Preunification (pre-1870) Germany

[© tweed]

Simple question

Were the people free?

Please answer quickly.  Details optional.

[angus]

yes, more or less.  more so, anyway, than the russians of that time.  although by that time the russians, like the germans, had been profoundly influenced by french revolutionary thought.  Napoleon's army spread those ideas far and wide throughout europe in 1812.  But I generally credit Napoleon more than Otto for the unification of Germany, so you should take anything I say only cautiously.

Friedrich August von Hayek writes much about this sort of thing, and if you're not afraid that his rightist influence might cure you, you should read what he has to say about the Prussians circa 1870.  Daniela Parisi, who writes about the influence of German economists in Italy, also seems to recognize the free German prior to Otto von Bismarck.

"Freedom's just another word for nuthin' left to lose"
     --Janis Joplin

[The Dowager Mod]

Depends on which Principality or Duchy.
Those in the Hanseatic league were more liberal than Brandenburg or Baden.

[Undisguised Sockpuppet]

Can a mod move this to the history forum?

[Middle-aged Europe]

Simple question

Were the people free?

Please answer quickly.  Details optional.

Depends on...

a) in which state of Germany you would have lived,

and

b) with what time period you compare it.


In the United States of the early 19th century blacks were held as slaves and women were refused the right to vote... which would make the 19th century USA a crossbreed between today's Saudi Arabia and South Africa under apartheid. Yet, it had clearly the most democratic constitution of that time period. Everything is relative.

I would say that pre-1871 Germany was freer than the Third Reich or the GDR, not as free as the FRG or the Weimar Republic, and about the same as the German Empire (1871-1918).

[minionofmidas]

Short answer: No.

Long answer: What everybody else said. Details can be added if needed.