AP European History

## Learning Outcomes

- Explain how nationalism could serve conservative goals as well as liberal ones in the 19th century
- Identify why **Otto von Bismarck** is the clearest example of conservative use of popular nationalism
- Compare liberal nationalism in **1848** with Prussian-led unification in the **1860s and 1870s**
- Recall the main stages of German unification: **1864**, **1866**, and **1870–1871**
- Analyse how war, diplomacy, and state power helped conservatives use nationalist feeling
- Apply this topic to AP European History questions about causation, comparison, and continuity and change over time

## AP European History Syllabus

For the AP European History, you are expected to understand how conservative leaders used nationalism for state-building and political control, with a focus on the following syllabus points:

- Know that nationalism was not always liberal or democratic
- Identify **Otto von Bismarck** as the main example of conservative nationalism in **Germany**
- Explain **Realpolitik** and why it mattered for unification
- Understand the difference between the failed **Frankfurt Parliament (1848–1849)** and Prussian-led unification
- Recall the key stages of German unification: the war with **Denmark (1864)**, the **Austro-Prussian War (1866)**, and the **Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871)**
- Explain the role of the **Zollverein**, the **North German Confederation**, and the **Ems Dispatch**
- Understand why German unification is described as **nation-building from above**
- Be able to compare Bismarck’s methods with earlier liberal nationalism after **1848**

## Test Your Knowledge

_Attempt these questions before reading this article. If you find some difficult or cannot remember the answers, look more closely at that area during your revision._

1. Why is it wrong to assume that all 19th-century nationalism was liberal?
2. How did the **Frankfurt Parliament** differ from Bismarck’s approach to unification?
3. Name the three wars most closely linked to German unification.
4. What was the **Ems Dispatch**, and why did it matter?
5. Why is German unification often described as nationalism “from above”?

## Introduction

Nationalism is one of the most tested ideas in AP European History because it connects to revolutions, unification, imperial rivalry, and even the causes of World War I. Many students first meet nationalism through liberal movements: demands for constitutions, representative government, and national self-determination. That is only part of the story.

By the later 19th century, conservative rulers learned that nationalism could be useful. Instead of fighting it, they could direct it. The clearest example is **Otto von Bismarck**, who used German nationalist feeling to unify Germany under **Prussian** leadership while preserving monarchy, aristocratic influence, and military power. This is a major AP Euro distinction: nationalism could strengthen existing elites, not just challenge them.

> **Key Term: nationalism**
> The belief that a people's main loyalty should be to their nation, usually defined by shared culture, language, history, or identity.

### Why conservatives began to use nationalism

At the start of the 19th century, conservatives usually distrusted nationalism. After **1815**, leaders such as Metternich wanted order, dynastic rule, and stability. Nationalism looked dangerous because it encouraged people to challenge old empires and demand self-government. In places such as the Austrian Empire, nationalism threatened to pull multinational states apart.

But the years from the **French Revolution** to the **Revolutions of 1848** changed the political meaning of nationalism. The French had shown that mass loyalty to the nation could produce huge armies and strong states. Resistance to Napoleon in Spain, the German states, and Italy also showed that nationalism could mobilise ordinary people with great force.

Early nationalism often worked with liberalism. Nationalists wanted constitutions, civil equality, and representative government because they believed a true nation should be made up of citizens, not subjects. That is why the **Frankfurt Parliament** in **1848** tried to unify Germany through a constitutional, parliamentary route.

Yet 1848 also exposed liberal weakness. Liberal nationalists had ideas, speeches, and assemblies, but they lacked armies, administrative control, and support from the great powers. Conservatives learned an important lesson from their failure: if nationalism was going to shape Europe anyway, it would be safer for monarchs and ministers to control it than to resist it.

> **Key Term: conservative nationalism**
> The use of nationalist ideas by monarchs and conservative elites to strengthen the state and preserve elite control rather than expand democracy.

