The "Journal"s coverage of Germany was sympathetic, seen in their early reporting of the Danish-Prussian and Austro-Prussian Wars. News of the 1870 Franco-Prussian War and German unification in 1870–71 dominated the paper's coverage; readers desperate to know about the conclusion of battles traveled "many miles on foot, or by vehicle, to procure their copy of the "Journal" at the press." Most Berliners had immigrated to Canada before the "Völkisch" movement arose in the late 19th century, leading to a community generally less infatuated with German nationalism than those who immigrated after the 1870s. The "Journal" still had occasional fits of nationalism, seen in editorials suggesting that German victory over France in the Franco-Prussian War was due in part to cultural and moral superiority, and that a French victory in the war would have led to disastrous consequences for German Canadians. Historian Barbara Lorenzkowski writes that these claims were generally exceptions. Over time, the "Journal" moved towards spurning German nationalism more than other local German papers. As anti-liberal trends expanded in Germany in the end of the 19th century, Motz critiqued the German government's actions, especially the lack of both parliamentary rights and freedom of speech.