The situation in German was complicated. The Holy Roman Empire wasn't really in Rome, but rather in present-day Austria and Germany and surrounding regions because Italy was controlled by ruling families in the Italian city-states. The Holy Roman Empire geographically dominated the region, but was also still very feudal with lots of local lords running their own shows. Therefore, the Holy Roman Empire was relatively weak. This is further complicated even more by the fact that norther Germany was essentially a collection of city-states. Finally, remember that northern Germany went Lutheran during the Protestant Reformation, while southern areas of the Holy Roman Empire stayed Catholic
You need to grasp the following three things from this time period:
You need to grasp the following three things from this time period:
- The Holy Roman Empire lost parts of Hungary to the Ottoman Turks in the early 16th century
- The Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) devastated the region and significantly weakened the role of the Holy Roman emperors, which in the nineteenth century would finally lead to the rise of hundreds of nation-states in the region
- By the eighteenth century, the northern Germany city-states, especially Prussia, were gaining momentum and power