Kleindeutsche Lösung

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The Kleindeutsche Lösung ("Lesser German Solution") was a 19th century political idea postulating the idea of a unified Germany consisting of the members of the German Confederation, led by Hohenzollern Prussia, but excluding the Austrian Empire which was united with Hungary as the Dual Monarchy and not willing to separate. The inclusion of Hungary would have contradicted the idea of a nation state. The Kleindeutsche Lösung stands in contrast to the idea of a Großdeutsche Lösung, a "Greater German Solution" that included Austria.

Background

The pan-German Frankfurt Parliament which was elected after the early successes of the the revolutions of 1848 was split between the two options, with the democratic left favouring a Republican greater German solution, whereas the liberal centre favoured a minor German solution with a constitutional monarchy. In the end, the Kleindeutsche Lösung prevailed, but Friedrich Wilhelm IV, King of Prussia, rejected the crown offered to him.

After the friction between Austria and Prussia had been forcefully decided in favor of Prussia by the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, the minor German solution was realized in 1871 after the Franco-Prussian War. The "small solution" was also chosen partly in order to prevent the Austrians and fellow Catholics in the south and west from being a predominant force in a mainly Protestant Prussian Germany, a view held by Otto von Bismarck.

After World War I the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of Saint-Germain specifically prohibited the union of Austria and Germany. Still, the Greater German sentiment remained strong and in 1938 Adolf Hitler annexed Austria into a new Grossdeutsches Reich, colloquially called Großdeutschland.

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