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German Unification
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Congress of Vienna
By the act of Confederation, signed 8 June 1815, and supplemented by the final act of Vienna, 15 May 1820, a German Confederacy was set up to replace the old Holy Roman Empire. The number of German states was reduced from over 300 to 39. A Diet was established under the Presidency of Austria, to which states were to send delegates. -
German Confederation
The central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to serve as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, which had been abolished in 1806. In 1848, revolutions by liberals and nationalists occurred in an attempt to establish a unified German state. Talks between the German states failed in 1848, and the confederation briefly dissolved but was re-established in 1850. -
The Zollverein
German customs union established in 1834 under Prussian leadership. It created a free-trade area throughout much of Germany and is often seen as an important step in German reunification. -
Frankfurt National Assembly
The Frankfurt National Assembly was finally able to adopt a proposed constitution for Germany on March 28, 1849. This document provided for universal suffrage, parliamentary government, and a hereditary emperor. Germany was to have a unified monetary and customs system but would maintain the internal autonomy of the constituent German states. -
Otto Von Bismarck
Otto Von Bismarck was pronounced Prime Minister of Prussia. He helped unify the German states by using military force and his cunning skills. He used wars like the Franco- Prussia War, the Danish war, and the Seven Weeks War to gain an edge, so he can unify Germany with King Wilhelm. -
The Danish War
It was the first war that helped with the German Unification. The war was over the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. The king of Denmark tried to annex them, and Prussia and Austria both joined forces to beat Denmark. Prussia ends up getting Schleswig and Holstein which helps extend the Prussian empire. -
The Seven Weeks War
The seven weeks war between Prussia on the one side and Austria, Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, and certain minor German states on the other. It ended in a Prussian victory, which meant the exclusion of Austria from Germany. The issue was decided in Bohemia, where the principal Prussian armies met the main Austrian forces and the Saxon army, most decisively at the Battle of Königgrätz. -
Treaty of Prague
His Majesty the Emperor of Austria undertakes to pay to His Majesty the King of Prussia the sum of 40,000,000 Prussian thalers, to cover part of the expenses which Prussia has been put to by the War. From that sum is however to be deducted the amount of the War expenses which His Majesty the Emperor of Austria has still to demand from the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, -
Franco-Prussia War
The Franco-Prussian War, was a war in 1870-1871 lost by France to the German states under the leadership of Prussia. The underlying causes of the conflict were the determination of the Prussian statesman Otto von Bismarck to unify Germany under Prussian control and, as a step toward this goal, to eliminate French influence over Germany. On the other hand, Napoleon III, emperor of France from 1852 to 1870, sought to regain both in France and abroad the prestige lost as a res -
German Empire
The German Empire was proclaimed, and the king of Prussia was crowned the German Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. The German unification was now complete.
