Germany

                                        Causes of the 1848-49 Revolutions

Germany in 1815 was not a unified country but a series of different states within the German Confederation. These states united in the mid-19th century through several factors, including the impact of Metternich's system.

Impact of Metternich’s System

Before the Napoleonic Wars, Germany was part of the Holy Roman Empire, a collection of semi-independent states under the Austrian emperor. The Empire collapsed in 1806 due to Napoleon's invasion, who then reorganized the west German states into the Confederation of the Rhine.

The French armies introduced Enlightenment ideas, emphasizing reason and sweeping away outdated structures, replacing German states' laws with their legal system. German thinkers reacted by emphasizing their culture. Romantic writers valued emotion and imagination, exploring German history. J.G. Herder's concept of Volksgeist ('spirit of the people') suggested each nation has its identity based on shared heritage and language. These ideas fostered a sense of German nationhood and unity against French occupation.

Prussia reorganized its government and army after being defeated by Napoleon. They then joined with Austria and Russia to expel French forces. The Battle of Leipzig in 1813 was a major defeat for Napoleon, and fostered national pride. It was commemorated with a 91-metre high monument, even though German-speaking troops fought on both sides.

Post-War Settlement

In September 1814, European nations met in Vienna to address war issues and establish new boundaries. Austria, Prussia, Britain, and Russia were the most important states represented. France attended but had no decision-making powers. The leaders were conservatives who aimed to restore stability, recreate the rule of old royal families and viewed liberalism and nationalism as threats.

Prince Klemens von Metternich, the Austrian foreign minister, was a significant individual at the Congress. The Austrian Empire had 25 million people and spanned 647,000 square kilometers. It comprised Austria, Hungary, and other territories with diverse ethnic groups. The ‘Metternich System’ maintained absolute monarchy in Austria and similar systems elsewhere. Metternich was suspicious of change and saw ‘liberty’ and ‘equality’ as sources of evil. He feared nationalism would collapse the empire. He avoided stationing troops in their home regions to prevent nationalist opposition. His policy relied on press censorship and secret agents who spied on political radicals. The Metternich System maintained peace in Europe but fueled resentment.

Metternich served as Austria's foreign minister from 1809 to 1848 and chancellor from 1821 to 1848. He formed the alliance of Austria, Prussia, and Russia that defeated Napoleon in 1813–14 and aimed to suppress liberalism and nationalism. He fell from power in 1848 and went into exile, but returned to Austria in 1851, and never again played an important role in politics. Metternich stated of himself that ‘error has never approached my spirit’.

The German Confederation

The Metternich System reorganized Germany into a confederation of 39 states under Austria's control. These states varied in size and were not united to avoid such a development. The Confederation was based on the old Holy Roman Empire boundaries, including non-Germans and excluding some German-speaking areas. A conference of ambassadors, known as the Diet, met in Frankfurt. The Diet controlled foreign policies, but individual rulers managed internal affairs, and the Confederation never developed a strong identity. An attempt to create a federal defense force failed in 1821 because of conflict over command and funding.

The Confederation's structure maintained Austria's power over the German states. The Diet was chaired by Austria, which had a veto over constitutional changes and support from southern states like Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden, and Hesse-Darmstadt, which were culturally closer to Austria due to their Catholic populations. These southern states granted constitutions with civil rights but retained real power. Most German princes governed authoritatively, following Metternich's lead.

Prussia, a mainly rural state in the north-east, was ruled by King Friedrich Wilhelm III and supported by the Junkers, a conservative landowning class who formed the Prussian army's officer corps. In 1815, Prussia gained territory, including the industrialized Rhineland. Its population doubled to over 10 million. However, Prussia did not challenge Austria for the domination of Germany at this stage. Both Prussia and Austria had an interest in preventing political change in Germany through their conservative, monarchical governments.

Influence of Liberal Ideas

Liberalism in the Metternich System was an ideology of educated middle-class people, including business individuals and professionals. The business class was concentrated in the Rhineland cities and ports. They controlled small workshops or employed domestic workers. In Prussia, they benefited from the removal of traditional guilds' privileges. Successful individuals had civic responsibility and became leaders. Middle-class men acquired university education, which was the gateway to the professions. Germany’s university population doubled between 1817 and 1831. The middle class experienced exclusion from the upper social order, which was dominated by the aristocracy. In Prussia, the Junker class controlled higher positions in the army and civil service. The middle classes desired access to public service careers made liberal ideas attractive. Liberals wanted countries to have representative assemblies elected by property-owning people, with constitutional monarchy as their preferred form of government. They wanted guarantees of freedom, such as the rights to free speech and fair trials. They wanted to implement laissez-faire economics, in which trade and business functioned without government interference.

