in Germany.

2.3 Why was Bismarck appointed, and what did he aim for to 1866?

The constitutional crisis. Wilhelm I (regent from 1858, king from 1861) and his war minister Roon wanted to enlarge the army and extend service. The liberal majority, strengthened by the new German Progressive Party (1861), refused the budget. In September 1862 Wilhelm appointed Bismarck Minister-President; he told a committee that the great questions would be decided “by iron and blood”, and collected taxes without an approved budget.

Outmanoeuvring Austria. Bismarck persuaded Wilhelm to boycott the Austrian-led Congress of Princes (August 1863). When Denmark tried to absorb Schleswig, Prussia and Austria fought the Danish war of 1864 together, which Bismarck used to keep Austria entangled; the Convention of Gastein (1865) gave Prussia Schleswig and Austria Holstein, a source of friction. At Biarritz (1865) Bismarck secured Napoleon III’s neutrality and in 1866 made a secret alliance with Italy. He proposed a German parliament elected by universal male suffrage, and when Austria referred the duchies to the Diet, he declared Gastein broken. Historians still debate how far he planned war or exploited chances.

The Seven Weeks’ War (1866). Prussian victory at Königgrätz led to the Treaty of Prague: Austria was excluded from German affairs, Prussia annexed several states, and the North German Confederation was formed. Many liberals now backed Bismarck, and the Indemnity Bill retrospectively approved his unconstitutional spending – a key moment in liberalism’s subordination to nationalism.

2.4 How and why was unification completed by 1871?

The Catholic southern states – Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt – were linked by military treaties and the Zollverein, but elections to the Zollparlament (1868) returned many anti-Prussian members. Napoleon III wanted compensation for Prussia’s gains; in the Luxemburg crisis (1867) Bismarck stirred German opinion against his plan to buy Luxemburg, and a conference neutralised it, leaving France humiliated. In 1870 the Hohenzollern candidature – Prince Leopold’s acceptance of the Spanish crown – alarmed France; it was withdrawn, but France demanded guarantees, and Bismarck’s edited Ems Telegram made the exchange look insulting. France declared war in July 1870.

Bismarck was strong because France had no allies and a weaker army, while Moltke’s Prussian army used railways and conscript reserves well. Napoleon III was captured at Sedan (September 1870), Paris was besieged, an armistice was agreed on 28 January 1871, and the Treaty of Frankfurt (1871) took Alsace and part of Lorraine and imposed an indemnity.

The German Empire was proclaimed at Versailles on 18 January 1871, with Wilhelm as Kaiser. Southern states were won with concessions (Bavaria kept, for example, its own army in peacetime and its own postal and railway systems). The constitution combined a Reichstag elected by universal male suffrage with a federal Bundesrat and a Chancellor answerable to the Kaiser, not to parliament.

Worked example: a Paper 2 part (b)

“Bismarck’s diplomacy was the main reason for German unification.” How far do you agree? [20]

Weigh the given factor (isolating Austria in 1866 and France in 1870; Biarritz, the Italian alliance, the Ems Telegram) against alternatives: Prussian economic power through the Zollverein and industry; Moltke’s army and Roon’s reforms; Austrian and French weaknesses; and nationalist pressure that made southern states join a war against France. Reach a comparative judgement – for instance, that diplomacy exploited strengths that already existed.

Common mistakes

• Treating liberalism and nationalism as the same aim.
• Saying the Frankfurt Parliament failed simply because it “talked too much”, without the army and Prussian/Austrian factors.
• Writing Bismarck as following a master plan without considering opportunism.
• Forgetting the Indemnity Bill and the southern states’ reluctance.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Zollverein a cause of unification? It made the smaller states economically dependent on Prussia and excluded Austria, but it did not make them politically pro-Prussian, as the 1868 Zollparlament showed.

What was Olmütz? The 1850 agreement in which Prussia gave up its union plan under Austrian pressure, restoring the Confederation.

Which year is this topic on Paper 1? 2028, in the 2027-2029 rotation.

Official syllabus

Cambridge International AS & A Level History (9489) syllabus for 2027, 2028 and 2029, Version 2 – cambridgeinternational.org (subject content, topic 2; Topics assessed on Paper 1 and Paper 2). Always check the current syllabus before an exam.