Chapter 25.2 The Unification of Germany Pranjali Rathi Amy Shin

Timeline created by Pranjali in History

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Event Date:	Event Title:	Event Description:
06/09/1815	Congress of Vienna	Metternich said that a unified Germany would require the dismantling of each German state. Instead, they decided to create the German Confederation, an alliance headed by Austria.
06/18/1815	Napoleon's Defeat	The French Emperor was welcomed by the Germans. He freed the serfs, simplified trades, and brought religioius freedom. The Germans did not like some of these reforms and therefore wanted to free their lands from France, and demanded a unifed state.
05/31/1849	The Frankfurt Assembly	The liberals that met at the assembly demanded German political unity. And they offered the throne to Frederick William IV. However, he rejected the throne.
07/19/1850	France Declares War on Prussia	Prussian victory over Austria angered Napoleon III. Germans remembered the other invasions of Napoleon I. Bismarck used this image to anger and spur up German nationalism. Napoleon III did little to avoid the war. Bismarck then released a telegram reporting a meeting between King William I and the French ambassador. Furious, Napoleon III declared war on Prussia. Prussia joined with German troops, smashed the badly organized and poorly supplied French soldiers. He surrended quickly
09/23/1862	Uniting Germany	Bismarck came from Prussia's Junker class and he served as Prussia's diplomat in Russia and France. Finally, in 1862 he was made prime minister by King William I. Within a decade, he became chancellor and he used his policy of "blood and iron" to unite German states under pressure.
02/01/1864	War with Denmark	Bismarck's first move was to form an alliance with Austria. Prussia and Austria then siezed Schleswig and Holstein from Denmark. After a brief war, they "liberated" the two provinces. Austria got Holstein and Prussia got Schleswig.
06/14/1866	War with Austria	Bismarck invented an excuse to attack Austria. The war lasted 7 weeks and Prussia won. Prussia then took control of other northern German states. Bismark dissolved the Austrian led Germain Confederation and gave it to Prussia. Austria and 4 other southen states remained independent.
01/18/1871	Birth of a German Empire	Delighted over victory of France, the Germans persuaded William I of Prussia to take the title kaiser. The constitution set up a two-house legislature with a Bundesrat and a Reichstag.