Below is a link to Ernst Moritz Arndt’s poem “The German Fatherland.” Arndt was German writer, poet, and patriot who expressed nationalist sentiment in Germany during the Napoleonic era. He criticized French aggression and destruction in Germany and called for German resistance against Napoleon’s rule.
Please read the poem and answer the following discussion questions in no less than 200 words.
Link (Links to an external site.)
Source: Ernst Moritz Arndt, “The German Fatherland” (1813), Internet History Sourcebook
Discussion questions:
1. According to Arndt, what should NOT be considered the German’s fatherland?
2. What does Arndt consider to be the German’s fatherland?
3. Does Arndt envision a unified German nation? If so, what stanza indicates this view?