Europe was stirred to the consciousness of nationality by the French Revolution. Nations began finding themselves when the doctrine of man’s equality, proclaimed on French soil, found responsive welcome among the peoples of the continent. But the new spirit caused dismay in every court circle. The inevitable reaction that followed was reflected in the treaty of Vienna of 1815, when national aspirations were ignominiously ignored and peoples beheld themselves bartered as chattels. The delegates in attendance sat as representatives of dynastic interests. Their interest in remodeling the political map of Europe was absorbed wholly by the idea of securing compensation for the spoliation of the territorial property of their sovereigns. Their labors meant triumph for autocratic rule. Popular clamor for national grouping was unheeded. Instead of quieting Europe, the treaty of Vienna was a virtual admission on the part of less than three dozen men that Europeans were incapable of bearing the glorious burden of their own destinies. The tares of monarchical despotism were left to stain the field of popular freedom. But the seed sown by the great act of the French Revolution was hardy. It was too late to eradicate liberal spirit from European society. A mighty struggle of ideas ushered in the revolts of 1830 and 1848. Twenty odd years more, and for the first time in its history western Europe was parceled into linguistic nations. The birth of Germany during this period was significantly heralded by an outburst of patriotic literature which for fire and enthusiasm was unprecedented. Geibel’s demand for a united Germany in Heroldsrufe was but the echo of the aspirations of millions of his countrymen. France emerged out of these ordeals without loss of her linguistic territory. The area of German speech received marked attention. In truth the morning of modern German nationality may be said to have broken in 1815. A year prior to this historic date, the decision had been reached at the treaty of Paris (March 30, 1814) to unite the German states into a single confederation. The dominating thought of European diplomacy, at the time, was to prevent a recurrence of Napoleonic disturbances.