Transcript 17.GermanUnification

Otto Van Bismarck and German Unification
I.B. History of the Americas II :: Session 16 :: The Crimean War and Italian Unification :: Davis & Bakkal
A Little Background Music Please

Although Italian unification had long term impacts
on the Continent, the formation of a united
Germany was the single most important political
development in Europe between 1848 and 1914.

It transformed the balance of economic,
military, and international power as Germany
was united by the conservative army,
monarchy, and prime minister of Prussia.
I.B. History of the Americas II :: Session 16 :: The Crimean War and Italian Unification :: Davis & Bakkal
Execution of the War
During
the 1850s, German unification seemed
unlikely.
Their
economies linked by railway, the major
states in the German Confederation traded
goods through the Zollverein.
But
Frederick William IV of Prussia had
abandoned plans of unification under Prussian
leadership as Austria continued to block any
efforts that threatened its influence.
I.B. History of the Americas II :: Session 16 :: The Crimean War and Italian Unification :: Davis & Bakkal
A series of problems in Prussia changes Everything.
 In
1858 Frederick William was adjudged insane, so his
brother William assumed the regency. William I became
king in his own right in 1861.
 In
1860, Williams war minister and chief of staff
recommended enlarging the army, increasing the # of
officers, and extended conscription from 2 to 3 years.
 The
liberal dominated Prussian Parliament refused to
pass the taxes needed to fund the military expansion
because they feared the additional power it would provide
the Monarchy. From 1860 – 62, Parliament and the
monarch were deadlocked in a political stalemate.
I.B. History of the Americas II :: Session 16 :: The Crimean War and Italian Unification :: Davis & Bakkal
Here He Comes to Save the Day . . .

In September 1862, William I turned to Otto Van
Bismarck for help.

Bismarck was a Junker who’d joined a
Burschenscraft and advocated for German
unification while at university.

Bismarck served in the provincial diet during the
1840s and from 1851 – 59 he was Minister to
the Frankfurt Diet of the German Confederation.

He later became Prussian Ambassador to
Russia and had just been appointed
Ambassador to France when William I made him
Prime Minister of Prussia.
I.B. History of the Americas II :: Session 16 :: The Crimean War and Italian Unification :: Davis & Bakkal
Bismarck’s Political Ideas

He opposed parliamentary gov’t in favor of a strong
constitutional monarchy.* (why?)

He knew that Prussia – and later Germany – needed a
strong industrial base.

Bismarck was a political pragmatist who favored power
and action over ideas.

“Germany is not looking to Prussia’s liberalism but to her
power . . . The great questions of the day will not be
decided by speeches and majority decisions – that was
the mistake of 1848 – 49 – but by iron and blood.”
I.B. History of the Americas II :: Session 16 :: The Crimean War and Italian Unification :: Davis & Bakkal
Warmonger or Peace Keeper?
 Bismarck
led Prussia into the Danish
War (1864), the Austro-Prussian War
(1866), and the Franco-Prussian War
(1870 – 71).
 But
after Germany achieved unification
in 1871, spent 19 years installing an
elaborate system of alliances THAT
FOSTERED PEACE IN EUROPE
FROM 1871 – 1914.*
I.B. History of the Americas II :: Session 16 :: The Crimean War and Italian Unification :: Davis & Bakkal
The Danish War (1864)

Bismarck’s first step toward unification was to
pursue a kleindeutsch in which Austria would be
excluded from a united German state.

The two northern duchies of Schleswig and
Holstein, which had long been ruled by
Denmark* provided the handle for this policy.

The German dominated Holstein belonged to
the German Confederation, so when the Danish
parliament tried to incorporate the two provinces
in 1863, the smaller states of the GC proposed a
Pan-German war to stop them.
I.B. History of the Americas II :: Session 16 :: The Crimean War and Italian Unification :: Davis & Bakkal
The Danish War
 Austria and Germany defeated Denmark
with ease in 1864.
 Giving
the Danish a beat-down boosted
Bismarck’s prestige and over the next two
years he maneuverd Austria into war with
Prussia.
 In August
1865, he negotiated the
Convention of Gastein that gave Austria
control of Holstein and Prussia control of
Schleswig.
I.B. History of the Americas II :: Session 16 :: The Crimean War and Italian Unification :: Davis & Bakkal
Bismarck, the Fence Mender
 He
gained Russian sympathies by
supporting suppression of a Polish
revolt in 1863.
 He
persuaded Napoleon III to
promise neutrality in the event of an
Austro-Prussian conflict.
I will not Fight!
 In April
1866, he convinced Italy to
attack Austria in support of Prussia
when war broke out – in exchange
for Venetia.
I.B. History of the Americas II :: Session 16 :: The Crimean War and Italian Unification :: Davis & Bakkal
Tit for Tat & Austro-Prussian War (1866)
 Administering Schleswig and Holstein had
caused constant tension between Austria
and Prussia.
 So Bismarck ordered Prussian forces to
be very obnoxious to the Austrians.
 Austria tattled on Bismarck (they appealed
to the German Confederation to
intervene).
 Bismarck claimed the request violated the
terms of their alliance & the Convention of
Gastein.
I.B. History of the Americas II :: Session 16 :: The Crimean War and Italian Unification :: Davis & Bakkal
Tit for Tat & Austro-Prussian War (1866)

Bismarck opened up a can on Austria, and the
Seven Week’s War that ensued in the summer
of 1866 led to the decisive defeat of Austria at
the Battle of Koniggratz in Bohemia.

