Napoleon as an individual was the most significant figure in shaping German Nationalism'. Do you agree?

Politically, Napoleon’s impact on German nationalism was significant to some extent, however arguably other figures had a greater impact later in the period, where nationalism was a larger force. Through Napoleon’s military campaigns, many German lands came under French occupation, including the west bank of the Rhine, which was annexed under the Treaty of Luneville in 1801. Here, Napoleon introduced many of his liberal reforms, however his presence increased anti-French feeling, contributing to the growing desire for German independence from foreign rule. This links to the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71 where anti-French feeling generated contributed to German victory, and the subsequent unification of 1871. Napoleon’s dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806 also helped shape German nationalism to some extent, as the Confederation of the Rhine formed afterwards provided a more effective basis for German cooperation, laying the foundations for the German Confederation as it was formed by Metternich in 1815. Following on from Napoleon, Metternich was the next great influencer on nationalism, and his actions taken in trying to repress nationalism impacted the movement in many ways. The Wurttemberg festival of 1817 resulted in his growth in suspicion towards student movements and the passing of the Carlsbad decrees in 1819; these decrees led to an increase in censorship, the disbanding of all student societies and the setting up of a committee to investigate revolutionary activity. Metternich hoped that, by doing this, he could crush nationalism, however this was not proved to be effective as, in 1832, the Hambach Festival saw over 30,000 nationalist thinkers and intellectuals gather together, symbolising how despite Metternich’s efforts, nationalism was growing. However, Metternich was still significant as, without his oppressive measures, nationalism may have grown far more rapidly, and the outcome of the 1848 revolutions may have been different. Bismarck had the biggest political impact on nationalism, managing to separate liberalism and nationalism from one another, and focusing nationalist energy on supporting his efforts to isolate Austria in the Austro-Prussian war of 1866 and prove Germany’s position over France in the Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71. Post-unification, he was also able to manipulate nationalism to suit his policies, as demonstrated in his pursuit of Kulterkampf in the 1870’s and his anti-socialist legislation which strengthened his own position and nationalism itself. Finally, Wilhelm proved himself incapable of controlling nationalism, however this may have led to the greatest change within nationalism; under more effective control, it may not have become the aggressive, reactionary movement that it became, and thus Wilhelm was significant in his shaping of nationalism by allowing it almost total freedom throughout his reign. It was nationalism which drove Germany towards becoming more imperialist and even towards war, which was not something the Kaiser had aimed for. Therefore his inability to control nationalism influenced it to a great extent politically, as he allowed it to become more powerful than any of the leaders that had come before him. Overall, Bismarck and Wilhelm were both politically integral to the changes that occurred to nationalism, and can be seen as having more of an impact than either Metternich or Napoleon.
Socially and culturally, the most important impact Napoleon had on shaping German nationalism was increasing the anti-French sentiment that led to a growing desire of German people to be freed from French influence. In addition, Napoleon’s policy in 1803 and in 1806 revolved around ensuring that smaller German states were dissolved into their larger neighbours, reducing the number of states down to 39. This impacted German people socially and culturally as many had a strong sense of regional identity, and so by combining states, Napoleon had reduced the individual state independence of these lands. However, it can also be argued that this strengthened nationalism, as it provided a stronger basis for a united Germany, as too many individual states would make unification even harder. The nationalism that existed under Napoleon was one based in romanticism, with thinkers such as Herder influencing middle class intellectuals who began to support the idea of a united Grossdeutsch Germany that had an appreciation for the culture, heritage and literature of German lands. As this movement was mostly limited to the middle classes, it did not have a huge following; this continued under Metternich symbolising continuity within the period, and as industrialisation increased this social group, nationalism increased too. Metternich manipulated nationalism to his own ends by using fear of Prussian nationalism present in smaller states in order to bind them closer to Austria, identifying the social concerns of some of the smaller states as they viewed Prussian domination as a genuine threat as their power grew as a result of the Zollverein. It was Bismarck’s task to ensure that Prussia began to be viewed more favourably as opposed to Austria, which he achieved by isolating them in the Austro-Prussian war of 1866. However, it must be argued that some of the states in the German Confederation fought alongside Austria not Prussia, symbolising there was still much division surrounding Grossdeutsch and Kleindeutsch nationalism throughout German lands. Bismarck’s success in achieving a Prussian led unification highlights how significant he is in his shaping of nationalism. Socially and culturally, Wilhelm was significant in his promoting of nationalism; unlike all the other leaders that came before him, Wilhelm supported nationalism and believed in it as a movement, encouraging its growth. However, many of the changes that occurred were not down to his influence. For example, the huge growth in the working class was as a result of previous industrialisation that had continued to grow and influence Germany, and it was this group which adopted nationalism, and it was under them that it became inherently right wing and reactionary, demonstrating a huge social change from how nationalism had manifested itself in the beginning of the period under Napoleon.