An outline, era by era

Germany

unification (1871)

Late Modern Era / 19th Century · ~1800 – 1914

Germany was unified as a single nation-state in 1871, when the German Empire was proclaimed at Versailles under the Prussian king Wilhelm I. Before that, the German-speaking lands of central Europe were divided among dozens of kingdoms, duchies and free cities, bound loosely in the German Confederation after 1815. Unification came through three short wars led by Prussia, guided by its minister-president Otto von Bismarck, against Denmark, Austria and France.

The new empire excluded Austria and was dominated by Prussia, with a federal structure, an elected Reichstag and a powerful emperor and chancellor. It quickly became one of the strongest industrial and military powers in Europe. Its creation upset the balance of power on the continent and shaped European politics up to 1914 and beyond.

Things happened, and the rest is history

  1. The Congress of Vienna and the German Confederation

    Event

    What happened

    After Napoleon's defeat, the Congress of Vienna (1814 to 1815) replaces the old Holy Roman Empire, dissolved in 1806, with the German Confederation. It joins 39 states, including Austria and Prussia, under a federal diet meeting at Frankfurt. Austria presides over it.

    The rest is history

    The Confederation kept German states independent while giving them a shared framework of defence. It disappointed nationalists who had hoped for a single state after the wars against Napoleon. Austria and Prussia remained rivals within it for fifty years. The Confederation lasted until 1866, when the Austro-Prussian War ended it.

    Sources

    1. BookSheehan, James J. German History, 1770-1866. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989.
    2. PrimaryFinal Act of the Congress of Vienna, 9 June 1815, including the German Federal Act.

  2. The Prussian customs union (Zollverein)

    Event

    What happened

    In 1818 Prussia abolishes internal tariffs within its own lands. In 1834 the German Customs Union (Zollverein) takes effect, joining most German states in a single trading area. Austria is not a member.

    The rest is history

    The Zollverein tied the economies of many states to Prussia and encouraged trade and railway building. Historians debate how far it made political unification inevitable, and many think its political effect was smaller than its economic one. It did leave Austria outside the economic core of Germany. By the 1860s Prussia was by far the strongest economy among the German states.

    Sources

    1. BookHenderson, W. O. The Zollverein. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1939.
    2. BookZiblatt, Daniel. Structuring the State: The Formation of Italy and Germany and the Puzzle of Federalism. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004.

  3. The Frankfurt Parliament of 1848 to 1849

    Event

    What happened

    In May 1848 elected delegates meet in St Paul's Church in Frankfurt to write a constitution for a united Germany. On 3 April 1849 they offer the imperial crown to the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm IV, who refuses it. The remaining rump of the assembly moves to Stuttgart, where Württemberg troops disperse it in June 1849.

    The rest is history

    The failure showed that unity could not be achieved by a parliament alone against the great powers. The constitution of 1849 still served as a model for later German constitutions. Many liberals concluded that unification would need the power of a state such as Prussia. Bismarck later achieved unity from above, not through a liberal assembly.

    Sources

    1. BookHamerow, Theodore S. Restoration, Revolution, Reaction: Economics and Politics in Germany, 1815-1871. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1958.
    2. PrimaryConstitution of the German Empire (Paulskirchenverfassung), Frankfurt, 28 March 1849.

  4. Bismarck's appointment and the army conflict

    Event

    What happened

    In 1862 the Prussian parliament refuses to fund an army reform backed by King Wilhelm I. In September the king appoints Otto von Bismarck minister-president. Bismarck governs for several years without an approved budget.

    The rest is history

    Bismarck kept the army reform in force and built up the military that would win the wars of unification. His rule without a legal budget deepened the conflict with Prussian liberals. After the victory over Austria in 1866 the parliament passed an indemnity act, pardoning his actions. Bismarck stayed in power until 1890.

    Sources

    1. BookSteinberg, Jonathan. Bismarck: A Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
    2. BookPflanze, Otto. Bismarck and the Development of Germany. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1963.

  5. The Danish War of 1864

    Event

    What happened

    In 1864 Prussia and Austria go to war with Denmark over Schleswig and Holstein, duchies tied to the Danish crown. The allies win, and Denmark gives up both duchies in the Treaty of Vienna in October. Prussia and Austria then administer them jointly, Prussia holding Schleswig and Austria Holstein.

    The rest is history

    The joint rule created friction between the two victors. Disputes over the duchies gave Bismarck a way to press Prussia's quarrel with Austria. The Convention of Gastein in 1865 postponed the clash. It came the following year.

    Sources

    1. BookClark, Christopher. Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600-1947. London: Allen Lane, 2006.
    2. PrimaryTreaty of Vienna between Denmark, Prussia and Austria, 30 October 1864.

