German Identity Post World War I

The end of World War I was not kind to the Germans. When the dust settled after Treaty of Versailles negotiations, Germany had taken the most severe penalty ever handed out as a post-war reparation: around 226 million marks as a fine; sole responsibility for the war, which included damages, even in Allied countries; large military restrictions that included the cutting of German armed forces to 100,000 troops, prohibition of blockades on ships and importing or exporting of weapons, and crippling restrictions on naval capabilities; and several changes and reductions of the German borders. This sent Germany into economic and political chaos, both of which would not be remedied until the Nazi regime rose to power. Germany took many shifts in political hierarchy after this war, shifting from an empire, to a republic, then again to a dictatorship. The economy suffered greatly as well, as inflation made German currency almost worthless. Both of these things were greatly detrimental to the young nation, furthering the identity crisis that had bothered the nation since its inception.

German U-Boats, arguably the most deadly naval weapon of World War I, were 

completely outlawed by the Treaty of Versailles' provisions.

The dramatic shifts in governmental structure that Germany faced in the wake of World War I were very damaging to the identity of Germany as a whole. It is very difficult to formulate a cultural identity when the very law and structure of your society is changing as much as Germany's did in the 1920's. Almost immediately after the abolition of the empire and the beginning of the Weimar Republic, political unrest became a common occurrence in Germany. This made it hard to maintain a cultural identity, as the people had to live in constant fear that everything could suddenly change. Also, international perception of Germany was being damaged because of this. Many, particularly the French, believed that Germany was not capable of handling complete sovereignty responsibly, and this political unrest only strengthened this perception. This unrest made it very difficult for Germans to have a positive standing within the international community. While the Weimar Republic was very ineffective, there was no way for the Germans to end the republic without looking bad. It was a winless situation for them, and coupled with the economic strain that the country was experiencing, this made Germany's sense of national pride greatly suffer.

Propaganda for the Freikorps, a German paramilitary group who was one of the first

 to attempt to overthrow the Weimar Republic.

Economic hardship also ran rampant in Germany after World War I, and this also contributed to Germany's identity crisis. When much of German culture has been influenced by food and beer, and these things become harder to come by due to economic strain, it is easy to understand how this was a major stalling point in the development of a distinct culture in Germany. Simple items like bread and butter became nearly impossible to purchase due to their exorbitant price increase. The hyperinflation that occurred across Germany not only made daily life more difficult, but Germany even had to default on reparation payments due to the devaluation of their currency. This in turn led to French and Belgian occupation of several mining territories in Germany, which further crippled the economic situation, and led to more political unrest.

The issues resulting from World War I's ending and aftermath crippled Germany for over a decade. The struggles the country faced to reinvent itself politically and economically only compounded throughout the years, and led to one of the darkest regimes that has ever existed. While all of this chaos was occurring, Germans struggled to maintain national pride and a sense of cultural identity, as a struggle to make ends meet took precedence, on both the individual and national level. By the time the Nazi regime took command, Germans were willing to attach to anything that would make their situation improve. The penalties the Treaty of Versailles placed on Germany were possibly the worst a country has ever been handed, and this had a very negative effect on a country already struggling to form an identity.

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Germany: The Unification

Germany's Unification was really triggered primarily by a collective hatred of France. Like many bonds between groups that didn't see eye to eye previously, unification against a common enemy proved to be crucial for the many kingdoms that made up Germany. Previous to the French Revolution, Germany had been a series of small mostly independent kingdoms that fought with each other routinely. However, when Napoleon rose to power, his conquest of Europe brought him to controlling much of the territories of the Germanic kingdoms. After Napoleon's demise in Russia, the kingdoms, led by Prussia, quickly rose up and eradicated the French menace. What followed was a messy union of the Germanic people, the German Confederation, that was not unlike the first attempt at government in the United States under the Articles of Confederation.

This confederation was more than the first real attempt at unification of Germany. It was also the first of many real identity crises of the German people. With no real structure to the unification, Germans were not sure what to think of their sudden collage of a country. With Prussia in control, the other major kingdoms of Germanic people felt that the confederation would not adequately represent all of the kingdoms, and would instead only represent the ideals of Prussia, which the other kingdoms were not on board with. This crisis was a severe hurdle for Germany to overcome in it's infancy. Sure, the country was unified territorially, but the people had no sense of uniform culture, and the culture that was being promoted by the government was often one that was highly Prussian. this would have been fine if it were a situation where Prussia was the only real superpower of the newly united kingdoms. However, with perfectly legitimate kingdoms like Saxony and Bavaria now subjected to highly Prussian rule, there was bound to be clashing.

The identity crisis of Germany was really only put aside whenever Germany was threatened as a whole by a bigger enemy. Commonly, as referenced earlier, this opponent was France. As with most European countries during the 1800s, the Germans were subjected to multiple expansion attempts by the French. Each were met with mostly unified resistance from the Germans, and this proved to be successful each time. This gave the Germans some hope that the country would eventually unify, and it did. It has been a difficult road for Germans to gain unified cultural identity, but nothing unifies like war, and this was monumental in the development of a cultural identity.

Word Count: 420