BISMARCK
CAVOUR
GOALS
METHODS
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Unification of Germany
Increase Prussian Power
Decrease Austrian influence in
Germany (drive them out of
Germany)
 Unification of Italy
 Make Sardinia a model
of progress and
efficiency (liberalism)
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“blood and iron” – war,
trickery, etc… (7 Weeks War,
tricked Austria; FrancoPrussian War)
Realpolitik – do whatever is
necessary to achieve goals, not
what is moral or right
Did not favor war, but was
willing to use it if necessary
(got involved in Crimean War
to have a place at the peace
negotiations in order to bring
up the Italian question; joined
Prussia in 7 Weeks War to get
Venetia)
Used plebiscites and majority
opinion to unify
Let the “Red Shirts” and
Garibaldi do work for him
The Unification of Germany
The French Revolution and Napoleonic
Wars, 1789-1815
• Exported the principles of liberty, equality and brotherhood (Liberté,
Egalité, Fraternité)
• Broke the power of the old Monarchical regimes and states in
Central Europe.
• Saw the emergence of the idea of ‘Nationalism’ – the term first
appeared in the writings of the Jesuit Abbé Barruel in 1798
• ‘The Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars witnessed the first upsurge
of Nationalism in European history, partly under the inspiration of
the French armies and message of liberation, partly in reaction
against those armies and the realities of occupation and
oppression.’
– Robert Gildea, Barricades and Borders: Europe 1800-1914 (Oxford: OUP,
1996)
•Before the process of
German unification began,
German speaking people lived
in small, separate states, as
well as in the Austrian
Hapsburg Empire, and in
Prussia.
•When Napoleon began his
invasions throughout Europe
in 1807, many territorial
changes throughout the
German states were made.
This is the area in through which the
German states were spread in 1800
•Between 1807 and 1812,
Napoleon made major changes to
the territorial states of Germany.
•As a French leader at the time, he
gained a number of European
lands and put many German speaking states under French rule.
(In red)
•Many Germans welcomed him
because they liked his policies. But
soon, extreme German
nationalism arose!!!
•German nationalism slowly
began to show in the early
1800’s.
• Germany was divided into
a number of small states
and desired a unification
within them.
•Their goal was to become
completely independent out
of the control of all other
nations as they had been in
the past.
Effects on Germany
• German nationalists, liberals and Romantics initially welcomed the
French revolution and saw the French armies as liberators.
• 1805: Defeat of Austria at the Battle of Austerlitz
• 1806: Defeat of Prussia at the twin battles of Jena & Auerstadt
• Napoleonic re-ordering of Germany:
– Holy Roman Empire abolished
– Number of states reduced to 39
– Puppet rulers installed in German states
– Confederation of the Rhine formed
– French legal system imposed
• Napoleon’s German campaigns and the experience of occupation
turned popular and liberal nationalist sentiment against Napoleon.
What is a Nation?
• Johann Gottfried von Herder (1744-1803): The Volk
(‘nation’ or ‘race’) is the decisive determinant of
human identity.
– The nation is therefore identified not with the
state (which is an artificial body), but with the
‘organic body’ of the Volk.
• Johann Goethe (1749-1832): No need for a nationstate – Germany was a ‘cultural community’ like
Ancient Greece.
• Geog Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831): An
individual only achieved their full potential through
service to the state.
• German nationalism based on the idea of a
racial/cultural community with shared language,
history, traditions, myths etc.
“A nation can therefore be defined as
• a named human population
• sharing an historic territory,
• common myths and historical memories,
• a mass public culture,
• a common economy
• and common legal rights and duties for all
members.”
Anthony D. Smith, National Identity (Reno, Las Vegas, London) 1991, p. 14.
The Congress of Vienna, 1814-15
• Restored deposed
monarchs to their thrones
and sought to re-establish
the ancien régime in
Europe.
• Granted Prussia
extensive territory in the
Rhineland – the
population of the
Kingdom of Prussia
doubled overnight.
• Established the German
Confederation.
•People began to demand a unified
German state more and more as
German Nationalism increased due
to Napoleon’s invasion.
•Many German Nationalists brought
their demands to the Congress of
Vienna. An Austrian politician,
Clemens von Metternich, opposed
these demands and stated that joining
the governments of the many
separated states would be extremely
tricky.
Instead, the group formed a
German Confederation,
which was a very weak body
headed by Austria.
