The
German Unification Era
Table O' Contents
The Pre-unification
Era (1790's-1867)
The
Congress of Vienna
Conservatism
and the Revolution of 1848
Germany
Before Bismarck
Otto
von Bismarck (1815-1898)
Germany
At War
The
Franco-Prussian War
The
Unification Era (1870's-1880's)
Unification
Achieved (January 18, 1871)
Bismarckian
Germany - The Constitutional Order
Life
in Bismarck's German Empire
Bismarck's
Foreign Policy
The
New King of Prussia and the End of Bismarck
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At the end of the eighteenth century and up to 1814, Germany
was under the power of Napoleon's French empire. Napoleon created
the Confederation of the Rhine, a conglomeration of the fractured north
German states. This was the first time that these states had been
brought together and as a result a rise in German nationalism began in
all the northern states. When Napoleon was defeated in the battle
of Leipzig by a coalition of Russia, Prussia, Britain and Austria, the
Confederation collapsed.
The Congress of Vienna
The defeat of Napoleon brought about the beginning of
the Congress of Vienna. The Congress was called in order to restore
the balance of power in Europe and also to ensure that France could never
again expand outside of its original pre-war borders. The countries
that had participated in the coalition in the battle of Leipzig (Russia,
Prussia, Britain and Austria) were the major players at the congress.
Lands that were originally parts of the French empire were doled out to
the major powers in a way that would make sure that no power became too
large. The Grand Duchy of Warsaw was divided between Prussia, Russia,
and Austria, but Prussia traded their land in Poland for Saxony (from Russia).
The other powers became nervous about the growing power of Prussia, so
Prussia, under the threat of a coalition against it, took only 2/5 of Saxony
thereby keeping the balance of power intact. The Congress then created
the German Confederation, similar to the Confederation of the Rhine, which
was placed under the administrative power of Austria. After the Congress
of Vienna, the four major powers began the first European Council where
they would meet and discuss the keeping of peace in Europe, much like the
current United Nations.
Conservatism and the Revolution of 1848
In the period following the Congress of Vienna, the
liberal ideas that had begun under Napoleon's rule were squelched under
the Metternich system, a conservative reactionary system instated by Klemens
von Metternich, an Austrian prince. The nationalism that had begun
to rise when the Confederation of the Rhine was discouraged by the conservatives
and any movement to unify Germany was put down. The overbearing policy
of the Metternich system initially put down liberal ideas but after years
of this oppresiveness, liberal ideas began to surface again.
In the German states, violent uprisings of peasants
and liberals began, sparked by the strong desire for reform among the various
peoples (the educated, the wealthy, the peasants, etc.). The princes
of the individual states, unprepared for what occurred, granted parliaments
and constitutions to the people, appointing liberal ministries and ending
feudal dues along the way. The liberal revolutionaries created the
National Assembly, which had the goal of unifying Germany as a liberal,
constitutional state. In May of 1848, The National Assembly (or the
Frankfurt Assembly) was called together in Frankfurt to prepare for this
"unification". After disagreements between Prussia and Austria, Prussia
decided to try to unify Germany under their kleindeutsch plan, which
would include all of the German states except Austria, with Prussia in
control. In 1848, the Assembly finished the constitution, and appointed
King Frederick William as the first emperor of constitutional Germany.
Unfortunately, the National Assembly didn't actually
wield enough power to carry out all of their plans as hoped. Frederick
immediately canceled the constitution and declared his divine right to
rule, declaring that he would never accept the "crown from the gutter."
While the princes recalled the concessions made to the liberals back in
1948-49, the armies of the monarchy quickly crushed the liberal movement
in South Germany. The revolution went mostly the same in Austria.
There were violent uprisings, and there was talk of parliaments and constitutions,
but much remained as it had been in Austria.1
Germany Before Bismarck
In 1834, Prussia, under the leadership of the Junkers
(The Prussian landed aristocracy), began a German customs union, Zollverein,
in order to make trade and business between German states easier.
Before Zollverein, goods passing from one small German state to another
required a duty payment, which made it virtually impossible for the German
people to carry on business with separate states without paying several
"transit duties". With Zollverein, the Prussian government abolished
all internal land duties and put a single moderate tariff around all parts
of the kingdom. By 1834, most of the German states (excluding Austria
and Bohemia) were members, and most of Germany became one free trade common
market. The Zollverein greatly hurt the Austrians because they produced
high priced goods. A market like Austria's was at a disadvantage
because it became cheaper for German countries to trade within the Confederation,
and Austria was excluded from the entire German market.
