1. Before 1848, Germany was a confederation
of 38 states ruled by princes or kings.
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2. Prussia was the largest and most powerful German state.
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3. Many Germans believed that unity could only be achieved through
Prussian leadership.
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4. But the Prussian king would not take the
crown from the hands of revolutionaries
and liberals.
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5. The Prussian king appointed Otto von Bismarck his chief minister
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6. Bismarck
intended
to use
war as
a means
for
unification.
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7. The Prussians fought three wars to
unify Germany. They fought the Danes, the Austrians, and the French.
Unification was achieved through
“blood and iron”.
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8. Schleswig and Holstein
The Prussians
fought Denmark
for control of
Schleswig and Holstein
in 1864.
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9. The Prussians fought the Austrians over administration of territories.
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10. And finally, the Prussians fought the French thereby successfully
uniting Northern
German Protestants
and Southern
German Catholics.
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11. By 1871, Germany was unified. Kaiser
or Emperor Wilhelm I ruled and Otto
von Bismarck served as the chancellor.
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12. Otto von Bismarck followed a policy of “blood and iron”
to achieve his goals.
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13. “The greatest questions of the day will not be settled by speeches and
majority decisions but by iron and
blood.”
Otto von Bismarck
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14. Although there was a national assembly,
it was controlled by conservative Prussian
landowners, not the working people.
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