Background
• Germany was the last of the great European
powers to achieve complete political unity
• 1815 – 39 independent German states stretched
from north to south and east to west
• Austria and Prussia were the most powerful of
these German states
• Germany was divided and economically
disadvantaged
• Antagonisms between Protestant and Catholic
states ran deep
Steps Toward Unity
• The Congress of Vienna had created the
German Confederation in 1815 as a buffer
against possible future French expansion
• This established closer economic ties between
the German states and helped pave the way
for political union
• The Confederation was loosely tied together
with a diet, or assembly, sitting at Frankfurt
GERMAN CONFEDERATION 1815 - 1866
The German Confederation
• Made up of 39 German States
• Designed to help preserve the status quo rather than as a
basis for a United Germany.
• The Austrian Chancellor Metternich saw it as a means of
preserving Austrian dominance over Germany.
• The Federal Diet (parliament) met at Frankfurt and was
made up of (unelected) representatives of all the states.
• It was always chaired by the Austrian representative.
• In theory the Diet could appoint ambassadors, negotiate
treaties on behalf of members and organize a Federal Army.
• In practice little was ever done because the unanimous
agreement of all 39 states was required.
The German Confederation
• Replaced the Holy Roman Empire
• Loose political association of German states
– Most of the power remained in the hands of the
individual German sovereigns
– No central executive or judiciary
– Diet met in Frankfurt to consider joint legislation
A DIVIDED GERMANY
Loose federation of 39
States
Controlled by 2 Powers
Austria – Hapsburgs
Prussia Hohenzollern
Where is Germany?
• Both The Kingdom of Prussia and the Austrian Empire
incorporated territory outside the German Confederation
and non-German citizens.
• Grossdeutschland (Greater Germany) – would
incorporate the German-speaking parts of the Austrian
Empire and would maintain Catholic Austria’s leadership
of Germany.
• Kleindeutschland (Little Germany) – would exclude
Austria but include the whole of Prussia (including her
‘Polish’ territories), leaving Protestant Prussia as the
dominant German state.
Opposing Ideas
• Grossdeutschland
– A Germany including the Austrian Empire
• Kleindeutschland
– A Germany excluding the Austrian Empire
Steps Toward Unity
• Austria dominated the Confederation
• The position as head of the diet eventually
brought it into conflict with Prussia
• Austria and the smaller German states did not
want a united Germany
• Austria feared the economic competition
• The smaller states feared domination by
Prussia
Prussia
• The largest of the German states
• Had a well-organized government and a strong
economy
• Political power lay in the hands of the
influential aristocratic landowners called
Junkers
• Members of the rising business class
demanded a share of political power
Prussian Flag of the Second Reich
•Prussia, a great rival to Austria, took over the German states in the
1830’s.
•Trying to create an economic union, they took away borders between
the German states.
•They still remained politically separate though.
•At the Frankfurt Assembly
in 1848, liberals offered the
throne to a united Germany
to the Prussian king, but
they were refused.
Germany remained divided
but still had a desire for
unity.
The Zollverein
• Prussian Tariff Reform Law (1818):
Designed to protect Prussian
industry from cheap imports & break
down internal barriers to free trade.
• 1818-34: Prussia tried to encourage
free trade within Germany by
forming customs unions with
neighbouring states.
• By 1836 the Prussian Customs Union
(Zollverein) was made up of 25
states with a population of 26
million.
• Trade barriers & customs duties
between members were abolished
and there were moves towards
standardization of weights and
measures and currency.
The Zollverein
Steps Toward Unity
• German states formed a Zollverein, an
economic union, in 1834
• This reduced trade barriers
• This step toward unity strengthened the
influence of Prussia and weakened Austria
• In 1848 power in the German states shifted to
the liberals
• Delegates met in the Frankfurt Assembly to
unite the country under a liberal constitution
Revolutions of 1848
• Nationalism reaches ascendancy
• German revolutions result in Frankfurt
Parliament
– Call for unified Germany
– Austria said it would oppose a centralized
government in Germany
– Prussian king offered the crown of the unified
German Empire
The Revolutions of 1848
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Causes: Economic Crisis (1846-47)
Demographic change (growing population, urbanization etc.)
Poor harvests leading to famine
Cholera epidemic
Dissatisfaction with conservative political climate
24 Feb. 1848: Revolution in France – King Louis Philippe overthrown and a Republic
established.
13 March: Demonstrations in Vienna lead to the fall of Metternich
24 October: The Austrian Emperor Ferdinand (1835-48) abdicates in favour of his nephew
Franz Josef (1848-1916).
13 March: Prussian troops fire on demonstrators in the palace square in Berlin, leading to 2
days of rioting
16 March: News of Metternich’s fall reaches Berlin. King Friedrich Wilhelm IV (1840-61)
agrees in principle to a new constitution, parliament and an end to censorship.
