German Confederation
Bund before Bismarck
The German Confederation was a loose association of German-speaking states formed in 1815 after the Napoleonic Wars, replacing the dissolved Holy Roman Empire.
It comprised 39 states dominated by Austria and Prussia, whose rivalry eventually tore it apart.
The confederation dissolved in 1866 after Prussia's victory in the Austro-Prussian War, paving the way for German unification under Prussian leadership.
Former German kingdom
- AustriaCentral European alpine republic
- BavariaSoutheastern German state
- SaxonyGerman state around Dresden
- HanoverAnglo-German royal house
Baden · Hesse · Holstein · Frankfurt · Vienna · Central Europe · Rhine · Danube
Supreme independent authority
- federationUnion of semi-autonomous states
- principalityNoble-ruled territory
- duchyNoble-ruled territory
- kingdomMonarch's ruled territory
electorate · free city · constitution · Bundestag · member states · autonomy · governance · legitimacy
Assembly reshaping post-war Europe
- Restoration1660s monarchical revival
- Holy AllianceReactionary coalition of Christian monarchs
Breaking up completely
- disunityAbsence of accord
- particularismPrioritizing specific group interests
- decentralizationDistributing power from center
- rivalryOngoing contest between opponents
Merging into one entity
- self-determinationControl over one's fate
- fatherlandOne's native country
- cultural heritageInherited collective traditions
- national movementOrganized mass political effort
Brothers Grimm · ethnic identity · national consciousness · folk traditions
Prussia
Former German kingdom
- AustriaCentral European alpine republic
- BavariaSoutheastern German state
- SaxonyGerman state around Dresden
Hanover · Baden · Hesse · Holstein · Frankfurt · Vienna · Central Europe · Rhine · Danube · Nassau
sovereignty
Supreme independent authority
- federationUnion of semi-autonomous states
- principalityNoble-ruled territory
- duchyNoble-ruled territory
kingdom · electorate · free city · constitution · Bundestag · member states · autonomy · governance · legitimacy · polity
Congress of Vienna
Assembly reshaping post-war Europe
- Restoration1660s monarchical revival
- Holy AllianceReactionary coalition of Christian monarchs
dissolution
Breaking up completely
- disunityAbsence of accord
- particularismPrioritizing specific group interests
- decentralizationDistributing power from center
unification
Merging into one entity
- self-determinationControl over one's fate
- fatherlandOne's native country
- cultural heritageInherited collective traditions
national movement · Brothers Grimm · ethnic identity · national consciousness · folk traditions
- GermanyBerlin, Munich, Hamburg, Cologne, Frankfurt
- German HistoryNazi, Prussia, Saxony, Reichstag, Napoleonic Wars
- 1800s GermanyBismarck, Prussia, Congress of Vienna, Otto von Bismarck, Goethe
- 19th Century EuropeCongress of Vienna, Bismarck, Austria-Hungary, Prussia, Habsburg
- 1848 RevolutionsHungarian Revolution, February Revolution, Roman Republic, Marx, Karl Marx
- German UnificationPrussia, Bismarck, Austria, unification, Reichstag
German ConfederationGerman Empire
1871-1918 unified state
nation-state · absolute monarchy · French Empire · Russian Empire · federal republic
German ConfederationGerman Empire
1871-1918 unified state
Weimar Republic · Third Reich · German Democratic Republic · German reunification · Holy Roman Empire
Germany, German, confederate, confederacy, Germanic, Confederation, Germanized