Liberals believed that, if given freedom, people would improve their circumstances, and this would help society as a whole to achieve progress. The influence of liberal ideas among the wider population seems unlikely, with only a few well-off, educated people being reached. Some liberals took their ideas to working-class areas, for example in Hamburg. However, workers who were interested in political ideas tended to be radicals who favored the creation of a democratic republic.

The concepts of liberalism, conservatism, and radicalism had differing views on human nature, society, and politics and were supported by different groups in society.

Nationalist Ideas

Nationalists believed that people of the same race, language, culture, or history should be united in an independent nation. Support for national unity in Germany was limited to literate, professional people and student associations. Most ordinary Germans felt loyalty to their region. Communications were poor, and people lived and died in the same area. There was little desire to see the creation of strong central government, which might impose additional taxes and interfere with civil liberties. There was a common language and culture, but there was no religious unity. The southern states were mainly Catholic. Also, Prussia proper was largely Protestant. The industrialised Rhineland was economically very different from the agricultural regions to the south and east. Newspapers mainly concerned themselves with local rather than all-German issues.

A sense of German cultural nationalism first emerged in the late 18th and early 19th centuries in reaction to the invasions by France. Between 1815 and 1848, these ideas filtered through to the educated middle classes. In the cities, some workers were influenced by more radical democratic ideals, based on the sovereignty of the people, but they remained a minority of the population.

Conservative Reaction to Nationalism

Metternich contained liberal and nationalist movements after the Congress of Vienna. In August 1819, Metternich secured the agreement of the main German states for the repressive Carlsbad Decrees:

• Each university had an ‘extraordinary commissioner’ to supervise teaching and remove liberal professors.

• Unauthorized student organizations were dissolved.

• The member states of the Confederation, and the Diet, were to censor the newspaper press.

• A central investigating commission was set up in Mainz to investigate liberal and nationalist movements.

Liberalism took stronger hold across Germany, especially in the south. In response to the revolution that occurred in Paris in July 1830, rulers were obliged to grant constitutions in small German states. Increased press freedom allowed more criticism of governments. In May 1832, nationalists organized the Hambach Festival in Bavaria, where liberal and nationalist ideas were openly discussed. A group called Young Germany was established, which called for a united Germany based on liberal principles. Metternich reacted to these developments with predictable harshness by persuading the princes to accept a new round of repressive measures. The Six Articles of June 1832 limited the rights of elected assemblies in states, and declared the supremacy of federal law. The Ten Articles, passed the following month, banned political meetings and festivals. It was illegal to wear the colors of the student associations in scarves and ties.

There was never a real danger of revolution in Germany, as the liberals and nationalists were too few, and Austria could always count on its control of the Confederation and the support of Prussia in suppressing opposition. In 1837, the new king of Hanover, Ernest Augustus, abolished the constitution and seven professors who objected lost their posts at the University of Göttingen. The ‘Göttingen Seven’ included Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, two famous brothers whose collection of traditional folk tales helped to promote a sense of German culture. Most of the princes ensured that they kept the levers of power in their hands when they granted constitutions, restricting the vote to wealthy property owners or using indirect voting. These devices restricted public opinion.

In Prussia a new king, Friedrich Wilhelm IV, succeeded to the throne in 1840. He relaxed censorship and gave greater powers to the provincial Diets or assemblies, but he rejected demands for a single parliament for all Prussian territories.

Friedrich Wilhelm IV became king of Prussia in 1840. He was a romantic and conservative. He was unable to rule for the last three years of his reign as a result of a stroke, and the country was governed by his younger brother, Wilhelm I, as regent.