18 March: More fighting in Berlin – at least 300 rioters killed by the Army.
21 March: Friedrich Wilhelm grants a series of reforms including the appointment of a
liberal ministry.
August-November: The Prussian King reasserts his control. Martial Law is introduced in
November and the liberal constitution and parliament overturned.
The Frankfurt Parliament
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5 March 1848: The Heidelberg Declaration: calls for
a single German state governed by a united German
parliament.
31 March: 574 representatives from the German
states met in Frankfurt to agree on what form the
new German parliament would take (the
Vorparlament).
After elections in April the parliament met in
Frankfurt in May 1848. It was largely made up of
liberal middle-class professionals (teachers, lawyers
etc.) and was moderate in character.
The Assembly soon became bogged down in debate
over what form a united Germany should take and
how it should be governed.
June: A provisional government led by the Habsburg
Archduke John was elected, but it had no real power
and an ill-defined role.
March 1849: A Constitution for a united German
Empire agreed and the Imperial crown was offered
to the King of Prussia, who refused it. The rulers of
Bavaria, Saxony and Hanover also rejected the
Constitution.
May 1849: The parliament expelled from Frankfurt
and moved to Stuttgart.
June 1849: The parliament forcibly broken up by the
King of Württemberg’ s troops.
Proposed German Unification
• Proposed country was one in which the
parliament would have considerable power
– With limitation of the royal prerogative, Frederick
William IV of Prussia turns down the offer of the
throne
• Was opposed to any limitations on royal power
• Frankfurt Parliament disbands
Steps Toward Unity
• The liberals were weakened by internal
feuding
• This allowed conservatives to regain control
• In 1849 the Prussian military forced the
Assembly’s closure
• Many liberal and radical Germans fled abroad
• During the 1850s conservatives in Germany
came to control nationalist causes
Results of Revolutions
• A reactionary return
– Those who defied royal power were punished
– Many reforms granted due to revolutionary
violence were abrogated
Signs of Things to Come
• Frederick William IV of Prussia suffers a
breakdown
• Brother, William takes the regency
– Announces reform
– Government turns away from reactionary politics
The Development of Prussia
• Economic boom in the 1850s: industrial
production, foreign trade & railway building all
doubled between 1851 and 1858.
• 1850-58:
Minister-President
Otto
von
Manteuffel pursued a policy of trying to bolster
support for the monarchy through limited social
(but not political) reform.
• 1858: Friedrich Wilhelm IV declared insane and
his brother Wilhelm becomes regent.
Frederick William IV
William I
Wilhelm I (1861-1858)
• Born in 1797 in Berlin
• A soldier by training and a
conservative by instinct
• Fought against Napoleon
in the Wars of Liberation
& Waterloo Campaign
• Staunch opponent of
Revolution
• A devout Protestant, he
believed that he was
answerable only to God.
William or Wilhelm I
• German conservatives looked to Prussia for help in
uniting Germany
• In 1861 William I became king of Prussia
• William was opposed to liberal ideas
• He took steps to expand the Prussian army
• Liberal nationalists saw no need for a strong military
• They wanted the king to adopt democratic policies to
gain support from the other German states
• Liberal deputies in the Prussian assembly
overwhelmingly defeated new taxes to support a larger
army
The Development of Prussia
• Economic boom in the 1850s: industrial production, foreign trade &
railway building all doubled between 1851 and 1858.
• 1850-58: Minister-President Otto von Manteuffel pursued a policy of
trying to bolster support for the monarchy through limited social (but
not political) reform.
• 1858: Friedrich Wilhelm IV declared insane and his brother Wilhelm
becomes regent.
• 1858: The ‘New Era’ – Wilhelm appoints a mixed ministry of liberals
and conservatives and the Liberals gain 55% of the seats in the
Prussian Diet.
• 1860: Army Reform Bill
• 1860-1862: Constitutional Conflict.
• 1862: Otto von Bismarck appointed Minister-President.
