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The Bismarck Reich

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The following were important stages along the path to German unity:

 The German-Danish war of 1864, fought jointly by Prussia and Austria.
 Prussia’s victory over Austria in the 1866 war, as a result of which Austria was excluded from the subsequent developments of the German state.
 The founding of the North German Confederation in 1867, with Bismarck as Federal Chancellor.

As Federal Chancellor, Bismarck worked towards achieving “smaller German” unity and broke France’s resistance in the 1870-71 war. Patriotic enthusiasm for this use of arms was also strengthened in the southern German states, which then allied with the North German Confederation to form the German Reich. On January 18, 1871, King William I of Prussia was proclaimed German Emperor in a coronation ceremony in Versailles.

The German Reich was not created by popular decision “from below” but by a treaty between princes “from above.” The newly formed Imperial Diet (Reichstag) was elected by universal and equal suffrage. In addition, in Prussia and the other federal states there was a system of class suffrage dependent on income. Though economic success strengthened the influence of the middle class, the aristocrats really controlled the politics.

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