How come Germany didn't unify before 1871?

Gutter crown was never worth it

>>2561835
It was beneficial for their rivals to have Germany not united.

>>2561873
This.

And when Germany was finally united, it disrupted the balance of power just as the powers of Europe always knew it would.

Because not every century spit out a Otto or Adolf. Plus real uniter of German people is always fond of canine.

There was no balance of power, but eternal Anglo dominance before Bissy.

the whole notion of a German people didn't really get established until that time

back in Roman Empire days "Germanic" just meant "unwashed northern barbarians"

and when HRE came about it wasn't much about opportunistic and traitorous nobles as much as them going back to old tribal lines (Franks became Frankfurt, Saxons became Saxony, etc.)

and then there was the whole "Protestant vs. Catholic" thing

>>2561835
The emergence of modernity associated with the industrial revolution and the tremendous political upheavals of the French Revolution that produced the modern ideology of nationalism, which was then used by the Prussian monarchs to successfully bring the rest of modern Germany under their control.

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16KB, 259x156px

>>2562731
>disrupted the balance of power
I really dont know what you are talking about

>>2561835
Because nationalism was not a thing before that. German nationalism only became a thing during the Napoleonic wars, and then it took 70 years because they couldn't decide how to unify without someone getting upset over it.