Signs of Things to Come
• 1859
– France and Piedmont defeat Austria in the Northern Italian
War
• Maintenance of authoritarian regime in Vienna relied
upon respect for military prowess
– Shaken by defeat
– Popular unrest grows throughout the empire
• To hold back unrest Franz Josef agrees to a
constitution that establishes a parliament
Franz Josef of Austria
Realpolitik in Prussia
• Change in attitude of liberals
– Came to feel that their defeat ten years before
was due to idealism and exuberance
– Fatal mistake was assumption that enthusiasm
and selflessness could be translated into power
and substituted for statesmanship
Realpolitik in Prussia
• Theory and rhetoric would not work
• Negotiation and compromise would lead to
unity and freedom
• Hoped that giving the king sufficient time, he
would lead them to where they wanted to be
– Parliamentary government
– Liberty
Conflict
• Progressive Party founded
– Pushed for increased liberalization of the
government
• King thought he was being pushed too far
– Became more adamant and uncompromising
• King and Progressive Party waited for an issue
to fight over
Army Reforms
• King wanted to increase the number of regular
army regiments and decrease the militia
– Parliament demanded a modification of the plan
• Did not want an increase in the power of the
conservative officer corps
– King refused
• Believed that parliament was trying to gain control of
the royal army
Otto von Bismarck
The less people know about how
sausages and laws are made, the
better they'll sleep at night.
-- Otto von Bismarck
Otto von Bismarck
• King appoints Bismarck as Prime Minister of
Prussia
– Arch-conservative
• Parliament refused to approve budget until
their army reforms were approved by the king
– Bismarck and government continues to collect
taxes and fund the army as before
"Never believe in anything
until it has been officially
denied."
-Otto von Bismarck
Bismarck
• William I appointed Otto von Bismarck as his
prime minister and ambassador to Russia and
France
• He shared the king’s view that Prussia needed a
stronger government and army to achieve
German unity
• He was a brilliant negotiator
• Bismarck embraced the policy of realpolitik
– Realpolitik: the right of the nation-state to pursue its
own advantage by any means, including war and the
repudiation of treaties
Otto von Bismarck
• Sought a government that would be
parliamentary but at the same time allow
authoritarian policies
• Solution of crisis
– Liberals wanted German unity and freedom
– Bismarck would use the prospect of unity to
tamper the drive for freedom
Otto von Bismarck
• Compromise
– Bourgeoisie would obtain the benefits of
economic consolidation
– King retained the advantages of political
domination
• Saw answer to internal issues in foreign policy
“The great questions of the
day will not be settled by
speeches and majority
decisions – that was the
mistake of 1848 and 1849 –
but by blood and iron.”
Otto von Bismarck
Bismarck
manipulating
the Reichstag
Bismarck’s
Military Buildup
Gross oder Klein
• With the debate over a large or small
Germany continuing Bismarck saw that the
Austrian question had to be answered
– He had to find a way to get Austria out of any
possible solution to German unification
General European Situation
• Russian defeat in Crimean War keeps them
out of continental politics
• Britain concerned about internal reform
• Napoleon III hopes that an internal German
Civil War might let him expand the French
Empire across the Rhine
German Unification
• In a complex series of diplomatic maneuvers,
Bismarck welded disunited kingdoms and small
states into a major continental power
independent of the other dominant German
dynasty, the Habsburg monarchy.
• Prussia’s use of force unified Germany politically,
and almost immediately that unity unleashed the
new nation’s economic potential.
• An aristocratic and agrarian elite remained firmly
in power, but a rapidly growing working class
would soon become a political force to be
reckoned with.
Austro-Prussian Conflict
• 1849-50: Austrian attempts to join the Zollverein come to nothing, leaving
Austria as the political leader of the German Confederation, but
economically isolated.
• 1850: The ‘Capitulation at Olmutz’ – Prussia forced to abandon her plan to
replace the German Confederation with a union led jointly by Prussia and
Austria.
• 1862: Bismarck demanded that Austria recognize Prussia as its equal within
Germany.
• 1864: German-Danish War – Austria & Prussia co-operate to prevent
Denmark from annexing the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein.
– By the terms of the Convention of Gastein Schelswig was ceded to
Prussia and Holstein to Austria.
• 1866: Seven Weeks (Austro-Prussian) War – Austria brings an action
against Prussia in the Federal Diet & Prussia walks out declaring the end of
the German Confederation.
– Prussia decisively defeats Austria a Sadowa (Königgrätz) on 3 July.
Bismarck
• In September 1862 Bismarck defied the
finance committee of the Prussian assembly
• The lower house had refused to approve the
new army budget
• Bismarck simply collected the necessary taxes
without authorization
• He said that the great issues of the times
would not be decided “by speeches and
majority decisions…but by blood and iron.”
