Ah, Germany... What a fascinating country. It burst onto the world stage in the 1870s as the world's most powerful nation, and then was deemed too dangerous to exist and wiped out again in the 1940s. It was rebirthed again in 1990 and is once again one of the most powerful countries in Europe. From my American point of view, I knew very little of Germany's history. I knew that the Hessians in the American Revolution were somehow German. I knew that Martin Luther was German. I knew they were very naughty in World war 2 but that was about it. So, I did some digging. What follows is what I learned. If you enjoy history, you might enjoy this blog. If you don't and were looking for another spiritual-minded one, now's your chance to exit.
Ok, now let's get into it. In the 900s, an empire of sorts was formed. It was called the Holy Roman Empire. It occupied the areas that we know as Germany today. It was a loose collection of little nations who spoke German and agreed on a few things. Martin Luther would have been born in one of those little countries. The Hessians who were in the American Revolution? Britain hired mercenaries from one of these little nations, and those mercenaries were the Hessians. So, we had Germans, but no Germany. This is how things stood until about 1808 when Napoleon saw this empire as neither Holy, Roman, nor much of an Empire. He conquered it and made the whole area his puppet until enough people ganged up on him to beat him. After Napoleon was gone, the little countries remained in a sort of loose alliance situation similar to how they were before him. They called themselves the German Confederation. This brings us to the 1815-1860 range time-wise. Speaking very broadly, because there were many differences, there is one notable difference of interest between the little German states before and after Napoleon. That difference is Prussia. Prussia was now a member of the confederation, it was an independent power before.
Prussia was a big deal. True, they had also been conquered by Napoleon, but, Prussia was possibly the 3rd most powerful nation in Europe after France and Britain. In the 7 Years' War (1756-1763) they held their own against the combined forces of Austria and Russia. So, now to get back on track. We are in 1815. There is no Germany, but, there is a collection of little nations that speak German and agree to work together. 2 of those little nations are vying to be the 3rd most powerful nation in Europe. They are Austria and Prussia. These 2 might not really count as "little". Gradually, the concept of a united German nation begins to become more and more popular. In 1862 a couple of very important things happened. Otto Von Bismarck was appointed minister-president and then foreign minister of Prussia. Ultimately he was both president and overseer of foreign affairs. He answered to the Kaiser, or King as we are used to saying in English. Bismarck was a brash and bold sort but with diplomatic genius, he set about creating a plan that would unite the German-speaking peoples. What happens next is a tad complicated, and I'm not sure I understand it all, but somehow, this all called for war, 3 of them.
There were 2 small German states, held by Denmark. Bismarck convinced Austria to help Prussia get them. They split the 2 states, one went to Prussia, and the other to Austria. Both of these states were in the north. Remember this for what happens next. This all happened in 1864. Bismarck had managed to defeat Denmark very quickly, get exactly what he wanted, but then restrain himself from vanquishing the entire country. He also managed to keep anyone from aiding Denmark through diplomacy.
2 years go by, and during this time tension builds between Austria and Prussia. A desire exists to be the leader amongst the small German states. There can only be one. It's 1866, and Prussia goes to war against Austria. Once again, Bismark pulled a masterstroke and talked others like France into sitting this out, he diplomatically isolated Austria and cut a deal with Italy. They invaded from the south, and he invaded from the north. Prussia had done lots of hard work on their equipment, their strategy, and their logistics. It was a one-sided beatdown again. In fact, this was so short, barely over a month, that it was called the seven weeks war by some. In the aftermath, Austria was made to sign that basically, they wouldn't interfere with Prussia's doings and that the little state Prussia gave to them from Denmark would now be given back to Prussia. Also, Prussia took a couple of other states from Austria.
With these spoils, and with the little states allied to them, Prussia assembled a country, called the North German Confederation. This was now a big German nation, it looked a lot like Germany, but not quite yet. Now, again, Bismarck left Austria intact, he stood against the King of Prussia, who had wanted to march on, and conquer. Bismarck convinced him not to do so. The King of Prussia is now the king of the new German Confederation that Bismarck has just formed. Bismarck sought a quick resolution, a peace that would allow for friendly terms with Austria again. If Austria can be persuaded to be friendly with Prussia, then they probably will not attack Prussia when it is facing off with a giant. Bismarck knew, that eventually, his brand new nation, which he had worked so hard for and even gotten shot for (There was an attempted assassination, but amazingly the bullets seemed to just bounce off his ribs, a miracle? Perhaps.) would have to face off against this giant to fully solidify its status as the great German Empire of Europe. There were still small German states who had not seen the need to join this endeavor, they were bordered by the giant. This giant was France. Everyone was afraid of France. That is, everyone except Bismark.
