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Napoleon made territorial changes in German-speaking lands and took over lands along the Rhine river. He also made the emperor of Austria agree to becoming king which ruined the Holy Roman Empire. He even organized a bunch of German states into the Rhine confederation. Inevitably, some Germans liked his changes while some did not.
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The Congress of Vienna was from which "the Germany" of 39 states from Austria and Prussia emerged.
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The day Otto von Bismark was born.
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The Zollverein (aka German Customs Unit) was a group of German states formed to manage tariffs and economic policies within their territories.
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The Frankfurt Assembly was the first freely elected parliament for all of Germany. The session was held for over a year in the Paulskirche at Frankfurt am Main. They demanded the principles of parlimentary democracy, liberal and nationalist movements, foundation of basic rights, and a constitutional monarchy (kaiser as emperor.)
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Fredrick William IV rejected the title of German emperor in 1849 offered to him by the Frankfurt parliament.
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Otto von Bismarck became prime minister and foreign minister of Prussia in 1862 appointed by King William.
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On September 30, 1862 Otto von Bismarck gave a famous speech about the unification of German territories through military force, entitled "Blood and Iron."
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In 1864 Prussia and Austria teamed up and declared war on Denmark. They won easily and ended up signing a treaty with eachother (Prussia and Austria.)
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Prussia and Austria's treaty did not last long, and Prussia declared war on Austriain 1866, invading the German states of Hanover, Hesse and Saxony.
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The Franco-Prussian war was conflict between the Second French Empire and the German states of the North German Confederation led by Prussia. It emerged from tensions caused by German unification. Bismarck planned to provoke a French attack in order to draw the Southern German states into an alliance with the North German Confederation. The result was a German victory.
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Since the unification of Germany, the population quickly rose which created a huge whole market and a highly skilled workforce.
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On January 18, 1871, William I of Prussia became emperor (kaiser) of Prussia and wanted to build Germany into a major naval, colonial and ecomic power.
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The constitution was a treaty between the North German Confederation and the four German states south of the river Main, adding those states as members of the Confederation. This was instigated/dafted by Otto von Bismark.
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In 1871 the Second Reich was created- when Hohenzollern monarchs ruled Germany.
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The House of Krupp was an industrial complex that produced steel weapons for the world market.
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The campaign against the church was enacted by Bismarck to reduce the role and power of the Roman Catholic Church in Prussia.
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The unification of Germany stimulated major growth in the economy and military.
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The new constitution (revision of Prussian constitution from 1867) included the position of chancellor with Bismarck specifically in mind. So he was then appointed to Chancellor in 1872.
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In 1878 Bismarck created the anti-socialist law, banning all social-democratic assosiations, meetings or newspapers. If anyone broke this law, they were imprisoned.
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On June 15, 1888 William II became Kaiser of Germany and was until the end of World War I in 1918
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In 1890 Bismarck is forced to resign by William II, after much arguing about their opposing views.
