WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -In the 1860s, Otto von Bismarck, then Minister President of Prussia, provoked three short, decisive wars against Denmark, Austria, and France, aligning the smaller German states behind Prussia in its defeat of France. In 1871 he unified Germany into a nation-state, forming the German Empire.

Detailed explanation-2: -Bismarck unified Germany under Prussian auspices through successful wars: against Denmark in 1864; against Austria in 1866, which excluded the Habsburgs, the traditional dynastic family of Germany; and then finally in 1870–71, with the defeat of France.

Detailed explanation-3: -Bismarck insisted that unity could be forged only in war. A common struggle against an external enemy would turn Bavarians, Saxons and Prussians into Germans. He engineered three unifying wars: first against Denmark in 1864, then against Austria in 1866 and finally against France in 1870.

Detailed explanation-4: -On 18 January 1871, Germany became a nation for the first time. It followed a nationalistic war against France masterminded by the “Iron Chancellor” Otto von Bismarck. The ceremony took place in the palace of Versailles outside Paris, rather than in Berlin.

Detailed explanation-5: -The actual pretext found by Bismarck in 1866 was a dispute over the administration of Schleswig and Holstein, which Austria and Prussia had seized from Denmark in 1864 and had since held jointly.