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King William I made Otto von Bismarck the Prime Minister of the German States
Otto von Bismarck was first a diplomat in Russia and France for Prussia. He was later made Prime Minister or Chancellor of the German States. He got here by being a master of Realpolitik, which is realistic politics based on the needs of the state. -
Strengthening the Army
Bismarck wanted to strenghten the Prussian army but the liberal legislature refused to give funds to help him make a stronger milatary. So instead he used money that was raised for other things and put it to use to make the army stronger. His military became powerful and instantly Bismarck was ready to go to war and gain power for Prussia. -
Otto von Bismarck forms an Alliance with Austria.
Prussia and Austria formed an alliance. This helped them to set up common allies early on in uniting Germany. He later turned his back on Austria and warred with them, but they stayed as an alliance for 2 years fighting Denmark. -
Prussia and Austria war with Denmark
Austria and Prussia had recently made an alliance, and their first war together would be against Denmark. They won, and decided to split to land and loot. They had seized the provinces of Schleswig and Holstein. Austria would take Holstein and Prussia would hold Schleswig. -
Prussia Attacks Austria
Austria gets attacked by Prussia after Bismarck formed an alliance with Austria. Although the war was only seven weeks Prussia came out with a complete victory. This gave Prussia the motivation to annex, or gain control of other german states, this caused Prussia to gain even more power. -
France declares War on Prussia
The victory over Austria angered Napoleon. This caused him to declare a war on Prussia, leading to the Franco-Prussian War. Bismarck inspired Nationalism by making the French seem terrible. Napoleon was hoping to win the war to restore Frances glory, rather than deal with their problems. -
Celebrating the Second Empire
After defeating France William I of Prussia was prusuaded into becoming emperor (kaiser) of the second empire. A constitution was set up by Bismarck that created a two-house legislature. The legislature consisted of an upper house and a lower house, the upper house could veto anything so the power still remained to the emporer. -
Battle for Civilization (Kulturkampf)
Bismarck was dealing with the Catholic threat. What he decided to do was make the Catholics put loyalty to the state above allegiance to the Church. This led to him passing laws to supervise Catholic education, and approve the appointment of priests. -
Campaign against the Socialists
Bismarck saw a threat from the German Marxists. He feared that they would interfere with the loyalty of the workers and turn them towards a revolution. After a failed attempt to assassinate the Kaiser, Bismarck had laws passed to end Socialist groups, shut down their newspapers, and banned their meetings. -
Kaiser William II comes to Power
Kaiser William II comes to power. He succeeded his grandfather as Kaiser. He was very confident as was his grandfather. He wanted to add his own personal touches to German even if that meant changing getting rid of Bismarck. -
Asking Bismarck to resign
After succeeding his grandfather as Kaiser, William II wanted to put his own mark on Germany. He then shocked Europe by asking the very important Otto von Bismarck to resign. He believed that he was the only master in the Reich.
