Germany and the Germans from an American Point of ViewCollier, Price
History
Germany and the Germans from an American Point of View
Collier, Price
Germany; National characteristics, German
Interwoven with this party in Germany, demanding for the people
something more of representation in the government, was a movement for
the binding together of the various states in a closer union. In 1842
when the first stone was laid for the completion of the Cologne
Cathedral, at a banquet of the German princes presided over by the
King of Prussia, the King of Wuertemberg proposed a toast to "Our
common country!" That toast probably marks the first tangible proof of
the existence of any important feeling upon the subject of German
unity.
At a congress of Germanists at Frankfort, in 1846, professors and
students, jurists and historians, talked and discussed the questions
of a German parliament and of national unity more perhaps than matters
of scholarship.
In 1847 Professor Gervinus founded at Heidelberg the Deutsche Zeitung,
which was to be liberal, national, and for all Germany.
I should be sorry to give the impression that I have not given proper
value to the work of the German professor and student in bringing
about a more liberal constitution for the states of Germany. Liebig of
Munich, Ranke of Berlin, Sybel of Bonn, Ewald of Goettingen, Mommsen in
Berlin, Doellinger in Munich, and such men as Schiemann in Berlin to-day,
were and are, not only scholars, but they have been and are
political teachers; some of them violently reactionary, if you please,
but all of them stirring men to think.
No such feeling existed then, or exists now, in Germany, as animated
Oxford some fifty years ago when the greatest Sanscrit scholar then
living was rejected by a vote of that body, one voter declaring: "I
have always voted against damned intellect, and I trust I always may!"
A state of mind that has not altogether disappeared in England even
now. Indeed I am not sure, that the most notable feature of political
life in England to-day, is not a growing revolt against legislation by
tired lawyers, and an increasing demand for common-sense governing
again, even if the governing be done by those with small respect for
"damned intellect."
The third French revolution of 1848 set fire to all this, not only in
Germany but in Austria, Hungary, Roumania, and elsewhere. We must go
rapidly through this period of seething and of political teething. The
parliament at Frankfort with nothing but moral authority discussed and
declaimed, and finally elected Archduke John of Austria as
"administrator" of the empire. There followed discussions as to
whether Austria should even become a member of the new confederation.
Two parties, the "Little Germanists" and the "Pan Germanists," those
in favor of including, and those opposed to the inclusion of Austria,
fought one another, with Prussia leading the one and Austria, with the
prestige of having been head of the former Holy Roman Empire, the
other.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account