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( Unification of Germany)
The unification of Germany took place on January 18, 1871, when Prussian Chief Minister Otto von Bismarck managed to unify a number of independent German states into a nation-state, and thus create the German Empire, from which all of the states since that time bearing the name of Germany descend. Much debate concentrates on whether or not Bismarck, the so-called "Iron Chancellor", had a master-plan to unify Germany — or whether he aimed simply to expand the power of Prussia. Historians credit Napoleon with reorganizing the former Holy Roman Empire, made up of more than 1,000 entities, at the beginning of the 19th century. The Napoleonic reforms resulted in a more streamlined network of 39 states, providing the basis for the German Confederation (1815-1866) and the future unification of Germany under the German Empire in 1871. Several key factors played a role in uniting the 39 previously independent states into a unified Germany under the control of the Prussian chancellor Otto von Bismarck. The move toward unification began many years before 1871 with a rise in German nationalism, initially allied with liberalism.[1] The Revolutions of 1848 — a time in which Europe faced severe economic depression — disrupted plans by the German Confederation to possibly[original research?] unify. It became increasingly clear that the Austrian Empire would inhibit any drive to unify a German nation-state.[2] In the early 1860s political conflict about army reforms (and how to pay for them) caused a constitutional crisis in Prussia.[3] The Prussian king, Wilhelm I, appointed Bismarck as Prussian chancellor in 1862.[4] Bismarck hoped he could resolve the constitutional crisis and establish Prussia as the leading German power through foreign triumphs, ultimately leading to a conservative, Prussian-dominated German state.
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