Bavarian nationalism is a
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
political ideology that asserts that
Bavarians
Bavarians ( Bavarian: ''Boarn'', Standard German: ''Baiern'') are an ethnographic group of Germans of the Bavaria region, a state within Germany. The group's dialect or speech is known as the Bavarian language, native to Altbayern ("Old B ...
are a
nation and promotes the cultural unity of Bavarians.
[James Minahan. ''One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups''. Greenwood Publishing Group, Ltd., 2000. P. 108.] It has been a strong phenomenon since
the incorporation of the
Kingdom of Bavaria into the
German Empire
The German Empire (), Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditar ...
in 1871.
Bavarian nationalists find the terms that
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
entered into Germany in 1871 to be controversial and claimed that the German government has long intruded on the desired autonomy of Bavaria, and calls have been made for Bavarian independence.
After the defeat of Germany in
World War I, Bavarian nationalism grew in strength, becoming popular amongst both revolutionary and
reactionary
In political science, a reactionary or a reactionist is a person who holds political views that favor a return to the '' status quo ante'', the previous political state of society, which that person believes possessed positive characteristics abs ...
political movements.
[James Minahan. ''One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups''. Greenwood Publishing Group, Ltd., 2000. P. 107.] Following the collapse of
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1 ...
after World War I, proposals for
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous c ...
to join Bavaria were made.
[Suda Lorena Bane, Ralph Haswell Lutz. Organization of American Relief in Europe, 1918-1919: Including Negotiations Leading Up to the Establishment of the Office of Director General of Relief at Paris by the Allied and Associated Powers. Stanford University Press, 1943. P. 119.] At this time the Bavarian government held particular interest in incorporating the regions of
North Tyrol and
Upper Austria into Bavaria.
[Carlile Aylmer Macartney. ''The Social Revolution in Austria''. Cambridge University Press Archive. P. 112] This was a serious issue in the
aftermath of World War I
The aftermath of World War I saw drastic political, cultural, economic, and social change across Eurasia, Africa, and even in areas outside those that were directly involved. Four empires collapsed due to the war, old countries were abolished, ne ...
, with significant numbers of Austria's North Tyrolese declaring their intention to have North Tyrol join Bavaria.
[Francis Ludwig Carsten. The First Austrian Republic: 1918-1938. Gower, 1986. P. 3.]
History
The origins of the rise of Bavarian nationalism as a strong political movement were in the
Austro-Prussian War
The Austro-Prussian War, also by many variant names such as Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), (; "German war of brothers") and by a variety of other names, was fought in 186 ...
and its aftermath.
[James Minahan. ''One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups''. Greenwood Publishing Group, Ltd., 2000. P. 106.] Bavaria was politically and culturally closer to
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous c ...
than
Protestant Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
and the Bavarians shared with the
Austrians
, pop = 8–8.5 million
, regions = 7,427,759
, region1 =
, pop1 = 684,184
, ref1 =
, region2 =
, pop2 = 345,620
, ref2 =
, region3 =
, pop3 = 197,990
, ref3 ...
a common contempt towards the Prussians, leading Bavaria to ally with Austria in the war.
Austria along with Bavaria and its other allies were defeated by Prussia and its allies.
In the aftermath Bavaria paid a large indemnity to Prussia and joined the Prussian-founded
German Empire
The German Empire (), Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditar ...
in 1871.
After unification with Germany in 1871, Bavarian nationalists were adamantly opposed to the Prussian-domination of the German state and refused further integration into the German Empire.
Upon Germany's defeat in
World War I, revolution spread across Germany including Bavaria, with the
Bavarian monarchy
King of Bavaria was a title held by the hereditary Wittelsbach rulers of Bavaria in the state known as the Kingdom of Bavaria from 1805 until 1918, when the kingdom was abolished. It was the second time Bavaria was a kingdom, almost a thousan ...
being toppled and the proclamation of Bavaria as an independent communist state (the
Bavarian Soviet Republic
The Bavarian Soviet Republic, or Munich Soviet Republic (german: Räterepublik Baiern, Münchner Räterepublik),Hollander, Neil (2013) ''Elusive Dove: The Search for Peace During World War I''. McFarland. p.283, note 269. was a short-lived unre ...
).
After the collapse of the Soviet Republic, Bavarian nationalism—associated with anti-Prussian as well as
anti-Semitic
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
tendencies—became popular amongst both radical and reactionary movements.