So, there are small German states that live next to France and south of the North German Confederation. These small German states should join, but there is reason to believe they don't want to. Should he conquer them? No, that would lead to bad feelings, and then his new nation might have a civil war. Bismarck doesn't want a civil war in his new country. No, these little nations need to be incentivized. If they were convinced that France was out to get them, who would they run to for salvation? Why, I'm glad you asked, the North German Confederation of course! France was already deeply troubled by the rise of this new country. They had bad feelings about this and were starting to saber rattle. Things needed to transpire in such a way that France acted aggressively, and the small nations asked Bismarck for help. Not in such a way that Bismarck would be aggressive and cause the small nations to ask France for help. Bismarck waited for his opportunity. It came when the King of the German Confederation had a meeting with the French ambassador and told Bismarck what France was demanding. Bismarck released a statement to the public that somehow managed to make German peoples feel that their king was disrespected and made the French turn absolutely red-hot mad. I'm not sure what the statement was, but now, France was planning to march straight into Germany and march into Berlin to shut them down. (Berlin was Prussia's capital this entire time.) Their army was led by the emperor Napoleon III and was stuck in the past. (We are in the 1870s now.) Prussia has continually improved its artillery, troop deployments, logistics, etc.
The neutral German states come calling for help as Bismarck thought they would. He mixes their soldiers with the Prussians so that they are marching as a united German mass. As things turn out, France put up a better fight than Austria, but not as good a fight as predicted. German forces captured Napoleon III and his entire army, then put Paris under siege. The population was in disbelief and kept trying to deploy reserves, new recruits, and even hot air balloons. (The hot air balloons were to attempt to reach Britain and plead for help.) When they were eating the elephant from the zoo and trying to decide what else from the zoo could be eaten, they finally surrendered. Germany marched into Paris. They drew up some papers. All parties signed, and when the dust settled, all the little German-speaking nations who were in the Holy Roman Empire (except Austria & Switzerland) were part of a brand new nation called the German Empire. Each one had given up their independence, and individual identity to be part of something huge. The year is 1871, and Prussia has voluntarily ceased to exist as a nation, they are now a state inside Germany, and they have replaced themselves with this powerful new empire. France was in shambles. Germany had taken the german speaking nations that they had held control over away. The neutrals had come along because they wanted to. France was required to make payments to Germany. Germany did send food to Paris, and they did give France their country back. France was humiliated and vowed that someday, somehow, and some way, they. would. get. their. revenge! Meanwhile, Germany was at its peak! America was still recovering from her self-destruction attempt known as the American Civil War, and Russia was hopelessly behind the times and low-tech. Britain had a big empire and navy, but not much of an army. So Germany stood tall as the most powerful nation in the world. The king of Prussia is now the king of Germany.
I don't wish to leave you with the impression that Bismarck was a man of great and upstanding character. I don't think he was. However, he was very gifted in diplomacy and achieved a great thing by simply locking into a goal, and was never distracted from it. He was involved in 3 wars, yet he was never drawn into a war that hindered the goal. Otto Von Bismarck spent the next 19 years working towards protecting his new country. He was more interested in strategic alliances and protecting what he had than he was in conquering. After all, Denmark, Austria, and France were still allowed to exist. The old king had given Bismarck free reign to do his job, but the day came when a new young king replaced the old one and with an eye for expansion, and a desire to make Germany bigger, decided he knew better than Bismarck and fired him. Otto had built something amazing, but the young king didn't appreciate it. How long would Germany be the world's most powerful nation? What if France and Russia attacked Germany at the same time? Bismarck had carefully thought through those things and established agreements to protect against such things. Now, what would happen? Would Germany stay the course? No, no she wouldn't. This was Germany's Rise. The next part will be Germany's Downfall.
I will close this off with a quote from Bismarck. “One day the great European War will come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans.” This was stated in 1888, and in 1898, he died. In 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in the Balkans. This lit a match and all of Europe then eventually the world went off in the powder keg known as World War 1.
-Loren
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