The Industrial Revolution hit Germany extra hard
compared to other European areas. During the years 1850 to 1870,
the German economy rapidly advanced. Along with new factories, textile
and iron production, railroads, coal production, and record exports, the
population grew quickly and the middle-class expanded. After lagging
behind Western Europe for about 300 years, Germany caught up in only two
decades. Luckily for Prussia, it was in control of land that was
precious for industrialization, and Prussia quickly dominated Germany economically.
Various smaller German states began to adapt their economies to Prussia's.
With Zollverein and the advancement in industry,
Germany became economically united and partially culturally united before
1871. German states became linked by railroad and telegraph wires,
and Zollverein allowed for an even greater sense of unity. The Austrians,
because of their exclusion from the Zollverein and the German infrastructure,
were perceived more and more by the German people as outsiders.
Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898)
In 1862, Otto von Bismarck became the Prussian chancellor,
and he had big plans for his country. He intended to unite Germany
under Prussian rule while stopping any liberal advances at the same time.
He hated liberalism, democracy and socialism. Bismarck believed that
he could achieve his goals by controlling the people and manipulating them
for his purposes, through the use of charismatic leaders, the granting
of limited power, or even the use of the army, if necessary. Otto
wanted to gain the support of the lower class and gain a popular vote that
he could use against the liberals and Austria. Bismarck based this
tactic on Napoleon III's strategy of granting limited power or suffrage
to get what he wanted from the people. The manipulation and use of
the leaders of other countries was also a key part of initiating his ultimate
goal, German unification. Bismarck was an extreme loyalist who was
willing to stop at nothing to attain the goals of Kaiser William.
In fact, he was such a loyalist that he was even willing to trick William
in order to accomplish the very things that William sent him to do.
Bismarck believed in power. In a famous speech,
he declared that "iron and blood" (meaning war and industry) would gain
unification, not speeches and declaration as in the revolution of 1848.
His campaign called for an active foreign policy, and emphasized that Prussia
had to keep its power together at all times, because the people of Germany
didn't look at Prussia's liberalism, but at its power.
"I want to play the tune the way it sounds to me or not at all...my
pride bids me command rather than obey"
- Otto von Bismarck
Germany At War
Bismarck knew that to achieve his goal of a unified
Germany under Prussia, he was going to have to get the people on his side
and stop other countries from forming a coalition against Prussia.
War was inevitable to reach his goal, but using the Prussian army to attack
others would make Prussia look like it was striving to become "too powerful".
Europe had just recently dealt with Napoleon's France and would not allow
something like that to happen again. So Bismarck had to provoke the
others to attack him.
In 1863, Denmark tried to take away the autocracy
of the two northernmost German states, Schleswig and Holstein. Bismarck
announced that this was completely unacceptable to the German Confederation,
and together Prussia and Austria went to war with Denmark. Secretly
though, it gave Bismarck his chance to achieve victory over Denmark while
working along with Austria. During this time and against the Frankfurt
Assembly's wishes, Bismarck increased the size of his army significantly,
hoping to quickly be victorious in the war. He hoped that a victory
would justify his defiant domestic policy and give him the upper hand on
his enemies, the liberals. As he had hoped, Bismarck's superior army
along with Austria defeated Denmark, and the two states were split between
them. Prussia took Schleswig, and Austria took Holstein. Though
Bismarck achieved the victory he wanted, the liberals continued to be angry
with him and continually tried to defy him.
In 1866, Bismarck ordered his troops to advance
to the Austrian state of Holstein, and attempted to provoke Austria into
declaring war. He made sure that Austria was diplomatically isolated
and would be able to receive no help from Russia, France, Britain, or Italy.
To finally bring Austria against him, Bismarck sent a message to Italy
that was intended to be "intercepted" by Austria. The message stated
that Prussia wished Italy to help them in a defensive war against Austria.
Bismarck then initiated the most clever part of his plan. He sent
a letter to the French king. This letter was much like the one sent
previously to the Italians, saying that he was willing to trade German
land for France's neutrality if Austria declared war on Prussia.
The French ambassador to Prussia agreed to the deal and drafted an agreement
that basically said "We the French demand South German land in return for
remaining neutral in Prussia's war against Austria." The trick was
that Bismarck did not sign the document, and the French fell for this trick.
This document would go towards angering the French and also cause Austria
to get more and more worried about what Prussia was planning. Bismarck's
last step in getting Austria to declare war on him was to make a declaration
before the Frankfurt Assembly. This declaration stated that he intended
to form a unified Germany under the kleindeutsch plan. One of the
key points about this plan was that it specifically excluded Austria from
the union. The Austrians, first seeing that Prussia appeared to be
preparing for a war against them, and then hearing that Bismarck intended
to kick them out of German affairs, assumed that he was going to attack
them. Austria, taking a logical step under the circumstances, launched
a "preemptive strike" against Prussia.