Following the collapse of Austria-Hungary, proposals for Austria to join Bavaria were made.
The Bavarian government held particular interest in incorporating the regions of
North Tyrol and
Upper Austria into Bavaria.
Such proposals were taken with interest by significant numbers of North Tyrolese wishing to join Bavaria.
The Bavarian government's actions prompted the German government to respond by proposing the ''
anschluss
The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the Nazi Germany, German Reich on 13 March 1938.
The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "Ger ...
'' of Austria into Germany.
In 1923, Bavarian monarchists under Minister-President
Gustav Ritter von Kahr and his
Bavarian People's Party
The Bavarian People's Party (german: Bayerische Volkspartei; BVP) was the Bavarian branch of the Centre Party, a lay Roman Catholic party, which broke off from the rest of the party in 1918 to pursue a more conservative and more Bavarian part ...
attempted to seize control of the Bavarian government and declare Bavaria independent of Germany and restore the Bavarian monarchy under
Crown Prince Rupprecht
Rupprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria, Duke of Bavaria, Franconia and in Swabia, Count Palatine by (the) Rhine (''Rupprecht Maria Luitpold Ferdinand''; English: ''Robert Maria Leopold Ferdinand''; 18 May 1869 – 2 August 1955), was the last hei ...
.
This Bavarian separatist coup attempt was frustrated by the actions of the then-small
Nazi Party which preempted the planned coup and itself attempted to take over the Bavarian government in what became known as the
Beerhall Putsch.
Bavarian nationalists and the Nazi Party competed for a support base; however, even by the 1932 election, when the Nazi Party won a major victory, the Nazis had failed to surpass the Catholic
Bavarian People's Party
The Bavarian People's Party (german: Bayerische Volkspartei; BVP) was the Bavarian branch of the Centre Party, a lay Roman Catholic party, which broke off from the rest of the party in 1918 to pursue a more conservative and more Bavarian part ...
in southern Bavaria, carrying only the Protestant areas of northern Bavaria.
After the Nazi takeover in Germany, the new government claimed the existence of several Bavarian separatist plots and used these claims to suppress Bavarian opposition, including overthrowing the Bavarian government.
Initially, many Bavarians were supportive of Germany's war effort in
World War II because this had been portrayed as an anti-communist campaign; however, Bavarian support for the war rapidly declined as the end of the war neared.
Bavarian nationalism reemerged in the latter part of the war and Bavarian nationalists sought Allied support for the creation of an independent Bavaria.
In the end, major autonomy for Bavaria was accepted within a federal Germany.
During the 1950s, the separatist
Bavaria Party
The Bavaria Party (german: Bayernpartei, BP) is an autonomist, regionalist and conservative political party in the state of Bavaria, Germany. The party was founded in 1946, describes itself as patriotic Bavarian and advocates Bavarian independenc ...
was a significant player in Bavarian state politics, polling from 5% to over 20% in state and federal elections. The Bavaria Party was part of the state's governing coalition under
Wilhelm Hoegner
Wilhelm Johann Harald Hoegner (23 September 1887 in Munich – 5 March 1980 in Munich) was the second Bavarian prime minister (SPD) after World War II (1945–46 and 1954–57) and father of the Bavarian constitution. He has been the only Soc ...
from 1954 to 1957, along with the Social Democrats and the Free Democratic Party. The party's electoral share fell significantly in subsequent decades. In 2013, the Bavaria Party won 2.1% of the total vote in
state elections.
In a 2017 poll by
YouGov
YouGov is a British international Internet-based market research and data analytics firm, headquartered in the UK, with operations in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. In 2007, it acquired US company Polimetrix, and since ...
, 32 percent of Bavarians supported the idea of independence.
See also
*
Austrian nationalism
Austrian nationalism ( de-AT, Österreichischer Nationalismus) is the nationalism that asserts that Austrians are a nation and promotes the cultural unity of Austrians. Austrian nationalism originally developed as a cultural nationalism that emph ...
*
Monarchism in Bavaria after 1918
Monarchism in Bavaria after 1918 was driven by the belief that a monarchy would be the best form of government for the German state of Bavaria, despite the abolition of the Bavarian monarchy in 1918. The Bavarian monarchy ended with the declarat ...
*
German nationalism
*
Germans
References
{{Ethnic nationalism
Culture of Bavaria