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Napoleonic Wars
secondaryDuring the French Revolution, Napoleon defeated the Prussians. At the time, the people of Prussia were separated by culture, beliefs, and location, but they were all able to agree on one subject: France could not take over their country. They realized that they had to work together, as one country, to overpower the almighty France. They were then able to defeat France at Leipzig and Waterloo. This is a positive effect of nationalism because this was the first step towards uniting Germany. -
Congress of Vienna
secondaryAfter the defeat of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna was created to restore Europe to its former glory. Prussia joined the congress and convinced the leaders to create the German Empire. Now all the people of Germany were able to intertwine and share ideas. This spread the idea of nationalism like a wildfire and affected Germany positively because it was now able to accomplish goals when its people got along. -
Zollverein
primaryThe Zollverein was a customs union created by the German states. The job of the Zollverein was to improve the economy of Germany by lowering prices, speeding up industrialization, and protect tariffs. The Zollverein adopted the same weights, measures, and currency for all of Germany, and the entire economy moved towards unification. Because of nationalism, the Zollverein was created to unify Germany through the economy, and it was a positive effect. -
Revolutions of 1848
secondaryShortly after the Congress of Vienna, there were multiple revolutions in France resulting from strong democratic and nationalistic movements. Within a few weeks, these ideas had spread to Germany, so the people wanted their liberties to be protected. As a solution, the National Assembly provided Germany with a monarch. This is a negative effect of nationalism because in all the havoc of revolutions and fighting, the people were not able to convince the government to do what they wanted. -
National Assembly
visualAfter the creation of the German Confederation, many nationalistic and democratic movements occurred throughout Germany. The people demanded for a liberal reform, so the National Assembly provided a monarch for Germany. Now the entire country of Germany was subject to one ruler opposed to different leaders per state. This is a negative effect of nationalism because now Germany is completely controlled by one ruler, and people have little say. -
Danish War
visualTwo small states, Schleswig and Holstein, consisted of many German people. The Dutch wanted to create a constitution that annexed these two states, but the German Confederation and the German people in these states did not approve of this. They went to war over the states, and the German Confederation and Austria were able to win the two states. This is positive because the people of the German Confederation and Austria were able to come together to win. -
Seven Weeks War
<a href='http://http://www.fofweb.com/History/HistRefMain.asp?iPin=MPT0004&SID=2&DatabaseName=Modern+World+History+Online&InputText="Prussian+army"&SearchStyle=&dTitle=Treaty+of+Prague&TabRecordType=All+Records&BioCountPass=29&SubCountPass=41&DocCountPass=1&ImgCountPass=0&MapCountPass=0&FedCountPass=&MedCountPass=0&NewsCountPass=0&RecPosition=51&AmericanData=&WomenData=&AFHCData=&IndianData=&WorldData=Set&AncientData=&GovernmentData=' >primary</a>Prussia was determined to unify Germany, but Austria stood in the way. Prussia tricked Austria into declaring war upon them, and at the time, Prussia had convinced France to avoid the dispute and Italy, because it was full of nationalistic ideas, to side with them. In less than seven weeks, Austria was defeated and signed the Treaty of Prague to legalize the unification of Germany. This is a positive effect because the nationalism that surged through Prussia led to German unification. -
Franco-Prussian War
visualTo ensure unification of the southern states in Germany, Bismarck believed the only way to accomplish this task was to have France declare war on Prussia. After altered letters between kings, thanks to Bismarck, France carried out the plan unknowingly, and declared war. The French were defeated by September, and the southern states turned to Prussia. This is a positive effect of nationalism because Germany was finally unified. -
Otto Von Bismark
primaryThe king of Prussia, William I was determined to completely unify Germany by finding a way to make Austria want to join the German Confederation. Austria was the only state in Germany that refused to join because its people had a strong sense of nationalism for Austria. Therefore, the king appointed Otto Von Bismark to complete the task of unifying Germany at all costs. This is a negative effect of nationalism because many disputes amoung the states resulted from this nationalism and Bismark. -
Formation of the German Empire
primaryNow that the entire country of Germany was unified, it needed a leader. It was decided that the Prussian King, William I, would be reffered to as the Kaiser, and Bismark took upon the role to advise the king, also known as chancellor. Although Bismark strongly believed in an authoritarian government, the new constitution of Germany gave the states individual rights. This is a postive effect of nationalism because Germany now has one ruler and can accomplish goals such as industrialization.