Most German states joined Austria to fight the Prussian
army, believing that Austria was the defender of their independence.
Once again, however, Bismarck's superior military force won the war.
Hoping to keep Austria as an ally rather than a future enemy, Bismarck
quickly made very fair peace treaties with Austria and the South German
states. The Treaty of Prague was signed on August 23rd, and it allowed
Austria to keep all of its land except Venetia, which had been promised
to Italy so that they would stay out of the war. In order
to insure that the Austrians were harboring no further resentment towards
the Prussians, Bismarck gave the Austrian king Hungary's throne, instating
the dual monarchy. There was no occupation of Austria, and only a
modest indemnity. Prussia, however, was allowed to annex all of the
North German states to form the North German Confederation. The Austro-Prussian
war was much like the Persian wars. Persia had always been a part
of Greek, especially Ionian, affairs until the Greeks beat them in three
wars. The Persians, like the Austrians were forced to with Germany,
were then made to withdraw from all European affairs.
The North German Confederation was formed in 1867,
making a new and powerful German state. Bismarck granted equal manhood
suffrage and allowed the Parliament to control the budget. The German
states were allowed to keep their own governments. These governments
were still responsible to the Prussian king, however, who still retained
the real power. The support for the liberals was weakened after the
success of the army they had opposed strengthening, though they still approved
of the new Confederation because it was a step towards their goal of German
unification. Bismarck further contented the liberals by asking them
to formally approve the military expansion and spending that he had done
without their agreement. On the other hand, Prussian conservatives
also liked the new Confederation because it increased the overall power
and stability of Prussia.
It is interesting to note that five years before
German unification, the German states had been at war with each other.2
The
Franco-Prussian War
During the Austro-Prussian war, Otto von Bismarck promised
territory to the French in return for their neutrality- territory he never
intended to actually give. He secured this for the French in writing,
but he never actually signed it.. In actuality, Bismarck was readying
for his final step to unification: a war with France. Bismarck had
to manipulate the parties involved in order to keep support on Prussia's
side, so that Prussia would rule a unified Germany.
The Spanish crown opened up for succession, and
Prussia immediately placed a Hohenzollern family claim on it. However,
pressure from the French (Napoleon III also made a claim to the Spanish
crown) made Prussia decline, at least for the time being. The French
took this as a victory and, on July 14th, 1870, sent the Ems Dispatch to
Prussia in order to demand that no Prussian prince ever again try to claim
the Spanish crown. This worked out perfectly for Bismarck.
He responded harshly to the French, sending them a letter reportedly from
William. This letter, which consisted of nothing but mockery of the
French, was sent to the French newspapers on Bastille Day. When the
French people read this letter, they were deeply offended and clamored
for a war against its makers, the Prussians. Bismarck was certain
that a patriotic war against France would unite Germany. The second
thing he did was show the South German states the French king's demand
for land in exchange for neutrality in the Austro-Prusisan war. When
the South German states saw this, they were convinced that the only way
to survive an attack from France was to unify with Germany. Bismarck
could also use this letter to prove to the German states that Prussia had
been their protector in the Franco-Prussian war.
"Never believe in anything until it has been officially denied."
-Otto von Bismarck
On July 19, 1870, Napoleon III of France declared
war on Prussia, severely underestimating Germany's might. Combined
with the South and North German states, Prussia defeated the French army.
Thanks to Bismarck's fair peace terms in the Austro-Prussian war, Austria
stayed out of the conflict. In May of 1871, the Treaty of Frankfurt
was signed to end the French conflict, and harsh peace terms were given
to the French. They were forced to cede both Alsace and Lorraine
to Germany, as well as pay high reparations until 1875. The Germans
treated the defeated French quite harshly, occupying Paris for a number
of months and also humiliating them with the peace treaty. While
these actions were designed to make sure the French would never attack
Prussia again, in the end it probably caused the French to stand up to
the Germans in World War One. This treaty had much the same affect
as the Treaty of Versailles had on the German people. It caused them
to want another war instead of a long lasting peace.
Unification Achieved (January 18, 1871)
As planned, the Franco-Prussian war gave Bismarck the
support he needed to unify Germany. After the war, he won the consent
of the German princes to unite Germany (excluding Austria) under the Prussian
king as German Emperor, though several princes still retained limited autonomy.
