Wednesday 6 October 2021 – Morning A Level History A Y314/01 The Challenge of German Nationalism 1789–1919

Document Content and Description Below

SECTION A Read the two passages and then answer Question 1. 1 Evaluate the interpretations in both of the two passages and explain which you think is more convincing as an explanation of the reason... s for the outbreak of revolution in Germany in 1848. [30] Passage A The position of Prussia in Germany made it supremely important in the events of 1848, and three circumstances led it to take a prominent part in the liberal and nationalist cause in the country. The first was the disappearance of Metternich from the Austrian government, which subsequently became preoccupied with the revolts among its own peoples. This meant that Habsburg influence in Germany was temporarily suspended, and there was no power able to intervene in Germany in the face of events which threatened the balance of power in Central Europe. The second circumstance was the short-lived liberalism of the eccentric Frederick William IV, who had become King in 1840. Then his actions had aroused liberal hopes, but these had come to nothing. He held a conservative view of his position, but wanted to be acknowledged as a liberal monarch. Thirdly, there was the economic depression and unemployment of this period. The situation was at its worst in the larger German towns, and Berlin, where a quarter of the population belonged to the working class, suffered particularly. The engineering works there dismissed hundreds of its labour force, and landless peasants came from the countryside in a hopeless search for relief. During the winter of 1846–7 there were serious disturbances. Barricades were set up, grain transports attacked and market-stalls and food shops looted; and the Crown Prince’s Palace was stormed. Eventually troops were called out to restore order but by the spring of 1848 the situation had not improved. Adapted from: L. Cowie and R. Wolfson, Years of Nationalism, European History 1815–1890, published in 1985. Passage B As 1848 neared, the lands of the German Confederation were threatened by overlapping and interrelated crises. The industrial and cultivated middle-class was growing in wealth, numbers and political assertiveness. They prepared for political struggle with the governing elites. Industrialisation had also created a new and troubling social question. Another lower class of workers was beginning to protest and strike. These crises were linked to another which would also surface in 1848 and 1849. National enthusiasm was increasing throughout Germany. The movement clearly affected middleclass politics and was also rooted lower in society among small-town citizens and handicraftsmen organised in gymnastic clubs, singing societies, and single-issue organisations like that which raised funds for the nationalist memorial. Germany’s social crises of the 1840s were phenomena separate from nationalism – but they were also related. The anxiety and uncertainty generated by this age of transformation found definite release in a nationalist cause which was seen as a universal remedy by many Germans. There was the belief that Germany’s time of troubles would end when the nation was again strong, united and well-led. Adapted from: E. Dorn Brose, German History 1789 to 1871, published in 1997 [Show More]

Last updated: 1 year ago

Preview 1 out of 4 pages