Unified, But not United Germany in 1890

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Unified, But not United Germany in 1890

In January 1871, as the Franco-Prussian war neared its end, King

William I of Prussia was announced as the Emperor of the Second Empire

(or Reich), with Otto Von Bismarck as his Chancellor, in the Palace of

Versailles. From this point Bismarck had led a once weak nation into

achieving his acclaimed 'master plan': to become the most dominant

power in Europe, this was then confirmed ten days later with the

defeat of the French army; to united all German speaking nations,

excluding Austria, where Prussia was the dominant power; and to obtain

political and military victories over Austria. However, although this

was undeniably achieved, were the peoples and leaders of the Second

Reich united in aim and feeling?

The theory of unification was all very well, but each of the 25 states

(now excluding Austria and Prussia annexations from the German

Confederation) had its own traditions and ethos, so to unite the

people in fact, as the nations had been, proved more complex than

anticipated.

Although the aim of the liberals of 1849 had been achieved, they were

displeased by the manner in which unification had been imposed from

above, rather than through popular national movement. The German

Empire also ensured Prussian dominance in the Reich, with both the

Emperor and Chancellor being Prussian as well as Prussia having the

large majority in both the Reichstag and the Budesrat, with 17 out of

the 58 votes. As only 14 votes were necessary to veto any decisions,

Prussia was always able to so if she wished, as well as her dominance

(30% of the votes in the Budesrat) meaning in practice she was

unlike...

... middle of paper ...

...ority groups set a basis for the

extreme views and beliefs seen in Germany prior to the Second World

War. Having said this, Bismarck did more in terms of state welfare for

the nation than any other country had even began to anticipate,

although perhaps not for the right reasons, this fact cannot be

overruled. Therefore, despite not achieving unity within the united

states making up the German Empire, or achieving his objective in the

discrimination of such groups as the Socialists, Bismarck lay down the

founding feelings of nationalism for future generations as well as

leading the way in welfare reform for other countries to follow.

Bibliography

============

* The Unification of Germany 1815-90 - Andrina Stiles

* www.msn.co.uk/learning/encarta

* The Hutchinson History Library - PC CD-ROM

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