This is the core shift AP examiners want you to see. Nationalism did not disappear after 1848. It changed hands. It moved, in many cases, from liberal reformers to conservative state-builders.

> **Test Tip:** If an essay asks for a change in nationalism over the 19th century, a strong answer is that nationalism began closely tied to liberalism but later was used by conservative rulers such as **Bismarck**.

### Frankfurt Parliament versus Bismarck

The contrast between the **Frankfurt Parliament** and Bismarck is one of the best comparisons in Unit 7.

The Frankfurt Parliament met in **1848–1849**. Delegates from the German states hoped to create a unified Germany. Their goals were nationalist, but also liberal: a constitution, representative government, and national unity based on political consent. They debated whether Germany should include Austria and whether it should be a monarchy or republic. In the end, they offered the crown to the king of Prussia, who rejected what he called a crown from the gutter.

Why did Frankfurt fail?

First, it lacked military power. It could debate, but it could not compel. Second, it depended on rulers who did not share its aims. Third, it was divided internally. Fourth, it represented nationalism from below, but the existing rulers still controlled armies, bureaucracies, and taxation.

Bismarck’s later success came from the opposite approach. He did not begin with a liberal constitution and ask people to support it. He began with the Prussian monarchy, the army, and the bureaucracy, then used those tools to create a nation-state.

> **Key Term: Frankfurt Parliament**
> The assembly of German representatives in 1848–1849 that tried to unify Germany through liberal and constitutional means but failed.

This difference is why historians often call Bismarck’s achievement **nation-building from above**. Germany was not unified by a mass democratic revolution. It was unified by Prussian elites directing events.

> **Key Term: nation-building from above**
> The creation of a nation-state by rulers, ministers, armies, and elites rather than by popular revolution or mass democracy.

A common mistake is to say that Bismarck simply did what the Frankfurt Parliament had wanted. That is too simple. Both wanted German unity, but not the same kind of Germany. Frankfurt wanted a liberal national state. Bismarck wanted a unified Germany that kept real power in conservative hands.

### Bismarck, Realpolitik, and unification by war

Bismarck was a **Prussian Junker**, not a liberal nationalist. He cared first about Prussian power. His method is usually summed up by the term **Realpolitik**.

> **Key Term: Realpolitik**
> Practical, power-based politics focused on state interest rather than ideology or moral principle.

This helps explain his famous **1862** “blood and iron” speech. Bismarck argued that the great questions of the age would not be decided by speeches and majority votes, but by force. He was openly dismissing the failed liberal politics of **1848–1849**.

That does not mean ideas did not matter. It means Bismarck believed that ideas without power were useless. He used nationalism, but always in ways that strengthened Prussia.

A key background factor was the **Zollverein**, founded in **1834**. This customs union linked many German states economically under Prussian leadership and excluded Austria. That mattered because economic integration helped make political unification more realistic. It also increased Prussia’s prestige. If merchants, manufacturers, and officials already dealt within a Prussian-led economic system, a Prussian-led political system became easier to imagine.

> **Key Term: Zollverein**
> A Prussian-led customs union founded in 1834 that reduced trade barriers among many German states and increased Prussian influence.

Still, economics alone did not create Germany. Bismarck used three wars.

First came the war against **Denmark in 1864** over **Schleswig and Holstein**. Prussia fought alongside Austria. On the surface, this looked like cooperation between the two main German powers. In practice, Bismarck used it to set up later conflict. The dispute over who would administer the territories created friction with Austria.

Second came the **Austro-Prussian War** in **1866**, also called the **Seven Weeks’ War**. Prussia defeated Austria very quickly. This was a turning point because it removed Austria from German political affairs. Bismarck then created the **North German Confederation** in **1867**, dominated by Prussia.

> **Key Term: North German Confederation**
> A Prussian-led federal union created in 1867 after the Austro-Prussian War, linking the northern German states under Prussian control.

Notice what had happened. Bismarck had used war not only to defeat a rival, but to reshape political loyalties. Northern states were no longer merely neighbours of Prussia. They were folded into a Prussian-led national structure.

