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Napoleon Invades German Lands
During the Napoleonic wars, Napoleon annexed several parts of Europe. The Rhine Confederation was created by Napoleon and many parts of Germany were a part of it. Napoleon was defeated in Leipzig by Prussia, Russia, and Sweden. -
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The Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was made up of several ambassadors and leaders in Europe. The purpose of the Congress was to settle the issues of the Napoleonic wars and the French Revolution. The monarchs supported each other and ideas of revolution were kept from spreading. -
Otto van Bismark Birth
Otto van Bismark was born on the first of April, 1815. He would later become a very influencial figure for Europe, for he was responsible for the unification of Germany. -
Zollverein
Zollverein was a German Customs Union formed by several German states. The Union managed tarrifs and economic policies between states, and it was motivated by prussia -
Frankfurt Assembly Demands Unity
The Frankfurt Assembly after many debates, formed a constitution which proclaimed Germany an empire based on a parliamentary government. The constitution satisfied many liberal movements, and gave people basic rights. The Frankfurt Assembly would fail in uniting Germany. -
Fredrick William IV is offered the Throne
Fredrick William IV king of Prussia would not acept the throne offered to him by the Franckfurt Assembly. He said that he "would not acept a crown from the gutter". He would have acepted if it was offred to him by German princes -
Bismarck Becomes Prime Minister
Otto van Bismarck had already been rising throught the ranks when he becae prime minister. He began changing the Prussian government as soon as he bacame prime minister. He made conservative nationalism possible -
Blood and Iron Speech
The Bllos and Iron speech by Bismarck was about unifying the German territories. He said that unification would not happen by talking and debating, but by "iron and blood". This became his most famous phrase. -
Bismarck Declares War on Denmark
When the ruler of Denmark died, there was despute as to whom the provinces Holstein and Schleswig. The provinces were mostly german-speaking. With help from Austria, Prussia invaded, Prussia got Schleswig and Austria got holstein. -
Bismarck Declares War on Austria
Austria demanded change in the agreement between the two provinces. Bismarck used this an an excuse to start a war. Prussia sent troops to Holstein and austria called the other German states for help. With superior strategy Prussia won most battles. -
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Franco Prussian War
French Emperor Napoleon III feared a powerful Germany would tip the scale of powers too much. Bismarck was able to make France seem untrustworthy. Bismarck provoked France into war by moddifying a letter between ambassadors so that both sides were insulted. Bismark hope Germany would rally behind Prussia and unify. When Napoleon III was taken prisoner, Bismark secured this unification. -
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Campaign Against The Socialists
Bismarck worries socialists would neglect authority and cause revolts. He banned their meeting and shut their newspaper down. This also backfired because the socialsts rebelled against these policies, -
Bismarck Becomes Chancellor
Germany was finally united as an empire, thanks to Bismarck. Bismarck became the first chancellor of the German Empire. Bismarck worked toward making the state stronger, he had serveral targets while doing so -
William I of Prussian becomes Emperor
William I to finally unify Germany as an Empire, became the Emperor of te German Empire. In this ceremony, the North German Confederation turned in to the German Empire. -
Second Reich is Created
The German Empire or Second Reich was created along with the crownig of William I as Emperor. The Second Reich is thought of the German Empire from 1871 to 1918. -
Constitution Drafted by Bismarck
The constitution was the basic law of the German Empire. The appointed chancellor who was Bismarck at the time would be the head of the government and the Emperor would be the head of state -
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Attack Against The Church
Kulturkampf lach by Bismarck attacked th Catholic Church. Catholic education was supervised and priests and bishops were even exiled because of later laws. This backfire for Bismarck when catholics challenged the laws and mobilized their complaints -
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Population Growth 1871-1918
The change of the German population ahd a lot to do with hygeine and mortality rates. The average life span in the first decade of the Empire was 37. In the last decade it was 50. -
The House of Krupp
The house of Krupp was a family steel industry that ran for many generations. Krupp made tanks, weapons, many things made of steel. Krupp played an important role in the Franco-Prussian war, arming people with powerful cannons -
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Economic Development
At first the Germans lacked technology, importing a lot from Britain. But soon the industry took off. railways expanded, and later the chemical industry did too. The money put into research payed off, Germans made a lot of money from dyes. -
William II Becomes Kaiser
William II opposed Bismarck's foreign policy and did not like the day to day ruling of Bismarck. Their relationship got even worse when Bismarck tried creating far reaching anti-socialist laws. -
Bismarck Resigns
Willaim II shocked Germany by asking Bismarck to resign. His reason was that there could only be one master in the Reich.
