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William I and Otto Von Bismarck in power
William I became king of Prussian and appointed Otto Von Bismarck to be in head of the Prussian cabinet. Bismarck opposed democracy and the idea of a parliament. He believed the state, and not the people should have the power and authority. His goal was to expand Prussia. -
Bismarck collecting taxes
Bismarck and William faced oppostion from the Prussian Parliament and the parliament refused to approve money for a military build up. Bismarck ignored this, and kept collecting taxes without their approval. As protests grew, he hoped for a increasingly hostile public! -
The Danish war
In between Denmark and Germany were two small states, Schleswig and Holstein. When the new Kif Christian IX took the Danish throne, he proposed a new consitution. Prussia and Austria protested the new Danish constitution and which made them declare war and Denmark. Denmark was hoping for help from France and Great Britain, but when neither of them helped, Denmark surrendered after three months of fighting. Prussia would control Schleswig and Austria would control Holstein. -
The Seven Weeks' War
As Prussian influence expanded, Bismarck prepared for a conflict with Austria. Her convinced France to be neutral, formed an allience with Italy, and then provoked Austria on declaring war on Prussia in 1866 with the conflict of Holstein and Schleswig. Prussian forces took advantage of technology, communication, and weapons! They defeated Austria in only seven weeks, which made the balance of European power shift. The Treaty of Prague ended the war, and Austria surrended Holstein to Prussia! -
The Franco-Prussian War
To complete the unification, Busmarck had to persue independant states in the south the join the North German Confederation. When he received a telegram from King William, Bismarck edited so it sounded like he was insulting the French ambassador, this angered France and they declared war on Prussia July of 1870. The southern German states united against France, and after fighting for several months, Napoleon surrendered and his government fell. Much of France was then occupied by German troops. -
Unification of the German Empire!
On January 18, 1871 representatives of the German states met near Paris and declared the formation of the German Empire, including all german states but Austria. Berlin became the capital of Prussia, and King William I became the emperor. Bismarck made a constitution that united the 25 states of Germany. Each state had its own ruler, and laws.
