Editing German Confederation (section)

==Dissolution of the Confederation==
===Rise of Bismarck===
A new generation of statesmen responded to popular demands for national unity for their own ends, continuing Prussia's tradition of autocracy and reform from above. Germany found an able leader to accomplish the seemingly paradoxical task of conservative modernization. In 1851, [[Otto von Bismarck|Bismarck]] was appointed by King [[Kaiser Wilhelm I|Wilhelm I]] of Prussia (the future Kaiser Wilhelm I) to circumvent the liberals in the [[Landtag of Prussia]], who resisted Wilhelm's autocratic militarism. Bismarck told the Diet, "The great questions of the day are not decided by speeches and majority votes ... but by blood and iron" – that is, by warfare and industrial might.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kitchen |first=Martin |title=A History of Modern Germany, 1800–2000 |date=2006 |page=105}}</ref> Prussia already had a great army; it was now augmented by rapid growth of [[economic power]].

Gradually, Bismarck subdued the more restive elements of the middle class with a combination of threats and reforms, reacting to the revolutionary sentiments expressed in 1848 by providing them with the economic opportunities for which the urban middle sectors had been fighting.<ref>Otto Pflanze, ''Bismarck and the Development of Germany, Vol. 1: The Period of Unification, 1815–1871'' (1971)</ref>

===Seven Weeks' War===
The German Confederation ended as a result of the [[Austro-Prussian War]] of 1866 between the [[Austrian Empire]] and its allies on one side and the [[Kingdom of Prussia]] and its allies on the other. The Confederation had 33 members immediately before its dissolution. In the [[Peace of Prague (1866)|Prague peace treaty]], on 23 August 1866, Austria had to accept that the Confederation was dissolved.<ref>Ernst Rudolf Huber: ''Deutsche Verfassungsgeschichte seit 1789.'' Vol. III: Bismarck und das Reich. 3rd ed., [[Kohlhammer Verlag]], Stuttgart 1988, pp. 571, 576.</ref> The following day, the remaining member states confirmed the dissolution. The treaty allowed Prussia to create a new {{Lang|de|Bundesverhältnis}} (a new kind of federation) in the North of Germany. The South German states were allowed to create a [[South German Confederation]] but this did not come into existence.

===North German Confederation===
Prussia created the [[North German Confederation]] in 1867, a federal state combining all German states north of the river [[Main (river)|Main]] and also the [[Province of Hohenzollern|Hohenzollern]] territories in [[Swabia]]. Besides Austria, the South German states Bavaria, {{Lang|de|Württemberg|italics=unset}}, {{Lang|de|Baden|italics=unset}}, and Hesse-{{Lang|de|Darmstadt|italics=unset}} remained separate from the rest of Germany. However, due to the successful prosecution of the [[Franco-Prussian War]], the four southern states joined the North German Confederation by treaties in November 1870.{{Sfn|Case|1902|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_G2t9AAAAMAAJ/page/n151 139]}}

===German Empire===
As the Franco-Prussian War drew to a close, [[King Ludwig II of Bavaria]] was persuaded to ask King Wilhelm to assume the crown of the new German Empire. On 1 January 1871, the Empire was declared by the presiding princes and generals in the [[Hall of Mirrors|Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles]], near [[Paris]]. The Diet of the North German Confederation moved to rename the North German Confederation as the [[German Empire]] and gave the title of [[German Emperor]] to the [[King of Prussia]].{{Sfn|Case|1902|pp=139–140}} The new constitution of the state, the [[Constitution of the German Confederation 1871|Constitution of the German Confederation]], effectively transformed the Diet of the Confederation into the German Parliament (''Reichstag'').<ref>Ernst Rudolf Huber: ''Deutsche Verfassungsgeschichte seit 1789.'' Vol. III: Bismarck und das Reich. 3rd ed., W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart [u. a.] 1988, p. 747.</ref>