L2 - Unification of Germany ( Unfinished ) Flashcards
(4 cards)
German Confederation
-An alliance of 39 independent states ruled by princes or king with Austria and Prussia being the most powerful.
-All spoke German and had similar cultures but had different laws, political systems and currencies which made trade and co-operation difficult.
Otto Von Bismarck
-1861 = Bismarck named Prime Minister of Prussia / Very conservative and saw democracy as a threat -> wanted a strong, centralised and monarchical govt/ very good at manipulating politics
-supported a united germany under prussian control/ belief that conflict w/ austria over germany is inevitable so introduced 3yr conscription for men and created more modern weapons for army
-1866 = bismarck engineered war + beat them in 7 weeks/ treaty of prague -> increase pwr and influence/ 25% land and 4 million pop increase / created north german confederation + controlled 80% of pop and land -> other states are economically dependent on prussia + austrian influence removed from germany
- non united german still bc former austrian allies refused to join
The Franco-Prussian War
Emperor Napoleon III worried about increasing Prussian pwr
* France’s political in Euro= undermined if Germany unified
Early 1870: Member of Prussia’s royal fam offered crown of Spain → possible alliance between Spain + Prussia
* French protested + demanded no member of royal fam would sit on Spanish throne/ Napoleon asked ambassador to relay the message to Wilhelm I of Prussia -> Benedetti met Wilhelm I+ delivered his message, but Wilhelm refused to guarantee/ Telegram abt the incident sent to Bismarck who edited it so that it seemed they had insulted each other
* Edited telegram was published in german newspapers the → outrage in both France + Germany / anger in France → mobilization of French army + declaration of war on 19 July 1870
Germans = 1.5 million, French = 2 million army size w/ conscription/ However, mobilization using railways → Germany able to send 380,000 troops to the front in 18 days/ French mobilization was chaotic + units reached late or with inadequate supplies
* Superior German generalship → series of French defeats/ 31 Aug: Battle of Sedan: French army led by Napoleon himself was encircled + trapped/ 2 Sept: French surrendered → 104,000 officers + men taken prisoner, including Napoleon
4 Sept: Revolution in Paris resulted in the overthrow of Napoleon + establishment of the 3rd French Republic/New government vowed to continue fighting, however lacked the ability to do so effectively
* 19 Sept: Germans besieged Paris, firing 12,000 shells into the city over 23 nights/ Oct-Dec: Continued siege → dwindling food supplies → Parisians forced to eat dogs, cats + rats to survive/ Unsustainable conditions in the city → French surrendered on the 27 Jan 1871
Impacts of the Franco-Prussian War
- Total German casualties were over 144,000 (≈ 44,000 dead, 90,000 wounded, 10,000 captured) / Total French casualties were over 756,000 (≈139,000 dead, 143,000 wounded, 474,000 captured)
(unfinished)
