Building a Unified Germany: Bismarck's Vision and Achievements

1. Chapter 23 Nationalism Triumphs in Europe Section 1 Building a German Nation

2. Setting the Scene The Prussian legislators waited restlessly for Otto von Bismarck to speak. They knew he wanted them to vote more money to build up the Prussian army. Liberal members of the parliament, however, opposed the move. At last, Bismarck rose and dismissed their concerns: "Germany does not look to Prussia's liberalism, but to her power. . . . The great questions of the day are not to be decided by speeches and majority resolutions—that was the mistake of 1848 and 1849—but by blood and iron!" Bismarck delivered his "blood and iron" speech in 1862. It set the tone for his policies in the years ahead. Bismarck was determined to build a strong, unified German state, with Prussia at its head.

3. I. Steps Toward Unity In the early 1800s, German-speaking people lived in a number of kingdoms, Prussia, and the Austrian Hapsburg empire

4. I. Steps Toward Unity Between 1807 and 1812, Napoleon organized many German states into the Confederation of the Rhine

5. I. Steps Toward Unity 1815 - The Congress of Vienna created the German Confederation, a weak alliance headed by Austria

6. I. Steps Toward Unity In the 1830s, Prussia created an economic union between German states called the Zollverein

7. I. Steps Toward Unity 1848 – The Frankfurt Assembly demanded a united Germany under Prussia, but were turned down by Fredrick William IV

8. II. Bismarck and German Unity Chancellor of Germany Period in office: 1871–1890 Date of birth: 1 April1815 Date of death: 30 July1898 1862 - Otto von Bismarck, a diplomat from Prussia's Junker class, was named as chancellor

9. II. Bismarck and German Unity As Chancellor, Bismarck succeeded in uniting the German states under Prussian rule

10. II. Bismarck and German Unity This 1887 American political cartoon depicts Bismarck balancing the figures of war and peace on a teeter-totter made up of a powder keg and a board named "European politics". At the same time, he is juggling the great powers of Europe. An artillery piece lies in the foreground. Bismarck was a master of Realpolitik – realistic politics based on the needs of the state

11. II. Bismarck and German Unity Bismarck built up the army and fought three wars, increasing Prussian power and paving the way for German unity Franco-Prussian War

12. II. Bismarck and German Unity 1864 - Bismarck formed an alliance with Austria and seized the provinces of Schleswig and Holstein from Denmark

13. II. Bismarck and German Unity 1866 - Bismarck attacked Austria annexed several other north German states

14. II. Bismarck and German Unity Bismarck dissolved the German Confederation and created a Prussian dominated confederation

15. II. Bismarck and German Unity A growing rivalry between France and Prussia led to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870

16. II. Bismarck and German Unity Stone of Benedetti - Ems dispatchA memorial stone reminding of the fatal correspondence between King Wilhelm I of Prussia and the french ambassador Earl Benedetti. The telegraphic message of the prussian king to Berlin, which entered history books  under the name of "Ems Dispatch" and the shortened version of the contents, which was published in the press by Otto Graf of Bismarck on July 13, 1870, led to the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War 1870/1871. Napoleon III declared war on Prussia after the “Ems dispatch” but was defeated within a few weeks

17. III. The German Empire January 1871 - William I of Prussia took the title Kaiser and German nationalists celebrated the birth of the Second Reich On the 18th January 1871, in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, King William I of Prussia was proclaimed by all the states of Germany to be their emperor.

18. III. The German Empire A constitution drafted by Bismarck set up a two-house legislature - the appointed Bundesrat, and the elected Reichstag