Impact of Zollverein

One of the most important factors in the long-term development of a united Germany was the economic progress made in the first half of the 19th century. Germany’s geographical location was an advantage because it meant Germany could trade easily with both east and west. Something like $70\%$ of the population still made their living from agriculture. The main growth areas were in the production of consumer goods such as textiles. Heavy manufacturing began to take off from the 1840s, with the rapid development of railways, especially in Prussia. Railway building attracted capital investment and stimulated the coal and iron industries. In the years after the end of the Napoleonic Wars, economic growth was held back by the existence of customs barriers between the members of the German Confederation.

In 1818, Prussia abolished its 67 internal customs barriers because they hindered trade, and it encouraged other German states to do the same. It protected its own industries from foreign competition by implementing low tariffs on imports. The Prussians worked to remove barriers to trade within the German Confederation in order to create a larger market and reduce the price of goods. Steamboat services on the Rhine and Elbe rivers also helped the growth of the Prussian economy.

Zollverein and the Rise of Prussia

By 1834, Prussia had formed the Zollverein, a customs union of 18 German states. This was the largest free-trade area in Europe, soon comprising 25 states, with a combined population of 26 million. Income from tariffs was divided between the member states in proportion to their population size. They were soon linked by a rapidly growing rail network, centred on Berlin, and in time they adopted a common currency and system of weights and measures. The Zollverein promoted economic expansion for all its members.

Austria did not join, failing to perceive the importance of economic change and preferring to maintain high import duties to protect its domestic producers from the perceived threat of foreign competitors. Austria preferred to rely on trade within its empire and did not want to lower its tariffs to the level of those within the Zollverein. In turn, Prussia became determined not to allow Austria to join the Zollverein later, in order to maintain its own advantageous position. It also meant that German economic growth was centred on the ports of the North Sea rather than directed southwards to the valley of the River Danube.

The Zollverein helped Prussia assume a predominant economic position within Germany, but decisions in its governing body, the Zollverein Congress, had to be unanimous. Nationalists hoping that the Zollverein might provide a basis for political union were disappointed. Some favored a ‘large Germany’ which would include German-speaking regions of Austria, and which would be dominated by Austria. Others preferred a small Germany without those regions, which would therefore be dominated by Prussia.

The main obstacles to German unification included: social and economic problems, political obstacles, and religious and cultural differences.

Social and Economic Problems in the 1840s

The year 1848 is known as the ‘year of revolutions’. The disturbances began in February with the toppling of the monarchy of King Louis Philippe in France. Continuing poor living standards for the peasants in the countryside were made worse by high rents and two years of bad harvests in 1846 and 1847. Table 3.1 gives some indication of the rate of growth across the period:

Rising food prices worsened the position of urban workers, especially as they coincided with a recession in the textile industry in 1847. The economic downturn led employers to cut wages. The poorest workers’ protests in early 1848 were mainly about their daily lives and were not explicitly political in character. Skilled workers, however, went beyond these basic demands to call for trade union rights and free education.

Outbreak of Revolution in Germany

Educated middle-class people were motivated by a desire to improve their own position as well as being influenced by ideas of liberalism and nationalism. They resented the hold on power of the privileged nobility. These middle-class liberals did not want to overthrow the monarchical regimes in power in the German states, but they did want to put pressure on their rulers to introduce political reforms. They first expressed themselves in Baden, where Grand Duke Leopold granted a free press, trial by jury and other reforms. In October 1847, liberal politicians demanded further political changes, including the summoning of a German national parliament. They wanted to replace the German Confederation with a genuinely united Germany.

The uprisings in the German states were uncoordinated but shared certain characteristics. Demands for a bill of rights were accepted by the princes of Hesse-Darmstadt, Nassau and other states. The only German ruler who gave up his throne was Ludwig I of Bavaria. A meeting at Heidelberg in March 1848 led to the summoning of a Vorparlament or ‘pre- parliament’. It met in Frankfurt and resolved to create a national constituent assembly or parliament, whose role would be to draw up a constitution for a united Germany. Each state in the German Confederation would be asked to hold elections to this parliament, using its own voting system.

Revolution in Prussia

The Prussian government had decided to build a railway linking the agricultural lands of the east to markets further afield, but it needed to raise money to do this. King Friedrich Wilhelm IV called a national assembly in April 1847 to win support for the project. The Diet demanded a constitution before they would consider the king’s appeal. Friedrich Wilhelm turned them down and dissolved the Diet. Disturbances broke out in Prussia’s capital city, Berlin, in March 1848, encouraged by news of the fall of Metternich in Vienna. The first demonstrations involved craftsmen and workers, who were protesting about their pay and conditions. This was followed by demands from middle-class citizens for the protection of their rights. Following a period of street fighting, the army lost control of the situation, leaving the king to attempt to calm the demonstrators. This was the start of the revolution in Prussia.

