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Chapter 23
Nationalism Triumphs in Europe
Section 1
Building a German Nation
Setting the Scene
The Prussian legislators waited restlessly for
Otto von Bismarck to speak. They knew he
wanted them to vote more money to build up the
Prussian army. Liberal members of the
parliament, however, opposed the move. At last,
Bismarck rose and dismissed their concerns:
"Germany does not look to Prussia's liberalism,
but to her power. . . . The great questions of the
day are not to be decided by speeches and
majority resolutions—that was the mistake of
1848 and 1849—but by blood and iron!"
Bismarck delivered his "blood and iron" speech
in 1862. It set the tone for his policies in the years
ahead. Bismarck was determined to build a
strong, unified German state, with Prussia at its
head.
I. Steps Toward Unity
In the early 1800s, German-speaking people
lived in a number of kingdoms, Prussia, and
the Austrian Hapsburg empire
I. Steps Toward Unity
Between 1807 and 1812, Napoleon organized
many German states into the Confederation of
the Rhine
I. Steps Toward Unity
1815 - The Congress of
Vienna created the
German Confederation,
a weak alliance headed
by Austria
I. Steps Toward Unity
In the 1830s, Prussia created an economic
union between German states called the
Zollverein
I. Steps Toward Unity
1848 – The Frankfurt Assembly demanded a
united Germany under Prussia, but were
turned down by Fredrick William IV
II. Bismarck and German Unity
1862 - Otto von Bismarck, a diplomat from
Prussia's Junker class, was named as
chancellor
Chancellor of Germany
Period in office: 1871–1890
Date of birth:
1 April 1815
Date of death:
30 July 1898
II. Bismarck and German Unity
As Chancellor, Bismarck succeeded in uniting
the German states under Prussian rule
II. Bismarck and German Unity
Bismarck was a master of Realpolitik –
realistic politics based on the needs of the
state
This 1887 American
political cartoon depicts
Bismarck balancing the
figures of war and peace
on a teeter-totter made up
of a powder keg and a
board named "European
politics". At the same time,
he is juggling the great
powers of Europe. An
artillery piece lies in the
foreground.
II. Bismarck and German Unity
Bismarck built up the army and fought three
wars, increasing Prussian power and paving
the way for German unity
Franco-Prussian War
II. Bismarck and German Unity
1864 - Bismarck formed an alliance with
Austria and seized the provinces of Schleswig
and Holstein from Denmark
II. Bismarck and German Unity
1866 - Bismarck attacked Austria annexed
several other north German states
II. Bismarck and German Unity
Bismarck dissolved the German Confederation
and created a Prussian dominated confederation
II. Bismarck and German Unity
A growing rivalry between France and Prussia
led to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870
II. Bismarck and German Unity
Napoleon III declared war on Prussia after the
“Ems dispatch” but was defeated within a few
weeks
Stone of Benedetti - Ems dispatch
A memorial stone reminding of the
fatal correspondence between King
Wilhelm I of Prussia and the french
ambassador Earl Benedetti. The
telegraphic message of the prussian
king to Berlin, which entered history
books under the name of "Ems
Dispatch" and the shortened version
of the contents, which was
published in the press by Otto Graf
of Bismarck on July 13, 1870, led to
the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian
War 1870/1871.
III. The German Empire
January 1871 - William I of Prussia took the title
Kaiser and German nationalists celebrated the
birth of the Second Reich
On the 18th January 1871, in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles,
King William I of Prussia was proclaimed by all the states of
Germany to be their emperor.
III. The German Empire
A constitution drafted by Bismarck set up a
two-house legislature - the appointed
Bundesrat, and the elected Reichstag