The Unification of Germany
Discover German unification — how Bismarck used 'blood and iron' to forge a powerful nation-state from dozens of independent German states by 1871.
The unification of Germany (1864–1871) was the creation of a single German nation-state from the 39 states of the German Confederation, achieved primarily through the political genius and military strategy of Otto von Bismarck, the Minister President of Prussia. It fundamentally altered the European balance of power.
Bismarck pursued unification through a deliberate policy of provoked wars. The Danish War (1864) secured Schleswig-Holstein. The Austro-Prussian War (1866) expelled Austria from German affairs and established Prussian dominance over the North German Confederation. The Franco-Prussian War (1870–71) united the southern German states with the north through shared anti-French sentiment and military victory.
The German Empire was proclaimed on January 18, 1871, in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles — a deliberate humiliation of defeated France. The new state combined Prussian military tradition with explosive industrial growth, rapidly becoming Europe's most powerful nation. But the empire inherited Prussian authoritarianism, militarism, and an aggressive foreign policy that would contribute directly to the catastrophe of World War I.