Confederation of the Rhine – Napoleonic Europe

Created by Congress of Vienna, 1815 Loose political association of 38 German states Most of the power remained in the hands of the individual German sovereigns No central executive or judiciary Diet met in Frankfurt to consider joint legislation Prussia and Austria were the two most powerful German states. Traditionally Austria was recognized as the most important. There was a strong popular movement for unification but neither Austria nor Prussia was prepared to allow it happen.

German university students form groups supporting German unification and liberalism ▪ Burschenschaften Carlsbad Decrees issued by German Confederation in 1819 ▪ Banned student groups ▪ Imposed censorship ▪ Forbade discussion on German unification

Zollverein (Customs Union) Inter-state trade barriers By 1834, consisted of all German states, except Austria This economic agreement helped to increase the momentum towards unification. Railways brought the German states within hours of one another and economic development made Germany one of the leading industrial powers of the time. Industrial growth of Prussia

Revolution of 1848 Berlin

Frankfurt Parliament

But … by late 1848, Frederick William deposed the parliament the Prussian aristocrats, (Junkers) including generals had regained power in Berlin

Washington Crossing the Delaware, 1851 by German-born Emanuel Leutze The painting was intended to encourage German radicals after their failure in the Revolution of 1848.

kleindeutsch-Small grossdeutsch-Big (with Austria)

Conservative supporter of strong monarch Became chancellor in 1862

“The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood.” “The less people know about how sausages and laws are made, the better they'll sleep at night”  “If there is ever another war in Europe, it will come out of some damned silly thing in the Balkans”

Prussia-Austria War: “Water in the Champagne”

 Bismarck makes a “ Soft Peace ” with Austria…  Now Bismarck could focus on the real enemy of a unified Germany…France

Bismarck tricks France into declaring war on Prussia after he edits the Ems Telegram. This telegram was written by Kaiser William to Bismarck describing the discussions at Ems. Bismarck leaked it to the press.

Napoleon III and Bismarck

January 18, The King of Prussia was crowned the German Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles! German unification was now complete.

Celebration at Brandenburg Gate Victory Column in Berlin

Two House legislature  Bundesrat: appointed by rulers of German states ▪ Could veto any decision made by the Reichstag  Reichstag: elected by universal male suffrage Real power was held by chancellor and emperor

“Dropping the Pilot” Kaiser William II Fires Bismarck 1890

The foundations of economic strength at the turn of the century were steel and coal – Germany had made great strides with both: By 1914, Germany was the most powerful industrial nation in Europe.

 Bismarck ’ s Domestic Policy:  He waged a campaign against the Church (KultureKampf)  Reminder:  Northern Germany (Formerly Prussia) is heavily Protestant  1/3 of Germans are Catholic (mostly in southern Germany)

 -Bismarck ’ s goal was to assure that Catholics placed their loyalty to the STATE over their loyalty to the Church/Pope

 -Bismarck also waged a campaign against the Socialists

 He feared that the workers might strike, so he dissolved the socialist organizations and shut down their newspapers  These repressive measures backfired and workers rallied behind the socialist cause.

 Defeated by Prussia in Seven Weeks War 1866  Emperor Franz Josef I  Sought to improve relations with Hungarians

Austria-Hungary’s Ethnic Problem:

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