Report:  German Studies Association 2002 Session Nr. 65: "Competing
Voices of Patriotism in Late Nineteenth-Century Germany"

Moderator:  Andrea Orzoff, New Mexico State University

"Remembering a Different war: Catholic and Protestant Uses of
Nationalist Rhetoric in the Commemorations of the Franco-Prussian War in
Konstanz, 1870-1875"
Pontus A. Hiort, Northern Illinois University

"Between Exclusion and Enfranchisement: Polish-Speaking Silesians and
German Unification"
James E. Bjork, Colgate University

"Patriotism and Poetry in the Early 1870s: Contesting the Discourse of
German Unification"
Lorie A. Vanchena, Creighton University

Commentator: Daniel Unowsky, The University of Memphis


The proclamation of a new German Empire in 1871 seemed to provide a
definitive answer to the question of what shape "Germany" would assume
on the political map of Europe, but it only further fueled debates over
what it meant to be "German."  This panel examined debates over German
nationhood and national identities by looking at responses to
unification in three very different contexts:  controversies over how to
commemorate the Franco-Prussian war in the city of Konstanz; varieties
of political poetry published during the 1870s; and forms of resistance
to the Kulturkampf pursued by Polish-speaking Catholics in Upper
Silesia.  A common theme running through each of the papers was that the
deployment of national rhetoric, rather than resulting in homogeneous
national identities, instead highlighted the contested and open-ended
nature of the emerging German nation-state.

Pontus Hiort's paper, "Remembering a Different War:  Catholic and
Protestant Uses of Nationalist Rhetoric in the Commemorations of the
Franco-Prussian War in Konstanz, 1870-1875," discussed the opportunities
that local commemorations of the war created for rival Protestant and
Catholic leaders to present competing interpretations of the past--as
well as competing visions of a future Germany.  The largely Protestant
and National Liberal municipal elite of Konstanz tried to link
celebration of Germany's military victory over France to the ongoing
struggle against the Catholic church in Baden and expressed suspicion of
local Catholics' patriotic credentials.  The city's Catholic leadership,
in turn, criticized Protestant-tinged national celebrations--such as
Sedan Day--as being intentionally divisive and dismissive of Catholic
contributions to German culture and of a grossdeutsch view of German
history.  These local disputes over memory of the war, Hiort argued,
suggest an ongoing confessional debate about the definition and
legitimation of the new empire.

In her paper, "Patriotism and Poetry in the Early 1870s: Contesting the
Discourse of Unification," Lorie Vanchena examined a large body of
political poetry composed during the 1870s and circulated in the
periodical press.  This poetry put forth competing representations of
German national identity, ranging from a Prussian, National Liberal
brand of German nationalism to alternative voices--largely from southern
Germany--that questioned Prussian leadership and highlighted regional
consciousness.  While writers from various points along the political
spectrum often employed the same nationalist rhetoric to depict their
respective views, Vanchena argued that the contrast between these two
major types of representations reveals the increasingly contested nature
of German national identity in the 1870s.

James Bjork argued in his paper, "Between Exclusion and Enfranchisement:
Polish-speaking Silesians and German Unification," that although the
1870s are often, and understandably, remembered as a period of
polarization between Germans and Poles, the confessional conflicts of
the Kulturkampf actually resulted in a blurring of the line separating
Polish and German Catholics.  Using the career of Karol Miarka, editor
of the influential regional newspaper Katolik, as a case study, Bjork
showed how Polish-speaking Upper Silesians' hostility to Bismarck's
policies led them to forge a close alliance with German-speaking
Catholics in Silesia and in the Rhineland and Westphalia as well as to
engage more and more intensively in German party politics and public
policy debates.   An experience of profound cultural exclusion from the
newly unified German nation, in other words, contributed to a
back-handed sort of integration into the German political system.

As Dan Unowsky noted in his comments for the panel, the theme of
disparate and competing national voices is one more commonly associated
with the history of the Habsburg Monarchy than that of the Kaiserreich.
Unowsky's remarks and questions focused on extending the discussion of
how various forms of commemoration--often envisioned as facilitating the
construction of cohesive national narratives--can instead provide
occasion for different actors to offer rival readings and
interpretations.  In particular, he probed the question of whether and
to what extent those actors contesting the more "official" versions of
collective memory could create viable alternative commemorations or
public rituals.  Of Hiort's paper, he asked whether the Catholics of
Konstanz were able to go beyond criticism of the festivals and
celebrations spearheaded by the Protestant elite and organize their own
versions, expressing an alternative understanding of German history.  He
also inquired about the modes of circulation for the poetry that
Vanchena analyzed--whether, for example, some might have been
incorporated into school curricula or choral performances.  Concerning
Bjork's suggestion that the Kulturkampf facilitated the formation of a
nationally mixed Catholic political camp, Unowsky wondered if this idea
of linguistic or national mixing was expressed in the holding of
bilingual public commemorations or rituals.

Questions and comments from the audience suggested some other possible
variables that might have influenced the ways in which German national
identity was contested.  One participant asked whether the expression of
regionalist sentiment in the poetry of the 1870s was linked to the use
of dialect, though Vanchena noted that dialect could be used in derisive
ways or to comical effect as well as for promotional purposes.  Another
member of the audience suggested that, despite Prussia's dominant role
in orchestrating German unification, notions of Prussian identity were
also being questioned and even threatened by unification and its
aftermath.  Several other participants commented on the crucial role
that local elites--particularly the Catholic clergy--played in mediating
between local interests/identities and broader national associations.
Appropriately, perhaps, one of the final questions from the audience
inquired whether the various dissident voices discussed by all three
panelists really were Reichsfeinde, even if, perhaps, they only became
so as a result of Bismarck's characterization of them as such.  While
the panelists agreed that advocates of regional, confessional, or ethnic
minorities had real and profound grievances with the course of
Prussian-led unification, they also became accustomed to--and even came
to rely on--the public space of the new empire as the arena within which
those grievances could be expressed.

James Bjork
Colgate University


For a complete listing of all sessions at the 2002 German Studies
Association Conference, please visit <http://www.g-s-a.org>.

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