Timeline of German History - 1789-1870

1789-1870

The main theme of this era is the rise of German nationalism in the face of Napoleon's conquests, followed by the Unification of Germany under the auspices of Prussia. Austria is left out. Prosperity grows, based first on agriculture and end of serfdom, and after 1850 based on industry and railroads.

• 1789 - 1799 French revolution; welcomed at first as a liberation, but then rejected in the name of emergent nationalism
• 1791 Declaration of Pillnitz. Prussia and Austria threaten revolutionary France
• 1792 - 1802 French Revolutionary Wars
• 1792 - Brunswick Proclamation; France declares war on Austria
• 1796 - France gains control of left (west) bank of Rhine River from Prussia
• 1797-1828 - Musician Franz Schubert; his short career is based in Vienna
• 1797-1828 - Frederick William III king of Prussia; weak and vacillating, he tried to be neutral in the Napoleonic Wars
• 1803 Napoleon imposes the Convention of Artlenburg
  • All but 6 of the Imperial Free Cities are eliminated
  • All ecclesiastic land holdings in Germany abolished
  • Schiller published William Tell, an inspiring story of patriotic resistance to foreign rule; anti-French patriotism swells across German lands
• 1804 - 1815 - Napoleonic Wars
• 1804 - Austria joins the Third Coalition against Napoleon
• 1806 - Napoleon shuts down the Holy Roman Empire
  • - Confederation of the Rhine formed
  • - Prussia joins the Fourth Coalition against Napoleon
  • - Napoleon decisively defeats Prussia at Jena
• 1806-10 The reforms of Baron vom Stein end serfdom and laid the basis of the modern Prussian administrative state
• 1807-8 - Fichte publishes Addresses to the German Nation, calling on the people in general, to disregard "all those divisions and distinctions between different sections of one nation caused by the unhappy events of past centuries.... in the minds and hearts of Germans throughout the country a spirit of determined activity."
• 1807 - Treaties of Tilsit between Napoleon and Prussia makes Prussia a vassal of France—it continues to exist at the request of Russia. Much territory is lost.
• 1812 - Brothers Grimm publish first collection of fairy tales
  • - Convention of Tauroggen
• 1813 - A dramatic turning point for German nationalism, as "the spirit of a national devotion and sacrifice reached heights unparalleled for centuries."
• 1812 - 1814 - seventh Coalition includes German states
• 1813 - Battle of the Nations at Leipzig: Napoleon decisively defeated
• 1813-83 - Musician Richard Wagner, famous for his complex operas
• 1815 - Congress of Vienna; Prussia makes major gains
  • - German Confederation formed
• 1815-97 - Mathematician Karl Weierstrass, the "father of modern analysis"
• 1815-98 - Otto von Bismarck, the dominant political leader of Prussia/ Germany, (1862–90); unified Germany (1871); maintained peace in Europe by valance of power (1871–90)
• 1816-18 - Constitutions granted in Saxe-Weimar, Bavaria, and Baden
• 1817 - Wartburg festival, liberal students make demands
• 1818-83 - Social theorist Karl Marx revolutionizes Socialism
• 1819 - August von Kotzebue assassinated; conservatives counterattack on liberal demands for more freedom with repressive Carlsbad Decrees
• 1826-1866 - Mathematician Bernhard Riemann
• 1830 - Revolts in Hesse, Brunswick, and Saxony dethroned kings and create new liberal constitutions.
• 1832 - Hambach Festival calls for German nationalism and unity
• 1832-1908 - Author Wilhelm Busch, inventor of the comic strip
• 1833-97 - Musician Johannes Brahms; his career is based in Vienna
• 1833 - Zollverein formed as economic common market for German states; Austria is excluded
• 1837 - Protest of the Göttingen Seven
• 1839 - Treaty of London. Britain, Prussia and other powers guarantee the neutrality of Belgium; Germany violated it in 1914, so Britain declared war.
• 1840 - First kindergarten opened by Fröbel
• 1841 - Friedrich List, National System of Political Economy advocates economic nationalism in a unified Germany
• 1844-1900 - Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche
• 1848 - 1849 - The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states
• 1848 - Frankfurt Parliament convenes
• 1848 - 1851 First Schleswig War
• 1849 - Suppression of liberals ("48 ers") ; many flee abroad, especially to the United States
• 1850 - Punctation of Olmütz; France and Russia force Prussia to back down and accept the authority of the German Confederation
• 1850 - Prussian three-class franchise opens voting rights to all men over age 24; gives more power to those who paid the most taxes
• 1856 - Neanderthal remains found at the Neander valley
• 1858-1947 - PhysicistMax Planck; theorizes in 1900 that energy consists of fundamental indivisible units, which he called quanta.

• 1859-73 - Albrecht von Roon as Prussia's war minister; reforms the army
• 1863 - Social Democratic Party of Germany (Socialist)formed
• 1863 - Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria convenes congress of German princes at Frankfort; Prussia boycotts it and nothing results. Prussia seeks unified "Little Germany" (excluding Austria).
• 1864 - Danish-Prussian War; Prussia and Austria defeat Denmark over control of Schleswig-Holstein, and then feud over who will be in charge
• 1866 - Austro-Prussian War over control of Schleswig-Holstein; Italy and some small states support Prussia; Bavaria, Würtemberg, Saxony, Hanover, Baden, the two Hesses support Austria. Prussia invades Hanover, Hesse and Saxony; Prussia defeats Austria at Battle of Königgrätz, where Prussian tactics, technology (needle guns, railways) prove superior. Prussia expands from 19 million population to 23.5 as it absorbs Schleswig-Holstein, Hanover, Hesse, Nassau, the city of Frankfort; it also controls Saxony.

• 1867-1870 - North German Confederation formed after German Confederation collapsed. It handles diplomatic and military affairs, as well as railways, for its members. Prussia has 24 million people and the other states 5 million; In the legislature Prussia had 17 of the 43 votes.