(a) The foreboding of a common German national identity. Unlike some racial and multiethnic nations in Europe, such(prenominal) as pre-World War I Austria-Hungary, Germ both after its unification in 1870 contained a citizenry which was outstandingly united in its common identification with the feeling of universe German. After its new borders were set by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 which resulted in the loss of some ethnic minorities in Alsace-Lorraine and separate of the newly constituted Polish state, few, if any, of Germany's remaining citizens had allegiance to any other nation or state. Even the German Jews, a tiny minority constituting less than one percent of the commonwealth who were later branded by the Nazis as an alien and revolutionary element, had largely assimilated politically, culturally and economically and were proud of their German nationality. many an(prenominal) of them had served with valor and distinction in World War I. This expectation was clearly fulfilled.
a massive history of political unity and democratic government in general supported by the population. For many centuries, dating back to the Reformation, Germany had been come apart among scores of political entities, riven with Catholic-Protestant religious disputes and wars and its territory had been fought over by many foreign invading armies. Although Prussia became a originatorful nation state in the 18th century under the nursing home of Hohenzollern, the rest of Germany remain disunited until Chancellor Otto von Bismarck merged it by his policies of 'blood [wars] and iron' of 1866-1871. Imperial Germany was far from a democratic state.
The Reichstag was select by universal male suffrage, but apart from the power of legislative veto over appropriations, all matters relating to foreign and falsifying policy and many important domestic matters were controlled by the Kaiser and his Chancellor. "German conservatives were fundamentally opposed to democracy and determined to maintain the primacy of monarchical rule" (4). The liberal opposition contained many who upgradeed an grow role for the state. Leading intellectuals and cultural leaders were "openly contemptuous of democracy" (6). Nevertheless, Reichstag and Kaiser worked together in relative harmony until 1918 when the German war effort collapsed. The evidence on this expectation is mixed, but basically inconsistent with the hypothesis.
(d) Agreement on relations abroad. Workers' parties, such as the Social Democratic Party (SPD), were often separate between their support for a strong Germany and their solidarity with workers worldwide. Generally, the SPD supported the efforts of Gustav Stresemann and his German People's Party (DVP) to mend fences with Britain and France. The communists were pro-Soviet. The Nazis and other right wing parties tended to favor aggressive foreign policies and rearmament. In general, all parties opposed the uncouth provisions of Versailles, but significant differences existed among them on the
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