Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Sorry about the previous blog, this is the real one....



The Unification of Germany
After reading these last chapter I now realize how difficult it was for Germany to form their own nation. One big part that helped with the formation of Germany was all the battles and territorial changes that happened during the Battle of Vienna and the Seven years war. The formation of Germany reminds me of how the United States of America was formed. Like it says in the book Germany wasn’t formed on the backs of great heroes and military leaders, but formed by poets and philosophers. This is like founding fathers of the United States. As a country we were formed by a great military or an independent hero, but found out statesman and politicians.
                                                           
This is the Prussian Army             These are the Austrian Troops
            During the Seven Weeks War                        During the Seven Years War

Another key role in German history was the Seven Weeks war, which was a German civil war between the German Confederation and the Kingdom of Prussia. This relates a lot to our American History because our country has experienced a civil war as well. But, this war was different, unlike our war, which lead to the unification of a country, the Seven Weeks War lead to the exclusion of Austria from Germany.


This is the new boundary line of Germany after Prussia defeated Austria during the Seven Years War.

The Seven Weeks war also reminds me of the Revolutionary War, which lead to independence of the United States of America from Great Britain. Just like the United States of America, Germany broke away from Austria to get their independence. Austria was seen as the major powerhouse of Germany. So when the Prussian army defeated Austria, it was seen as a big shock too much of Europe. Although the timing of these wars and events don’t quite match up with the timing of the United States of America’s history but the experience these people faced and the development of Germany is very similar to the development of the United States of America. Like America after their independence Germany.
Even after defeating the Austrian army, Germany was still not an independent nation. When France declared war on Prussia in 1870, Prussia was seen as a major underdog to the French armies. But, during battle Prussia’s army was so strong that it led to a French surrendered to the Prussian Army. With the defeat of the French Army it soon lead to the creation of Germany as its own unified nation. This also is like the American Rev. War because after we defeated Great Britain we finally developed a country of our own.
These chapters really explained a lot about how rough it must have been living in Germany during this time. With all of the wars and battles that were happening during this time it was impressive how willing Germany was to overcome these strong powers. As I read these chapters I realize how similar German history is to the United States of America’s history. I feel that because our histories are very similar, that the history of Germany is much easier to grasp. Like the United States of America, Germany was that economically strong during this time, which is just like the United States when they first were coming about. After reading these chapters I now have a different perspective of Germany and much they had to fight for their freedoms, just like the beginning Americans did. This chapter was very eye opening for me and it makes me even more excited to go to Germany for our D-Term trip. 

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