After 1848, nationalism in Europe moved away from its association with democracy and revolution.
Nationalist sentiments were often mobilized by conservatives for promoting state power and achieving political domination over Europe.
Nationalist feelings were widespread among middle-class Germans, who in 1848tried to unite the different regions of the German confederation into a nation-state governed by an elected parliament.
This liberal initiative to nation-building was, however, repressed by the combined forces of the monarchy and the military, supported by the large landowners (called Junkers) of Prussia.
From then on, Prussia took on the leadership of the movement for national unification.
Otto von Bismarck was the architect of the unification process carried out with the help of the Prussian army and bureaucracy.
Three wars over seven years with Austria, Denmark and Franceended in Prussian victory and completed the process of unification.
The formal unification of Germany into a politically and administratively integrated nation state officially occurred on 18 January 1871 at the Versailles Palace’s Hall of Mirrors in France.
Princes of the German states gathered there to proclaim Wilhelm of Prussia as Emperor Wilhelm of the German Empire after the French capitulation in the Franco-Prussian War.
Unofficially, the transition of most of the German-speaking populations into a federated organization of states occurred over nearly a century of experimentation.
Unification exposed several glaring religious, linguistic, social, and cultural differences between and among the inhabitants of the new nation, suggesting that 1871 only represents one moment in a continuum of the larger unification processes.
Bismarck’s victory led to the support he needed from his people to create a united Germany.
In general the constitution stayed the same as Northern Germany before unification; Bismarck only made a few changes.
The three major changes were a German national Parliament, the Reichstag was now elected by the German people, and Germany developed a federal council.
Also the country now had budgetary rights, but could not overthrow the government.Bismarck had succeeded in making Prussia in control of all important decisions.
An example of this is that each German State still had separate armies, but the armies were under Prussian order.
Although Germans were pleased with unification, the rest of Europe felt that Germany was going to offset the European balance of power.
The Unification of Germany made it a European power along with France, Great Britain, Austria, the United States, and Russia. By Germany gaining power it allowed Bismarck to control most of Europe.
Germany economically had a major impact and Bismarck’s foreign policy created an intricate map of alliances preventing Germany to enter any wars after unification.