Central Europe in the second millennium

A country that long needed
to become united

People who have considered themselves
for centuries to be Germans

Who are we?

Where do we come from?

Questions on a millennium of German history

[The Germans]

The Germans are still not united
into one state

He intends to end that, Bismarck

Not with parliaments, but as he says

with "Blood and Iron"

The establishment of a state from above

Unity at the price of freedom?

[Bismarck and the German Reich]

[BERLIN]
[7 May 1866]

For him, this question does not arise

Ferdinand Cohen-Blind

the 22-year-old student
from southern Germany

has come to Berlin for one thing only

He wants to prevent
the war that's threatening

on both sides of which are Germans

fratricidal war

For him, "Those giving rise
to such fanciful patriots",

so he wrote,
"are traitors of Germany."

To secure peace, Cohen-Blind
saw just one solution

He must get rid of the man

who for most Germans
was the driving force of the war

It is the Prussian Minister President
Otto von Bismarck

In Prussia he fights for the Crown
against parliament and democracy

He was a reactionary
in the purest sense of the word

Outwardly he would unite the many
German states under Prussian rule

Not from a sense of German nationality,

but, as some think,
from a Prussian striving for power

His credo:

The great decisions of the time would be
decided not with words but with bayonets

That turned now against him

Bismarck's study in Friedrichsruh
near Hamburg

Here the memory of the assassination
attempt is still present

Among that left behind by Bismarck
is the pistol of the would-be assassin

A weapon that could have changed
the course of history

As the darned bullet holes show,
Bismarck was hit by more than one bullet

But his thick clothing that day
softened their force

and the firepower of the pistol
was too weak

Bismarck suffered only bruises

What would have happened
if the assassination attempt had succeeded

F-L Kroll: Had Bismarck in 1866
been killed in the attack,

there would not have been war,

no one in Germany
wanted the fratricidal war

Speaker: The weapon of the attacker,
who killed himself in prison,

Bismarck kept all his life.

His escape he saw as a sign from God
to decide the fate of Germany himself

Germany, at that time it was made up
of over 30 independent states

that had joined together
in the German Confederation.

Its character was largely dominated
by Prussia and Austria

But as Prussia wanted to annex
the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein

against Austria's wishes,

the dispute became a power game

Who had the say in Germany?

Austria or Prussia?

The decision took place

in the Free Imperial City
Frankfurt-am-Main

The city in which once the Kaiser
was elected

is the seat of the German Confederation

Here the peace of the German states
should be secured

as well as a combined defence
against the rest of the world

Not far from the the cathedral
in the Palais Thurn und Taxis,

one month after the assassination attempt
the Federal Assembly met,

the decision-making body

They vote on Austria's motion
to mobilize together against Prussia,

the occupation of the Duchies of Schleswig
and Holstein is wrong.

All eyes are focused on him,

the Prussian ambassador,
Karl Friedrich von Savigny.

What instructions had Bismarck given him?

The ambassador of Austria took the chair.

Austrian ambassador: Time to vote

In the name of his Majesty
the Emperor of Austria

I vote for the motion before us.

And now the ambassador of Prussia
has the word.

Prussian ambassador: In the name
of the government of Prussia,

I protest vehemently against this vote

which is without doubt a clear breach
of the federal law.

Austrian ambassador: The protest
will be entered in the record.

Now, I give the word to the
ambassador of the Kingdom of Bavaria.

Bavarian ambassador: On behalf
of my Government,

I agree to the motion
of the Imperial Government of Austria

Sp: Prussia is isolated

The princes do not want
a German Confederation

that is dominated by Prussia.

AE: Württemberg?

Württemberg ambassador: For

Speaker: With nine votes to six

the Austrian motion to mobilize German
forces against Prussia is passed,

PA: In the name of his Majesty,
the King of Prussia,

I declare, firstly,

Prussia considers this vote
as a declaration of war,

and secondly, the previous federal treaty
for Prussia is therewith null and void

And by the order of the King

I declare that my work
at this assembly is concluded

Dieter Langewiesche:
1866/67 the German Confederation ends

because the states
do what is not supposed to happen,

that is make war against each other

But the majority of the German states
were on the side of Austria,

and Prussia was virtually the villain

who breached the German Confederation,

and against whom they formed
a coalition to make war.

Sp: It began the day
after the Frankfurt vote.

It was fought out
at the beginning of July in Königgrätz,

in what today is the Czech Republic,

then in Austrian Bohemia

Bismarck puts his hope in him,

the Prussian Chief of General Staff,
Helmuth von Moltke

His plan: March separately, strike together