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House of Krupp
The Krupp family, a prominent 400-year-old German dynasty from Essen, have become famous for their steel production and for their manufacture of ammunition and armaments, and infamous for their brutal use of slave labor during World War II. The family business, known as Friedrich Krupp AG, was the largest company in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1999 it merged with Thyssen AG to form ThyssenKrupp AG, a large industrial conglomerate. -
Napoleon Invades Russia
Napoleon began his fatal Russian campaign in June of 1812. It was a landmark in the history of the destructive potential of warfare. -
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Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states. It was chaired by Austrian statesman Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna. -
Otto Von Bismark Birth
Otto Von Bismark was born in Schönhausen, Germany. He was born to a house of Prussian landowning nobles. -
Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo marked the final defeat of French military leader and emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, who conquered much of continental Europe in the early 19th century. This battle, in which Napoleon’s forces were defeated by the British and Prussians, signaled the end of his reign and the end of France’s domination in Europe. -
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Zollverein
The Zollverein or German Customs Union was a coalition of German states formed to manage tariffs and economic policies in their territories. Its foundations had been developing since 1818. -
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Frankfurt Assembly
In hopes of forming a German Nation, members of the German parlement gathered to St. Paul's church. Heinrich von Gagern was elected by the National Assembly to become the first president. -
Frederick William IV is offered the throne
Frederick William IV remained dedicated to unification for a time, leading the Frankfurt Parliament to offer him the crown of Germany on 3 April 1849. He refused, purportedly saying that he would not accept "a crown from the gutter". -
Blood and Iron Speech
Otto Von Bismarck delivers his Iron and Blood speech to deputies in Landtag. It was about the unification if Germany. An excerpt from the speech: "Not through speeches and majority decisions will the great questions of the day be decided - that was the great mistake of 1848 and 1849 - but by iron and blood. " -
Bismark Declares War on Denmark
Prussia and Austria teamed up and declared war on Denmark, and they won easily. Bismarck then engineered a treaty with Austria (the Treaty of Gastein). Prussia was to control Schleswig and Austria would control Holstein. -
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Bismarck Declares War Austria
Bismarck was afraid of the alliance between Austria and France and wanted to expel Austria from the German Confederation. He declared war in June; however, he made peace with Austria in August. -
Bismark Becomes Chancellor
Once the German empire was established, he actively and skillfully pursued pacific policies in foreign affairs. He succeeded in preserving the peace in Europe for about two decades. -
German Constitution Drafted by Otto Von Bismarck
Otto Von Bismarck wrote the first Reichstag. A Reichstag is the North German Confederation’s parliament. -
Ems Dispatch
The Ems Dispatch, sometimes called the Ems Telegram, incited France to declare the Franco-Prussian War in July 1870. The actual dispatch was an internal message from the Prussian King's vacationing site to Otto von Bismarck in Berlin, reporting demands made by the French ambassador. -
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Franco- Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, 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. -
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Population Growth
In Germany, there was a great spike in population growth between 1871 and 1914. The result was that Germany’s population – 41 million in 1871 – grew to 49.7 million by 1891 and increased to 65.3 million by 1911. -
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Economic Growth in Germany
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Kulturkamp
German policies began to reduce the Roman Catholic Church’s authority in Prussia. Otto von Bismarck issued this policy because he didn’t believe that the catholic church was loyal and was afraid that more wars would begin to intervene with Germany’s unification. -
Germany is Created
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany is a federal parliamentary republic in western-central Europe. It consisists of 16 constituent states, which retain limited sovereignty, and covering an area of 357,021 square kilometres (137,847 sq mi) with a largely temperate seasonal climate. -
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Campaign Against Socialists
Bismarck’s anti-socialist campaign was among his greatest political miscalculations. During his campaign, about 1,500 people were sentenced to more than 800 years’ imprisonment. He never hid his distaste for the teachings of socialism. -
William II becomes Kaiser of Germany
William II was related to many different monarchs in Europe and was British Queen Victoria’s oldest grandson. After being crowned William forced Otto Von Bismarck to resign from his spot as Chancellor. -
Bismark Resigns
Bismarck resigned at Wilhelm II's insistence at age 75, to be succeeded as Chancellor of Germany and Minister-President of Prussia by Leo von Caprivi. Bismarck was discarded, promoted to the rank of "Colonel-General with the Dignity of Field Marshal" and given a new title, Duke of Lauenburg, which he joked would be useful when travelling incognito.
