It helped unite Germany but divided the Austrian Empire.
It helped unite Germany but divided the Austrian Empire.
He was correct to form that opinion; nationalism ripped the Austrian Empire apart and for exactly the reason he predicted. The Austrian Empire was ruled by the German-speaking Austrians who were a majority in a very small minority of the Austrian Empire. There were far many more Slovenes, Croats, Serbians, Bosniaks, Hungarians, Romanians, Poles, Czechs, and Slovaks than Austrians and these peoples would eventually demand independence on nationalist grounds. When this nationalism was realized at the end of World War I, the Austrian Empire ceased to exist.
Austrian Empire, Russian Empire and Ottoman Empire suffered from the forces of nationalism.
Austrian Empire, Russian Empire, and Ottoman Empire
the german empire
Most Austrians spoke German, and were ethnically German. Therefore they identified themselves as German; the Austrian Empire fell apart after WWI and therefore Austrians gravitated toward the more powerful Germany. They were attracted to Hitler's visions of German nationalism because they were essentially German and would benefit from it.
The Central Powers ( the German Empire, the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, the Ottoman Empire and the Kingdom of Bulgaria)
Austrian-Hungarian Empire, The German Empire, and the Ottoman Empire were the main Central Powers.
In general, you could say that German nationalism tended to bring the country together, and the nationalism in Austria-Hungary tended to pull them apart. There was a much greater land area, much greater religious and cultural diversity, and a much greater overlap in people identifying with other countries and language differences in Austria-Hungary. Nationalism of course continued. After the dissolution Austrian Catholics were bonded together by religion, and although many of them were German, they didn't want to join with the protestants. German nationalism in Nazi Germany continued, and may have been a unifying experience for some, but at the expense of the ostracism and dehumanization of others.
The Austrian Empire was associated with having control of Eastern Europe.
Revolutions in France, Italy, and the German states. People of many different nationalities living within the Austrian Empire wanted independence.
At that time the German lands were still the Holy Roman Empire. However, some parts of Prussia and the Austrian Empire were to the east of the HRE.