Napoleon created the German Confederacy (38 states):
- 5 kingdoms (Hanover, Prussia, Saxony, Wurttemberg, and Bavaria)
- small duchies and cities
- common, federal assembly
- Prussia proposed a national market with unified tariffs, weights, and law codes (zollverein, 1818-1853)

1. Bismarck and German unification

1861: William I - king of Prussia ==>
reintroduction of the regular draft ==>
modernization of the army
1862: government led by chancellor Otto von Bismarck ==> Prussia against Austria

2. Stages of unification:

1. war with Denmark (1864)
2. war with Austria (1866)
3. war with France (1870-1)

(1) Prussia and Austria ask Denmark to withdraw from Schleswig and Holstein
(2) 1866: Austria rejects the annexation of Schleswig by Prussia ==> Prussia occupies Holstein as well ==> war with Austria

Summer 1866: Prussia allied with Italy ==> July 1866: Sadowa: Austrian armies crushed
Austria ==> lost its hegemony within
                    the German confederacy
            ==> political crises ==> Franz Joseph forced to accept a compromise (Ausgleich) with Hungarian nationalists ==> rise of Austria-Hungary ==> Hungary incorporates Croatia and Transylvania

(3) 1866-7: Prussia implements a North German Confederation:
    > common constitution
    > ruled by Prussia
    > common lower house (Reichstag)

1870: Napoleon III declares war to Prussia ==> Prussian armies crushed the French ==> Sedan: Napoleon III's surrender ==> Prussian armies occupy Paris

January 18, 1871: at Versailles, William I is proclaimed emperor (Kaiser) of the German empire (Reich)

1871: Peace treaty at Frankfurt:
    > Germany annexed Alsace-Lorraine
    > France forced to pay huge war indemnities

1870s: Germany is a major European power
 

               German Constitution
 

                      Kaiser
     command                  appoints
      over
      \/                                   \/
   Army                         Chancellor
                               leader of             president of
                                                   \/
                          Government

                                                    \/
                                             Bundesrat
            Reichstag                  Federal Council
                           ^                                                  ^
             elects                                 represented in

            People                                States
 

Three elected classes:
    > high taxes (2.5 percent)
    > moderate taxes (12 percent)
    > commoners (no women)(85.5 percent)