The Unification of Germany

Key Terms

• Prussia and Austria• Principalities• Confederation of the

Rhine• Wilhelm I• Otto von Bismarck• Denmark’s Schleswig

and Holstein• Seven Weeks War

• Austria and Hungary• Franco-Prussian War• Alsace and Lorraine• January 18, 1871• Kaiser Wilhelm I• Chancellor Bismarck

Europe in 1815

Germany in 1800

Confederation of the Rhine

Germany in 1871

Prussia and Austria• By 1815, largest in central Europe.

• Prussia was ruled by the Hohenzollern family, dating back to 1415.

• Austria was ruled by the Hapsburg family. This family was the longest ruling house in all of Europe, lasting from 1273—1918.

Congress of Vienna• In 1815, after

Napoleon was defeated, an Austrian prince named Clemens von Metternich, was commissioned by the monarchies of Europe to redraw the continent.

Metternich’s Europe (1815)

Kaiser Wilhelm I, King of Prussia(1797—1888)

•Uneducated

•Fought against Napoleon at Waterloo

Prussia

Otto von Bismarck,Prime Minister and Chancellor1862-1890

•Ruthless military leader

•Was responsible solely to the king, not to parliament.

•“Blood and Iron”

•“The end justifies the means”

•Was allowed to do anything he wanted so long as the German principalities were united under Prussian leadership.

ZOLLVEREIN

Denmark, Schleswig, and Holstein

In 1864, Prussia went to war, with Austria’s help, to gain the lands of Schleswig and Holstein from Denmark. These people were of German ancestry.

The Seven Weeks War• Bismarck realized that for German Unification to

occur, Prussia was the most capable.• Prussia had the strongest army of any German

state.• In 1866, Bismarck engaged a war with Austria to

crush the powerful Hapsburg dynasty.• The war lasted only seven weeks.• Austria was greatly weakened.• The Treaty of Prague—ended the war and stated

that Austria would be well treated by Prussia.

The Austro—Hungarian Empire

blue = Austrian—Hungarian Empire at its height inset = modern day Austria

•As a result of the Seven Weeks War, the Kingdoms of Austria and Hungary created a dual-monarchy in hopes to rebuild their economies.

•This new country was called Austria—Hungary.

The Franco-Prussian War• France feared German unification, especially under

Prussia’s guidance. They could end up being surrounded by German/Prussian influence.

• Bismarck new this. He also wanted the German territories of Alsace and Lorraine.

• In 1870, Bismarck made it appear in a newspaper that a cousin of King Wilhelm I was to be appointed King of Spain, and that the French King (Napoleon III) approved it. Though it was proven false, the French were embarrassed to the point of declaring War against Prussia.

• France loses the bloody conflict.

The Franco-Prussian War

January 18, 1871

Map of German Unification