Most of the German revolutions were not violent. In the months after March 1848, the political demands of the liberals came to the fore. The lack of common ground between working-class and middle-class revolutionaries was a fundamental weakness of the movement. The period 1815–48 also saw the emergence of Prussia as a major state within the German Confederation. Its role in the development of the Zollverein was a source of future development, which might enable it to compete with its only rival, Austria, for the leadership of a united Germany. It was not clear in 1848, however, that a united Germany would definitely come about. Prussia’s king, Friedrich Wilhelm IV, was ambivalent about the new forces of liberalism and nationalism. Moreover, Austria still remained the senior partner within the Confederation in terms of its political and diplomatic standing.

Consequences of the 1848–49 Revolutions

Initial Responses of the German States

The princely rulers, alarmed by the strength of popular feeling in the spring of 1848, made concessions in the short term by granting constitutions, but they retained control of their armed forces and waited until the right moment to reassert their authority. Prussia also offered military assistance to end the revolts in other states.

Weaknesses of the Revolutions

In most cases, the recovery of royal power was made possible by divisions within the revolutionary movements. Liberals differed from radicals, and working-class revolutionaries had little in common with middle-class liberals. Liberals were unwilling to continue their support for protests which might develop into a radical social revolution. Another important reason for the ultimate failure of the revolutions was the recovery of the Austrian monarchy.

Friedrich Wilhelm IV and Prussia

After the rioting in Berlin in March 1848, Friedrich Wilhelm appeared in public and declared that ‘henceforward Prussia will be merged in Germany’. In the immediate aftermath of the revolution, Friedrich Wilhelm allowed the election of an assembly, whose purpose was to draw up a constitution for Prussia. He then changed his mind and dissolved the assembly. In December 1848, he announced a more restrictive political settlement of his own. The new constitution, which came into effect in February 1850, established a two-chamber parliament but enabled the king to retain the essentials of power in his own hands. The voting system was designed to favour conservative interests, guaranteeing the continuing political dominance of the Junkers.

Frankfurt Parliament

The most dramatic consequence of the revolutions was the election of a national parliament, which met in Frankfurt from May 1848 to June 1849. The parliament’s members were mostly liberal in politics, although there were also small numbers of radicals who wanted a republic. The parliament wanted a strong central government. In June 1848, the parliament set up a ‘Provisional Central Power’ under a liberal Austrian prince, the Archduke Johann, which was to govern until a permanent constitution had been agreed. In December, the parliament approved 50 fundamental citizens’ rights. It had still not agreed on a constitution to replace the interim government headed by the archduke.

The Frankfurt Parliament had several key weaknesses. Its members could not agree on the territorial extent of a new Germany. There was debate in the parliament about conflicting proposals for a Kleindeutschland, dominated by Prussia, and a Grossdeutschland, which would mean the continued leadership of Austria. The parliament agreed on a German constitution in March 1849, agreeing that an emperor would govern with the support of two houses of parliament. The crown of this empire was offered to Friedrich Wilhelm IV, who rejected the offer in April, declining a gift from the Frankfurt Parliament.

Failure of the Frankfurt Parliament

The parliament’s members lacked political experience. They struggled to resolve differences between moderate liberals, radicals and conservatives. The parliament lacked the means of enforcing any decisions it made, as it lacked its own army. The German princes did not initially oppose the parliament because their own authority had been weakened by the revolutionary events of spring 1848. By the autumn, however, they were recovering their confidence. The delay in working out a constitution was fatal to the parliament’s chances of success. By the time it was ready to present its proposals, its opponents had regained their strength. The princes mostly withdrew their constitutions after Friedrich Wilhelm’s refusal of the crown. Most of the members of the parliament went home and were dispersed by troops in June 1849. This marked the failure of middle-class liberalism to establish a united Germany.

