Editing History of Germany (section)

===Politics of restoration and revolution===
{{Main|German Confederation}}

====After Napoleon====
[[File:Hambacher Fest 1832.jpg|thumb|At the [[Hambach Festival]] at [[Hambach Castle]] in 1832, intellectuals with various political backgrounds were among the first to use the future [[Flag of Germany]] and called for a [[German question|unified German nation]].]]
[[File:Nationalversammlung in der Paulskirche.jpg|thumb|[[Frankfurt Parliament]], [[Paulskirche]], [[Frankfurt]] 1848]]
[[File:Maerz1848 berlin.jpg|thumb|Cheering the Revolutions of 1848 in [[Berlin]], [[Berlin Palace]] in the background. Liberal and nationalist pressure led to the unsuccessful [[The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states|Revolution of 1848 in the German states]].]]
[[File:BismarckRoonMoltke.jpg|thumb|[[Otto von Bismarck]], [[Albrecht Graf von Roon]] and [[Helmut von Moltke]], the senior political and military strategists of Prussia during the 1860s]]

After the fall of Napoleon, Europe's statesmen convened in Vienna in 1815 for the reorganisation of European affairs, under the leadership of the [[Klemens Wenzel von Metternich|Austrian Prince Metternich]]. The political principles agreed upon at this [[Congress of Vienna]] included the restoration, legitimacy and solidarity of rulers for the repression of revolutionary and nationalist ideas.

The [[German Confederation]] ({{Langx|de|Deutscher Bund}}) was founded, a loose union of 39 states (35 ruling princes and 4 free cities) under Austrian leadership, with a Federal Diet ({{Langx|de|[[Bundesversammlung (German Confederation)|Bundestag]]}}) meeting in [[Frankfurt am Main]]. It was a loose coalition that failed to satisfy most nationalists. The member states largely went their own way, and Austria had its own interests.

In 1819, a student radical assassinated the reactionary playwright [[August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue|August von Kotzebue]], who had scoffed at liberal student organisations. In one of the few major actions of the German Confederation, Prince Metternich called a conference that issued the repressive [[Carlsbad Decrees]], designed to suppress liberal agitation against the conservative governments of the German states.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Taylor |first=A.J.P. |url=https://archive.org/details/coursegermanhist1815tayl |title=The Course of German History |date=2001 |page=[https://archive.org/details/coursegermanhist1815tayl/page/n74 52] |url-access=limited}}</ref> The Decrees terminated the fast-fading nationalist fraternities ({{Langx|de|[[Burschenschaft]]en}}), removed liberal university professors, and expanded the censorship of the press. The decrees began the "persecution of the demagogues", which was directed against individuals who were accused of spreading revolutionary and nationalist ideas. Among the persecuted were the poet [[Ernst Moritz Arndt]], the publisher Johann Joseph Görres and the "Father of Gymnastics" Ludwig Jahn.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Williamson |first=George S. |date=Dec 2000 |title=What Killed August von Kotzebue? The Temptations of Virtue and the Political Theology of German Nationalism, 1789–1819 |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-modern-history_2000-12_72_4/page/890 |journal=Journal of Modern History |volume=72 |issue=4 |pages=890–943 |doi=10.1086/318549 |jstor=10.1086/318549 |s2cid=144652797}}</ref>

In 1834, the [[Zollverein]] was established, a customs union between Prussia and most other German states, but excluding Austria. As industrialisation developed, the need for a unified German state with a uniform currency, legal system, and government became more and more obvious.

====1848====
{{Main|Revolutions of 1848 in the German states}}
Growing discontent with the political and social order imposed by the Congress of Vienna led to the outbreak, in 1848, of the [[Revolutions of 1848 in the German states|March Revolution]] in the German states. In May the German National Assembly (the [[Frankfurt Parliament]]) met in Frankfurt to draw up a national German constitution.

