The Unification of Germany took place on January 18, 1871, when Prussian Premier Prince Otto von Bismarck managed to unify a number of independent states into one nation, and thus created the German Empire from which all of the modern states bearing the name of Germany descend.

The German Empire was founded in the wake of the Prussian victory in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71), through which France was obliged to cede Alsace and the German-speaking part of Lorraine to Germany. On January 18, 1871, in the Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles, the Prussian King Wilhelm I was proclaimed "Emperor of Germany". The German Empire was founded, with 25 states, three of which were Hanseatic cities. It was a realization of the Kleindeutsche Lösung, (German for "Little German solution"), since Austria had been excluded, as opposed to a Großdeutsche Lösung or "Greater German solution", which would have included Austria.

Through the Kulturkampf (1872-1878), Bismarck as Chancellor tried without much success to limit the influence of the Roman Catholic Church and of its political arm, the Catholic Centre Party. A policy of Germanization discriminated against non-German sections of the empire's population, including the Polish, Danish and French minorities .

For a more detailed look at how German unification occurred see German Empire.

See also

• German reunification at the end of the Cold War

External links

• The Unification of Germany, part of The Seeds of Evil: Germany 1919 - 1933 on schoolshistory.org.uk.

History of Germany

Deutsche Einigung | Unité allemande | Duitse eenwording | ドイツ統一 | Unificação Alemã