GERMAN UNIFICATION

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GERMAN UNIFICATION

• Higher History
• Paper 1

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GERMAN UNIFICATION

• Bismarck's Unification of Germany, 1862-1871
  The Situation in 1862 When OTTO VON BISMARCK
  was appointed chancellor of Prussia by King
  Wilhelm IV. in 1862, the liberal democratic
  attempt to unify Germany had failed (1848/49).
  There was a widespread sentiment among the
  Germans, especially among the urban and
  protestant Germans, in favour of unification.
  Under similar conditions, COUNT CAMILLO CAVOUR
  had engineered Italy's unification in 1859/60. As
  in Italy's case, there were a number of obstacles
  to Germany's unification. Among them were foreign
  powers' interests in Germany

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GERMAN UNIFICATION

• Denmark Holstein, Lauenburg (Duchies)
• The Netherlands Luxemburg (Duchy), Limburg
  (County)
• Britain Hannover ( British throne ruled by the
  Hanover Dynasty)

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GERMAN UNIFICATION

• Then, there was Austria, German by tradition and
  character (administration), but i Germans
  accounted for only about 12 of the population
  and which was a multinational state. The GREATER
  GERMAN SOLUTION ( GROSSDEUTSCH )would mean the
  dissolution of the Habsburg Empire and was out of
  the question. Only option would be unification
  according to the SMALLER GERMAN SOLUTION, (
  KLEINEDEUTSCH )without the German territories
  held by Austria, under the leadership of Prussia.
  Still, Austria was against this model Austria
  still held the presidency in the GERMAN
  CONFEDERATION, and many of the smaller state
  administrations, fearing Prussia's dominance,
  leant on Austria.

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GERMAN UNIFICATION

• Then, Prussia, leading the unification, faced, to
  a lesser extent, Austria's dilemma. The Prussian
  provinces of Posen, West Prussia and East Prussia
  were not part of the German Federation, West
  Prussia and Posen having a Polish population
  majority. Other regions located outside of the
  German confederation, such as the Danish Duchy of
  SCHLESWIG, the French province of ALSACE and
  large parts of SWITZERLAND, had a German speaking
  majority

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GERMAN UNIFICATION

• The Man Otto von Bismarck nobleman, raised in
  the spirit of Prussian Bureaucracy, loyal to
  Prussia and the Hohenzollern Dynasty. Prussia's
  ambassador to Russia (1859-62) and to France
  (1862) before having been appointed chancellor in
  1862. He kept distance to Prussia's diet and
  baffled everybody by stating that Germany's
  unification would have to be achieved by BLOOD
  AND IRON. He expanded the military budget,
  knowing that the recently invented NEEDLE GUN
  would give Prussia's army an advantage in the
  field - it could be reloaded 3 times as fast as
  the hitherto used guns.

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GERMAN UNIFICATION

• Bismarck was regarded an outsider.In 1871,
  unification being accomplished, sceptical
  criticism and mockery gave way to admiration.
  Bismarck had turned the dream of many into
  reality and, by defeating the French, turned lack
  of confidence (as a political nation) into pride
  tending towards overconfidence.

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GERMAN UNIFICATION

• The Wars Leading to Unification 1863, during
  the Polish uprising in Russian Poland, Bismarck
  supported the Russians, while public sympathy was
  with the Poles. Bismarck thus secured Russian
  goodwill for his policy of unification. In
  1863/64 the Danes played into Bismarck's hands.
  They passed a constitution declaring Denmark,
  including Schleswig, a unitarian state, thus
  violatng the TREATY OF LONDON of 1852 which
  guaranteed Schleswig's autonomy. The
  German-feeling population majority of Schleswig,
  together with the Holsteiners and Lauenburgians,
  rose in rebellion. Prussia and Austria declared
  war (GERMAN-DANISH WAR, 1864) the Danes were
  quickly defeated Denmark ceded Schleswig and
  Lauenburg to Prussia, Holstein to Austria.

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GERMAN UNIFICATION

• In 1866 Bismarck provoked Austria into declaring
  war (AUSTRO-PRUSSIAN WAR or SEVEN WEEKS WAR). A
  number of other German states - Bavaria, Nassau,
  Hessen-Kassel, Hannover, joined the Austrian
  side. The Prussians were victorious in the BATTLE
  OF SADOWA (Königgrätz), and quickly a peace was
  concluded. Austria ceded Holstein to Prussia and
  withdrew from the German Confederation. It also
  ceded Venetia to Italy, which gained Bismarck
  Italy's goodwill. Else, Austria lost nothing
  Bismarck's demands had been moderate in order to
  facilitate good German-Austrian relations
  afterwards. Prussia annexed Holstein, Hannover,
  Nassau, Hessen-Kassel and the city of Frankfurt
  (which had been neutral during the war). French
  Emperor Napoleon III. warned Prussia not to
  extend it's influence south of the Main river.
  The states to the north of it established the
  NORTH GERMAN CONFEDERATION in 1867, a
  confederation clearly dominated by Prussia.

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GERMAN UNIFICATION

• In 1868 the throne of Spain became vacant. There
  were several candidates, among them a French
  Bourbon, a Savoyan and a HOHENZOLLERN. French
  Emperor Napoleon III. demanded that King Wilhelm
  of Prussia, as head of the Hohenzollern family,
  would denounce his nephew's claim to the Spanish
  throne. Wilhelm complied. Napoleon demanded that
  Wilhelm would once and for all declare that the
  Hohenzollern family, now and for the future,
  would denounce her claims to the Spanish throne.
  Wilhelm refused, and Bismarck published an
  abridged version of the telegram containing the
  French demand. Emms Telegram Napoleon III.
  felt offended France declared war. In the
  FRANCO-GERMAN war (units from the southern German
  states fought on Prussia's side, and it was
  Bavarian troops that forced Napoleon's surrender
  at SEDAN) were victorious France had to cede
  ALSACE-LORRAINE and to pay REPARATIONS of 5
  million golden francs.

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GERMAN UNIFICATION

• On January 2nd 1871, in VERSAILLES, Germany's
  princes elected Prussia's King Wilhelm IV.
  Emperor (Kaiser) Wilhelm I. The GERMAN EMPIRE
  (Deutsches Reich) was established as a federation
  of states, with Alsace-Lorraine being a special
  province under military administration.

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GERMAN UNIFICATION

• The LegacyIn contrast to the treatment given to
  Austria in 1866, the conditions imposed on France
  in 1870/71 were harsh. For the following decades,
  the recovery of Alsace-Lorraine was a major
  political goal of French diplomacy, and one of
  the roots for World War I. Unification had been
  accomplished, with the approval of most, but not
  of all Germans. Especially in Hannover, annexed
  in 1866, the aversion of Prussia remained strong
  and Hannover's representatives in Germany's
  REICHSTAG, the WELFEN, were in constant
  opposition. The Catholic Bavarians remained
  sceptical of the new Empire.

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GERMAN UNIFICATION

• The army had been the most visible instrument by
  which unification had been achieved. In the
  German Empire, the defence forces were revered.
  The state failed to establish a mechanism
  ensuring state control over the army. As long as
  Bismarck was in charge (1862-1890), his chief of
  staff HELMUTH VON MOLTKE followed Bismarck.
  However, under Bismarck's successors the Army
  developed into a state in a state. When World War
  I began, military reasoning (crossing Belgium to
  get into France, SCHLIEFFEN-PLAN) won out over
  political reasoning. The breach of Belgium's
  neutrality was the main reason for blaming
  Germany to bear sole responsibility for World War
  I.