|
| |
 |
|
Please select a historical
period:
25
years ago / 50 years ago / 80
years ago / 125 years ago
/ 150 years ago
250 years ago / 400
years ago / 700 years ago / 1,200
years ago
1,500 years ago / 2,000
years ago / 3,000 years ago
/ 4,000 years ago / 5,000
years ago / 10,000 years ago
125
Years Ago in North Europe
The
culture of this time period sees the rise of the Impressionist
movement. Click here for more.
In 1862, Otto von Bismarck is made minister president (equivalent
of prime minister) of the Prussian kingdom. One of his first
acts is to remove any civilian control of the army, an issue
causing division and conflict since the revolutions of 1848.
This on Bismarck full support from the new king, Wilhelm I and
the army leadership, which allowed Bismarck to go ahead with
his aggressive foreign policy. Called "Realpolitik",
which could be loosely translated as "playing hard ball",
Bismarck's policy was based on a ruthless pursuit for what was
viewed as German rights, even at the risk of a limited war.
After Denmark was defeated in a short war in 1863 over some
border territories, Europe was shocked by the smashing Austrian
defeat at the battle of Sadowa in 1866, which makes Prussia
the strongest force in Germany. Following this victory, the
North German Confederation was established with Prussia at its
core. Bismarck's greatest test came in 1870-71 with a war against
France. The European powers are again stunned by the crushing
French defeats at Metz and Sedan. The emperor Louis Napoleon
III, the nephew of Napoleon I, is deposed, and the Third French
Republic declared. But a communist revolution breaks out in
Paris, called the Paris Commune. The Prussian army puts down
the revolution and France is forced to sign a humiliating peace
treaty, losing the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. The kingdom
of Bavaria and the other south German states join the Northern
German Confederation to form a new German empire, called the
Second Reich (the "first reich" was the empire of
Charlemagne).
In an attempt to counter growing social unrest, and the rise
of the Social Democratic Party, Bismarck led the introduction
of some of the most important social legislation to protect
workers' rights. Old age pensions, and sickness and injury benefits,
brought in after 1883, were among Bismarck's most important
achievements. However, popular support of the Socialists still
grew.
Wilhelm II becomes kaiser in 1888, at the age of 29. The new
monarch did not get along with the aging Bismarck (now 75 years
old), and he was dismissed in 1890.
Bismarck's aggressive foreign policy was maintained, but without
the caution of the old man's naturally conservative nature,
this made Germany under Wilhelm II a dangerously unpredictable
and militaristic state. However, "militarism", the
glorification of all things having to with the army, like marching,
patriotic nationalism, uniforms and so on, was a growing feeling
among people throughout Europe. In France it was fuelled by
a desire for revenge against Germany. In Russia, the tsar looked,
unsuccessfully, for military victories to distract people from
severe social problems. In Britain, even youth organizations
took on a military air. The Boy Scouts, founded by Robert Baden-
Powell--himself a soldier--in 1908, had a uniform directly copied
from a unit of British soldiers in the Rhodesia colony.
|
|
