The Franco Prussian War Of 1871

According to the textbook,” the southern German states honored their military alliances with Prussia and joined the war effort against the French. (P. 668).” On September 2, 1870, The Prussia armies advanced into France and at Sedan, and that they captured the whole French army and Napoleon himself. Even when the second Empire of French collapsed, the war did not stop, the war kept on going. However, after a couple of months, Paris was capitulated. Paris was capitulated in January 28,1871. The Peace Treaty was officially signed in May. The France had to pay 5 billion Francs which is about 1 billion dollars, and the France had to give up the Provinces of Alsace to the German state. The French people weren’t pleased with this treaty. The

Otto von Bismarck, a brilliant diplomat and creative statesman, served as _ of Prussia from _. He would later serve as the first chancellor of the German nation that he helped to create. The German states were swelling with nationalism during the mid-nineteenth century, best exemplified by the Revolution of 1848. Perhaps the German states would have eventually unified on their own, but Otto von Bismarck certainly smoothed and hastened the process. His insightful unification tactics resulted in a desirable outcome: Kleindeutschland, or a German Empire that deliberately excluded Austria. Bismarck expedited the process of German Unification by employing legendary diplomatic skills and by emphasizing military prowess in order to annex German-speaking territories.

Bismarck was born into money and power, resulting in him loving power but he was also extraordinary practical about achieving his goals. He was a conservative leader who dominated German and European affairs. In the 1860s he entered into a series of wars. Bismarck was appointed a as chief minister in 1862, he declared that government would rule without parliamentary consent. This was evident as he continued to collect taxes even though it was not approved by the parliament. In 1866 Bismarck launched the Austro Prussian with the intent of expelling Austria from German politics. This war resulted in the retreat of Austria and the dissolvent of the German Confederation. Bismarck also followed in Napoleon II’s footstep by creating a legislature with members of the lower house elected by universal male suffrage. With this the constitutional struggle was over, and the middle class was respectfully accepting the ideals that Bismarck

During the 19th century, Nationalism was a big player when it came to unity in Europe. The man who played the main role in unification in Germany was Otto von Bismarck. He made progression through three wars. The question people still ask today is, did Otto von Bismarck plan to unify Germany, or did he just take advantage of the opportunities that fell into his lap. Otto Von Bismarck was most definitely a planner as shown through countless actions and statements shown threw his time of power during the three wars. The first war was the Danish war were Germany with the help of Austria took control of the provinces of Schleswig and Holstein. The second war was the Austrian-Prussian war, where there was a disagreement over administrations of Schleswig. The third and final war was the Franco-Prussian war, were France was determined to prevent German Unification.

Bismarck feared a two front war with Russia and Austria-Hungary so he tried to maintain allied with them. After Wilhelm the first died and Wilhelm the second replace him, Germany was on a new track to become a world power. Wilhelm II showed a lot of aggressiveness and it started to worry the European powers. The Wilhelmine era started a lot of conflicts in Europe.

The year was 1870. After years of muted acrimony, France finally declared war on Prussia-what we now know today as Germany. Under Emperor Napoleon III's militaristic guide, France sought to conquer the leading state. Unfortunately, the French bit off more than they can handle. On 2 September 1870, not only did the overpowering German forces conquer the French army in a humiliating defeat, they also lost Alsace and Lorraine.

Austrian pre-dominance ceased, the German Confederation ended and Prussia took control of multiple states (Schleswig, Holstein, Hanover, Hesse-Kassel, Nassau and Frankfurt). The new North German Confederation was formed (under Prussian “control”), incorporating all German states north of the River Main. With Austria at the helm, the German states had been at the mercy of the aggressive foreign policies of the French, Russian and Austrian empires. Under Prussia’s leadership, the German states could face the changes created by advanced industrialisation and form a new, stronger empire to assert European supremacy. In a shrewd tactical move, Bismarck convinced his king not to pursue Austrian territory for Prussia. This was true to Bismarck’s aim of preserving ‘two irons in the fire’ for the future. He reasoned that moderate treatment of his defeated rival would ensure Prussia’s continued ability to occupy her intermediate position between Austria and France. This made it possible for future alliance between Prussia and Austria, especially as Austria felt that Italy was more the aggressor than

WWI was one of the biggest wars in history, and had many effects on many different countries. Germany created a plan called the Schlieffen plan, which was to allow Germany to get into a state of power and become a dominant state. Before the plan, Germany had been in a state of disunity before Otto von Bismarck came into government around in 1871. Germany’s late unification lead to it being behind in European states overall. Germany did however take control over some colonies, it could not compete with its European neighbors.