Reassertion of Austrian Power

The Prussian monarchy survived the crisis of 1848–49 intact. Friedrich Wilhelm IV was interested in promoting unity in northern and central Germany under Prussian control. In 1849–50, he put forward a plan for a union of German states based on assembly elected on a limited franchise, and Prussian control of the army. Austria was to be excluded but would be in a special relationship with this new Reich. The Revolution of 1848–49 had been only a temporary interruption to Austria’s status at the head of the Confederation.

As Austria recovered from the revolution in Vienna, it reacted to the Prussian-led Erfurt Union project by reviving the Diet of the Confederation. Austria had a new and able chief minister, Prince Felix Schwarzenberg, who was determined to uphold the authority of the Habsburg monarchy. In the so-called ‘humiliation of Olmütz’ in November 1850, Prussia agreed to abandon the Erfurt Union. It seemed that Austria had triumphed and that the old, unequal partnership with a ‘humiliated’ Prussia had been restored. The result, in May 1851, was an agreement to return to the old framework of the German Confederation.

Overall, the experience of 1848–49 had demonstrated the weakness of liberal nationalism. The reassertion of princely power showed the resilience of long-established institutions. The revolutions had been unplanned and their leaders lacked the necessary organisation and resources to achieve their goals. Moreover, the division over aims and methods between liberals and radicals was fatal to their chances of success.

Prussia’s prospects

Austria was tied down by the need to control nationalist movements in Hungary and northern Italy. Britain and France went to war with Russia, fearing that it was planning to extend its influence in south-east Europe at the expense of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire. Austria made a major diplomatic mistake by not backing Russia. If further change occurred in Germany, it was now much less likely that Russia would intervene on Austria’s side. On the other hand, the war had no real effect on Prussia, whose interests were not directly involved.

Economic Developments after 1849

Prussia was the most economically advanced of the German states, with its growth outpacing that of its rival, Austria. Between 1850 and 1860, Prussia’s rail network increased by $46\%$. The output of coal, a vital resource in the age of steam power, grew from $1,961,000$ tonnes in 1850 to $8,526,000$ tonnes by 1865. Prussia was in a strong position to lead German unification by the end of the 1850s. The rapid growth of its population, coupled with its successful banking system and coinage, meant that it was well placed economically to dominate its neighbours. Its iron and steel industries provided the materials for its weapons and its expanding rail network could be used to mobilise its troops. Growing numbers of the middle classes began to look to the Prussian state as a possible agent of unification.

In 1859, many business and professional people came together to found the National Society, or Nationalverein, an organisation which placed its hopes in Prussia. The society’s founding document called for nationwide elections and the creation of a strong national authority, replacing the Confederation. However, the society was never likely to become the centre of a mass movement. It had only 25 000 members, mostly from the middle classes, so its actual influence was relatively limited. Austria was hit hard by the onset of an economic downturn in the late 1850s, and the costs of maintaining military garrisons throughout its empire added to its problems. It lacked direct access to the most rapidly growing trade routes in Germany, the ones that led northwards to the Baltic and the North Sea.

Zollverein in the 1850s

One of the most important features of the 1850s was the continued growth of the Zollverein. Hanover became a member in 1851, which enabled Prussia to control the flow of trade to the North Sea ports. The Zollverein was by now Europe’s fourth largest economy, after Britain, France and Belgium. Despite this, however, we should not exaggerate the importance of the Zollverein to the process of political unification.

Otto von Manteuffel’s Reforms

Otto von Manteuffel was Minister-President of Prussia from 1850 to 1858. He was a conservative who wanted to strengthen the bonds between the monarchy and the people. His aim was to promote economic and social development, without making concessions to radicals. He helped to foster a culture of private enterprise by reducing state control of the coal and iron industries. Manteuffel sought to discourage the poorer members of society from supporting liberal ideas by undertaking social reforms. His government provided low-interest loans to help peasants buy their landholdings from the landowning aristocracy. All this was achieved without the involvement of parliament and without harming the interests of the industrial middle classes.

As the 1850s drew to a close, the ‘German problem’ remained unresolved. Prussia had made great strides in terms of its economic development, and it possessed a strong state structure, which gave it the potential to challenge Austria for the leadership of Germany. Friedrich Wilhelm IV and his successor, Wilhelm I, presided over an exclusively German kingdom, whereas Austria had a sprawling empire to manage and many problems outside Germany which might distract it. Prussia still had significant limitations, however. Its army was in need of modernisation and it could not count on the support of many of the smaller German states. Moreover, any move to dislodge Austria from its position would depend on the attitude of the other great powers. It was by no means a foregone conclusion at this stage that Prussia would emerge a decade later as the centre of a united Germany.

