The Unification of Germany

Prussia

Displaces

Austria

Hohenzollerns v Hapsburgs• Hohenzollerns - Prussian Royal Family• Hapsburgs - Austrian Ruling Family• Both are Germanic dynasties• Both rule over significant numbers of Germans

(and others)• 1815 Confederation balanced power between the

Austrians and Prussians• Both effected by 1848 revolutions

Otto Von Bismarck1815 - 1898

• Born in Berlin– Brandenburg Junker Family

• Studied Law• Benefitted from 1848 Revolutions

– Enters Prussian Parliament 1849– Delighted at failure of Revolutions

• Political Experience– Prussian Representative to Frankfurt 1851 - 1859– Ambassador to St Petersburg 1859 - 1862– Ambassador to France 1862

• “A government must not waiver once it has chosen it's course. It must not look to the left or right but go forward.”

• The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood.

Wilhelm I1797 - 1888

• Young brother of King Frederick William IV

• 1848 Flees to England• Commands troops in

crushing rebels in Baden 1849

• Becomes Regent in 1858 when brother declared insane– King in 1861

• Conservative• Pet project The Army

Friedrich III1831 - 1888

• Married Queen Victoria’s Daughter Vicky• General against Austrians 1866

– And French in 1870– Successful

• Distrusted by Bismarck– Wife regarded as too liberal

• Ruled for only 99 days– Cancer of throat

• Replaced by son Wilhelm II

Wilhelm II1859 - 1941

• Strong Belief in Divine nature of Kingship– Military Pomp and

Displays

• Impulsive

• Withered Left Arm

Franz Joseph1830 - 1916

• Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary– Result of 1848 Revolutions

• Uncle abdicated• 1848 - 1916• Took part in pacification of

Hungary 1849

• Arch-Conservative• German ruling over multi-

national empire

The Erfurt Union

• 1849– Austrian army tied up restoring order– Prussian Army easily restores order

• Debate over Prussia’s relationship to Germany– King Declined invitation to rule over liberal 1848 Germany– The pre 1848 confederation and balance between Prussia and

Austria blown away

• The solution: The Erfurt Union– Defensive association of German Princes under Prussia’

protection– Conservative constitution that gave Prussia dominating control

over neighbours– Forced upon German Princes

The Dissolution of the Erfurt Union

• Reasons for failure of Erfurt Union– Austrian army rejuvenated by successes– Russia did not want a strong Prussia– German Princes suspicious of Prussia– Prussian Junkers just cared about their own estates and way of

life• Not interested in the rest of Germany

• Erfurt tested to destruction– Prince of Hesse-Cassel sought protection from his own subjects

• Prussian and Austrian forces raced to mobilise first– The Two armies nearly clashed in their haste – However, Prussians had little stomach fighting over ‘Germany’– Russia wanted neither side to win & increase its power

• Olmutz Agreement– Erfurt Union officially dissolved– German Confederation revived with Austro/Prussian balance– Humiliation for Prussia

Could Austria have dominated Germany

• On paper Yes– Huge empire– Large army– German ruling family– Germans controlled most economic activity and

aristocratic positions

• In reality No– Finances in disorder– Poor industrial base / not modernising– Army required to garrison existing empire– Officers and leaders promoted through family connections

not talent– Alienated Russia over mouth of Danube– Alienated Prussia in Federal Diet but constantly teaming

up with small German states to isolate Prussia

1850 Prussia Constitution

• Designed to replace 1848 Liberal Constitution– King retained most power– Electorate divided into thirds

• Three Class Franchise– High Taxpayers– Medium Taxpayers– Small Taxpayers

• Would remain in place to 1918

The Modernisation of Prussia• Following model of British Industrialisation• Military still Dominant Institution• Prussian Coalfields

– Ruhr and Rhenish Prussia– Serious production– Would allow iron & steel industries to develop

• Useful for developing weapons and strategic armaments

• Growing urbanisation– 33% in 1871 Second only to Britain

• Railway construction– Private capital– But directed by army for strategic purposes

• Would be used extensively in the coming wars

• Chemical Industries– Useful for armaments

• Optics– Military applications

• All these industries served the State and the Military rather than consumers

‘I am a Junker and mean to benefit by it’ Bismarck

• Bismarck had one aim– The Preservation of the Junker class– A Predatory Military class

• Loyal to Hohenzollerns– But only when it suited the Junkers

• Patient– Prepared to cut deals with enemies– To hold off from humiliating vanquished foes

• Originally wanted to work with Austria– Austrian obscurantism in Diet killed off this idea

International Events Open Door to Unification

• Crimean War– Congress of Paris

• Russians humiliated– Concentrate on undoing damage in Black Sea– At all costs

• France – Napoleon III

» Assumed uncle had lost because of ignoring nationalism

» Therefore, he vows to help German and Italian nationalists

• Franco-Austrian War 1859– Italy the main battleground

• Austria lost Lombardy• Serious blow to Austrian prestige

New King, New opportunities

• 1858 Frederick William IV declared mad• Wilhelm I

– Hard-headed practical leader– Not ‘liberal’ but not a romantic nationalist either– Initially appoints liberal leaning ministers– Authoritarian Bismarck was ‘put on ice’ at the court

at St. Petersburg 1859

• Fanatically pro-army– Clashes with ‘liberal’ parliament over army

expenditure

‘Blood and Iron’• 1861 Army Budget crisis

– War Minister Roon wanted to increase conscription intake– Parliament agreed in principle but only if paid for by cut in service from 3 years to 2

years• Both sides dig heels in.

