Unification of Germany Vereinheitlichung von Deutschland!!!!

Problems:  Austria opposed any attempt at unifying Germany  Feared it would lose influence in the German States  A unified Germany would give Austria a run for its money militarily and economically  France and Russia felt the same way:  Did not want a strong power in the center of Europe  Many small German states feared unity because of their religion  Catholic states vs. Protestant states  Agricultural states vs. industrial states

Prussia: a lot like Sardinia in the 1700’s  Controlled quite a bit of Germany but not all of it  Had a strong King and Noble class called:  Junkers  Very structured highly disciplined government and army

Prussia: The Industrial Revolution  Greatly increased power of Prussia  Prussia has vast reserves of coal that would fuel the industrial revolution  Coal began a prosperous iron and steel industry  Coal, iron and steel were the backbone of railroads and the military

Militarism  The glorification of the military and the readiness for war

King William I  Wanted to continue the Prussian tradition of Militarism  Appointed Otto Von Bismarck as Prime Minister and minister of Foreign Affairs  Von Bismarck = Prussian Cavour

“Blood and Iron”  Bismarck and William both wanted a unified Germany under a Prussian government (King)  Bismarck: “Germany does not look to Prussia’s liberalism, but to her power”  Will unite her “not with speeches and majority decisions but blood and iron.”  Warfare and military

Realpolitik  Whatever political action thought necessary  German for realism in politics  Necessary political action whether or not legal or ethical  Constitution and the Prussian parliament refused Bismark the taxes he needed for a unification war  Collected them anyway and raised an army

First Steps to unification:  To destroy Austria Bismarck first made an alliance with it to take the Danish provinces of Schleswig and Holstein  Although fierce resistance Prussian and Austrian armies overrun the territories  The treaty that ended the war gave Holstein to Austria  Prussia would administer Schleswig

Alliances before the War with Austria:  Prussia had helped Russia with an uprising in Poland  Russia is out  Promised a few small territories to France  France is out  Venetia to Italy if they support Prussia  Italy is out (well, in… they join briefly against Austria)

War!  A small dispute over Holstein provokes Austria into war  Austria marches troops into Holstein

Militarism at work: Prussia  The rail system facilitates large quick troop movements

Militarism at work: Prussia  The rail system facilitates large quick troop movements  Highly disciplined army  Brilliant leadership  First real use of “semi automatic” weapons:  Needle gun  5 rounds per minute

Needle gun:

Outcome of the 7 Weeks War  7 weeks and Prussia stomps Austria  Prussia annexes Schleswig and Holstein  1 year later, sensing the tide, 21 German states north of the Main River join Prussia in a North German Confederation

The driving force in the 21 nations joining?  Nationalism

Tension in the South  Alsace Lorraine, Wurtemberg, Hohenzollern, Bavaria  Mainly Catholic  Didn’t like the Protestantism of the North  Feared control by France even more  Becoming surrounded by very large powerful nations

Bismarck  Convinces the southern states to enter into a military alliance with Prussia to protect against the French  Bismarck believed that a war with the French would drive the southern states into a full on political alliance

Realpolitik  Bismarck Attempts to put a Hohenzollern on the throne of Spain  Cousin of William I  French as you can imagine, not to happy about being surrounded by Prussia  French send an ambassdor to William demanding that no Hohenzollern would accept Spanish throne  William refuses  Sends a telegram to Bismarck of meeting

Realpolitik  Bismarck edits the telegram to make it seem like the two nations insulted each other

Realpolitik  Bismarck edits the telegram to make it seem like the two nations insulted each other  Nations feel they are insulted by each other and clamored for war

War!!!  French declare war on July 15, 1870

France:  Crushed by Germany…  the first in a long line of defeats of the French by Germany  Napoleon III taken prisoner, all resistance crushed  French give up Alsace Lorraine

The Dominoes fall  William I proclaimed Kaiser or Emporer of the new German Empire  Includes all members of the North German Confederation  The Southern German States  Alsace-Lorraine

Lasting Results  The French HAAAAAATTTTTEEEEEE!!!! The Germans  Re: WWI and WWII