germany+unification

By Courtesy (St. John's) The Independent Sunday, June 11, 2006

Leipzig, Germany

By Caitie Burke

For The Independent

When my husband, Vaughan, was offered a postdoctoral position at a renowned research institute in Leipzig, Germany, it was just too good an opportunity to pass up.

We had spent the past seven years at foreign universities, first to pursue my education in occupational therapy and then to pursue his in archaeological science, and were confident we could handle the challenges of living in another foreign country with our nine-month old daughter, Neave. But now I’m beginning to wonder — for we had not anticipated the FIFA World Cup….

I have to admit, I knew very little about Leipzig prior to boarding the plane in St. John’s two short months ago. A few hours Googling the web told me that the city was located where the Parthe and Elster rivers meet in East Germany, near the Polish border.

First settled as a Slavic village between the seventh and ninth centuries, and founded as a city in 1135, Leipzig is known internationally for its long and rich history of education, culture and music. The likes of Leibniz, Goethe, Schiller, Mendelssohn and Bach have all wandered the city streets before me.

But for the next few weeks the city’s cultured history will be shadowed by soccer mania, as the world’s second largest sporting event steamrolls into town. Leipzig is one of 12 sites to host the FIFA World Cup, where 32 countries will compete in front of one billion viewers worldwide.

To put it in perspective, Leipzig has roughly the same population as the province of Newfoundland and Labrador and they have invested an astounding 91 million euros in the city for the event and are expecting tens of thousands of spectators to visit and show their national pride and love of the game.

Considering myself to be an unofficial expert in major sporting events, I thought I knew what to expect. I was studying in Sydney, Australia during the 2000 Olympics and experienced the intense chaos and patriotism that exploded in the city. I have also lived in Northern England where soccer is a religion and people treat their local soccer club with devout loyalty and enthusiasm.

But this is different. The World Cup is in a league of its own.

As the days to kick-off got closer, the city started to buzz. There are banners on every streetlight, stores have transformed their window displays into “football art” and glowing pink soccer balls sit on top of telephone booths.

Even with all the football hype, I did not anticipate the intense excitement and bustle in Leipzig. Prior to arriving, my initial thoughts of East Germany involved caricatures based on old James Bond movies. My naïve preconceptions involved expressionless people who responded to questions with one-word answers and a chilly disposition in a city with plain, concrete architecture without colour, character or style.

My initial narrow-minded perspectives have changed and the World Cup has provided an incredible opportunity for Leipzig to show its true colours and history.

The city of Leipzig has experienced tremendous change since the revolution of 1989 and the disappearance of the former German Democratic Republic. Historic buildings have been restored and much of the city’s vibrancy and street life has returned.

Leipzig’s residents have invested a lot of time and money to improve its infrastructure and restore its former splendour and grace. Within the city centre, it is an architect’s dream. There are medieval-style buildings next to gorgeous Baroque complexes, next to intricate ornate churches dating back to the 12th century.

Leipzig is also proud that it was one of the first German cities to conduct peaceful political protests against the former German Democratic Republic in 1989. The protesters had non-violent rallies within the city’s centre to demand rights such as freedom to travel to foreign countries and to elect a democratic government.

Known as the Monday Demonstrations, these peaceful protests grew in such strength that by October 1989, more than 250,000 people had joined the pro-democracy protests. The protests made an incredible impact and are considered a key contributor to the collapse of the Berlin Wall and to German reunification.

And now, merely 15 years later, Leipzig is about to host one of the largest commercial events in the world.

It remains to be seen how Leipzig will respond to the crowds and activity now the World Cup has just started, but given how it has managed its challenges and changes to date, I am looking forward to taking part in this historical event.


 * **Bismarck's Unification of Germany, 1862-1871** ||


 * A.) The Situation in 1862**

When OTTO VON BISMARCK was appointed chancellor of Prussia by King Wilhelm IV. in 1862, the liberal democratic attempt to unify Germany had failed (1848/49). There was a widespread sentiment among the Germans, especially among the urban and protestant Germans, in favour of unification. Under similar conditions, COUNT CAMILLO CAVOUR had engineered Italy's unification in 1859/60. As in Italy's case, there were a number of obstacles to Germany's unification. Among them were foreign powers' interests in Germany : The Netherlands Britain || Holstein, Lauenburg (Duchies) Luxemburg (Duchy), Limburg (County) Hannover (on the British throne ruled the Hanover Dynasty) ||
 * //**Foreign Interests in Member Territories of the German Confederation, 1815-1870**// ||
 * Denmark

Then, there was Austria, an Empire German by tradition and character (administration), but in which Germans accounted for only about 12 % of the population and which was a multinational state. The GREATER GERMAN SOLUTION would mean the dissolution of the Habsburg Empire and was out of the question. So, the only option would be unification according to the SMALLER GERMAN SOLUTION, without the German territories held by Austria, under the leadership of Prussia. Still, Austria was against this model; Austria still held the presidency in the GERMAN CONFEDERATION, and many of the smaller state administrations, fearing Prussia's dominance, leant on Austria. Then, Prussia, leading the unification, faced, to a lesser extent, Austria's dilemma. The Prussian provinces of Posen, West Prussia and East Prussia were not part of the German Federation, West Prussia and Posen having a Polish population majority. Other regions located outside of the German confederation, such as the Danish Duchy of SCHLESWIG, the French province of ALSACE and large

__German Unification__