Three Wars
• Bismarck’s initial goal was to raise money for
army expansion
• He wanted Prussia to use its military and
economic power to reduce Austrian influence
among the German states
• He planned to arrange the unification of all
German states except Austria and Switzerland
under Prussian domination
1864 – War with Denmark
• Danish king rules over Schleswig and Holstein
as a duke
– These provinces were ethnically German
• Denmark annexes Schleswig into the country
– Nationalist sentiment in Germany was outraged
– William I proposes joint action to Franz Josef
War Against Denmark
• The king of Denmark ruled the territories of
Schleswig and Holstein by inheritance
• Schleswig’s population was part German and
part Danish
• Holstein’s population was entirely German
• King Christian IX proclaimed Schleswig a
Danish province in 1863
• The Germans in both territories looked to the
larger German states for support
King Christian IX of Denmark
War Against Denmark
• Bismarck persuaded Austria to join Prussia in
declaring war against Denmark in 1864
• Prussia and Austria won the war and forced
Denmark out of the disputed provinces
• Prussia took over Schleswig and Austria took
over Holstein
• This arrangement strained the relationship
between these rival powers
German-Danish War
1864 – War with Denmark
• After a short was Denmark is defeated
– Schleswig and Holstein are jointly supervised by
Prussia and Austria
• Austria wanted them to become an
independent country in the German
Confederation
• Prussia sought outright annexation
War over Schleswig-Holstein, 1864. Members of the Order
of Saint John and Rauhe-Haus Friars collecting the
wounded.
Schleswig-Holstein Compromise
• 1865 Compromise
– Holstein
• Governed by Austria
– Schleswig
• Governed by Prussia
– Joint sovereignty reaffirmed
• Tension between Austria and Prussia
continued to grow
War Against Denmark
• The war accomplished two of Bismarck’s
objectives
• It made Europe aware of Prussia’s military
might and influence
• The tension resulting from the war settlement
gave Bismarck the excuse he wanted to go to
war with Austria
Austro-Prussian War
• 1866
• The Seven Weeks War
• Austrian Army destroyed at the Battle of
Königgrätz
– Prussian needle gun
• Destroyed the balance of power achieved at
the Congress of Vienna, 50 years before
Seven Weeks’ War
• Bismarck prepared for war by stripping Austria
of possible allies
• He offered the Russian czar aid against Polish
rebels in 1863
• He offered France possible “compensations”
for its neutrality in case of an Austro-Prussian
war
• He also forged an alliance with Italy by
supporting its claim to Venetia
Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Italy
MecklenburgSchwerin
Mecklenburg-Strelitz
Oldenburg
Anhalt
Brunswick
Saxe-Altenburg
Saxe-Coburg and
Gotha
Lauenburg
Lippe-Detmold
SchwarzburgSondershausen
Waldeck-Pyrmont
Bremen
Hamburg
Lübeck
Austrian Empire
neutral
Kingdom of Bavaria
Limburg
Kingdom of Hanover
Liechtenstein
Kingdom of Saxony
Luxembourg
Kingdom of
Reuss-Schleiz
Württemberg
Saxe-WeimarBaden
Eisenach
Hesse-Darmstadt
SchwarzburgNassau
Rudolstadt
Hesse-Kassel
Disputed Territory
Saxe-Meiningen
Schleswig
Reuss-Greiz
Holstein
Schaumburg-Lippe
Frankfurt
Alliances in the
Seven Weeks’ War
Seven Weeks’ War
• Austria sided with the duke of Augustenburg,
gaining Bismarck public support for his actions
• Bismarck ordered Prussian troops into Austrianoccupied Holstein to prevent an alliance between
Austria and the duke
• Austria then asked the German Confederation to
take military action against Prussia for this
invasion
• Bismarck responded by declaring war against
Austria
Seven Weeks’ War
Seven Weeks’ War
• The war between Austria and Prussia began
on June 15, 1866
• It ended in Prussian victory just 7 weeks later
• For Bismarck the war was limited and had
limited objectives
• The purpose of the war was to separate
Austria and Germany and end the chance for a
united Germany under Austrian control
Seven Weeks’ War
• Bismarck did not want to destroy Austria with a
harsh peace settlement
• The treaty ending the war was negotiated in the
city of Prague
• The settlement dissolved the German
Confederation
• The settlement gave Holstein to Prussia and
Venetia to Italy
• The Confederation’s constitution gave each state,
but Prussia still controlled foreign policy and
domestic affairs
Seven Weeks’ War
• Legislative authority was vested in a federal
council
• The council was composed of representatives
from the various governments and an
assembly elected by universal male suffrage
• The establishment of a strong confederation
by Prussia made Bismarck a hero among
German nationalists
Treaty of Prague
• Austria retains all possessions except Venetia
– Promised to Italians by Prussians before the war
• Franz Josef forced to agree to Prussian land
gains
• Bismarck did not want to destroy Austria
Treaty of Prague
• Prussia gains
– Hanover
– Nassau
– Hesse-Kassel
– Schleswig-Holstein