  6. The Austro-Prussian War of 1866

    Event

    What happened

    In June 1866 war breaks out between Prussia and Austria, each backed by other German states. On 3 July Prussia wins a decisive victory at Königgrätz (Sadová) in Bohemia. The Peace of Prague in August dissolves the German Confederation and excludes Austria from German affairs.

    The rest is history

    Prussia annexed Hanover, Hesse-Kassel, Nassau and Frankfurt, and formed the North German Confederation in 1867 under its leadership. Austria's defeat helped push it into the Compromise of 1867, which created the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary. The southern German states stayed outside but signed military alliances with Prussia. The path to a Germany without Austria, the small German solution, was now open.

    Sources

    1. BookWawro, Geoffrey. The Austro-Prussian War: Austria's War with Prussia and Italy in 1866. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
    2. PrimaryPeace of Prague between Austria and Prussia, 23 August 1866.

  7. The Franco-Prussian War, 1870 to 1871

    Event

    What happened

    In July 1870 France declares war on Prussia after a dispute over a Hohenzollern candidate for the Spanish throne. The southern German states join Prussia, and German armies defeat the French. Napoleon III is captured at Sedan on 2 September 1870, and Paris is besieged until January 1871.

    The rest is history

    The war united the northern and southern states in a common cause. The French defeat ended the Second Empire and led to the Third Republic. The Treaty of Frankfurt of May 1871 gave most of Alsace and part of Lorraine to Germany, and this left lasting French resentment. The war made unification possible in the following months.

    Sources

    1. BookHoward, Michael. The Franco-Prussian War: The German Invasion of France, 1870-1871. London: Rupert Hart-Davis, 1961.
    2. PrimaryTreaty of Frankfurt between France and Germany, 10 May 1871.

  8. Proclamation of the German Empire

    Event

    What happened

    On 18 January 1871, in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, Wilhelm I of Prussia is proclaimed German Emperor. The southern states of Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and Hesse have joined the North German Confederation by treaty in November 1870. A new constitution takes effect in April 1871.

    The rest is history

    The empire was a federation of 25 states under Prussian leadership, with a Reichstag elected by universal male suffrage. Bismarck served as chancellor until 1890. The new state became an industrial and military power in the heart of Europe. Its rise reshaped alliances and rivalries up to 1914.

    Sources

    1. BookWehler, Hans-Ulrich. The German Empire, 1871-1918. Leamington Spa: Berg, 1985.
    2. PrimaryConstitution of the German Empire, 16 April 1871.

  9. Bismarck and the doctored Ems telegram

    Popular belief

    The legend

    Bismarck is said to have tricked France into war by rewriting a telegram from Bad Ems so that it looked like an insult. The French, enraged, declare war.

    The rest is history

    The Ems telegram was real. On 13 July 1870 Wilhelm I's adviser reported that the king had politely refused the French ambassador's demand for a guarantee about the Spanish throne. Bismarck shortened the text for the press, which made the refusal sound sharper, but he did not add words. Historians agree it hardened feeling on both sides, but France had already reacted angrily to the candidacy and declared war on 19 July. Bismarck later described his editing in his memoirs.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryBismarck, Otto von. Gedanken und Erinnerungen. Stuttgart: Cotta, 1898.
    2. BookSteinberg, Jonathan. Bismarck: A Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.

  10. Blood and iron

    Popular belief

    The legend

    Bismarck is said to have declared that Germany would be united not by speeches but by blood and iron, as if he had planned every war from the start.

    The rest is history

    The phrase comes from a speech Bismarck gave to a Prussian budget committee on 30 September 1862. He said the great questions of the time would be decided not by speeches and majority votes but by iron and blood. The remark was a warning in the army dispute, and the speech went down badly. Historians such as Steinberg see Bismarck as an opportunist who seized events, not a man with a fixed plan for three wars.

    Sources

    1. BookSteinberg, Jonathan. Bismarck: A Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011.
    2. BookGall, Lothar. Bismarck: The White Revolutionary. London: Allen & Unwin, 1986.

  11. Barbarossa sleeping in the Kyffhäuser

    Folk tale

    The legend

    The emperor Frederick Barbarossa is said to sleep inside the Kyffhäuser mountain in Thuringia, his beard growing through a stone table. When the ravens stop circling the mountain he will wake and restore the German empire.

    The rest is history

    Barbarossa was a real Holy Roman Emperor who drowned in Cilicia in 1190 while on crusade. The sleeping-hero tale was first attached to his grandson Frederick II and only later moved to Barbarossa, and the Grimm brothers published a version in 1816. In the nineteenth century nationalists took it up as a symbol of German unity. The Kyffhäuser Monument, topped by a statue of Barbarossa and a large figure of Wilhelm I, was built between 1890 and 1896.

    Sources

    1. PrimaryGrimm, Jacob and Wilhelm. Deutsche Sagen. Berlin: Nicolai, 1816.
    2. BookFreed, John B. Frederick Barbarossa: The Prince and the Myth. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016.

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