-
Battle of Austerlitz
The Battle of Austerlitz, also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon's greatest victories, where the French Empire effectively crushed the Third Coalition. On 2 December 1805 (20 November Old Style, 11 Frimaire An XIV, in the French Republican Calendar), a French army, commanded by Emperor Napoleon I, decisively defeated a Russo-Austrian army, commanded by Tsar Alexander I and Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, after nearly nine hours of difficult fighting. -
Period: to
Congress of Vienna
he Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Austrian statesman Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September 1814 to June 1815. The objective of the Congress was to provide a long-term peace for Europe by settling critical issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The goal was not simply to restore old boundaries, but to resize the main powers so they could balance each other off and remain at peace. -
Otto Von Bismarck Is Born
Born in Schönhausen, Germany. Full name Otto Eduard Leopold. -
Period: to
Zollverein
The Zollverein ([ˈtsɔlfɛʁˌain]) or German Customs Union was a coalition of German states formed to manage tariffs and economic policies within their territories. Organised by the 1833 Zollverein treaties, the Zollverein formally came into existence on 1 January 1834. -
Frankfurt Assembly Demands Unity
In Heidelberg, in the state of Baden (southwest Germany), on March 6, 1848, a group of German liberals began to make plans for an election to a German national assembly. This prototype Parliament met on March 31, in Frankfurt's St. Paul's Church. Its members called for free elections to an assembly for all of Germany - and the German states agreed. -
Frederick William IV Is Offered The Throne
He committed himself to German unification, formed a liberal government, convened a national assembly, and ordered that a constitution be drawn up. Once his position was more secure again, however, he quickly had the army reoccupy Berlin and in December dissolved the assembly. He did, however, remain dedicated to unification for a time, leading the Frankfurt Parliament to offer him the crown of Germany on 3 April 1849, which he refused. -
Bismarck Becomes Chancellor
In 1871, Otto von Bismarck was raised to the rank of Fürst (Prince). He was also appointed as the first Imperial Chancellor (Reichskanzler) of the German Empire, but retained his Prussian offices (including those of Minister-President and Foreign Minister). He was also promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general, and given another country estate, Friedrichsruh, near Hamburg, which was larger than Varzin, making him a very wealthy landowner. -
Bismarck Becomes Prime Minister
He served as ambassador to Russia and France. In 1862, he returned to Prussia and was appointed prime minister by the new king, Wilhelm I. -
Blood and Iron Speech
Blood and Iron (German: Blut und Eisen) is the title of a speech by German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck given in 1862 about the unification of the German territories. It is also a transposed phrase that Bismarck uttered near the end of the speech that has become one of his most widely known quotations. -
Bismarck Declares War on Denmark
Bismarck got his excuse for a war against Austria during a territorial dispute over two small German states, Schleswig and Holstein. These were under the control of Denmark but not technically a part of it. In 1863, the King of Denmark declared Schleswig and Holstein to be a part of Denmark.In 1864, Prussia and Austria teamed up and declared war on Denmark. They won easily. -
Bismarck Declares War on Austria
The Austro-Prussian War or Seven Weeks' War (also known in Germany as the German War, Unification War,[2] Prussian–German War, German Civil War, or Fraternal War) was a war fought in 1866 between the German Confederation under the leadership of the Austrian Empire and its German allies on one side and the Kingdom of Prussia with its German allies and Italy on the other, that resulted in Prussian dominance over the German states. In the Italian unification process, this is called the Third Indepe -
Constituion Drafted by Bismarck
The North German Constitution was the constitution of the North German Confederation, which existed from 1867 to 1871. The Constitution of the German Empire (1871) was closely based upon in.The first Reichstag, the parliament of the confederation, was elected on 12 February 1867. On 16 April it accepted the constitution, which was essentially written by Otto von Bismarck, the Prussian minister-president and first Bundeskanzler (the sole minister) of the confederation. North German liberals had -
Period: to
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War (German: Deutsch-Französischer Krieg, lit. German-French War, French: Guerre franco-allemande, lit. French-German War), often referred to in France as the War of 1870 (19 July 1870 – 10 May 1871), was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the German states of the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. The conflict centered on efforts to gain control of the southern German states. -
The Second Reich Is Created
The German Empire (German: Deutsches Kaiserreich), variously referred to as Imperial Germany,[6] German Reich/Realm, Second Reich and also (unofficially) as Germany, was the historical German nation state that existed from the unification of Germany in 1871 to the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II in November 1918, when Germany became a federal republic. It was a predecessor of today's Germany. -
Period: to
Population Growth
Germany population grows from its great succuess, 1871- 41 Million 1914- 67 Million -
William I Becomes Emperor
During the Franco-Prussian War, on 18 January 1871 in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles Palace, William was proclaimed German Emperor. The title "German Emperor" was carefully chosen by Bismarck after discussion until (and after) the day of the proclamation. William accepted this title grudgingly as he would have preferred "Emperor of Germany" -
Period: to
Kulturekampf
The German term Kulturkampf (help. info) (pronounced [kʊlˈtuːɐ̯kampf], literally "culture struggle") refers to German policies in relation to secularity and reducing the role and power of the Roman Catholic Church in Prussia, enacted from 1871 to 1878 by the Prime Minister of Prussia, Otto von Bismarck. -
Campaign against the Socialists
The Anti-Socialist Law of 1878 was perhaps the most important repressive law of Bismarck’s chancellorship. Bismarck, who had never hidden his distaste for the teachings of socialism, made several attempts to curtail the growth of German Social Democracy during the 1870s – for instance through restrictions on the press and the revision of Germany’s Criminal Code. But opponents successfully resisted almost all of these measures, and the number of votes cast for socialist candidates in Reichstag el -
William II Becomes Kaiser
Wilhelm II or William II (German: Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albrecht von Preußen; Frederick William Victor Albert of Prussia; 27 January 1859 – 4 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (Kaiser) and King of Prussia, ruling the German Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia from 15 June 1888 to 9 November 1918. He was the eldest grandson of the British Queen Victoria and related to many monarchs and princes of Europe. -
Bismark Resigns
After Kaiser Wilhelm II’s accession to the throne in June 1888, conflict between the old chancellor Bismarck and the 29-year-old emperor was almost inevitable. Tensions came to a head over the workers’ question and how to deal with the Social Democrats. Germany had experienced a wave of strikes in 1889, and opinion was divided on how to meet the challenge. Wilhelm II did not want to start his reign with bloodshed. His Royal Decree of February 1890 promised social reform and workers’ protection.
