-
Peace Treaty of Westphalia
The Peace Treaty of Westphalia was an important event as a prelude to German Unification, due to the fact it resulted in the division of the Holy Roman Empire into more than 300 states. -
German Confederation was formed
The German Confederation was formed in 1815 at the Congress of Vienna, consequently it replaced the Holy Roman Empire. -
Zollverein
Zollverein was created in 1834 which meant a customs union that removed tariffs on products traded between the German states. -
Liberal revolution
During 1848 a liberal revolution happened, however, it failed but created a constitutional monarchy that also affected the Unification of Germany. -
Period: to
Otto von Bismarck as the prime minister
Otto von Bismarck, who is also called "The Iron Chancellor" was the prime minister between 1862 and 1890. He believed that Prussia should lead the German people to unification. He practised realpolitik which meant there is no place for idealism and reduced the power of the parliament. He wanted to use "blood and iron" to gain German unification. As a result, he was an important person from the point of the Unification of Germany. -
Danish War
Due to the fact that the population of Holstein was German and Schleswig's was a mixture of Germans and Danes Bismarck attacked Denmark to gain territory. He could also asses the military power of Austria, consequently these two great nations (Prussia and Austria) were against Denmark. -
Austro-Prussian War
It is also known as the Seven Weeks War. Bismarck prepared for conflict with Austria and formed an alliance with Italy. He could provoke Austria into declaring war on Prussia in 1866. Bismarck had a better army and technology and the Northern German states united with Prussia, as a result, they formed the North German Confederation. As a result of the war, the Small German Unity was realized. -
Period: to
Prussian-French War
Bismarck refused to give up territories to France as a result the French declared war on them in 1870. It ended up in that France lost Alsace-Lorraine and had to pay 5,000,000,000 francs as compensation. As a result, the Small German Unity was realized. -
Peace Treaty of Versailles
The Peace Treaty of Versailles meant the end of the Prussian-French War. The location was very important, due to the fact that Versailles represented the glory of France, consequently it was humiliating.
