Editing Unification of Germany (section)

==== Emergence of liberal nationalism and conservative response ====
[[File:Wartburg demonstration 1817.jpg|thumb|alt=students carrying flags and banners march to the castle on the hill|In October, 1817, approximately 500 students rallied at [[Wartburg Castle]], where [[Martin Luther]] had sought refuge over three centuries earlier, to demonstrate in favor of national unification. Wartburg was chosen for its symbolic connection to German national character. Contemporary colored wood engraving<ref>{{Harvnb|Sheehan|1989|pp=460–470}}; [http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_image.cfm?image_id=426&language=english German Historical Institute]</ref>]]
[[File:Zug-zum-hambacher-schloss 1-1200x825.jpg|thumb|alt=men and women marching to the ruined castle on top of a hill|Pro-nationalist participants march to the ruins of Hambach Castle in 1832. Students and some professionals, and their spouses, predominated. They carried the flag of the underground ''Burschenschaft'', which later became the basis of the flag of modern Germany.]]
[[File:Bildarchiv Preußischer Kulturbesitz.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|alt=Men sitting around a table. Most of them are muzzled, some are gagged as well, some have blindfolds on, and some have their ears muffled.|A German caricature mocking the [[Carlsbad Decrees]], which suppressed freedom of expression]]
Despite considerable conservative reaction, ideas of unity joined with notions of popular sovereignty in German-speaking lands. The ''[[Burschenschaft]]'' student organizations and popular demonstrations, such as those held at [[Wartburg]] Castle in October 1817, contributed to a growing sense of unity among German speakers of Central Europe.{{Sfn|Sheehan|1989|pp=442–445}}

At the [[Wartburg Festival]] in 1817 the first real movements among students were formed – fraternities and student organizations emerged. The colors black, red and gold were symbolic of this. Agitation by student organizations led conservative leaders such as [[Klemens Wenzel, Prince von Metternich]], to fear the rise of nationalist sentiment.{{Sfn|Sheehan|1989|pp=407–408, 444}}

The assassination of German dramatist [[August von Kotzebue]] in March 1819 by a radical student seeking unification was followed on 20 September 1819 by the proclamation of the [[Carlsbad Decrees]], which hindered intellectual leadership of the nationalist movement.{{Sfn|Sheehan|1989|pp=407–408, 444}} Metternich was able to harness conservative outrage at the assassination to consolidate legislation that would further limit the press and constrain the rising liberal and nationalist movements. Accordingly, these decrees drove the ''Burschenschaften'' underground, restricted the publication of nationalist materials, expanded censorship of the press and private correspondence, and limited academic speech by prohibiting university professors from encouraging nationalist discussion. The decrees were the subject of [[Johann Joseph von Görres]]'s pamphlet ''Teutschland [archaic: Deutschland] und die Revolution'' (''Germany and the Revolution'') (1820), in which he concluded that it was both impossible and undesirable to repress the free utterance of public opinion by reactionary measures.{{Sfn|Sheehan|1989|pp=442–445}}

The [[Hambach Festival]] (''Hambacher Fest'') in May 1832 was attended by a crowd of more than 30,000.{{Sfn|Sheehan|1989|pp=610–613}} Promoted as a [[county fair]],{{Sfn|Sheehan|1989|p=610}} its participants celebrating fraternity, liberty, and national unity. Celebrants gathered in the town below and marched to the ruins of [[Hambach Castle]] on the heights above the small town of Hambach, in the Palatinate province of Bavaria. Carrying flags, beating drums, and singing, the participants took the better part of the morning and mid-day to arrive at the castle grounds, where they listened to speeches by nationalist orators from across the political spectrum. The overall content of the speeches suggested a fundamental difference between the German nationalism of the 1830s and the French nationalism of the [[July Revolution]]: the focus of German nationalism lay in the education of the people; once the populace was educated as to what was needed, it would reach those goals. The Hambach rhetoric emphasized the overall peaceable nature of German nationalism: the point was not to build barricades, a very "French" form of nationalism, but to build emotional bridges between groups.{{Sfn|Sheehan|1989|p=612}} As he had done in 1819, after the [[August von Kotzebue|Kotzebue]] assassination, Metternich used the popular demonstration at Hambach to push conservative social policy. The "Six Articles" of 28 June 1832 above all else reaffirmed the principle of monarchical authority. On 5 July, the Frankfurt Diet voted for an additional 10 articles, which reiterated existing rules on censorship, restricted political organizations, and limited other public activity. Furthermore, the member states agreed to send military assistance to any government threatened by unrest.{{Sfn|Sheehan|1989|p=613}} [[Karl Philipp von Wrede|Prince Wrede]] led half of the Bavarian army to the Palatinate to "subdue" the province. Several hapless Hambach speakers were arrested, tried and imprisoned; one, Karl Heinrich Brüggemann (1810–1887), a law student and representative of the secretive ''Burschenschaft'', was sent to Prussia, where he was first condemned to death, but later pardoned.{{Sfn|Sheehan|1989|pp=610–613}}

Crucially, both the Wartburg rally in 1817 and the Hambach Festival in 1832 had lacked any clear-cut vision for unification. At Hambach, the positions of the many speakers illustrated their disparate agendas. Held together only by the idea of unification, their notions of how to achieve this did not include specific plans but instead rested on the nebulous idea that the ''Volk'' (the people), if properly educated, would bring about unification on their own. Grand speeches, flags, exuberant students, and picnic lunches did not translate into a new political, bureaucratic, or administrative apparatus. While many spoke about the need for a constitution, no such document emerged from the key nationalist rallies. In 1848, nationalists sought to remedy that problem.{{Sfn|Sheehan|1989|pp=610–615}}