Rulers, governments and politics in Germany in the 18th and 19th centuries

In the 18^th century, the “Kaiser,” an absolutist monarch of the Holy Roman Empire ruled the German Nation. According to Pfalzgraf and Rash, the Kaiser in a chronological order came from the House of Habsburg (1452-1740), Wittelsbach (1742-1745) and then Habsburg-Lorraine (1745-1806). Germany was a “patchwork quilt.” An absolutist ruler controlled each bishopric and duchy.  During this century, political influence occurred only through academic privileges and court offices. On power, Prussia was the leading power in the 18^th century. They were competing with Austria until they defeated them in 1866 gaining more economically advanced territories in the process.

In the 19^th century, the there were two political groups garnering for power in Germany. The liberals, who were more focused on nationalism and constitutionalism. The wider European liberal nationalism movements buoyed them to push for separation of state and church governance. The second group was that of the landed elite group of eastern Prussia also known as the “Junkers.” They were owners of large tracts of land with a conservative idealism in politics. They employed agricultural labor conditions of near servitude to produce grain (Pfalzgraf and Rash 84). 

They were against the change in the system of governance of the various states and worked hand in hand with the German Monarchs. However, widespread political revolution across many European countries led to the establishment of elections. All German states carried out national assembly elections but the monarchs still resisted developing a constitution. This led to the emergence of Carl Marx as a vocal political philosopher who spearheaded a revolution against the status quo in German politics and governance (Pfalzgraf and Rash 85).

Work cited

Pfalzgraf, Falco, and Felicity J. Rash, eds. Anglo-German linguistic relations. Vol. 98.         Peter Lang, 2008.