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Germany's flag in 1871

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This videos gives a brief summary of the rising empire of Prussia and how they grew there empire while trying to unify Germany.

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This is a map of Germany in 1871 the red is there teritory.

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This piece of art is romanticism its showing a feeling.

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This article explains how in able to unify all the Germán states they needed war and what ovb's thinking on how to unite them.

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A statue of 19th-century statesman Otto von Bismarck stands in Berlin. He believed that only war against an external enemy could unify 39 disparate states into modern Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Germany became a nation - the Second Reich - on Jan. 17, 1871. The ceremony to mark unification took place not in Munich, Frankfurt or Berlin, but at the Palace of Versailles. That setting was an indication of the new nation's fragility. Otto von Bismarck, the architect of unification, understood that to hold the ceremony in a German city would foment jealousy among the fractious states that had reluctantly agreed upon unity. Versailles instead symbolized something distinctly German: namely, victory in the war against France.

Bismarck insisted that unity could be forged only in war. A common struggle against an external enemy would turn Bavarians, Saxons and Prussians into Germans. He engineered three unifying wars: first against Denmark in 1864, then against Austria in 1866 and finally against France in 1870. Before those conflicts, "Germany" was a loose collection of 39 states unable to agree on much of anything. Distinctiveness was the stuff of pride. As Katja Hoyer writes in " Blood and Iron: The Rise and Fall of the German Empire," the new nation was "a mosaic, hastily glued together with the blood of its enemies."

A nation forged in war, however, required perpetual conflict to preserve that tenuous unity. When Germans looked outward they felt genuinely German; when they looked inward, they perceived myriad points of conflict. Ancient chauvinisms were exacerbated by modern incongruities - between rich and poor, Protestant and Catholic, rural and urban, socialist and conservative. For disparate Germans to come together required a common sense of embattlement. "The system fell because it was flawed from the outset," argues Hoyer, "built on foundations of war, not fraternity."

Unification was a work of genius that required a genius to make it work. Bismarck was a cacophony of contradictions: an autocrat who fostered democracy, a fierce Prussian who promoted German nationalism, an ultraconservative who courted socialists, a warmonger who mastered diplomacy. His strength lay in his willingness to defy his own political instincts. Under his supposedly conservative guidance, Germany developed the most advanced social welfare system in the world. Contradictions were tolerated in the pragmatic interest of a strong nation. That was the essence of Bismarckian realpolitik.

Bismarck was fortunate to be left alone to craft his vision, free from monarchical meddling. Kaiser Wilhelm I was a die-hard Prussian who despised the notion of German unity. For him, that ceremony at Versailles was "the unhappiest day of my life" because it led to "the burial of the Prussian monarchy." He was therefore content to let his chancellor shape the new nation in the manner he saw fit.

Bismarck's autonomy lasted until 1888, when Wilhelm II assumed the throne. In stark contrast to his grandfather, the new kaiser believed fervently in German nationalism and demanded "our place in the sun." For Bismarck, that promised disaster. Wilhelm, he argued, was a "hothead [who] could not hold his tongue, was susceptible to flatterers, and was capable of plunging Germany into a war without knowing what he was doing."

Hoyer describes Wilhelm as "whimsical, outrageous and . . . foolish." His antics seem delightfully bizarre until we remind ourselves that he was important and powerful. "The kaiser is like a balloon," Bismarck reflected, "if you don't keep fast hold of the string, you never know where he will be off to." Wilhelm, however, did not want to be tethered. He was a neo-absolutist, a 20th-century monarch with 16th-century instincts. "The will of the King is the highest law," he insisted. "One cannot help but observe similarities to certain modern politicians," Hoyer reflects.

Wilhelm could not tolerate a strong chancellor. As Hoyer writes, he wanted instead a "sock puppet" to implement his every whim. That proved intolerable for Bismarck, who resigned in 1890. The genius gave way to the buffoon. Thereafter, Germany became the kaiser writ large, the nation's aspirations an outgrowth of the kaiser's insecurities. A supremely covetous man, he wanted an empire and a navy because Britain had both. His grandiose desires, writes Hoyer, were eventually achieved, but only "in exchange for diplomatic isolation and looming economic catastrophe."

