Class Update I
Havana, Cuba
DSSC 319, University of Cuba
March 25 2019
The students of the University of Cuba were all returning to their classes after returning from Spring Break. They had travelled all over the American or French Caribbean or to Florida for their Spring Break vacation from their studies yet it was now time to return to said studies for the second half of the spring term. The students in this classroom were taking up their seats for the early morning Sophomore Modern European History Class. Most were taking part in this class because they needed it for their core courses before they when on to the courses they would need for their major.
At the front of the class was an equally tied graduate student who was a bit older than most other graduate students who taught the Freshman and Sophomore level courses. Louis Belanger was currently partway through his studies to gaining a PhD in Modern French History. Yet unlike his students the reason Louis was tired was not because of travels to party. No he had finished his weekend drill with the Cuban Naval National Guard this weekend and had to catch the late train back from Guantanamo.
Just seconds after the minute hand on the clock passed 8am Louis started to speak as the lights dimmed. “Class today we will be talking about the lead up and aftermath of the Nine Weeks War of 1889.”
Clicking his presenter remote he brought up the first of his PowerPoint slides. “Since the end of the Fourth War of the French Revolution in 1847 both Prussia and Austria had been sparing with each other over if it would Vienna or Berlin to unite the different German states into a single nation. Yet both nations had been defeated by the French during the Third and Fourth Wars of the Revolution during the 1830s and 40s. Austria had lost her empire with the Prussians losing vast tracks of their nation to Polish Republic.”
On the screen was a map of what was Central Europe in 1889. “Even with these loses in the Second Congress of Vienna in 1847/8 both Austria and Prussia were still Great Powers in Europe. They each had their own pros and cons to being the nation that united Germany into a single nation. Prussia was the more pure German nation with them only having a small minority of Poles within their nation. Whereas the Austrians had sizable populations of Czechs, Croats, and Bosnians in their nations though they were still a German majority nation by a fairly wide margin.”
Clicking on his remote to the next slide that showed what he was talking about Louis kept going. “The idea of nation that was a supermajority German was something that spoke to the Pan-German forces who were all pushing for German Unification. Even more so in the aftermath of the Unification of Italy save for the Papal State in the 1860s. Yet there was other factors at work in the debate if it would be Berlin or Vienna that would be the one that unite Germany.”
“This was a question of if this United Germany would be a liberal or conservative. This was a major question with the growth of liberal republics in France, Poland, and Hungary in the aftermath of 1847. Prussia was almost at reactionary levels on their political thoughts and actions. Austria on the other hand had moved to the left in the aftermath of the 1860s and the rise of King Rudolf the Second. Though not as liberal as say us here in the United States or even our allies in France and Poland Rudolf had a liberal streak in him.”
Clicking again, “It was this liberal streak that allowed Rudolf to perform needed reform programs within Austria. Its also these reforms that allowed Austria to weather the Panic of 1882 better than others in Europe. Even with that the world had only started to recover from the Panic of 1882 when the Nine Weeks War started. This would later be an important factor that ended the war before either side could unite Germany into a single nation. A fact that would lay the groundwork for the Great War of the 1920s and 30s.”
Once again moving to the next slide, “Even through it had been long been decided that only Austria or Prussia could unite Germany into a single nation didn’t mean there were other major powers in the Germanies. These other major powers in Germany understood this but aligned themselves with either Austria or Prussia to gain concessions from them for when Germany was united along with making sure they wouldn’t be steamroll by the others.”
“For Prussia their only major German ally was the Kingdom of Hanover. Hanover through was an odd fit for the Prussians as they were far more liberal. Yet the Hanoverians were tied to the British via King George V who had just been crowned by both nations. Yet the British were allied with the Prussians to form a check against the Russians. For a host of reasons the British couldn’t ally with the Poles and they found the Hungarians distasteful. This only left the Prussians as the only nation with a direct border with the Russians who were strong enough to stand up the Russians. Because of this the Hanoverians were tied to the Prussians.”
“Going south the two nations of note that were allied with the Austrians were Saxony and Bavaria. Unlike the Hanover the Saxons and Bavarians were more natural allies with the Austrians than the Hanoverians were with the Prussians. Through not as liberal as Austria had become under Rudolf they were far more liberal than the Prussians. Yet they had been French allies during the Third and Fourth Wars of the Revolution in the 1830s and 40s. This made it politically impossible for them to be the ones to unite Germany.”
“When the Duke of Anhalt died in 1889 it wasn’t clear who would take over the Duchy. The strongest claim to the Duchy was held by a pro-Prussian minor noble. Yet there was a claim, through not as strong by a pro-Austrian minor noble. These claims would lead to the Nine Weeks War.”