On January 18, 1871, in Versailles, the king proclaimed the German Empire.
William I became Kaiser, and Otto von Bismarck became chancellor.
The new Germany kept roughly the same constitution
as the North German Confederation had, but a few things were changed.
A national Parliament, the Reichstag, was elected by the people.
It had budgetary rights, but it could not overthrow the government.
The federal council, Bundesrat, was the conservative's check on the influence
of the Reichstag. The Bundesrat consisted of princes. The various
German armies remained separate for each German state, but they had to
follow the common Prussian command. So, basically, Bismarck had succeeded
in making Prussia in control of all decisions. Not only were all
of the armies loyal to Prussia, but the Bundesrat, headed by Prussian princes,
made sure that the Reichstag never went against the will of Prussia.
The Reichstag couldn't do much anyway, because all decisions of the Reichstag
had to be approved by the Bundesrat.
The unification caused quite a stir in the
rest of Europe. The Russians assumed a hostile attitude towards the
new unification, and it was feared that if Germany became powerful, they
might cut off Russia from the rest of Europe. France was hostile
to the Germans in the first place due to the treaty that followed the Franco-Prussian
war. The general consensus around Europe was that the new unified
Germany would throw off the European balance of power.
Bismarckian Germany - The Constitutional Order
The new unified Germany became a mixture of a Prussian
dominated and federalist state. Prussia was, by far, the most powerful
state in Germany, as Bismarck had intended. Though Austria-Hungary
was not part of Germany, Bismarck intended to preserve a good relationship
between it and Germany. He feared actually allowing Austria-Hungary's
Catholic-dominated population into Germany for fear of religious conflict,
since Prussia was mostly Protestant.
"Laws are like sausages. It's better not to see them being made."
-Otto von Bismarck
In 1871, a new German constitution was written, and
it basically declared that Prussia was in control and could largely defy
the Federal Council (Bundesrat or Reichstag). The new constitution
granted universal and equal manhood suffrage. The Imperial (Federal)
Government was given control of all common problems such as national defense,
foreign affairs, tariffs, and commercial matters. The head of the
Imperial Government was the Kaiser, who happened to be the king of Prussia.
He was not an absolute monarch, but he had lots of power. The Kaiser
could appoint the chief executive officer and the chancellor, and he could
wage defensive or offensive wars simply from his own authority.
The constitution also stated that the government
would appoint the upper chamber (the Bundesrat), which would check the
influence of the lower, popular elected chambers (the Reichstag).
The Bundesrat itself contained fifty-eight members, seventeen of which
were appointed by the king of Prussia. This allowed him to block
changes to the constitution and defeat any amendment he wanted. The
Reichstag, the second house of the legislative branch, consisted of about
400 members elected by popular vote. The Bundesrat and the king held
power over the Reichstag, so it was unlikely that it would be able to pass
any liberal democratic laws. The only thing that kept the Bundesrat
and Prussia from having complete control was the fear that if they were
forced to constantly used their veto power, the people would become angry
and revolt.
To ensure stability, conservatives were appointed
to the bureaucracy, the army, and the education system. The German
Constitutional order after 1871 was not directed "by the will of the people";
Bismarck made sure he could take back anything that he had allowed.3
He had made absolutely sure that unified Germany was in Prussian control.
This became less true towards 1890 due to social changes. Though
Bismarck was wise enough to reform in order to ward off Socialism as long
as possible (he hated Socialism), the next king, William II of Prussia,
was very anti-Bismarck and dismissed him as chancellor. Post-Bismarckian
shifted more power over to the Socialists.
Life in Bismarck's German Empire
The Empire was founded on the unity provided from the
war with France, and it didn't take long for that unity to die down.
Though Prussia's power appealed to non-Prussians and lessened the appeal
of Austria, the unity became unstable for many. There were many different
kinds of people living in Germany, and many of them had different views
about how the Empire was run.
The Prussian landed aristocracy, or the Junkers,
was the group Bismarck belonged to. They supported militarism and
authoritatism and were the first picks for the Prussian army, but they
didn't like universal suffrage because it was dangerous to their way of
life. They were loyal to Prussia but only reluctantly loyal to German
nationalism, since it conflicted with the way they lived.
The South German states adopted more liberal constitutions
than Prussia, and the democratic movement was stronger there, but other
than that the South Germans were, on the whole, the same as the Prussians.