Third came the **Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871**. This was the final and most important stage because it brought the southern German states into the nationalist cause. Many southern Germans had been wary of domination by Protestant Prussia. But fear and anger toward France created a common enemy. National identity often becomes stronger in wartime because people feel they are defending the whole nation against outsiders. Bismarck understood this.

The trigger was the **Ems Dispatch**. After a dispute over the Spanish throne, Bismarck edited a telegram from King William I so that it appeared more insulting to France. The edited text inflamed opinion in both countries and helped provoke French declaration of war.

> **Key Term: Ems Dispatch**
> A telegram edited by Bismarck in 1870 to make France and Prussia appear insulted by each other, helping provoke the Franco-Prussian War.

This is one of the best examples of conservative leaders using popular nationalism. Bismarck did not merely wait for nationalist feeling. He helped create the conditions in which it would flare up.

> **Test Tip:** For SAQs or LEQs, use the sequence **1848 failed → Bismarck used Realpolitik → wars in 1864, 1866, and 1870–1871 unified Germany**. That gives you a clear line of causation.

### What kind of Germany was created in 1871?

The German Empire was proclaimed on **18 January 1871** in the **Hall of Mirrors at Versailles**. The setting mattered. It publicly humiliated France while celebrating German victory and unity. But the new Germany was not a liberal democratic nation-state in the way many 1848 nationalists had imagined.

The emperor was **William I**, king of Prussia. The chancellor was responsible to the emperor, not parliament. There was an elected **Reichstag** with universal male suffrage, but executive power remained with the Kaiser, the chancellor, the army, and conservative elites.

That is why this topic is so important. National unification happened, but it did not produce full parliamentary government. Instead, unity strengthened Prussian institutions.

This is the main exam judgment: Bismarck used nationalism to solve the national question on conservative terms.

A useful comparison is with **Cavour** in Italy. He too used diplomacy and war to unify a state under a monarchy. But Bismarck remains the clearest AP Euro example because his methods were so openly anti-liberal. His “blood and iron” language, use of war, manipulation of public opinion, and dominance of parliament all show that conservative leaders could channel nationalism without accepting democracy.

There is also a continuity-and-change angle here. Conservatives after **1815** mostly opposed nationalism. By the **1860s**, some conservatives had changed course and were using it. What stayed the same was their desire for order and elite power. What changed was their willingness to wrap those goals in national language.

This development also had long-term effects. A unified Germany changed the balance of power in Europe. It weakened Austria, humiliated France, and created a strong new state in the centre of the continent. Nationalism had helped build Germany, but that success also fed later rivalries that shaped the road to **World War I**.

## Key Point Checklist

_This article has covered the following key knowledge points:_

- Nationalism in the 19th century was not always liberal or democratic
- Early nationalism was often linked to liberal ideas such as constitutions and political equality
- The failure of the **Frankfurt Parliament** in **1848–1849** showed the weakness of liberal nationalism without military power
- Conservative leaders learned they could use nationalism for state-building
- **Otto von Bismarck** is the clearest example of conservative nationalism in AP European History
- **Realpolitik** meant practical politics based on state interest and power
- The **Zollverein (1834)** increased Prussian economic influence among the German states
- German unification advanced through wars against **Denmark (1864)**, **Austria (1866)**, and **France (1870–1871)**
- The **North German Confederation** was formed in **1867** under Prussian leadership
- The **Ems Dispatch** helped provoke the Franco-Prussian War by stirring nationalist outrage
- Germany was unified in **1871** under Prussian monarchy, army, and elite control
- German unification was an example of **nation-building from above**, not liberal revolution from below

## Key Terms and Concepts

- nationalism
- conservative nationalism
- Frankfurt Parliament
- nation-building from above
- Realpolitik
- Zollverein
- North German Confederation
- Ems Dispatch


Nationalism - Conservative leaders used popular nationalism