Change and continuity

German economic development, the strength of the German nationalist movement, and the relative power of Prussia and Austria all saw significant change between 1815 and 1860.

Bismarck’s Intentions from 1862 to 1866

Reasons for Bismarck’s Appointment

Wilhelm I became regent of Prussia in 1858 and king in 1861. He aimed to strengthen the army, leading to a constitutional crisis. The liberals, the majority in the Landtag, opposed the military budget increase. The king faced a dilemma. He considered abdication rather than give up any of his royal powers. Otto von Bismarck became involved in events.

Bismarck was the son of a Junker landowner and a mother who came from a middle-class family of officials and lawyers. When the German states were united in 1871, Bismarck was the first chancellor of Germany. He helped expand the German Empire and had great power until forced from office following a dispute with Kaiser (Emperor) Wilhelm II in 1890.

He defended the monarchy against the liberals in the 1848 revolution. Bismarck served as a diplomat in the Diet of the Confederation in 1851. In 1859, he was appointed Prussian ambassador to Russia. In the summer of 1862, he was transferred to Paris. Bismarck was recalled to Berlin to serve as Minister-President because Albrecht von Roon, the minister of war, believed that Bismarck had the strength of personality and intelligence to overcome the budgetary crisis. In the tense situation which had developed by September 1862, it was hoped that Bismarck could find a way of financing the army reforms while averting the loss of any royal powers.

Bismarck’s Attitude toward German Unification

Germany unification was the result of a series of short wars in which Bismarck was the key player. Prussia fought against Denmark in 1864, Austria in 1866 and France in 1870–71. However, historians disagree about the extent to which Bismarck set out from the first to unify Germany.

Bismarck said that his first task was to reorganize the army and after that he would ‘take the first opportunity to declare war with Austria, break the German Confederation, bring the middle and smaller German states under control, and give Germany a national union under Prussia’s leadership.’ The alternative interpretation is that Bismarck was primarily concerned with the interests of Prussia. He did not believe in German nationalism for its own sake but only as a way of advancing Prussia’s power. Bismarck was determined that if German unification took take place, then it should work to Prussia’s advantage. This meant a Kleindeutschland solution. He knew it was unlikely that Austria and Prussia would ever agree to divide Germany between them, and that a conflict between the two was almost unavoidable. This suggests that he was good at making use of opportunities as they arose.

Impact on Prussian Politics

Bismarck was loyal to the monarchy, yet also prepared to push policies through against the king’s wishes. Bismarck resolved the army reform crisis by collecting taxes without parliamentary agreement to a budget. Bismarck’s intended to show the liberals that they had common ground with him. They wanted to see German unity come about at the expense of Austria, and Bismarck wanted to show them that their aims could only be achieved with a strong army. He said that the great questions of the time are decided not by speeches and majority resolutions, but by iron and blood, reinforcing his image as a ruthless politician. He undertook repressive measures, including censorship of the press, showing contempt for the liberal belief in the rule of law. Bismarck and the Progressives in the Landtag were in conflict over army reform, and they had little in common with each other. In further elections in 1863, the Progressives won $40\%$ of the seats in parliament, but they could not prevent Bismarck from governing without their consent.

Bismarck and the Prussian Army

The Prussian army was considered an honorable occupation for men of noble families. The training of army officers was well organised, requiring their attendance at a military academy for three years. Bismarck had support of army leaders – Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke, chief of the general staff, and Albrecht von Roon, the minister of war. Moltke modernised training methods and understood how important railways could be to transport soldiers and supplies. He was chief of the Prussian general staff from 1857 to 1871 and then of the German general staff until his retirement in 1888.

Policies Towards Austria: War with Denmark and Austria

Bismarck’s main aim in 1862–66 was to make Prussia the dominant power in northern Germany by excluding Austria from the region. He was determined that any fighting would take place at a time of his own choosing, when he had ensured Austria’s isolation and was confident of success.

