Students in Revolt: Student Radicals in the German Confederation, 1815-1848

1. Students in Revolt: Student Radicals in the German Confederation, 1815-1848 Robert Simpson, Temple University Advisor: Rita Krueger, PhD Summer, 2011 rsimpson@temple.edu

2. Agenda • Introduction • Research Question • Background • The Wars of Liberation • The Famine of 1816-1817 • The Murder of August von Kotzebue • Further Research • Conclusion

3. Introduction • German youth experienced their first taste of liberalism while they served in the army fighting against Napoleon during the Wars of Liberation. This war confronted students with the notion of civil rights, national identity and national unity. By 1819, these students experienced a conservative backlash against these reforms, personified in the person of Klemens von Metternich of Austria.

4. Research Question • Given the political climate that pervaded the German Confederation and the rest of Europe, would it be accurate to characterize the Burschenschaften as radicals? • Additionally, is there a link between different generations of students and the various reforms they pushed for in their respective periods?

5. The Wars of Liberation • The Burschenschaften is mostly made up of young soldiers whom, after participating in the wars against Napoleon, have come back from the battlefield filled with visions of national and democratic unity.

6. The Famines of 1816-1817 • However, these ideals of national unity and the idea of a national identity were put on the back burner when these students concerns turned to basic needs such as how and where they were going to get their next meal.

7. The Murder of August von Kotzebue

8. The Age of Metternich

9. Further Research • My research so far has focused on the years from 1815-1819 and the very early catalysts to the push for political reform among the German students. • Preliminary research past this period has shown a trend toward a more organized Burschenschaften with more organized goals and a focus on liberal political reforms within the German Confederation.

10. Conclusion • The Burschenschaften used their experiences in the Wars of Liberation to push for political reform within Germany, but when famine struck in 1816 and 1817, combined with conservative backlash and the issuance of the Carlsbad Decrees in 1819, the Burschenschaften would need to regroup and reorganize in order to make headway into political reforms within the German Confederation.

11. References • Arthur May, The Age of Metternich, 1814-1848 (New York: Henry Holt and Company , Inc., 1933). • F. Gunther Eyck, “The Political Activities of the German Academic Youth between 1815 and 1819,” The Journal of Modern History 27 (1955) 27-38. • George S. Williamson, “What Killed August von Kotzebue? The Temptations of Virtue and the Political Theology of German Nationalism, 1789-1819,” The Journal of Modern History 72 (2000) 890-943. • J.H. Clapham, “The Economic Condition of Europe after the Napoleonic War,” The Scientific Monthly 11 (1920) 320-325.

12. Acknowledgements Special thanks to: Rita Krueger, PhD Department of History, Temple University Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program Temple University

13. Questions?