The Catholics in the empire felt uneasy about living
in such a Protestant state, especially since the Church condemned such
states as Germany. To support themselves, the German Catholics formed
the Center Party. They gained 58 seats in the Reichstag and drew
support from all the elements that had opposed Bismarck's work. In
response to the Center Party, Bismarck instated Kulturkampf, a program
that imposed restrictions upon Catholic education and worship. Bismarck
hoped to keep Germany all around Protestant. The liberals did not
support him in this venture, since it went against the equality and freedom
they wanted. Through Kulturkampf, Bismarck expelled Jesuits and insisted
that the state should train and license priests. Priests and bishops
who didn't conform were put in jail. Bismarck's goal was to shift
the control of religious education from the church to the state.
It was clear by about 1875 that Kulturkampf was not working, and Catholics
and Protestants alike hated Bismarck's attack on religious teaching, so
he abandoned Kulturkampf and tried instead to win the Center Party's parliamentary
support. Apart from church issues, the Center Party supported Bismarck.
The liberals helped in the unification of Germany,
because it fulfilled their main political goal. They also helped
pass anti-Catholic legislation and welcomed the free trade policy.
In 1869, workers started a Socialist party along with trade unions.
Bismarck felt threatened by this and passed anti-socialist laws.
He banned Socialism, banned the printing of Socialist ideas, and banned
Socialist meetings. He then tried to win the support of the middle-class
workers by offering social security, insurance, retirement benefits, and
pensions; he manipulated them so that he would not receive Socialist retaliation.
Socialists were not satisfied though, instead they wanted to be equal partners
of the employers. Bismarck's "Steal the Socialist Thunder" policy
tried to help the working men so that the Social Democrats would lose support.
He basically reformed Laissez-faire capitalism.
The national minorities (the Poles, French, Danish,
Jews, and other non-Germans) technically had the same political and civil
rights as Germans, but they were forced to minimize the importance of their
individual cultures. For instance, only German could be spoken in
offices and classrooms. Women were also treated in a rather degrading
manner. They were considered to be an insignificant partner of their
husbands.4
All in all, though, life in the German Empire was
moderately tolerant, safe, and livable. The economy continued to
grow and thrive, and the tariffs protected farmers from the influx of food
from Russia and the United States. Germany had only as much poverty
and social misery as other countries of its time, and there was no large-scale
hunger. All Germans had basic rights and protection, too.
Bismarck's Foreign Policy
After unification, Germany was the strongest military
power on the continent. Germany's position geographically was between
large military powers, so diplomacy had to be carried out very carefully.
Otto von Bismarck had to be as sure as possible that no one would attack
Germany, at least no coalition. First, in 1879, Bismarck made a secret
alliance with Austria-Hungary. In 1881, Bismarck signed a tri-treaty
with Russia, Austria, and Germany: the Alliance of Three Emperors.
In 1882, Italy joined this alliance, making a triple alliance along with
Austria and Russia. With the new acquisition of land in other regions
of the world, all of these countries wanted defensive treaties in Central
Europe. Germany stayed out of the race for African and Asian territories
for the most part, in order to not anger other powers. Germany did
take some African land and some Pacific islands, and though England was
a bit peeved, Germany's defense treaties protected them. Bismarck's
anti-imperialistic policies helped placate Russia.
"I am bored. The great things are done. The German Reich
is made."
-Otto von Bismarck
Under Bismarck, Germany maintained a stable and reliable
foreign policy, because Bismarck maintained an anti-imperialistic stand
and maintained diplomacy. Germany managed to stay on good terms with
just about everyone but France, who was still mad about its defeat in 1870.
Bismarck's anti-imperialistic approach kept the European states that were
already imperialistic from becoming angry and making a coalition against
Germany.
The New King of Prussia and the End of Bismarck
In 1888, King William II was appointed king of Prussia,
and much of what Bismarck had done was quickly changed. William II
undid the law to oppress Socialists to win the support of the lower class.
In the 1890's, Social Democrats were elected to Parliament, and Socialism
increased throughout Germany. Bismarck and William disagreed on several
issues, especially imperialism, and Bismarck was soon forced to resign
so that the king could "rule in his own right". German policy then
changed, mostly for the worse. William II did not see the
logic behind Bismarck's anti-imperialism and began to expand overseas.
This caused the cancellation of Germany's nonaggression treaty with Russia,
which led to a treaty between Russia and France, trapping Germany between
to hostile countries. William II's thoughtless blundering would eventually
cause the downfall of the Germans.
1. Encyclopedia: Macropedia : 102-115.
2. "Otto Von Bismarck & The Unification of Germany."
3. "Otto Von Bismarck & The Unification of Germany."
4. "Otto Von Bismarck & The Unification of Germany."
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