1: Political authority Flashcards
Liberal.
A person who favours reform, is not bound by traditional thinking and is tolerant of the ideas and behaviour of others.
Otto von Bismarck’s background.
From a Junker family in Prussia. Served as Prussian ambassador to cities such as Paris when Wilhem I appointed him as chancellor. Suffered from chronic pain and was constantly scared that ‘enemies’ were ganging up on him.
How long did Bismarck serve as chancellor?
Nearly 20 years.
How did Bismarck say he unified Germany?
Through ‘blood and iron’ (war and industry).
How many German states were there before 1971?
The ‘Holy Roman Empire’ originally consisted of over 300 different states which was destroyed by French emperor Napoleon in 1806. In 1815, 39 new states has been established by the Congress of Vienna in an attempt to create greater stability in the area.
What year did French emperor Napoleon destroy the ‘Holy Roman Empire’?
1806.
What year did the Congress of Vienna establish 39 states in Germany?
1915.
Why did the Congress of Vienna establish 39 states in Germany?
In an attempt to create greater stability.
How many new states were established by Vienna in 1815?
39.
What two places were competing for influence over the German states?
Prussia, the largest of the states, and Austria, a German-speaking neighbour.
Why was Prussia a candidate for influence over the German states?
They played a significant part in the defeat of the French and had acquired new territory in the industrialising Rhineland at the Vienna Congress.
Prussia vs Austria War: 1867.
King Wilhelm of Prussia and Otto von Bismarck, his Minister President, took Prussia to war against Austria and forged a new ‘North German Confederation’ in 1967.
When was the ‘North German Confederation ‘ formed?
1867.
When was the Franco-Prussian war?
1870-1971.
What were the consequences of the Franco-Prussian war 1870-71?
The ‘North German Confederation’ was extended to include the southern states of Germany. Thus, in 1971, Wilhelm I was proclaimed German Kaiser at Versailles near Paris.
When was Wilhelm I proclaimed German Kaiser?
1871.
What was the newly united Germany called?
The Kaiserreich or Second Reich.
How many states did Wilhelm I preside over?
26, including Prussia.
What were the 2 biggest states in the Reichstag?
Prussia, over 60% of the area of the Reich and contained a similar proportion of its population, and Bavaria, the next largest state.
What other states did the Reich include?
The mainly French-speaking provinces of Alsace-Lorraine in the west, a Danish minority in North Schleswig and some extensive Polish-speaking area in East Prussia.
Did all states maintain their own sovereignty and why?
Yes, this was because the Second Reich was ‘officially’ formed by the voluntary agreement of its own component states and cities. This made the new Germany a federal state.
What the new Germany a federal state?
Yes.
Federal.
A system of government in which different states retain some independence in their internal affairs but accept a central government for matters of common importance; in the new Germany the central government was responsible for defence, customs, coinage, banking, communications and civil and criminal law, while the states has power over their own education, courts, agriculture, churches and local government.
How many German states retained their own monarchies?
26.
What was another word for the German states?
Lander.
What did the German Liberals want since the early nineteenth century?
They wanted a ‘democratic constitution’ as they believed this was the only way to guard the people’s freedoms. The liberals has supported Bismarck’s unification on the understanding that such a constitution would be the result.
Bismarck & the German Liberals.
He was no liberal and came from the aristocratic Junker class of Prussia. He was deeply suspicious of ‘people power’. He appeared to pander to the liberals’ ideas in order to harness their energies in pursuit of a strong, united Germany, his view of what a constitution should be turned out to be very different from theirs.