He provoked three short, decisive wars against Denmark, Austria, and France, aligning the smaller German states behind Prussia in its defeat of France. In 1871 he formed the German Empire with himself as Chancellor, while retaining control of Prussia. His diplomacy of realpolitik and powerful rule at home gained him the nickname the "Iron Chancellor." German unification and its rapid economic growth was the foundation to his foreign policy. He disliked colonialism but reluctantly built an overseas empire when it was demanded by both elite and mass opinion. Juggling a very complex interlocking series of conferences, negotiations and alliances, he used his diplomatic skills to maintain Germany's position and used the balance of power to keep Europe at peace in the 1870s and

Bismark now awaited an opportunity to complete the unification of Germany by bringing the Southern states unto the Northern Confederation. An opportunity arose in 1870 when complex diplomatic negotiations took place to discuss the possibility of a cousin of William I becoming the new King of Spain. The French opposed this and Bismark set out a plan. His plan was to edit the press dispatch to say that the Prussian monarch William I insulted the French ambassador, even though this was false. After that had occurred, France declared war on Prussia on July

Because of these issues, the Seven Weeks war started between Austria and Prussia. Bismarck had already gotten Italian support and French neutrality for Prussia. Prussia made the first move by occupying Holstein, but many German states, including Saxony, Hanover and Bavaria, took Austria’s side. They were suspicious of Prussian military. Despite having support, Austria was defeated at the Battle of Sadowa (Koniggratz). The Treaty of Prague was created in August of that year and excluded Austria from all German affairs. Throughout the process of creating the Treaty, Bismarck made sure that Austria didn’t lose any land. After this, the German Confederation was dissolved and the North German Confederation was formed. The North German Confederation consisted of all of the German states north of the Main river and it was controlled by Prussia. The southern states such as Baden and Bavaria stayed independent, although they had military alliances with Prussia. A main problem that delayed further unification was France, ruled by Napoleon III. The French held a growing idea that a Germany that was united and ruled by Prussia would create competition against France for being the main power in Europe. In 1870,

Bismarck was the key role of German unity in the nineteenth century and one of the chief diplomats and scholars of conservatism in the century. He was famous from great nobles and intellect backgrounds parents which influence him to become a successful Political ideology. Bismarck ruled Prussia during the mid-1800s, his determination and ideology brought power of the Prussian state becoming an absolute country. Bismarck deserted his ideology of progressive conservatism. Bismarck's devotion to the continuation of the approaches of existing governments was an ideology that numerous would influence to. His thoughts of revolutionary conservatism turned into a powerful and suitable arrangement that would structure the German Empire and turn into

Otto von Bismarck was the prime minister of Prussia and later became the first chancellor of the German Empire in which he initiated. When the German Empire was established, Bismarck was adept in representing its domestic and foreign policies. According to Kissinger (1968) this was Bismarck’s legacy in which he was victorious domestically in his pursuit for German unification. Bismarck’s views were more conservative, which he believed maintained the status quo. He did not favor liberalism in the German Confederacy because he believed the common man did not have the right to bargain with nobility. Revolutionary changes were reserved for the educated and the wealthy landowners. Common people such as peasants and crafts workers were subjects to

Until 1866 and the 7 Weeks War, Austria had maintained most of the leadership over the German State as declared by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. The Prussians had a swift victory over Austria in this quick war and a treaty, signed on 23 August 1866, gave Prussia power through the leadership of Otto Von Bismarck. As part of the treaty, Austria remained completely intact, although humiliated. Three of the Catholic states are recognized as independent, but maintain deep economic ties to Germany under Bismarck. Once power has been established over the German State by Prussia, the Franco-Prussian War had a front to begin on. The three catholic states sided with the Prussian King in support of the German Cause and solidify the Empire’s territory. France was defeated almost as quickly as Austria had been only a few years earlier. Although an armistice was reached in Versailles, it

Despite the fact that Italy was unified, it wasn’t as nearly as strong as Germany was becoming. Bismarck joined both authoritarianism and nationalism to increase Prussia’s power. He was a very clever diplomat and used whatever means possible to work towards his goal. Bismarck’s Realpolitiks, the pursuing of realistic goals by any available method instead of the pursuit of an ideology. Bismarck never wanted to have enemies for long and hoped to pacify the Liberals with foreign policy achievement, notably the unification of Germany. He wanted to exclude Austria from the unification process. This led to the Austria-Prussian and Franco-Prussian wars. His plan was successful. Even with the fact south German states were reluctant to join in his unification because of strong religious and political traditions. After the overpowering of France in 1871 the southern states finally joined. This was the defeat the brought them together.