Ah, that's another tricky matter. Just consider that even today, you have German as the language of both Germany and Austria, one of the three official languages of Switzerland, and of course it's still spoken in the regions that in history sometimes belonged to France, sometimes to a German state, like Alsace, aka the Elsass, or Southern Tyrolia (today in Italy). One of the most important of Napoleon's marshals, Michel Ney, hailed from Saarlouis (which is in the Saarland; the Saarland like Alsace switched between France and Germany throughout history but today is German) and was fluent in German, which was helpful to him when he negotiating with Bavarians (who became Napoleon's allies, as opposed to the Prussians, who were enemies).
As mentioned in my post, pre-Napoleon, the Holy Roman Empire of German Nationality, to give its full medieval title, nominally still existed. Which meant that the Emperor, who since centuries had been always a Habsburg, i.e. Austrian), was officially the liege lord of all the German princes. This, however, had not stopped the Thirty Years War which was mainly carried out on German-speaking soil and depleted those territories of two thirds of their population, and thereafter the authority of the Emperor in the Protestant principalities was very titular indeed. And then, some generations later, you had the scenario where Prussia as the up and coming power among the German principalities conducted a war against the Empress Maria Theresia (with Frederick II. not recognizing her as Empress, which is why he referred to her as "The Queen of Hungary" only; the excuse for this was that the Salic law made it impossible for women to inherit the crown), and powers like Russia and France siding with Austria while the other German principalities basically checked who was geographically closer and more scary, the Prussians or the Austrians, and allied themselves accordingly.
Certainly the shock of the French Revolution, the emerging idea of the nation-state and then later French occupation (and/or domination, depending on whether you were a defeated or an allied state) galvanized, among many other things, the attempt to establish a national identity based on a shared language and culture. And leaving aside that some of that cultural patriotism and "fight against the French invaders" feelings would later lead to disastrous 19th century nationalism, the question of whether a hypothetical German state should include Austria or not, and if it included Austria, wouldn't it then also include a lot of non-German-speaking people such as the Czechs, the Hungarians, the Poles, all of whom were part of the Austrian Empire, was never solved to anyone's satisfaction.
This is Heinrich Heine, poking fun on the post Napoleon climate in the German states, with their censorship, restrictions, Prussia as the now unquestioned dominating power and, well, the debates about whether there could be a unified Germany based on a cultural identity, in a passage from "Germany: A Winter's Tale" (Deutschland: Ein Wintermärchen):
A passenger who stood by me, Took the time to explain That this was the Prussian “ Zollverein”, The mighty customs chain.
The Zollverein, he explained, Will be our people’s foundation; It will change the divided fatherland Into a united nation.
It will give us the external unity, A unity that is real and material; The Censor gives us the unity of spirit, In reality, the most ideal.
He gives us internal unity, Unity in thought and in feelings; We need a united Germany to rule Our outward and inward dealings.
no subject
As mentioned in my post, pre-Napoleon, the Holy Roman Empire of German Nationality, to give its full medieval title, nominally still existed. Which meant that the Emperor, who since centuries had been always a Habsburg, i.e. Austrian), was officially the liege lord of all the German princes. This, however, had not stopped the Thirty Years War which was mainly carried out on German-speaking soil and depleted those territories of two thirds of their population, and thereafter the authority of the Emperor in the Protestant principalities was very titular indeed. And then, some generations later, you had the scenario where Prussia as the up and coming power among the German principalities conducted a war against the Empress Maria Theresia (with Frederick II. not recognizing her as Empress, which is why he referred to her as "The Queen of Hungary" only; the excuse for this was that the Salic law made it impossible for women to inherit the crown), and powers like Russia and France siding with Austria while the other German principalities basically checked who was geographically closer and more scary, the Prussians or the Austrians, and allied themselves accordingly.
Certainly the shock of the French Revolution, the emerging idea of the nation-state and then later French occupation (and/or domination, depending on whether you were a defeated or an allied state) galvanized, among many other things, the attempt to establish a national identity based on a shared language and culture. And leaving aside that some of that cultural patriotism and "fight against the French invaders" feelings would later lead to disastrous 19th century nationalism, the question of whether a hypothetical German state should include Austria or not, and if it included Austria, wouldn't it then also include a lot of non-German-speaking people such as the Czechs, the Hungarians, the Poles, all of whom were part of the Austrian Empire, was never solved to anyone's satisfaction.
This is Heinrich Heine, poking fun on the post Napoleon climate in the German states, with their censorship, restrictions, Prussia as the now unquestioned dominating power and, well, the debates about whether there could be a unified Germany based on a cultural identity, in a passage from "Germany: A Winter's Tale" (Deutschland: Ein Wintermärchen):
A passenger who stood by me,
Took the time to explain
That this was the Prussian “ Zollverein”,
The mighty customs chain.
The Zollverein, he explained,
Will be our people’s foundation;
It will change the divided fatherland
Into a united nation.
It will give us the external unity,
A unity that is real and material;
The Censor gives us the unity of spirit,
In reality, the most ideal.
He gives us internal unity,
Unity in thought and in feelings;
We need a united Germany to rule
Our outward and inward dealings.