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.