Five Brothers and a War

History—1800 to 1900 AD

Of course, this was also the time for German unification. Prussia was the major power within the loosely organized Germanic states. With the Prussian Otto von Bismarck’s efforts, Germany was, through a series of European wars, being drawn together. Having only been appointed by Prussian King Wilhelm I to be Chancellor in 1862, Bismarck immediately began his forays toward unification. These included the Danish War of 1864, his Austro-Prussian war of 1866 and then the decisive Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Napoleon III pre-emptively declared war against Prussia, knowing that war was inevitable. Bismarck was engineering a war in order to gain the internal alliance and support of the southern German states, while also demonstrating the supremacy of Prussia within what was emerging as the unified Germany. While Napoleon III theoretically had the strongest army in Europe, he was comprehensively and quickly defeated, and Paris fell in 1871.

holland

Prussian victory parade in Paris, March 1, 1871.

Five Brothers and a War

Page 107