Depth Study 2 Flashcards
Bismarck’s:
Bismarck was a wealthy Junker. He was very patriotic about Prussia. He had been involved in the civil service in his years before politics. During his time at the Prussian envoy to the Frankfurt diet, he developed the strong feeling that that Prussia had to oppose Austria at every turn. He supported the creation of a Klein Deutschland (Germany without Austria). He readily supported the monarch Keiser Wilhelm I.
Bismarck’s Strategy:
At the start he wanted Prussian domination of northern Germany rather than national unity. Bismarck was not a nationalist, but a Prussian patriot. Bismarck used the nationalist ideology to further Prussia’s power. Bismarck was realpolitik, he divorced his own Protestantism from political morality. He became minister president in 1862. He undermined Austria in order to achieve his aim of making Prussia the dominant force in Germany. By 1867, 2/3 of all non Austrian Germans were part of the north German Confederation. The southern states joined the Zollparlament in 1867, however unlike many liberal nationalists had hoped this did not immediately lead to unification.
Reasons for Prussian Succes:
- Militaristic: German unification was the immediate result of the war with Denmark in 1864, the Austro-Prussian war in 1866 and the Franco-Prussian war 1870-1871.
- Economic: Prussia economy was much higher than that of Austria and France, due to the greater rail infrastructure (15000 Prussian steam engines vs Austria’s 3400)
- Zollverein. The zollverein by 1864 included every german state apart from Austria. This gave them significant economic influence. However, all states did not share the same political agenda, as some states were still allied with Austria against Prussia.
Growth of nationalism:
In 1859, liberals pushed the forward the idea of nationalism by founding the German National Association. The growth in power of the middle class aided the growth of nationalism via shaping public opinion via books and newspapers fear of the French also added to this. However, there was still little support for a Prussian dominated Germany.
Austria’s Economic Situation:
Austria had a weakened economy due to it being still largely agricultural with minimal industrial areas. They also faced political difficulties from minority domestic groups and the ending of the Troppau Protocol of 1820 with Russia due to the Crimean War 1853. As a result, this made it easier for Bismarck to carry out his plans in Europe as Russia was no longer behind Austria and willing to get involved in Europe.
Napoleons role in the Austro-Prussian war?
France stayed neutral. Bismarck presented German division as a reward for Napoleon staying neutral as Prussian expansion was only limited to the north, whilst the southern catholic states stayed independent.
Post 1866 Zollverein:
In 1866, the Treaty of Prague was signed, which included 4 southern states into the zollverein. This was seen as a step towards unity, however all of these states hated each other and even Prussia. Their political ideology was not aligned at all.
Luxemburg Crisis:
France as another reward for staying neutral in the Austro-Prussian war wanted parts of the Rhineland, however Bismarck said no, instead promising them Luxemburg. The king agreed, however Bismarck went back on his words, telling France they were unable to have it, and instead used French interest in Luxemburg as a vehicle to whip up German national feeling. Many historians argue that Bismarck at this time was being ‘led’ by nationalists as he could not afford to alienate them. In 1867 Bismarck released texts of his military alliance he held with the southern states, showing how their independence was somewhat limited with each other. France negotiated directly with the King of the Netherlands for Luxemburg, but the King was reluctant to hand it over, yet he eventually agreed to sell it on the approval of the King of Prussia. In response, Bismarck used the patriotic German feeling against the French to stop the handing over of Luxemburg, an agreement in London was made stating that all Prussian garrisons would retreat and that its independence would be guaranteed by the great powers. During this time, Bismarck was reluctant to go to war with France due to their military strength
Bismarcks political stance at this time:
At this time, this was the first incident in which Bismarck was viewed as a ‘German’ instead of a ‘Prussian’. However, Bismarck was no patriot or nationalist, and instead was just stirring up German national feeling for the benefit of Prussian power.
Hohenzollern candidature:
After the death of Queen Isabella in 1868, the Spanish government asked Prince Leopold Hohenzollern to be the new Spanish king. The king of Prussia eventually gave Leopold permission despite being mindful of claims of ‘French encirclement’. France was made aware of this in 1870 and sent a telegram to Prussia stating that the ‘interests of France are in peril’. France threatened the king of war if the candidacy was not removed, so Prussia backed down on the 12th July. Napoleon further asked that the King renounce any future Prussian monarch would never accept any such respect, asking for further personal reassurance. The king of Prussia was insulted by this. Bismarck relayed this event into the press, reducing the telegram to make the French response to appear aggressive. Many historians feel like this is what provoked France into war.
Franco-Prussian War:
In 1870 France declared war on Prussia. Prussian’s army was made up of mostly Prussians, with the minority being with the northern Germans. Southern Germans did also help, keeping up their end of their military alliance with Prussia, however, many in the south were not that enthusiastic with being aligned with the protestant north. By the end of the war, many more Germans were aligned under the banner of French hatred. Austria stayed neutral as Russia had promised to join Prussia if Austria joined France. Denmark remained neutral whilst Italy’s aid was denied by the French. Britain was also neutral. German mobilisation was much quicker and much more effective. Germans had 6 railways to the French border, whereas France only had 2. By August 470 000 German soldiers were at the border, whereas France only had 300 000. Germany managed to defeat many the French which came in the forms of multiple raised armies under a completely new government as a last stand as they never wanted to concede much loss of land, whereas Prussia was determined to annex alsace-lorraine.
Actual unification of Germany?
After the war, Bismarck wanted to make the unification of Germany permanent. The king of Prussia was reluctant to take the title as ‘Emperor of Germany’ as he thought the title would take precedence over his Prussian title. The king also wanted to make sure that the crown came from the princes and not the people like in 1849. Bismarck wanted the new Germany to have a constitution similar to the North German Confederation, whereas the southern states wanted a more looser and liberal one. As a result, Bismarck had to make many concessions. One of these was that Bavaria was allowed to maintain its own army in times of peace and a separate postal service. Education was also left to each state, which helped ease unification for the more catholic states, who still opposed the protestant north. Unification was finally complete in November 1870, when separate treaties was signed with each of the four southern states. The new Reich was a federal state. Yet, power still layed with the Emperor and his hand picked chancellors, of whom Bismarck was chief. On January 18, 1871, Wilhelm I was proclaimed Kaiser of the German Empire.
Treaty of Frankfurt
Signed between Germany and France in May 1871 it stated that German troops would remain in France until 200 million had been paid. And that Alsace and east Lorraine would be annexed.
Timeline:
1864 - War with Denmark
1866 - Treaty of Prague, Austro-Prussian war
1867- Luxemburg Crisis, Southern states join Zollparliament
1868 - Queen Isabella dies
1870 - Hohenzollern Candidature, Franco-Prussian war
1871 - Treaty of Frankfurt, Treaties signed with the remaining southern states to complete unification, Wilhelm proclaimed Keiser.