But the 1848 revolution turned out to be unsuccessful: [[Frederick William IV of Prussia|King Frederick William IV of Prussia]] refused the imperial crown, the Frankfurt parliament was dissolved, the ruling princes repressed the risings by military force, and the German Confederation was re-established by 1850. Many leaders went into exile, including a number who went to the United States and became a political force there.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Wittke |first=C. F. |url=https://archive.org/details/refugeesofrevolu0000unse |title=Refugees of Revolution: The German Forty-Eighters in America |date=1952 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |location=Philadelphia}}</ref>

====1850s====
The 1850s were a period of extreme political reaction. Dissent was vigorously suppressed, and many Germans emigrated to America following the collapse of the 1848 uprisings. Frederick William IV became extremely depressed and melancholic during this period, and was surrounded by men who advocated [[clericalism]] and [[Divine right of kings|absolute divine monarchy]]. The Prussian people once again lost interest in politics. Prussia not only expanded its territory but began to industrialize rapidly, while maintaining a strong agricultural base.

====Bismarck takes charge (1862–1866)====
In 1857, the Prussian king [[Frederick William IV of Prussia|Frederick William IV]] suffered a stroke and his brother [[William I, German Emperor|William]] served as regent until 1861 when he became King William I. Although conservative, William was very pragmatic. His most significant accomplishment was the naming of [[Otto von Bismarck]] as Prussian minister president in 1862. The cooperation of Bismarck, Defense Minister [[Albrecht von Roon]], and Field Marshal [[Helmut von Moltke]] set the stage for the military victories over Denmark, Austria, and France that led to the unification of Germany.{{Sfn|Holborn|1969|pp=131–167}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Feuchtwanger |first=Edgar |title=Bismarck: A Political History |date=2014 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-4157-2477-7 |edition=2nd |pages=83–98 |oclc=863633117 |ol=26785882M |author-link=Edgar Feuchtwanger}}</ref>

In 1863–1864, disputes between Prussia and Denmark over [[Duchy of Schleswig|Schleswig]], which was not part of the German Confederation, and which Danish nationalists wanted to incorporate into the Danish kingdom escalated. The conflict led to the [[Second War of Schleswig]] in 1864. Prussia, joined by Austria, easily defeated Denmark and occupied [[Jutland]]. The Danes were forced to cede both the Duchy of Schleswig and the [[Duchy of Holstein]] to Austria and Prussia. The subsequent management of the two duchies led to tensions between Austria and Prussia. Austria wanted the duchies to become an independent entity within the German Confederation, while Prussia intended to annex Austria. The disagreement served as a pretext for the [[Seven Weeks War]] between Austria and Prussia that broke out in June 1866. In July, the two armies clashed at Sadowa-Königgrätz (Bohemia) in an [[Battle of Königgrätz|enormous battle]] involving half a million men. Prussian superior logistics and the then-modern breech-loading [[needle gun|needle guns']] superiority over the slow [[muzzle-loading rifle|muzzle-loading rifles]] of the Austrians proved to be essential for Prussia's victory. The battle had also decided the [[Austria–Prussia rivalry|struggle for hegemony]] in Germany and Bismarck was deliberately lenient with a defeated Austria that would play only a subpordinate role in future German affairs.{{Sfn|Holborn|1969|pp=167–188}}{{Sfn|Feuchtwanger|2014| pp=99–147}}

====North German Confederation, 1866–1871====
{{Main|North German Confederation}}

After the [[Seven Weeks War]], the German Confederation was dissolved and the [[North German Federation]] (German ''Norddeutscher Bund'') was established under the leadership of Prussia. Austria was excluded and its immense influence over Germany finally came to an end. The North German Federation was a transitional organisation that existed from 1867 to 1871, between the dissolution of the German Confederation and the founding of the German Empire.<ref>Gordon A. Craig, ''Germany, 1866–1945'' (1978) pp. 11–22.</ref>