Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Germany and Its Immediate Neighbors in the 18th and 19th Centuries


Denmark:
First Schleswig War: Fought in 1848-1851 over Schleswig and Holstein and their rightful owners after King Christian VIII died without an acceptable heir. Germany didn’t want to split the two duchies and Denmark thought they should be split due to Schleswig being primarily Danes and Holstein being primarily Germans. Denmark came out victorious.
Second Schleswig War: Fought in 1861-1864 over the Schleswig-Holstein Question. The second war was fought for the same reason as the first.
Netherlands:
Relations between Germany and the Netherlands formally began in 1871 following the unification of Germany. Obtained from Wikipedia. Little other information is given between the two countries during this timeframe.
Belgium:
No information has been given between Belgium and German relations during this time frame.
France:
The rise of Prussia as a power created conflict between France and Germany. Frederick the Great led the Prussian armies against France, though France was fighting on the same side as most of the German states. These conflicts didn’t end until well past the timeframe of which this little research project is aimed at, post-World War II.
Switzerland:
Germany and Switzerland have been trading and investing partners for a relatively long period of time.
Austria:
While the Holy Roman Empire existed, Germany and Austria were controlled by the Empire. Within the HRE, Prussia and Austria constantly struggled for control over Germany. After the Napoleonic Wars and the HRE died off, the German states united into the German Confederation. Prussia and Austria continued to war over whom would unify Germany. Prussia succeeded and was able to create the German Empire that excluded Austria.
Czech Republic:
Little is given between the Czech Republic and Germany, though the ethnic and linguistically German citizens wanted to turn Czechoslovakia into a German nation-state, whereas the Czechs wanted to keep the Bohemian kingdom out of it.
Poland:
Poland didn’t have a stable state until after World War I, and thus was being controlled by various groups up until then. Prussia was one of the combatants in the fighting for control of Poland.

Sources:

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