unification of Germany
Answers
On 18 January 1871 Germany became a nation for the first time in history after a nationalistic war against France masterminded by the “Iron Chancellor” Otto von Bismarck. The ceremony took place in the palace of Versailles outside Paris rather than in Berlin – and this overt symbol of militarism and conquest would foreshadow the first half of the next century as the new nation became a major power in Europe.
A motley collection of states
Before 1871 Germany had always been a motley collection of states – which shared little more than a common language. Custom, systems of rule and even religion varied wildly across these states – of which there had been more than 300 on the eve of the French Revolution, and the idea of unifying them was as distant and disparaged as a United States of Europe is today. Until Bismarck.
As the 19th century progressed, and particularly after several German states had played a role in defeating Napoleon, nationalism did become a genuinely popular movement. However, like support of the EU today it was mainly held by students and middle class liberal intellectuals who called upon Germans to unite based on shared language and a tenuous common history.
The power of Prussia
The power balance of the German states was important, for if one was ever more powerful than the others put together, then it might attempt conquest of intimidation. By 1848 Prussia – a conservative and militaristic kingdom in the east of Germany – had been the strongest of the states for a century. However, it was restrained by the combined strength of the other states, and, more importantly, by the influence of the neighboring Austrian Empire, which would not allow any German state to have too much power and become a possible rival.
The defeat of Austria in the Seven Weeks’ War
The war that followed in 1866 was a resounding Prussian victory which radically changed a European political landscape which had remained virtually the same since the defeat of Napoleon.
Many of Prussia’s rival states had joined Austria and been cowed and defeated, and the Empire then turned its attentions away from Germany in order to restore some of its severely battered prestige. The ethnic tensions that this move created would later kick-start World War One.
The Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71
France was ruled at this point by the great man’s nephew, Napoleon III, who did not have his uncle’s brilliance or military skill. Through a series of clever diplomatic tactics Bismarck was able to provoke Napoleon into declaring war on Prussia, and this seemingly aggressive move on France’s part kept the other European powers such as Britain from joining her side.
MARK BRAINLIEST PLEASE
Answer:
Explanation:
The Unification of Germany into a German Empire with tight political and administrative integration, replacing the decentralized German Confederation and Holy Roman Empire, was officially proclaimed on 18 January 1871, in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles in France. Princes of the German states, excluding Austria-Hungary and its House of Habsburg-Lorraine (the dynasty that formerly ruled over the German princes during the German Confederation and Holy Roman Empire), gathered there to proclaim William I of Prussia and the House of Hohenzollern as German Emperor, following the French capitulation in the Franco-Prussian War.