... on entering into a fight with Serbia, and loaded with confidence stemming from their alliance with Germany, they disregarded Russia's protective stance and declared war on Serbia. The maneuvering of the Austrian government during the crisis compels me to place a large portion of the blame on Austria-Hungary for the outbreak of WW I. Austria-Hungary naturally harbored a fear of Russia and seemed to ... Serbia was home to the Black Hand terrorist group responsible for the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, there was never a precise official relationship established between that militant g...

• Word Count: 1352
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... issue for the German States for quite some time; in 1848 the Liberal Nationalists saw the opportunity to unite Germany following the revolutions of "48, and the subsequent changes in government and constitution, on this occasion the nationalist outcry resulted in the formation of a Federal Diet at Frankfurt. This German Confederation excluded Austria, because of her anti-unity policy, preferring rather ... -Europe" coalition. Ever since first being appointed Prussian representative to the Federal Diet in 1851, Bismarck had urged the Prussian Government to seize power in the German Confed...

• Word Count: 1515
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Graduate

... First, there was the nationalism of the different nationalities in Austria-Hungary, which lead to threats to the stability of the Austrian Empire. This situation made the government especially alert to confront and extinguish any direct or indirect threat to its power. But this also lead the Austrians to ... war was to inevitably break out. The "blank cheque"- Germany's support to Austria After the assassination of the archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, the Austrian government saw their great opportunity to take over the kingdom of Serbia, which was becoming a potential dangerous neigh...

• Word Count: 1468
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... . Some inhabitants of Alsace and Lorraine spoke French, and many of those who spoke German as a first language considered themselves French rather than German. As a province administered by the Reich government and -- until 1911 -- without representation in the Federal Council, Alsace-Lorraine remained only half integrated. When the area became French again in 1918 the local population drove out the German ... the 18th century, Prussia had acquired some provinces populated mostly by people who spoke Polish and increasingly felt some common bonds with each other and their relatives under ...

• Word Count: 10254
• Approx Pages: 41
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... German Confederation. Austria also promised that it would no longer interfere in German politics and so it directed all its attention East, which created the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. Now that Bismarck had annexed several of the German States and kicked Austria out of German affairs, there was only one step ... rescue Bazaine. When the French heard of the disaster at Sedan, they deposed Napoleon III as their emperor and set up a provincial government run by the army for the defense of France. A long siege ensued after German forces surrounded Paris on September 19. One of the leaders o...

• Word Count: 1236
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... were demanding national independence. Therefore its leaders saw nationalism as a threat by and something to block. Austria also had an autocratic government and had no parliament, Prussia on the other hand was growing militarily and economically and while it was still autocratic like Austria it was ... modernizing its system of government. Prussia was second to Austria in terms of its political power in the Confederation. Metternich the Austrian Chancellor controlled the Congress; he was a reactionary conservative and would prove to be a huge ... to overcome before it could succeed. Obs...

• Word Count: 1469
• Approx Pages: 6

... had. Prior to Bismarck's chancellorship, he served as the Prussian representative in the Frankfurt Diet of the German Confederation. As his popularity grew through the Prussian government, he became ambassador to Russia, and shortly after he became the ambassador to Paris. This was his last job prior to him being appointed to the position ... This leadership would come from Prussia, with Otto von Bismarck at the wheel. Once appointed Chancellor of Prussia, Bismarck immediately took an arbitrary role in the government by dismissing the chamber, imposing taxes, and setting himself to the t...

• Word Count: 3387
• Approx Pages: 14
• Grade Level: High School

... not only rigorous in his domestic, but also in his foreign policies, he knew, that to unite Germany under Prussia, he had to eliminate Austrian influence. In order to do this he had to secure the alliance or the neutrality of all other continental powers. The first opportunity to do ... come to help, because it was still the head of the German Confederation and a lack of concern in this case would probably cause further Austrian separation from the German states. After the war, Prussia stayed in control of Schleswig and Austria remained in the southern Holstein, which posed the ... b...

• Word Count: 2540
• Approx Pages: 10
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... the parliament rejected it and appointed Otto von Bismarck as Prussian prime minister. When he took office in 1862, he called that the government would rule without parliamentary consent, but he had the Prussian bureaucracy go right on collecting taxes, even though the parliament refused the bill ... conservative leadership, so he put together a federal constitution for the North German Confederation. It stated that each state had its own government but the king was the leader of the confederation. This constitution unmasked popular participation and there was power only in the hands of ....

• Word Count: 1851
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... over his enemies. His superior army along with Austria defeated Denmark. In 1866, in an attempt to provoke Austria into declaring war, Bismarck ordered his troops to advance into the Austrian state of Holstien. Bismarck ensured Austria was diplomatically isolated and could not receive help from Russia, France, Britain or Italy. Bismarck sent a message to Italy that was intended to be ... Prague was signed on august 23rd, Austria was to keep all of its land except Venetia. To insure the Austrians were harboring no furthers resentment towards Prussians, Bismarck gave the Austrian King Hun...

• Word Count: 1782
• Approx Pages: 7

... itself, not one of her colonies. However, two of most well established empires of the period were having problems. Both the Turkish and Austrian empires broke up, leaving them weaker and looking for powerful allies, which Austria found in Germany. This was important as when the ... Austrian Archduke was assassinated, it meant that Germany gave them the "Carte Blanc" meaning "blank cheque" of support. However, imperialism only indirectly caused ... Germany's domestic policy. The historian, Hans Ulrich Wehler argues that with the Socialist movement growing and problems keeping the Reichst...

• Word Count: 1689
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... that Germany could become a world great power only through a war. Military preparations had strengthened this kind of belief. The powers became militaristic. The increase in military control of the civilian government also increased cooperation among the military staff of the countries of the same camp. For example, all the three Entente powers held secret military talks. Germany and Austria also had ... accident in Bosnia. It was the Sarajevo incident, the immediate cause of WW1. It took place on June 28, 1914. On that day, the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the Austrian throne, a...

• Word Count: 845
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... 's first move was to persuade Austria to assist him in war with Denmark in 1864. As a result the states of Schleswig and Holstein , previously ruled by Denmark, became German and Austrian possessions. In 1866, after a conflict with Austria, Bismarck announced "I shall declare war on Austria, dissolve the German Confederation, subjugate the middle and smaller states, and give Germany national unity under ... of the north German states. The next step was to get the south German states under Prussian control too. To do this, Bismarck planned to make the French and German government quarrel....

• Word Count: 1224
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... that this could result in extreme international ramifications, which could have resulted in a hostile coalition of powers being formed against Prussia. Bismarck was in a favourable situation because at this time Austrian power was unstable as they had just been defeated by Italy, Austria's relationship with another major power, Russia, was at an all time low after the Crimean war, and also ... the war. The fact that the situation had developed to the point where war had became inevitable was due as much to the clumsy and incautious way that the French government handled the issue as it ...

• Word Count: 1594
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: Undergraduate