War with Denmark

The cause of the war with Denmark was a dispute over the duchies of Schleswig-Holstein. In 1863, a new Danish king, Christian IX, proposed the incorporation of Schleswig into Denmark. This angered the German Confederation. Nationalists put forward a German prince, Duke Frederick of Augustenburg, as a rival candidate for the position of Duke of Schleswig- Holstein. Bismarck wanted to secure the two duchies for Prussia. Denmark’s big mistake was to believe that Austria and Prussia would not cooperate with each other, even in the face of a common enemy. Bismarck was also confident that other European powers would not intervene in the crisis. France would almost certainly remain neutral. Britain did not possess a large enough army and did not regard the outcome of the crisis as a vital national interest. Nor was Russia likely to help Denmark.

Russia improved Prussia and relations by gave diplomatic support to Tsar Alexander II in repressing a revolt in Poland. Prussia and Austria joined forces to wage a swift war against Denmark in January 1864. An armistice was arranged in the hope of finding an agreed solution. Denmark’s refusal to consider a compromise, such as the partition of Schleswig, lost it any remaining international sympathy. Fighting resumed in June, leading to a final defeat for Denmark and the surrender of both duchies to Prussia and Austria. It was now up to Austria and Prussia to decide the long-term future of the duchies. He therefore concluded the Gastein Convention in August 1865 – a temporary agreement. It was agreed that Holstein would be administered by Austria, and Schleswig by Prussia.

Preparing for War with Austria

Bismarck was largely responsible for the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. He began to seek foreign allies in the hope of isolating his enemy. Bismarck sought foreign allies.

At Biarritz in October 1865, Emperor Napoleon III decided to remain neutral, but made it a condition that Prussia would hand Venetia to Italy after the war. He wanted an outcome which left neither state as the dominant power in northern Germany. In April 1866, Bismarck concluded a secret treaty which committed Italy to follow Prussia in going to war with Austria within a three-month period. This meant that Bismarck now had to act without delay in order to benefit from this time-limited commitment. Public opinion in Prussia was against the conflict. Public opinion in Prussia was against the conflict.

Napoleon III (1808–73) was the nephew of Napoleon (I) Bonaparte, whose achievements he sought to imitate. He was toppled by a revolution triggered by his defeat in the Franco-Prussian War. He died in exile in Britain just over two years later.

Austro-Prussian War

Surprisingly, when war finally broke out in 1866, the Prussians took only seven weeks to secure a victory.

Austria knew that its army was slow to mobilise, so it made the first move to avoid being caught unawares. This enabled its opponents to depict it as the aggressor. In early June, the Austrian government asked the Diet of the German Confederation to review the Schleswig-Holstein question, which Bismarck condemned as a breach of the Gastein Convention. Prussia then sent forces into Holstein, whereupon Austria called on the Confederation for support. When Hanover, Hesse and Saxony sided with Austria, Bismarck invaded them, rapidly overrunning their territory.

The Seven Weeks’ War saw just one major decisive battle, at Königgrätz in Bohemia. The Prussian army, commanded by Moltke, headed southwards in three sections into Bohemia. Moltke’s plan was to use the rail network to move his forces rapidly in the direction of the main Austrian army, and for them to converge on the battlefield. He had five railway lines at his disposal to move his troops, whereas Austria had only one line, from Vienna to Bohemia.

Another technological development of the mid-19th century, the electric telegraph, helped Moltke to direct the advance. Training and transport helped the Prussians to victory as they were well prepared and had better officers. An Austrian general later observed that ‘wars now happen so quickly that what is not ready at the outset will not be made ready in time … and a ready army is twice as powerful as a half-ready one.’ The Austrians lacked an effective command structure and, with the exception of Saxony, were unable to combine the forces of the smaller states with their own. The Prussian standard weapon was an early form of bolt-action rifle known as the Dreyse rifle, which could fire seven shots a minute. This gave the Prussians an advantage over the old-fashioned rifle muskets used by the Austrians, which could manage only two shots per minute.

Treaty of Prague

The peace terms were established in the Treaty of Prague, but they were not harsh. Bismarck had no desire to humiliate Austria by seeking concessions other than granting Venetia to Italy. The treaty allowed Bismarck to replace the Austrian-dominated German Confederation with the North German Confederation. This was not an association of free states, but a political