DSSC 319, University of Cuba
March 25 2019
The students of the University of Cuba were all returning to their classes after returning from Spring Break. They had travelled all over the American or French Caribbean or to Florida for their Spring Break vacation from their studies yet it was now time to return to said studies for the second half of the spring term. The students in this classroom were taking up their seats for the early morning Sophomore Modern European History Class. Most were taking part in this class because they needed it for their core courses before they when on to the courses they would need for their major.
At the front of the class was an equally tied graduate student who was a bit older than most other graduate students who taught the Freshman and Sophomore level courses. Louis Belanger was currently partway through his studies to gaining a PhD in Modern French History. Yet unlike his students the reason Louis was tired was not because of travels to party. No he had finished his weekend drill with the Cuban Naval National Guard this weekend and had to catch the late train back from Guantanamo.
Just seconds after the minute hand on the clock passed 8am Louis started to speak as the lights dimmed. “Class today we will be talking about the lead up and aftermath of the Nine Weeks War of 1889.”
Clicking his presenter remote he brought up the first of his PowerPoint slides. “Since the end of the Fourth War of the French Revolution in 1847 both Prussia and Austria had been sparing with each other over if it would Vienna or Berlin to unite the different German states into a single nation. Yet both nations had been defeated by the French during the Third and Fourth Wars of the Revolution during the 1830s and 40s. Austria had lost her empire with the Prussians losing vast tracks of their nation to Polish Republic.”
On the screen was a map of what was Central Europe in 1889. “Even with these loses in the Second Congress of Vienna in 1847/8 both Austria and Prussia were still Great Powers in Europe. They each had their own pros and cons to being the nation that united Germany into a single nation. Prussia was the more pure German nation with them only having a small minority of Poles within their nation. Whereas the Austrians had sizable populations of Czechs, Croats, and Bosnians in their nations though they were still a German majority nation by a fairly wide margin.”
Clicking on his remote to the next slide that showed what he was talking about Louis kept going. “The idea of nation that was a supermajority German was something that spoke to the Pan-German forces who were all pushing for German Unification. Even more so in the aftermath of the Unification of Italy save for the Papal State in the 1860s. Yet there was other factors at work in the debate if it would be Berlin or Vienna that would be the one that unite Germany.”
“This was a question of if this United Germany would be a liberal or conservative. This was a major question with the growth of liberal republics in France, Poland, and Hungary in the aftermath of 1847. Prussia was almost at reactionary levels on their political thoughts and actions. Austria on the other hand had moved to the left in the aftermath of the 1860s and the rise of King Rudolf the Second. Though not as liberal as say us here in the United States or even our allies in France and Poland Rudolf had a liberal streak in him.”
Clicking again, “It was this liberal streak that allowed Rudolf to perform needed reform programs within Austria. Its also these reforms that allowed Austria to weather the Panic of 1882 better than others in Europe. Even with that the world had only started to recover from the Panic of 1882 when the Nine Weeks War started. This would later be an important factor that ended the war before either side could unite Germany into a single nation. A fact that would lay the groundwork for the Great War of the 1920s and 30s.”
Once again moving to the next slide, “Even through it had been long been decided that only Austria or Prussia could unite Germany into a single nation didn’t mean there were other major powers in the Germanies. These other major powers in Germany understood this but aligned themselves with either Austria or Prussia to gain concessions from them for when Germany was united along with making sure they wouldn’t be steamroll by the others.”
“For Prussia their only major German ally was the Kingdom of Hanover. Hanover through was an odd fit for the Prussians as they were far more liberal. Yet the Hanoverians were tied to the British via King George V who had just been crowned by both nations. Yet the British were allied with the Prussians to form a check against the Russians. For a host of reasons the British couldn’t ally with the Poles and they found the Hungarians distasteful. This only left the Prussians as the only nation with a direct border with the Russians who were strong enough to stand up the Russians. Because of this the Hanoverians were tied to the Prussians.”
“Going south the two nations of note that were allied with the Austrians were Saxony and Bavaria. Unlike the Hanover the Saxons and Bavarians were more natural allies with the Austrians than the Hanoverians were with the Prussians. Through not as liberal as Austria had become under Rudolf they were far more liberal than the Prussians. Yet they had been French allies during the Third and Fourth Wars of the Revolution in the 1830s and 40s. This made it politically impossible for them to be the ones to unite Germany.”
“When the Duke of Anhalt died in 1889 it wasn’t clear who would take over the Duchy. The strongest claim to the Duchy was held by a pro-Prussian minor noble. Yet there was a claim, through not as strong by a pro-Austrian minor noble. These claims would lead to the Nine Weeks War.”
