THE GERMAN UNIFICATION
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"A generation which ignores history has
no past and no future."
~ Robert Heinlein
TALES OF GERMANY
Once upon a time in Germany,
there lived a man named Adolf
Hitler on Germany. There is a
famous story on him. The story
is that a soldier once faced a
boy but seeing the boy is just
like 14-15 years old, the didn't
attack the boy and leaved him.
That boy was Hitler. If the
soldier had killed him on that
movement then World War II
won't have occured due to him
and his policy and Germany
won't realise what's a true
Dictatorship.
SOME IMAGES RELATED TO THE GERMAN UNIFICATION
WHAT IS GERMAN UNIFICATION?
The Unification of Germany into the German Empire, a
Prussia-dominated nation state with federal features, officially
occurred on 18 January 1871 at the Versailles Palace's Hall of
Mirrors in France. Princes of the German states gathered there
to proclaim Wilhelm of Prussia as Emperor of the German
Empire after the French capitulation in the Franco-Prussian
War. It was leaded by Otto von Bismarck.
OTTO VON BISMACK
Born: 1 April 1815, Schönhausen, Germany
Died: 30 July 1898, Friedrichsruh, Aumühle, Germany
Nickname: Iron Chancellor
Nationality: German, Prussian
Junker Otto von Bismarck, known as Otto von Bismarck,
was a conservative German statesman and aristocrat.
Bismarck masterminded the unification of Germany in
1871 and served as its first chancellor until 1890, in which
capacity he dominated European affairs for two decades.
He had previously been Minister President of Prussia
(1862–1890) and Chancellor of the North German
Confederation (1867–1871). He provoked three short,
decisive wars, against Denmark, Austria, and France.
Following the victory against Austria, he abolished the
supranational German Confederation and instead formed
the North German Confederation as the first German
national state, aligning the smaller North German states
behind Prussia, and excluding Austria. Receiving the
support of the independent South German states in the
Confederation's defeat of France, he formed the German
Empire – which also excluded Austria – and united
Germany.
RULER AT THE TIME OF THE GERMAN UNIFICATION
William I or Wilhelm I Prussia from 2 January
1861 until his death. William I was the first head
of state of a united Germany, and was also de
facto head of state of Prussia from 1858 to 1861,
serving as regent for his brother, Frederick
William IV. Under the leadership of William and
his minister president Otto von Bismarck,
Prussia achieved the unification of Germany
and the establishment of the German Empire.
Despite his long support of Bismarck as
Minister President, William held strong
reservations about some of Bismarck's more
reactionary policies, including his anti-
Catholicism and tough handling of
subordinates. In contrast to the domineering
Bismarck, William was described as polite,
gentlemanly and, while staunchly conservative,
more open to certain classical liberal ideas than
his grandson Wilhelm II, during whose reign he
was known as ‘Wilhelm the Great’.
Main features of the German Unification
1. The Frankfurt Parliament which was convened in 1848 was the first
major step taken towards the unification of German states. But this
liberal initiative of nation building was repressed by the combined
forces of the Monarchy and big landlords of Prussia.
2. From then Prussia took the Initiative to unify Germany. Otto Von
Bismarck the Chief Minister of Prussia carried out the process of
unification with the help of the Prussian army and bureaucracy.
3. Bismarck was convinced that the unification of Germany could be only
achieved by the princes not by the people. He wanted to achieve his aim
by merging Prussia into Germany. In 1867 Bismarck became the
chancellor of the North confederation.
4. Bismarck’s main objective was to unify Germany and was
accomplished by three wars which were fought in a brief period of
seven years.
5. These wars were ended with the victory of Prussia which helped in
completing the process of German unification on 18th January 1871 in
the Royal Palace of Versailles the king of Prussia was crowned as the
German Emperor. It symbolized the birth of a united Germany.
The main processes through which Bismarck achieved the
unification of Germany
1. The Danish-Prussian war in 1864: Prussia under Bismarck
united with Austria to defeat Denmark. Through this war,
Bismarck managed to unify the territories of Schleswig and
Holstein into Prussia.
2. The Austro-Prussian war of 1866: Bismarck turned against his
former ally Austria in 1866 and defeated it. Prussia could now
dominate the other German states without fear of
intervention by Austria.
3. North German Confederation, 1866: With Prussia defeated,
Bismarck formed the North German Confederation in 1866. It
was led by Prussia and had 17 other small northern German
states.
4. Franco-Prussian war, 1870-71. This was the final step in the
process of German unification. France was defeated and
Prussia was able to gain control of Alsace and Lorraine.
IMPACT OF THE GERMAN UNIFICATION OVER GERMANY
The Unification of Germany fundamentally altered the
delicate "balance of powers" established by the Congress of
Vienna with the creation of a large, wealthy, and powerful
nation-state in central Europe. Moreover, it is a useful case
study for the broader concept of "nationalism" as a historical
agent.
THOUGHTS OF HISTORIANS ABOUT THE GERMAN
UNIFICATION
‘The unity of the German-speaking lands goes back a long way’
Len Scales, Professor of Late Medieval History, Durham University.
‘‘Was the creation of a German state inevitable in 1871? Certainly not’
Maiken Umbach, Professor of Modern History at the University of Nottingham.
‘The notion of historical inevitability trivialises change’
Helene von Bismarck, Independent scholar.
‘The matter was decided by the East German people’
Joachim Whaley, Professor of German History and Thought, University of
Cambridge.
