Enlightened Nationalism Essay Example for Free

Enlightened Nationalism EssaySuch were the words of Alexis de Tocqueville in his mocking evaluation of Prussias Civil Code (Allgemeines Landrecht). As its rudimentary principles, the code according to him is basi birdsongy those of the French Revolution save its real stipulations conserved the German ethnicity. This ongoing pressure involving unexampled and old in Prussia is the subject of Matthew Levingers profound study on the efforts of Prussian leaders as they try to invigorate the body politic betwixt their defeat by the French in 1806 and the Revolution of 1848. While the stay put of Western Europe (or the being for that matter) is developing in quite the same way, Prussia, the largest German estate of the 1st half of the 19th century, chose to board on a special path of historical development or what is called as Sonderweg. It is because of this that around historians contend that the Germans lagged behind in modernizing their political relational institutions e specially in that decisive historical moment in history. In Matthew Levingers book, he challenges the readers to rethink that general perception regarding Prussias history.His studies show that a profound and irreversible political transformation (enlightenment) occurred in Prussia beginning in the Napoleonic eraright after the humiliating wring of the famed Prussian army by Napoleons forces (Levinger, p. 227). In the brink of annihilation, a conference of Prussian leaders decided to mobilize the populace by uniting a rationalized monarchy and a politically active nation. They saw this mobilization as something that would make the monarchial estate stronger.Truly enough it deepen the power of the monarchy, but it inhibited the formation of an effervescent parliamentary system of rule. In Levingers caprice to understand why Germany chose a disastrous turn by embracing National Socialism among 1933 and 1945 ignited his interest in history and thereby writing this book. Like most works regarding German history, this book also has its roots in exile, but Levinger approaches the problem quite indirectly as he has nevertheless viewed the effects of exile remotely.Parts I and II of the book discusses about the concept of nation and part III shows how this concept came to play. Many questions and answers will arise from reading it. For one, the book does not scarce present answers to the question about what kind of country Prussia was but shows us the current state of vivification for most Germans during that time as well. The book gives us a reason to believe that fifty-fifty though this so-called enlighten nationalism was but a strand in Prussian political culture, it greatly influenced Prussian political evolution.It also provides an exciting insight about the controversial question whether there was a distinctive German path modernization. Another main query that will be answered here is to what close were the political resistances in Prussia during thi s era were shaped by ideological influences as opposed to material forces? And even though, the analysis in this book is only about Prussia, it can also give us a great deal of information in understanding the ensuing 19th c. Germany and how nationalism in the rest of the world evolved.Moreover, it tells us about the products of enlightened nationalisma mixed legacy of positive outcomes and ill-effects. In contrast to the French Revolution, the Prussian reform movement did not want to abolish the old government in order to create a new one for their ultimate goal which we can call Pax Germania. They only tried to reconstruct on hand organizations by trying to instill alkali and democratic principles into their framework. They tried to unite rationalized monarchy (from above, and for the people) and a politically active people (from below and for the king and fatherland).The enlightened nationalism brought about a legacy of political and public transformation in many aspects, most n otably in education and administration. This key reinterpretation of Prussian history from the Napoleonic era to the Revolution of 1848 shows how modifications enthused by the enlightenment eventually forged an authoritarian political culture and a nation that later came to loom Germany. The books well-documented insights do not only help us understand about Prussia but it also sheds new light on the birth of German nationalismthus awaking a sleeping giantonly to fall from grace.