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Unification of Germany facts for kids

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For the Reunification of West and East Germany on 3 October 1990, see German reunification.
Map-deutsches-kaiserreich
The unified Germany of 1871.

The process of the Unification of Germany occurred in the nineteenth century (1800–1900). Prior to unification, there were many states in Central Europe. Some of them were very small, possibly no more than 5 miles (8.0 km) from one border to the other. Many Germans wanted a nation that was united, powerful, and influential.

Unification took place on 18 January 1871. At the conclusion of the Franco-Prussian War, the German princes proclaimed the German nation in Versailles, France, at the Hall of Mirrors. Unification joined together the many independent German states. These states became the German Empire. Otto von Bismarck, Prime Minister of Prussia, became Chancellor of the Empire.

The unification of Germany began many years earlier, during the Napoleonic Wars. At the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, which is also called the Battle of Nations, many of the German states joined with Russia, Sweden, and Austria to defeat Napoleon's army. Later, in 1815, the Congress of Vienna ended the Napoleonic Wars. Austria remained the most politically powerful of the German states. Prussia emerged as Austria's political and diplomatic rival.

There were many problems in unifying the German states. Not all politicians were in favor of unification. Some feared that unification would give Austria and Prussia too much power among the many states. There were also problems in deciding who would collect taxes, and how much tax would be paid.

Background

Before the creation of the modern German State, there were hundreds of small duchies and kingdoms. Many of these kingdoms were a part of the Holy Roman Empire. In 800 AD, Pope Leo III made the Frankish King, Charlemagne, the Holy Roman Emperor.

In the 18th century the hundreds of rulers of parts of the Holy Roman Empire were practically independent; they seldom had to obey the Emperor, and often made war against each other or against the Emperor. During the Napoleonic Wars the empire was abolished. Napoleon made a new satellite state, the Confederation of the Rhine. He was soon defeated and the Congress of Vienna reorganized the German states into a new German Confederation. Bismarck's North German Confederation replaced that, until he converted it into the German Empire.

Images for kids

  • Political map of central Europe showing the 26 areas that became part of the united German Empire in 1891. Prussia based in the northeast, dominates in size, occupying about 40% of the new empire.

    The German Empire from 1871–1918

  • HRR 1789 EN

    Map of the Holy Roman Empire in 1789. The map is dominated by the Habsburg Monarchy (orange) and the Kingdom of Prussia (blue), besides a large number of small states (many of them too small to be shown on the map).

  • monument commemorating the battle, tall square block, soldier on top, images of soldiers around the monument

    The Battle of the Nations monument, erected for the centennial in 1913, honors the efforts of the German people in the victory over Napoleon.

  • Men sitting around a table. Most of them are muzzled, some are gagged as well, some have blindfolds on, and some have their ears muffled.

    A German caricature mocking the Carlsbad Decrees, which suppressed freedom of expression

  • Romanesque church, men marching into it, through a phalanx of uniformed men, houses and church are draped in banners and flags

    Pre-parliament delegates processing into Paul's Church in Frankfurt, where they laid the groundwork for electing a National Parliament

  • The allegorical figure of Germania (robed woman, sword, flowing hair) is standing, holding sword

    This depiction of Germania, also by Philipp Veit, was created to hide the organ of the Paul's Church in Frankfurt, during the meeting of the Parliament there, March 1848–49. The sword was intended to symbolize the Word of God and to mark the renewal of the people and their triumphant spirit.

  • three men in military uniforms carrying pickel helmets—the ones with pikes sticking out of the crowns

    The convergence of leadership in politics and diplomacy by Bismarck, left, reorganization of the army and its training techniques by Albrecht von Roon (center), and the redesign of operational and strategic principles by Helmuth von Moltke (right) placed Prussia among the most powerful states in European affairs after the 1860s.

  • Jutland Peninsula map

    From north to south: The Danish part of Jutland in purple and terracotta, Schleswig in red and brown, and Holstein in lime yellow. The Schleswig-Holstein Question was about the status of those territories.

  • a tired sick old man in French military uniform, sitting beside an erect senior officer in Prussian uniform, spiked helmet, and sword

    Emperor Napoleon III (left) at Sedan, on 2 September 1870, seated next to Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, holding Napoleon's surrendered sword. The defeat of the French army destabilized Napoleon's regime; a revolution in Paris established the Third French Republic, and the war continued.

  • painting of well dressed and portly princes and dukes cheering a king on a dais

    18 January 1871: The proclamation of the German Empire in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles. Bismarck appears in white. The Grand Duke of Baden stands beside Wilhelm, leading the cheers. Crown Prince Friedrich, later Friedrich III, stands on his father's right. Painting by Anton von Werner

  • Statue of the allegorical figure Germania

    Germania, also called the Niederwald Monument, was erected in 1877–83 at Rüdesheim.

  • high angle view the confluence of two major rivers, marked by the statue of a man on a horse, with a city behind

    Monument to Kaiser Wilhelm, at Koblenz, where the Moselle River (upper river) meets the Rhine River (lower river), called the Deutsches Eck, or the German corner.

  • drawing of a wagon loaded with barrels, covered with a tarp, stuck between two border signs, the driver paying a fee to cross. Caption reads "German cartoon on customs prior to the Zollverein, 1834".

    This drawing offered a satirical commentary on the prevalence of toll barriers in the many German states, circa 1834. Some states were so small that transporters loaded and reloaded their cargoes two and three times a day.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Unificación alemana para niños

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