What was unique about Germany that made it so nationalistic as

File: Rudolf_Krziwanek_-_Georg_Ritter_von_Schönerer,_um_1893.jpg (43KB, 559x800px) Image search: [Google]

43KB, 559x800px

What was unique about Germany that made it so nationalistic as early as 1850, and then for almost a century? Why when countries like France and Hungary were dealing with Republican toned revolutionaries in 1848, the Frankfurt Assembly sought demands based on nationalist rhetoric? They were even relative liberals, so it's hardly a question of right vs left. This was also prior to Schönerer and his ilk.

Was/is nationalism a result of the issue of German unification? Was unification simply Germany's "problem"? (French republicanism, Italian self determination, balkan independence, British continentialism)

I apologize if I seem all over the place, feel free to add/correct whatever you want