10.1 Quiz

• Between 1807 and 1812, Napoleon made important territorial changes in German-speaking lands.
• Many Germans resented Napoleon and his changes.
• As people fought to free their lands from French rule, they began to demand a unified state.
• In the 1830s, Prussia created an economic union called the Zollverein.
• In 1848, liberals again demanded German political unity.
• They offered the throne of a united German state to Frederick William IV of Prussia, but he refused it.
• Bismarck was a master of Realpolitik, or realistic politics based on the needs of the state.
• Bismarck strengthened the army in preparation for pursuing an aggressive foreign policy.
• In 1864, Bismarck formed an alliance with Austria.
• Together, they seized the provinces of Schleswig and Holstein from Denmark and divided up the spoils.
• In 1866, Bismarck attacked and defeated Austria in the Austro-Prussian War, and then annexed, or took control of, several north German states.
• Bismarck dissolved the Austrian-led German Confederation and created a new confederation dominated by Prussia.
• In 1870, Bismarck provoked France into the Franco-Prussian War and quickly claimed victory.
• Otto von Bismarck was made chancellor, or prime minister, of Prussia in 1862.
• Within a decade, Bismarck had united the German states under Prussia.
• William I of Prussia was given the title kaiser, or emperor, in 1871.
• German nationalists proclaimed the birth of the Second Reich, or empire, in 1871.
• Bismarck drafted a constitution with a two-house legislature: The Bundesrat, or upper house, was appointed by the rulers of the German states, and the Reichstag, or lower house, was elected by universal male suffrage.
• The Bundesrat could veto any decision of the Reichstag, real power remained in the hands of the emperor and his chancellor.
• Prussia and Austria seized and divided up Hanover, Schleswig and Holstein, Denmark, and the Holy Roman Empire.
• The legislature of the Second Reich was made up of two houses, real power remained in the hands of the emperor and his chancellor.