– Frankfurt am Main
• German Confederation dissolved
• Northern German Confederation established
Bismarck’s
Brutality, as
seen by the
French
Prussian Internal Politics
• Bismarck’s military triumph led to a
constitutional triumph
• Bismarck did not seek to destroy liberalism
but to come to an accommodation with it
• Triumph of nationalism led to the subjugation
of liberalism
North German Confederation
• Federal Constitution
– Did not have
• Bill of Rights
• Ministerial Responsibility
• Civilian supervision of the army
– Did have
• Uniformity of currency, weights, measures, commercial
practices
• Industrial laws
• Financial regulations
North German Confederation
• Federal constitution
– Created economic unity the middle class had been
looking for
• Helped reconcile the middle class to the defeat of its
hopes for greater political freedom
The Southern German States
• The southern German states were largely
Catholic
• They were outside of the new German
confederation
• They feared Protestant Prussia’s military
strength and its control of Germany
• The kingdoms of Bavaria and Wurttenberg
steadfastly opposed German unification under
Prussia
Beginnings of War
• The only way that the southern states would
accept unification is if Prussia gave up some of its
authority in a united gov’t
• France posed the most serious obstacle to a
united Germany
• Napoleon III would not accept German
unification unless France received some territory
• To resolve this situation, Bismarck again chose
war
Conflict with France
• A powerful new nation now existed in Central
Europe
• France had hoped for a war between Austria
and Prussia
– Napoleon III had hoped that they would each
emerge from the conflict exhausted
– Then France could expand to the east
Conflict with France
• France now faced a strong German state
• France wanted compensation in the
Rhineland, Luxembourg, or Belgium
• Berlin kept this from happening
• It became obvious to all that France and
Prussia were on the road to war
Conflict with France
• Bismarck was willing to accept the coming war
– Wanted to bring the southern German states into
the Prussian fold
– Knew that it would take a common patriotic
struggle against foreign aggression
Prelude to War
• Prince Leopold, a relative of the Prussian king, was
invited to take the Spanish throne
– He accepted
• Paris demands that he be ordered to withdraw his
acceptance
– His father renounces his acceptance for him
• Paris demands that William I forever renounce any
attempt to put a Hohenzollern on the throne of Spain
Prelude to War
• French demand presented to the king at Ems
– William I refused to promise, but conference
ended in a friendly fashion
– Bismarck doctored the report of the conference to
make it sound like the king refused to see the
ambassador again
– French used this as an excuse to declare war
Napoleon III
The Franco-Prussian War
• Some historians believe that Bismarck was
responsible for the Franco-Prussian War
• Bismarck knew that he had to lure France into
war
• He took advantage of Napoleon III’s weakness
in foreign policy and of the French public’s
current anti-Prussian feeling
Political Cartoon of Napoleon III
The Franco-Prussian War
• In 1868 a revolution in Spain deposed Queen Isabella
from the throne
• The Spanish government offered the throne to Prince
Leopold of Hohenzollern
• Napoleon III feared a Spanish-German alliance against
France and protested the offer
• Leopold voluntarily declined the throne
• France demanded from Prussia that a Hohenzollern
would never sit on the Spanish throne
• William refused to make this promise
Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern
The Franco-Prussian War
• William I described the meeting with France
to Bismarck in a telegram
• Bismarck altered the telegram to make it
appear that William had insulted the French
and released it to the press
• Newspaper coverage of the supposed insult
enraged the French
Unedited Telegram
• His Majesty the King has written to me:
"Count Benedetti intercepted me on the promenade
and ended by demanding of me in a very importunate
manner that I should authorize him to telegraph at once
that I bound myself in perpetuity never again to give my
consent if the Hohenzollerns renewed their candidature.
I rejected this demand somewhat sternly as it is neither
right nor possible to undertake engagements of this
kind [for ever and ever]. Naturally I told him that I had
not yet received any news and since he had been better
informed via Paris and Madrid than I was, he must surely
see that my government was not concerned in the
matter.”
Unedited Telegram (cont’d.)
• [The King, on the advice of one of his ministers]
"decided in view of the above-mentioned demands
not to receive Count Benedetti any more, but to have
him informed by an adjutant that His Majesty had
now received [from Leopold] confirmation of the
news which Benedetti had already had from Paris
and had nothing further to say to the ambassador.