The Treaty of Prague settled the matter and
Austria only lost Venetia, which it ceded to
Napoleon III (I will not fight!), who in turn ceded it
to Italy.

The treaty permanently excluded the
Hapsburgs from German affairs. As such,
Prussia had established itself as the only
major power among the German states.
I.B. History of the Americas II :: Session 16 :: The Crimean War and Italian Unification :: Davis & Bakkal
The North German Confederation

In 1867 the states of Hanover, Hesse, and
Nassau, and the city of Frankfurt – all of which had
supported Austria during the war – were annexed
by Prussia, and their rulers were deposed.

All of Germany north of the Main River formed the
German Confederation under Prussian leadership.

Each state retained its own local government, but
all military forces were under federal control.

The king of Prussia was the President of the
federation, represented by his chancellor, Otto Van
Bismarck. Germany was now a military monarchy.
I.B. History of the Americas II :: Session 16 :: The Crimean War and Italian Unification :: Davis & Bakkal
The Franco-Prussian War and the German Empire (1870 –
1871)
Bismarck now awaited an opportunity to
complete unification by bringing the states
of southern Germany into the
confederation.
 In 1868, events in Spain provided him that
opportunity.


After Isabella II, the Bourbon queen was
deposed, the Spanish chose Prince
Leopolod of Hohenzollern – Sigmaringen,
William I’s Catholic cousin.
I.B. History of the Americas II :: Session 16 :: The Crimean War and Italian Unification :: Davis & Bakkal
The Franco-Prussian War and the German Empire (1870 –
1871)
On June 19, 1870, Leopold accepted the
Spanish crown with Prussian blessings.
 On July 2, the Spanish government
announced Leopold’s acceptance, and the
French reacted strongly against the idea of
a Hohenzollern Spain.


Translation - (We will not fight! But we will
send an ambassador – Count Vincent
Benedetti- to consult with William I)
I.B. History of the Americas II :: Session 16 :: The Crimean War and Italian Unification :: Davis & Bakkal
The Franco-Prussian War and the German Empire (1870 – 1871)

After several meetings between Benedetti and
William I, Leopold’s father withdrew his son’s
candidacy for the Spanish throne, fearing that the
issue would cause war between Prussia and
France.

On July 13, the French gov’t instructed Benedetti
to ask William for assurances that he would not
allow future Spanish candidacy for Leopold.
William said he’d think about it, then he
telegramed Bismarck, who was itching to beat up
the French to secure German Unification.


Bismarck revised the chancellor’s message,
insinuating that William had embarrassed the
French ambassador.
I.B. History of the Americas II :: Session 16 :: The Crimean War and Italian Unification :: Davis & Bakkal
Somebody call an Ambulance
 The
French fell for the bait and
declared war on July 19th.
 Napoleon
DID NOT WANT TO FIGHT,
but he actually thought his
government could defeat the German
Confederation to give his empire
renewed popular support.
 HE
WAS WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I.B. History of the Americas II :: Session 16 :: The Crimean War and Italian Unification :: Davis & Bakkal
Somebody call an Ambulance

Once the fighting started, the southern
German states honored the treaties of
1866 and happily joined Prussia against
France.

On Sept. 1 at the Battle of Sedan, the
Germans defeated the French army and
captured Napoleon III.

By late September, Paris was besieged
and it capitulated on January 28, 1871. On
January 18, 1871 in the Hall of Mirrors at
the Palace of Versailles, the German
Empire had already been proclaimed.
I.B. History of the Americas II :: Session 16 :: The Crimean War and Italian Unification :: Davis & Bakkal
The New German State

During the war, the states of southern Germany
had joined the North German Confederation,
and their rulers requested William I to accept the
imperial title of German emperor.

The princes remained heads of their respective
states within the new federation.

At the peace settlement with France, Germany
received the Alsace-Lorraine territory.

Go Germany, its your birthday, shake it, shake it!
I.B. History of the Americas II :: Session 16 :: The Crimean War and Italian Unification :: Davis & Bakkal
Long Term Impacts of German Unification

Both the fact and manner of German unification
produced long range effects in Europe.

A powerful new state had been created in NW
Europe, rich in natural resources and talented
citizens.

Militarily and economically, the German Empire
would be far stronger than Prussia had been
before.

The unification of German was also a blow to
European liberalism because the new state was
a conservative creation.
I.B. History of the Americas II :: Session 16 :: The Crimean War and Italian Unification :: Davis & Bakkal
Long Term Impacts of German Unification

Conservative politics was now backed not by a
weak Austria or an economically retrograde
Russia, but by the strongest state on the
Continent.

The two nations most immediately affected by
German and Italian unification were France and
Austria. The emergence of Italy and Germany
revealed the weaknesses of the French and
Hapsburg empires. Change had to come to
each.

France returned to republican government, and
the Hapsburg’s came to terms with their Magyar
subjects.
I.B. History of the Americas II :: Session 16 :: The Crimean War and Italian Unification :: Davis & Bakkal