Germany
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Transcript of Germany
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Germany
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Germany before Bismarck The unsuccessful attempt of Frederick William IV of Prussia (r. 1840-1861) to unify
Germany. The growing tension between Austria and
Prussia. German customs union – Zollverein developing
under Prussian leadership after 1818 and founded officially in 1834 to stimulate trade and increase the revenues of member states.
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William I 1861-1888
• William I was convinced of the need for major army reforms – bigger defense budget and higher taxes.
• Liberal middle class wanted the society to be less militaristic. Their goal was to establish that the parliament, not the king, had the ultimate political power.
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Otto von Bismarck takes command• Bismarck was born in 1815-
1898 • He was a diplomat in the
Prussian assembly in 1848 • Ambassador to the German
Confederation from 1851 to 1859 fighting against Austria
• His main goal was to build up Prussia’s strength and consolidate Prussia’s precarious Great Power status.
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• 1 Working with Austria to divide up the smaller German states lying between them
• 2 Combining with foreign powers – France, Italy or Russia – in a war against Austria
• 3 Allying with the forces of German nationalism to defeat and expel Austria from German affairs.
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The Austro-Prussian War, 1866
• Motives for commencing a war – Prussia wants to control completely the northern, predominately Protestant part of the German Confederation.
• The war lasted seven weeks. Prussian army overran northern Germany and defeated Austria at the Battle of Sadowa in Bohemia.
• Bismarck offered Austria generous peace terms – Austria paid no reparations and lost no territory to Prussia.
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After the War• Austria agreed to
withdraw from German affairs
• The states north of the Main River were grouped in the new North German Confederation
• The mainly Catholic states of the south remained independent while forming alliances with Prussia
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The taming of the parliament
• In the aftermath of victory, Bismarck fashioned a federal constitution for the new North German Confederation.
• Each state has its own local government but the king of Prussia became president of the confederation and the chancellor – Bismarck -was responsible only to the president. They controlled the army and foreign affairs.
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The legislature
• Consisting of two houses sharing equally in the making of laws.
• Upper house were appointed by the different states
• Lower house members were elected by universal, single – class, male suffrage.
• In 1866 German unity was in sight!
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The Franco-Prussian War, 1870-1871
• As soon as war against France began in 1870, Bismarck had the support of the south German states.
• Bismarck’s generosity to Austria in 1866 was paying big dividends.
• Defeating the main French army at Sedan on September 1, 1870.
• After five months, in January 1871, Paris surrendered, and France went on to accept Bismarck’s harsh peace terms.
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The imposed peace terms on France
• France was forced to pay a colossal indemnity of 5 billion francs.
• France had to cede the rich eastern province of Alsace and part of Lorraine to Germany.
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The German Empire
• The new German Empire was a federal union of Prussia and twenty four smaller states.
• Until 1878, Bismarck relied mainly on the National Liberals supporting legislation useful for further economic and legal unification of the country.
• In 1878, Bismarck and the Catholic Center party allied. The reasons were largely economic.
• Bismarck went along with a new protective tariff in 1879.
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Bismarck winning the support of working-class people
• In 1883 he pushed through the Reichstag the first of several modern social security laws to help wage earners:
• 1883-1884, laws established national sickness and accident insurance.
• 1889, law established old-age pensions and retirement benefits.
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The new emperor – William II (r.1888-1918)
• In 1890, the emperor opposed Bismarck’s attempt to renew the law outlawing the Social Democratic party.
• William II force Bismarck to resign.