His Majesty suggests to Your Excellency that
Benedetti's new demand and its rejection might well
be communicated both to our ambassadors and to
the Press.“
Bismarck’s Edited Telegram
• "After the news of the renunciation of the Prince von
Hohenzollern had been communicated to the Imperial
French government by the Royal Spanish government,
the French Ambassador in Ems made a further
demand on His Majesty the King that he should
authorize him to telegraph to Paris that His Majesty
the King undertook for all time never again to give his
assent should the Hohenzollerns once more take up
their candidature.
His Majesty the King thereupon refused to receive
the Ambassador again and had the latter informed by
the adjutant of the day that His Majesty had no further
communication to make to the Ambassador."
The Franco-Prussian War
• The insult led Napoleon to declare war on
Prussia
• Fighting began on July 19, 1870
• The southern German states allied with
Prussia
• The Prussians easily defeated the French
The Prussians surrounded Paris, set up their HQ at
the Palace of Versailles, to the SW, and were able
to bombard much of the city with Krupps' big new
cannons.
Starved of news and communications with the rest of France,
the city used the unused main-line railway stations and its
precious reserves of coal-gas to make paper balloons, which
volunteers used to take post out past the Prussians - a
hazardous one-way trip.
Franco-Prussian War
• All German states joined in a war against France
• Overwhelming German victory
• Results of War
– French Empire collapses
• Third Republic declared
– France loses Alsace-Lorraine
– France pays Germany 5,000,000,000 francs
– France accspts an army of occupation
Political Cartoons
of France’s Defeat
Louis Napoleon as a friend of death.
Punch
Magazine,
1870
Germans
abusing
French
The German Empire
• January 18, 1871
– William I proclaimed Emperor of the Germans at
Versailles
Proclamation of the
German Empire
Coronation of Wilhelm I
German Princes Swearing
Allegiance to William I
Formation of an Empire
• In 1871 William I assumed the title of Kaiser of
a united Germany
• His kingdom stretched form the Baltic Sea in
the north to the Alps in the south
• Bismarck became the German chancellor
• The new empire united 25 German states into
one federal union
• Each state had its own ruler, armies, and
diplomatic staffs
German Empire 1871
Formation of an Empire
• The Kaiser headed the national government
• He had authority to:
– Make appointments
– Command the military in time of war
– Determine foreign policy
• Prussian Junkers now shared power with
wealthy industrialists
"Nothing can be more absurd than the practice that prevails
in our country of men and women not following the same
pursuits with all their strengths and with one mind, for thus,
the state instead of being whole is reduced to half." -Plato
A constitution proposed by Bismarck and
a two house legislature was set up for the
Second Reich.
The two houses were made up of the
Bundersat (upper house) and the
Reichstag (lower house).
 The houses were elected by rulers of
German states and universal male
suffrage.
Otto von Bismarck, 1886.
German Unification Timeline
1818 –
Prussia
eliminates
tariffs
1848 –
Revolution &
Frankfurt
Parliament
1819 - Carlsbad Decrees
1844 – Zollverein includes
Almost all German states
1862 –
William I
Bismarck
appointed
Head of
cabinet
1866- 7 Weeks’ War;
German Confederation
Dissolved; Prussia takes
Schleswig & Holstein
1864 – Austria &
Germany defeat Denmark:
Austria takes Schleswig,
Prussia takes Holstein
1870 FrancoPrussian
War;
France loses
AlsaceLorraine
1871: German
Empire
Proclaimed;
Bismarck
appointed
Chancellor
Prince Frederick and Bismarck
• William’s son, Prince Frederick of Prussia, was a
liberal and supporter of reform
• Frederick deplored the means Bismarck used to
bring about unification in Germany
• He wrote in his diary
– “We are no longer looked upon at the innocent
victims of wrong, but rather as arrogant victors.”
• Frederick foresaw the consequences of
Bismarck’s policies, but did nothing to change
them
Prince Frederick
Bismarck and the Church
• Bismarck faced the Kulturkampf
– Kulturkampf – cultural struggle between Church and
state
• Catholics in Germany organized the Center party
to represent their interests in opposition to
Protestant Prussians
• Bismarck viewed Catholicism as an antinationalist
force
• He supported the Protestants in political affairs
Bismarck and the Church
• A proclamation made by Catholic bishops in Rome in
1870
• This doctrine stated that the pope, when speaking on
matters of faith and morals, was infallible, or free from
error
• This worried Bismarck
• He launched a campaign against the Jesuits
• Bismarck believed the Jesuits were papal agents
working to destroy the German Empire.
