What were the key steps in the process of German unification?
Otto Von Bismarck, who became prime minister of Prussia in 1862, was the key figure that organized the unification of the German states into one Germany. Evidently, he believed in German nationalism but also believed his state, Prussia, was the superior state in Germany. Bismarck put his plans into action by taking the German Confederation into war with Denmark over two Dutchies in 1862. The war was won by the Austrians and Prussians, however, the newly won territories caused conflict over dominance between Prussia and Austria. This caused another war, which resulted in Prussian victory in 1866 and the annexation of the Northern German territories to Prussia. The rising influence of Prussia seemed threatening to Napoleon III of France, and matters soon led to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. Bismarck knew this war would rally the southern German states to Prussia, which it did, and a unified German Empire resulted, excluding Austria. The war was Franco-Prussian war was easily won by the now unified Germans.
Discuss the significance of two of the major innovations of the Second Industrial Revolution.
During the Second Industrial Revolution, two main innovations made heightened technological advancement in the 19th century. The first of these two innovations was the steel Bessemer process. This tremendously increased the output of steel production. For example, in Britain before the application of the Bessemer process, the steel production was approximately 334,000 metric tons in 1871. Astoundingly, the Bessemer process dramatically increased the output to 6,476,000 metric tons of steel in 1910! The second most influential innovation was electricity. Thomas Edison’s incandescent light bulb in the 1870s, central power stations, the telephone, the radio, automobiles and aircraft certainly did revolutionize Western life.
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