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The Rise of Bismark
William I appointed Otto Von bismark to head the Prussian cabinet. Bismark built the Prussian army into a power war machine. Bismarck opposed democracy and the idea of a parliament. He collected the taxes from people without their approval, he hoped foreign policy would calm and increasingly hostile public. -
The Danish War
King Christian perclaimed a new constitution in which he tried to annex Schleswig for Denmark. Audtria and Prussia protested against the new Danish constitution. They demanded it to be revoked. Denmark refused, so Austria and Prussia declared war on Denmark. -
The Seven Weeks War
Prussia influence got bigger so Bismarck prepared for conflict. He persuaded Napoleon III of France to be nuetral.Prussia took advantage of technology by moving by train, using modern weaponry and communicating by telograph. They defeated Austria in seven weeks. -
The Franco-Prussia War
Bismark persuaded the independent states in the South of Germany to join Northern Germany's Confederation to complete the unification of Germany. in 1870 the oppertunity came when he recieved a telegram from King William. Bismark edited the telegram so that it seemed that King William insulted the French ambassador, when it was published Frnce declared war on Prussia. -
Formation of the German Empire
The empire constide of a kaiser, a Bundesrat, and a Reichstag. The kaiser held all power and ran the government. The Bundesrat was a federal concil with 58 appointed members. The Reichstag was the lower house it consisted of about 400 members elected by universal male suffrage.
