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In some German-speaking lands, Napoleon made important territorial changes. He took control of lands along the Rhine River, dissolved the Holy Roman Empire, and organized a group of German states into the Rhine Confederation. Later, people wanted a unified Germany.
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The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states. Its purpose was to settle the issues from the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars as well as the disbanding of the Holy Roman Empire. The Congress of Vienna was headed by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich.
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Otto Von Bismarck was born on April 1st, 1815 in Schonhausen, Germany. He was born to an aristocratic family and attended a prestigious school in Berlin.
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In 1834, Prussia created an economic union called the Zollverein. It got rid of tariff barriers between many German states. Even with this unification, Germany was still fragmented.
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The Frankfurt Assembly offered the throne to Frederick William IV in 1848. He rejected the throne because he didn't like the idea of the throne being offered by "the people."
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Liberals demanded unity in a meeting of the Frankfurt Assembly. Frederick William IV of Prussia was offered the throne, but he rejected the offer.
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Bismarck was sent to Russia as a Prussian ambassador, and not long after he moved to Paris as ambassador to the court of Naapoleon III. He had 11 years of experience in foreign affairs before he became prime minister in 1862.
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The Blood and Iron Speech was given by Otto Van Bismarck. It was a speech about the unification of the German Territories. The speech was named after the last few words in the speech.
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Bismarck declares war on Denmark to form an alliance with Austria. He leads Austria and Prussia into a war with Denmark.
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Bismarck decideds to attack Austria by coming up with an "excuse" and breaks Germany's alliance that they made in the last war on Denmark. This war was also called the Austro-Prussian War and only lasted seven weeks. Prussia won and annexed a bunch of other northern German states.
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The constitution set up a two-house legislature. Upper house rulers were appointed by the state and lower house rulers were elected by universal male suffrage.
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A growing rivalry between Prussia and Austria led to a war. The Prussian army was stronger, and easily defeated the weaker, under-supplied French. France had to accept their defeat.
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Bismarck felt that socialism was a threat to his German Empire. After failing to assisinate the kaiser, Bismarck had laws passed that got rid of socialist groups, cancelled their meetings, and shut down newspapers. After this failed attempt at getting socialist workers on his side, he tried to persuade them with laws to protect them. This became a model for other European nations.
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Otto Van Bismarck became the first chancellor and founder waof the German Empire. He succeeded in perserving peace in Europe for about two decades .
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In 1871, German nationalists celebrated the birth of the Second Reich, or empire. It was called the Second Reich because it was considered to be the heir to the Holy Roman Empire.
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The kulturekampf was known as the "battle for civilization." It was launched by Bismarck. His goal was to make Catholics put loyalty to the state above allegiance to the Church.
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From 1871 to 1914, Germany's population grew from 41 million to 67 million. It provided a huge home market. It also provided a larger supply of industrial workers.
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William became emperor at the age of 29 when his father died from throat cancer. His dream was to build Germany into a major naval, economic, and colonial power.
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The German Government promoted economic development. It issued a single currency for Germany after 1871. New German Empire leaders were determined to maintain economic strength as well as military power.
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After 1871, the House of Krupp became extremely popular. It was a huge industrial complex that made steel and weapons for the world market.
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In 1888, William II succeeded his grandfather as Kaiser. He wanted to put his own stamp on Germany, and he later asked Otto Von Bismarck to resign.
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Bismarck resigned in 1980 after disagreeing with the new emperor. He then retired to his estate.