Wilhelm did not specifically want a world war, but that was the logical outcome of his erratic behavior. This story, Hoyer reflects, ends "where it had started: in blood and iron," but "the First World War proved to be too much blood and iron for the young state."

There's nothing particularly new in this assessment. The most impressive feature of this book is not its thesis but its brevity. Until now, I didn't realize that it was possible to write a short book about Germany. Succinctness is an impressive and sadly undervalued quality in an author. A strict word count is a cruel tyrant; difficult decisions about what goes in have to be made and creativity inevitably curtailed. Hoyer nevertheless manages to pepper her trim narrative with some lovely frills. The mark of a really good short book is its ability to inspire curiosity. "Blood and Iron" achieves just that.

Careless historians often draw a straight line from Bismarck to Hitler. That, Hoyer argues, is "simplistic." There's much to admire in what Bismarck created and Wilhelm ruined. Important elements of the Second Reich survive in today's Germany, a nation widely respected as stable, mature and responsible. What this story reveals is how easily governmental institutions can be destroyed when people are led astray by intoxicating notions of a place in the sun. That, perhaps, is a lesson for us all.

Blood and Iron
The Rise and Fall of the German Empire
By Katja Hoyer

Pegasus.
253 pp. $27.95

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Review | One man, three wars and the creation of Germany

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√How Otto von Bismarck unified fractious states through a shared sense of embattlement.

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Otto von Bismarck was the Germen leader during the unification and was a leader of Prussia before he became kaiser he was great at improvising in war and lead his army to many wins.

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Bismarck was responsible for transforming a collection of small German states into the German empire, and was its first chancellor.

Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck was born into an aristocratic family at Schönhausen, northwest of Berlin, on 1 April 1815. He attended a prestigious school in Berlin followed by the University of Göttingen. He then entered the Prussian civil service but was bored by his job and in 1838 resigned. For nearly a decade, he helped his father manage the family estates.

In 1847, Bismarck married Johanna von Puttkamer, who provided him with stability. It was a year of significant change in his life, when he also embraced the Christian tradition of Lutheranism, and began his political career in the Prussian legislature, where he gained a reputation as an ultra-conservative royalist. In 1851, King Frederick Wilhelm IV appointed Bismarck as Prussian representative to the German Confederation. He then served as ambassador to Russia and France. In 1862, he returned to Prussia and was appointed prime minister by the new king, Wilhelm I.

Bismarck was now determined to unite the German states into a single empire, with Prussia at its core. With Austrian support, he used the expanded Prussian army to capture the provinces of Schleswig and Holstein from Denmark. He then escalated a quarrel with Austria and its German allies over the administration of these provinces into a war, in which Prussia was the victor. Prussia then annexed further territory in Germany.

Unable to persuade the southern German states to join with his North German Confederation, he provoked hostilities with France as a way of uniting the German states together. The German victory in the Franco-Prussian War won over the southern German states, and in 1871 they agreed to join a German empire. Wilhelm I of Prussia became emperor.

As 'chancellor' of the new Germany, Bismarck concentrated on building a powerful state with a unified national identity. One of his targets was the Catholic Church, which he believed had too much influence, particularly in southern Germany. He also worked to prevent the spread of socialism, partly by introducing health insurance and pensions.

Abroad, Bismarck aimed to make the German empire the most powerful in Europe. In 1879, he negotiated an alliance with Austria-Hungary to counteract France and Russia. Italy later joined the alliance. To avoid alienating Britain, Bismarck arranged the two Mediterranean Agreements of 1887, designed to preserve the status quo against a Russian threat.

In 1890, Bismarck resigned after disagreeing with the new emperor, Wilhelm II. He retired to his estate near Hamburg and died there on 30 July 1898.

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Read a biography of Otto von Bismarck - the first chancellor of united Germany.

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The Brazil flag back in 1822

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This video shows how Brazil lead t declaring independence which sparked a two year war for independence from Portugal.

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Brazilian Independence | 3 Minute History

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Map of Brazil back in 1822

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This art is Impressionism its showing you god

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This article shows Dom Pedro's struggle for freedom. How he helped his country gain independence. But it was a relatively bloodless battle of Brazil. They didn't have to do much with Napoleon on their side.

