Germany Chapter 1

PART I

Kaiser Wilhelm - was the last King of Prussia after his brother Frederick Wilhelm had passed away. He attempted to strengthen the Prussian army when France and Austria had turned to war due to the unification of Italy and so appointed Bismarck to a form of relative superiority in order to pass a bill of the army's expenses through the approval of Parliament.

Zollverein - a German organization formed to balance out currency and the system of weights and measures soon morphed into the Prussian Customs Union in order to enable internal trade in the Confederation and to expand Prussia's industry. Eventually there was a total of 25 states consisting of a population of 26 million people who joined the union, yet Austria was excluded. The Union became known as the Zollverein in the middle of the 19th century and sealed economic unity with political unification of the states to soon follow.

Crimean War - Between the years of 1854 and `856 was when Austria was left standing alone after the failure of offering support to Russia, Britain and shortly after, France. Bismarck, being a superior in Prussia, felt obligated in a way to take advantage of the now incapable Germany, therefore persuading them to give in to Prussian rule - this then created the North German Confederation.

Otto von Bismarck - Prussian ambassador (by the word of King Wilhelm) in both Russia and Paris. Bismarck's actions were what led to the final unification of Germany.

The Seven Weeks War - Bismarck is able to manipulate Austria in away that his provocations lead up to war, in which Austria is defeated after seven weeks. Austria had to then accept Prussia's overcome in Germany and agreed to the North German Confederation.

Schleswig and Holstein - These were two territories (duchies, meaning under dukes/dukedom) under Danish sovereign. Holstein being part of the German Confederation consisted mainly of Germans whereas Schleswig, not part of the Confederation, consisted a mixture of both Germans and Danes.

Franco-Prussian War - Bismarck's foreshadowing of the war in 1870 went as planned. Although it was the French under the lead of Napoleon who had declared the war, Germany was able to dominate them in order for the French to forcefully sign the Treaty of Frankfurt, giving the Germans French territories.

The Ems Telegram - a telegram from the King addressed to Bismarck, detailing the meeting with the French ambassador. Bismarck cunningly edited words from the telegram to give a false and worse impression of the French; he had the new telegram published and gained moral suppoer from Southern states.

Alsace and Lorraine - During the Franco-Prussian war, the French territories of Alsace and Lorraine were the new additions to Germany. The French swore and were determined to retrieve their lost lands.

PART II

1. With the rapid expansion of population and nationalism in Europe, people were now defined by their social class. Although old inventions were still in use, throughout the years Europe was becoming slightly more modernized and less agricultural. There were new inventions blooming such as the steam engines (enabling people to travel to cities faster), railways and electricity.

2. The tensions that disrupted the passivity in Europe were mainly due to nationalism and ethnicity, although there were hints of political and economical feuds.

3. The Zollverein was mainly successful because it was able to maintain political independence to the many states that seeked to join; this eventually aided with the unification of Germany's states. Since the bond in the economic unity was solid, they found no regret in enabling political unity. This seemingly intact organization however excluded the powerful state of Austria, a known rival of Germany.

4. Bismarck could ultimately be blamed for the war since it was his intention to trick Wilhelm. As in other similar cases the usual outcome of an angry leader is war, and the Prussian army was able to trample the French, forcing them into signing the Treaty of Frankfurt giving the territories of Alsace and Lorraine to the Germans. The French became the new known enemies to Germany.

5. Bismarck's leadership, despite his intentions, without Bismarck as a leader there would be no united Germany.

Economy, since the rapid growth of the industry and the form of the Zollverein, the economy of the German Confederation escalated at a faster rate. Prussia was the main European power at the time because the economic growth was the foundation of both Prussia's political and military strengths.

Nationalism, Bismarck

Military buildup, military buildup led to successful wars which aided and brought together the states of Germany.

Provocation of other countries, Bismarck is seen provoking two different countries; if he had not subtly pushed Austria into war with Prussia, there would have been disagreements in the created on the North German Confederation, meaning that many countries such as Saxony would've been excluded from any possible advantages.

6. (Chapter 1 essay)

Throughout unobvious evidence it is understandable that despite Bismarck's intentions, good or bad, Germany would've been unified eventually. Examining Source 16 it is clear that even Meinecke was unsure of Bismarck's actions; in his work he says "...makes it impossible to pass over in silence the query whether the germs of the later evil [i.e. Hitler] were not really implanted in Bismarck's work from the outset..." and by saying this he supports the theory and questionable argument on whether or not Hitler being involved was indeed part of his initial plan.

On another note, Source 24 states otherwise about Bismarck. The united German Nation although powerful became increasingly weakened after Bismarck's rule. Eyck believes this was so because Bismarck had cruel intentions, this is stated from a quote in his source "...It is therefore no mere chance that his work did not last..." it does not seem to be a coincidence of the downfall. Reading these four sources which are relatively indifferent to eachother, readers can see that Germany could have in fact been united without the actions or intentions of Bismarck, but with him leading he did infact assist in the unity of the states.