Prussia's emergence as a leading German state by 1871 Flashcards
Why had Prussia emerged as the leading German state by 1971?
Economically (The Zollverein, Industrialisation, Militarily)
The three wars: with Denmark (1864-1865), with Austria (1866), with France (1870-1871) and their gains of territory.
Economics (The Zollverein)
Originated in Prussia 1834.
Means of integrating economies of G. states together.
Brought about by will to be connected due to common language, ethnicity & traditions.
Politically increased contact and interaction.
Accordingly, gov. reduced intervention in economy & attacked econ. privileges such as noble landholding, boosting econ. activity.
Simplified & reduced customs administration.
Economics (Industrialisation)
1840’s - sharp rise in investment levels, directed towards railway building & stimulus this gave to coal & iron production.
After 1848, gov. further encouraged growth by removing restrictions upon operations of private mine owners.
1850’s - economy grew rapidly, reaching boom in 1860’s.
Industrialisation led by large-scale investment in capital gs production, centralised production & technological innovation.
Economics (Military)
With industrialisation, P. gained enormous advantage militarily as it could move soldiers & military supplies much quicker than before & technological innovation allowed P. to design & mass produce new weapons.
P. was also at advantage militarily, as populace was widely well educated, allowing army to be better trained than peasant army, & hierarchy of command in army was clear & organised.
The three wars (Denmark 1864- August 1865)
Bismarck tried to unite G. states & gain strategic territory.
Denmark - 2 German states, Schleswig & Holstein were strategically important to gain access to Baltic northern sea.
1864 - P. teamed up w. A. & declared war on Denmark after King of Denmark declared Schleswig & Holstein as part of Denmark.
A. & P. won easily.
The three wars (Austria June 1866)
Bismarck engineered treaty w. A. about Schleswig & Holstein (Treaty of Gastein) that he knew was unlikely to work.
Treaty of Gastein - P. to rule Schleswig, & A. to control Holstein.
He wanted to provoke A. as they’d have to pass through hostile P. to get to Holstein.
A. tried to use influence in G. Bund (confederation) to pressure P. to address Schleswig-Holstein issue.
Bund backed Austria, & in response, P. said Bund was invalid, declared war on A. & invaded G. states of Hanover, Hesse & Saxony in A.
A. were defeated.
The three wars (France 1870-January 1871)
F. was last major block to the G. unification.
Bismarck wanted to weaken it before provoking it to war.
He did so by making sure neither R., B. or I. would help if F. was invaded.
Bismarck found his excuse for war when Spain offered its vacant crown to relative of King of Prussia.
F. was outraged & insisted Prussian King make his relative refuse crown as F. didn’t want P. to become more powerful.
King of P. refused to guarantee this.
Bismarck used King’s refusal to provoke the French by publishing an insulting telegram to France about King’s refusal.
French Emperor declared war on P. & F. was defeated, losing Alsace-Lorraine.
Alsace Lorraine was strategically useful to P. as it was very industrial & now acted as buffer betw. F. & P.
Conclusion
Prussia was leading German state due to econ. reasons (Zollverein, industrialisation), military & cultural reasons (technological innovation due to industrialisation, mass weapon production, investment in railway building allowing soldiers to be moved around easily, well educated populace (excelling unis, increasing amounts of educated public sphere) resulting in better trained & equipped soldiers), & 3 wars (Denmark 1864-August 1865, Austria June 1866, France 1870-71) which gave P. powerful position of dominance in Europe & united G. states.
