The Intellectual Class and the Rise of German Cultural Nationalism

German cultural nationalism emerged in the context of the invasion of French culture. This cultural nationalism was different from the nationalism represented by Britain and France, which focused on the expression of nationalism from the cultural level, and made use of cultural connection and unity to achieve the establishment of a nation state. In the 17th and 18th centuries, French culture invaded Germany in all aspects, and the aristocrat and the middle classes of the German states were proud of speaking French, while German was neglected as a national language. Against the background of the political and economic unification of the German region, a group of Deutsch intellectuals began to actively propagate and promote the German culture and language, hoping to establish a unified German national identity from the cultural identity to complete the unification of the country, and to make the German state regain its historical glory. The subsequent historical development proved that German cultural nationalism became the foundation stone of German unification. After the Napoleonic Wars, German cultural nationalism was further transformed into German political democracy, and Prussia finally completed the unification. How did German cultural nationalism emerge from all this, and what was the role of the German intellectual class in it? By studying this period of history, this paper is able to further understand the intricate international context and international situation in Western Europe at that time. At the same time, it draws on the positive factors of German cultural development.