• Bismarck expelled the Jesuits from Germany in 1872
Bismarck and
the Catholics
Jesuit Being Disemboweled
May Laws
• In 1873 German legislature passed a series of
laws aimed at destroying Catholic influence in
Germany called May Laws
• The laws deprived Catholic bishops of much of
their authority
• Required that weddings be performed by
secular officials
• Pope Pius IX declared the laws invalid and
broke diplomatic ties with Germany
Pope Pius IX
Bismarck and the Church
• After the pope declared the laws invalid
Bismarck realized he was fighting a losing
battle
• Instead of trying to weaken the Center party
he began to strengthen it
• In the legislative elections of 1877, the Center
party gained even more seats
• The Junker-controlled Conservative party
began to oppose Bismarck’s policies
Bismarck and the Church
• Bismarck knew that he needed support from the
Center party to defeat a challenge from the
Socialists
• He sought to make peace with the Catholics
• Pope Pius IX died in 1878 and his successor, Leo
XIII, made an effort to heal the rift with Germany
• The German legislature repealed most laws
directed against the Catholics
• By 1881 the Kulturkampf was over
Pope Leo XIII
Industrial Growth
• Germany’s position as major political and military
power depended on a strong economy
• German political and business leaders worked to
expand the nation’s industry
• Established Zollverein encouraged economic
growth and spurred efforts to improve
transportation
• Investment capital from other countries helped to
modernize industrial production and establish a
mechanized factory system
Germany 1871
Industrial Growth
• The development of deep-pit coal mining and
the opening of new coal mines made available
large reserves of cheap fuel for new plants
• Cities grew rapidly
• Young men and women streamed in from the
villages to find work in factories
• The economic changes in Germany led to the
highest standard of living in Europe
Foundry in Germany
Krupp, Germany
Workers and Socialism
• Workers looked forward to a democratic social
order in which they would no longer be
exploited
• Ferdinand Lassalle founded the Universal
German Workingmen’s Association in 1863
• Lassalle called himself a socialist and a disciple
of Karl Marx, but did not preach revolution
• Lassalle advocated mass political action to
change the system
Bismarck and the Socialists
“The support given to (socialists by workers)
rests on the fact that the judgment of the
masses is sufficiently stultified and
undeveloped to allow them, with the
assistance of their own greed, to be
continually caught by the rhetoric of clever
and ambitious (socialist) leaders.”
Ferdinand Lassalle
Workers and Socialism
• Lassalle was a national celebrity who knew
Bismarck and lectured him on workers’ plight
• He was killed in a duel in 1864
• He did not live to finish his fight
• The party he founded grew slowly until it
merged with the Social Democratic party in
1875
• This helped it to become a major political
force
Bismarck and the Socialists
• Bismarck believed that any Socialist party was out
to change the government
• Socialists therefore posed a serious threat to the
German Empire in Bismarck’s mind
• Bismarck set out to destroy the Socialist
movement in Germany
• In 1878 the German legislature passed on an antiSocialist bill introduced by Bismarck
• The bill banned all Socialist meetings and
publications
Industrial Growth
• The middle class and business leaders
benefited enormously from the rapid
industrialization
• Workers faced lower wages and higher
unemployment with every improvement in
factory machinery
• Workers lived in crowded, filthy tenements
and toiled long hours under dangerous
working conditions
Bismarck and the Socialists
• Bismarck’s efforts to suppress the Socialists met with
only temporary success
• He changed his tactics
• He tried to show the workers that the government had
their true interests at heart
• Bismarck directed the passage of several bills that gave
workers some measure of comfort and security
• In 1883 the Sickness Insurance Law gave limited
compensation to those who missed work because of
illness
• In 1998 the Old Age Insurance Law protected industrial
workers in retirement
Bismarck and the Socialists
• Bismarck’s reform efforts did not go far
enough to end the popularity of the Socialists
• In 1890 the Social Democratic party won 35
seats in the legislature
• The party refused to renew Bismarck’s antisocialist law
The Fall of Bismarck
• In 1888 Kaiser William I died at the age of 91
• Prince Frederick was crowned Kaiser
• About 100 days after his coronation Frederick II
died
• William II, Frederick’s son, succeeded him in 1888
• William II was only 29 years old when he took the
throne
• He was a man of great energy and strong
conservative opinions
The Fall of Bismarck
• William II favored militarism, support for a
powerful military prepared for war
• His belief in the absolute authority of the
emperor brought him into conflict with
Bismarck
• Bismarck often got his way by threatening to
resign
• In 1890 William II accepted Bismarck’s
resignation
The Fall of Bismarck
• Bismarck’s policies had kept Germany strong
• His strict rule prevented the development of a
parliamentary democracy
• With Bismarck gone, William II was free to
pursue his own policies
• During William II’s reign Germany became one
of the world’s major industrial and military
powers
William II of Prussia