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Dom Pedro: The Struggle for Liberty in Brazil and Portugal, 1798-1834

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The short life of Pedro de Alcântara Francisco António João Carlos Xavier de Paula Miguel Rafael Joaquina José Gonzaga Pascoal Cipriano Serafim de Bragança e Bourbon (1798-1834), mercifully known in history as just plain Pedro, spanned the transition of Brazil from colony to kingdom to empire.

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The Italian flag in 1861

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This describes Italy's unification process. How Emanuel victor II had tried to unify Italy because of all the revolutions. Sent troops to Russia to gain Napoleon as a ally. With this he unified all of Italy with the help

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Old Italy map in 1861.

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Most famous art work of all time the Mona lisa. This is realism because its a portrait

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Victor Emmanuel II Helped in the unification process. Hew was one of the first kings of the fatherland. And brought Germany together.

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Table of Contributors Table of Contents Return to Encyclopedia Home Page

Victor Emanuel II

VICTOR EMMANUEL II (1820-1878) First king (1861-1878) of united Italy and last king of Piedmont-Sardinia (1849-1861). Victor Emmanuel succeeded his father Charles Albert to the throne of Piedmont-Sardinia on March 24, 1849, following the abdication of Charles Albert after two humiliating defeats (1848 and 1849) by Austria. The first task to face the young, inexperienced monarch was making peace with Austria, which he successfully achieved by August 6, 1849, with the signing of the Treaty of Milan. Although opposed to constitutionalism and a believer in unrestrained royal authority, Victor Emmanuel retained the constitution, or Statuto, granted by his father in January 1848. Under the guidance of two able prime ministers Massimo d'Azeglio and then Camillo Benso di Cavour, both veterans of the 1848-49 turmoils, Victor Emmanuel successfully met various crises in the early years of his reign. In the 1850s Piedmont-Sardinia remained the only constitutional state in Italy, a haven for persecuted Italian nationalists and liberals who had been involved in the 1848-49 revolutions. By 1859, assured of military support by Napoleon III of France in the Treaty of Plombières, Piedmont-Sardinia once again went to war with Austria. As a result of this conflict, Austria ceded Lombardy. Successive upheavals in the smaller states of central Italy and Giuseppe Garibaldi's successful campaign in southern Italy against the Neapolitan Bourbons led to the creation of a united Italy. On March 17, 1861, the kingdom of united Italy was proclaimed at Turin, capital of Piedmont-Sardinia, in a national parliament composed of deputies elected from all over the peninsula and the 1848 Statuto extended to all of Italy. Victor Emmanuel became the new country's first king. To the disappointment of many, however, he insisted on retaining his dynastic designation of Victor Emmanuel II, rather than becoming Victor Emmanuel I of Italy.
Emiliana P. Noether
Bibliography

F. Cognasso, ed. Le Lettere di Vittorio Emanuele II. (Turin, 1966).

Denis Mack Smith. Victor Emanuel, Cavour and the Risorgimento. (New York, 1971).

Denis Mack Smith. Italy and Its Monarchy. (New Haven, 1989).

H. McGaw Smyth, "The Armistice of Novara: A Legend of a Liberal King," Journal of Modern History (1935): 141-74.

F. Valsecchi, ed. Le Relazioni diplomatiche fra l'Austria e il Regno di Sardegna (1849-1860). (Rome, 1963).

Table of Contributors Table of Contents Return to Encyclopedia Home Page

JGC revised this file ( http://www.ohiou.edu/~chastain/rz/victorem.htm) on October 27, 2004.

Please E-mail comments or suggestions to chastain@www.ohiou.edu
© 1998, 2004 James Chastain.

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Table of Contributors Table of Contents Return to Encyclopedia Home Page VICTOR EMMANUEL II (1820-1878) First king (1861-1878) of united Italy and last king of Piedmont-Sardinia (1849-1861). Victor Emmanuel succeeded his father Charles Albert to the throne of Piedmont-Sardinia on March 24, 1849, following the abdication of Charles Albert after two humiliating defeats (1848 and 1849) by Austria.