German Unification –

Napoleon sparks German Nationalism Napoleon conquered German states Organized Germany into the “Confederation of the Rhine” Sparked nationalism by uniting many Germans against him

State of PRUSSIA leads an economic union called the Zollverein Free trade between German states Zollverein, 1834

The German Fatherland - Ernst Moritz Arndt (1813) What is the German's fatherland? Is it Prussia land? Is it Swabia land? Is it where the vine blossoms on the Rhine? Where the seagull flies by the Little Belt's brine? No it's not! No it's not! My fatherland must be greater than that. What is the German's fatherland? Bavaria land? Is it Styria land? Is it where sturdy peasants plow the plain? Is it where mountain-sons bright metal gain? No it's not! No it's not! My fatherland must be greater than that.

Prussian Chancellor – advisor to the Kaiser (King) Wilhelm I Realpolitik – believed the nation’s needs should be the goal of all politics Similar to Machiavelli Wanted a united Germany led by the Hohenzollerns of Prussia Otto von Bismarck

Prussia - Austria

Chancellor Otto von Bismarck “Blood & Iron” Realpolitik The “Iron Chancellor”

Otto von Bismarck.... The less people know about how sausages and laws are made, the better they’ll sleep at night. Never believe in anything until it has been officially denied. The great questions of the day will not be settled by speeches and majority decisions—that was the mistake of —but by blood and iron.

Otto von Bismarck.... I am bored. The great things are done. The German Reich is made. A generation that has taken a beating is always followed by a generation that gives one. Some damned foolish thing in the Balkans will provoke the next war.

The German Confederation

Step #1: The Danish War [1864] Bismarck forms a well trained, equipped army 1864 – Bismarck makes an alliance with Austria Declares war on Denmark for the territories of Schleswig and Holstein

Prussia Austria Step #2: Austro-Prussian War [Seven Weeks’ War], 1866 Bismarck creates an excuse to go to war with Austria Seven-week war: wins Holstein and other Northern German States Prussia now controls the German Confederation, not Austria

Step #4: Ems Dispatch [1870]: Catalyst for War 1868 revolt in Spain. France and Prussia clashed over who would be the new Spanish ruler. The Fr. Ambassador settled with the Kaiser at a conference at Ems. Bismarck “doctored” the telegram from Wilhelm to the French Ambassador to make it seem as though the Kaiser had insulted Napoleon III.

German soldiers “abusing” the French. Step #5: Franco-Prussian War [ ] Prussian Army is far better equipped and trained Napoleon III is forced to surrender in a few weeks

Treaty of Frankfurt [1871] The Second French Empire collapsed. France paid a huge indemnity and was occupied by German troops until it was paid. France gave Alsace-Lorraine to Germany [a region rich in iron deposits with a flourishing textile industry].

Coronation of Kaiser Wilhelm I [r. 1871–1888]

German Imperial Flag German for “Empire.”

Differing Nationalities in the Austrian Empire