Chapter 3-5

Napoleon Bonaparte

Ernst Moritz Arndt

Where Napoleon was from

One thing that I find interesting is that Germany was helped into nationhood by Napoleon Bonaparte. This happened when Napoleon marched his French army through Prussia and involved them in a war which began on October 14, 1806 (101). I am aware that to gain independence there is often some sort of battle, but the manner of which this happened especially sparked my interests. When Prussia lost against Napoleon it put them in a situation that was financially burdening. This could be shown with the oppressive financial burdens which were imposed because Prussia lost against Napoleon’s Army. Along with losing the battle against Napoleon the cost of living increased. This financial burden came into effect because now they were under French rule (102). As French armies marched through Prussia they squeezed as much out of the land as they could. Not much was left for people to survive off of (102). Fichte, a philosopher, knew that Prussia needed to gain its own identity from the French military and he made this clear in his “Address to the German Nation” speech in the winter of 1806-1807 (104). He believed that if the Germans fought for their independence from the   French military they were doing their job. I also find it extremely interesting that this speech was given approximately 2 months after Prussia was taken under the control of the French. I am somewhat shocked that this speech did not happen sooner than it did. I would have imagined that it if happened too soon people would be afraid to follow in fear of the consequences but if this speech would have happened too late the major points would have already have been spoken about. Not only did the people know that they did not want to be controlled by someone else but they also did not like what the French imposed on them. I also find it especially interesting that Ernst Moritz Arndt, a popular writer, stated “Let unanimity be your church! Make hatred of the French your religion, and let freedom and fatherland be the saints to whom you pray!”(105). I am taken aback by what Arndt says while he himself is under control of the French. If I were Napoleon I would not have taken much of this from Arndt especially since he could have caused a huge upheaval not even to put it past Napoleon to revolt against Arndt.  An official Prussian Declaration of War to France was issued on the 16^th of March in 1813. These wars lasted April 30, 1813-October 31, 1813 which a total of 23 battles were fought. Out of the battles that were fought Russia/Prussia won 4, French won 9, the Allied powers won 9, and there was one battle that was undecided. Although these attempts to gain freedom from France failed to happen Europe did renegotiate the boundaries as what happened in 1648 (107). These boundaries were similar except for Prussia, who gained a lot of area along the Rhine along with some parts from Saxony. While this was going on Austria withdrew from Belgium and the Upper Rhine which helped end the century-old confrontation of France and Austria (107). Prussia now stretched from Aachen on the French border to Tilsit on the Baltic. This new territory now linked East and West Germany. I believe that it was an extremely smart move to redraw boundary lines to settle disputes. When I read this I understood better how much of a conflict there was that a changing of boundaries was needed. I do not see this type of problem solving technique used now over in the Midwest where there are many little wars and discrepancies put into action every day.