UNIFICATION OF GERMANY
SWBAT: IDENTIFY THE FACTORS LEADING TO GERMANY’S UNIFICATION.
HOMEWORK: STUDY FOR VOCAB QUIZ.
DO NOW: WHICH OF THE 3 MEN DO YOU FEEL WAS MOST RESPONSIBLE FOR
ITALY’S UNIFICATION?
GERMANY UNDER NAPOLEON
 Napoleon had abolished the Holy Roman Empire and
reorganized many German states into the Confederation of the
Rhine.
 Prussia and Austria were the leading Germany states, but Austria
held many non-German lands and peoples.
 Prussia wanted unity, but Austria did not, because it could not
bring its non-German territories into Germany.
 In 1815 the Congress of Vienna, created the German
Confederation.

This was fragmented, like Italy, put gave the area of Prussia more
land and more power than Austria.
ECONOMIC STEPS TOWARDS UNIFICATION
 Tariffs placed on German states made trade between states costly forcing up the price of goods.
 A class of aristocratic landowners called Junkers complained that tariffs were hurting sales of farm
products.
 In 1818, they convinced the Prussian king to abolish tariffs within his territories.
 Resulted in the customs union called the Zollverein.

By 1854, this included most of the German states, but not Austria.
 Made prices lower and more uniform.
 The German economy moved towards unification.
THE RISE OF BISMARCK
 In 1861,William I became king of Prussia and the next year he appointed Otto von
Bismarck to head the Prussian cabinet.
 Bismarck opposed democracy and the idea of a parliament.
 Bismarck also had a bad habit of ignoring the constitution.
 Under Bismarck, however, the army was transformed into an efficient, powerful war
machine.
 The army would be used to bring Germany together in a series of wars.
THE WARS
 Bismarck was a very shrewd militarist and used strategically planned wars to help
bring the German states together.
 In chronological order:
 Danish War: the Danes attempted to claim German-speaking areas into Denmark causing an
uproar from Germans who demanded they be absorbed into a German nation.
 Seven Weeks War: disagreements between Prussia and Austria over those same 2 German-speaking
areas. Prussia becomes the stronger of the 2.
 Franco Prussian War: France loses and convinces non-Prussians that consolidation is desirable.
 With each war, the cries for a unified state grew louder.
GERMAN UNIFICATION IS OFFICIAL
 In Jan., 1871 representatives of the allied German states met at Versailles where they
declared the formation of the German Empire, including all the German states except
Austria.
 Made the Prussian capital of Berlin the capital of the empire.
 King William I was proclaimed emperor, or Kaiser of the empire and Bismarck
named chancellor (prime minister).
 The Kaiser had a lot of power:
 Could appoint the chancellor, declare a defensive war on his own, or a offensive war with legislative
approval.
THE CONSTITUTION
 Although Bismarck didn’t normally abide constitutions, he accepted the one set down at Versailles.
 It united all 25 German states.
 Each state had its own ruler and would handle issues such as education, law enforcement, and taxation.
 Also created a 2 house legislature:
 Upper house: Bundesrat made up of 58 appointed members.
 Lower house: Reichstag made up of 400 elected officials.
 This new system heavily favored Prussia.
 Had the most members in the Bundesrat since they were appointed by Prussia’s state gov’t.
 As the most populous state, it also had the most members in the Reichstag.
EXIT QUESTION
 How do you think Cavour would feel about Bismarck’s methods? Explain.