– Wilhelm threatens to abdicated– Bismarck invited by Roon and Wilhelm to solve problems

• “The great questions of the day will not be settled by speeches and the resolutions of majorities – that was the great mistake from 1848 to 1849 – but by blood and iron”

• Bismarck simply ignores parliament– Army reforms carried out– Taxes increased and collected– Claims that there was a hole in the constitution

• King and parliament had to agree for legislation– No agreement then the King can decide

• Liberal parliament was powerless• Bismarck had created a dual dictatorship

– Bismarck & Wilhelm

1863 Polish Revolt

• Poland split– Russia 50%– Prussia 40%– Austria 10%

• Austria supported the Polish nationalists• Russia and Prussia combine to suppress

Poles– ‘The Alvensleben Agreement’– Most disturbances were in Russian sector– Russia grateful for Prussian support– Prussia free to turn attention to south and west

1863 Frankfurt Meeting• Austria proposed a new

Federal Germany uniting all the German states together

• Wilhelm intrigued and wished to meet emperor Franz Joseph at Frankfurt

• Bismarck appalled– Junker and therefore Prussian

power would be greatly reduced in this new super parliament

– Threatened to resign if Wilhelm attended

– Wilhelm backs down and does not attend

• Last chance for peaceful, negotiated unification

Schleswig Holstein – Again!• 1848

– Prussia had invaded only to withdraw after British and Russian threats of war

• 1863/4– Last male Danish King dies

• Duchies could not be passed on to a woman– Therefore Denmark invades and takes by force– Austria and Prussia rush to reconquer duchies

• Prussians did not really want any help– Russia happily turns a blind eye– Napoleon III did not wish to stand in nationalist

Germany’s way– Britain Impotent

• Treaty of Gastein– Schleswig to Prussia– Holstein to Austria

Bismarck’s Isolation of Austria

• France and Russia were both Neutral• A formal secret alliance with Italy

– Venice the chief target of Italians

• An implicit understanding with Nationalist Magyars within Austrian Empire

• Surprise deal to German radicals– Full Universal Suffrage offered for new German

parliament• Confounded supporters and opponents alike• 2/3rds of Germany still poor peasants

1866 Austro-Prussian War• Three week campaign (7 week war)

– Only one battle of Sadova• Efficient Prussian army moved quickly

and decisively against inefficient Austrian army

• Treaty of Prague– Showed Bismarck’s restraint– He took no continental land from Austria

• Just Holstein– But, Austria excluded from German

affairs and German confederation dissolved

• North German Confederation created of those German states who fought with or were conquered by Prussia in the seven week war

Austria struggles for survival

• Ausgleich 1867– New Constitution– Magyars given equal status within empire– Hungary virtually independent within

empire– Creation of Dual Monarchy

• Revenge prohibited– Liberals and Magyars happy with new

arrangement and therefore blocked any attempts to undo Prussian dominance in Germany

Ausgleich 1867

The Prussian Parliament Agrees that it does not matter

• Prussian parliamentary elections on July 3rd (day of battle of Sadova)

• Liberals returned with a smaller minority• However, they did not want a new election

once news of the victory had been heard• September 3rd 1866

– Moderates break away from progressives to form new National Liberal Party

– Agree to give Bismarck an indemnity for the unconstitutional right to collect taxes

• 230 to 75– As important to German constitutional history as

Magna Carta is to England’s – except here the ruler wins!

The Political Class Stagnates

• Parliament recognised as being unimportant• MPs can seek concessions from government

but need take no responsibility for running affairs

• Ambitious talented Prussians – Avoid politics– Turn to Armed Forces, Industry or Research for

fulfilment• German Industry receives the most talented industrialists

and scientists and therefore booms• Politics receives sycophantic dregs

Prussia Turns on France• Russia still turns a blind eye

– France had been one of the Crimean War victors• Austria still battling for survival• War provoked by Ems Telegram

– Dispute over a Hohenzollern claim to the Spanish throne– Bismarck deliberately changed the wording of a telegram

between Wilhelm and the French ambassador• He made it appear that Wilhelm had insulted and rejected the

French proposals• The French reacted angrily and declared war• The Prussian Army was superbly lead, highly mobile and

easily defeated the French army– Paris commune and then capitulation– Bonaparte deposed– Alsace and Lorraine handed to Prussia

A New Germany declared in France!

• 1871 Versailles– A united Germany was declared in the Hall of

Mirrors in Versailles– Including the newly conquered territories of

Alsace and Lorraine

• A Triumph of will– Clever diplomacy– Lightening (and therefore cheap) campaigns– Restraint– Organisation

• “Germany stood for nothing, except German Power. The organising capacity, the selfless devotion, the critical intelligence, the scientific curiosity, which in Western Europe were liberating men from the tyranny of others and, still more, from the tyranny of nature, were in Germany employed to liberate the German state from the control of either of its neighbours or of its subjects. The highest faculties of the mind, and these the Germans possessed, were put to the service of a mindless cause.” AJP Taylor

A ‘Managed Autocracy’