When the wars of Napoleon closed there were in Germany thirty-nine different states and four independPRUSSIA AND ent cities, each with its own ruler. Of AUSTRIA these thirty-nine different governments there were two leading ones. They were the Kingdom of Prussia and the Empire of Austria. Austria was then the strongest fighting power and for that reason was able to force its wishes upon all the other German states. Prussia was only a little kingdom and, though it had been considered one of the five great powers of Europe, it had been greatly weakened by long wars and had lost many thousands of its men.

But from this little Kingdom of Prussia came the power that built up the united Empire of Germany. This was done through the wonderful mind and leadership of one man, Otto von Bismarck.

In 1862 King William I. of Prussia made Bismarck his adviser. For the next thirty years BISMARCK AS Bismarck was the greatest figure in CHANCELLOR Europe. He came from an obscure family of the country landed aristocracy. He believed that it was the Prussian kings and not the Prussian people that had made his own kingdom great, so he favored giving the king more power and was firmly opposed to allowing the people any voice in their government. When William I. granted a constitution to Prussia, Bismarck was enraged. He said he hated democracy and the rule of the common people. He was an aristocrat to his finger tips.

Bismarck seemed to be the one German that understood the cause of his country's weakness. He also had been an exceedingly keen observer of all German affairs and he had come to feel it was a mistake to have so many small states in Germany. Many years

before he had said that there was not room in Germany for both Prussia and Austria and that one or the other must bend. He kept saying there were too many little states and he would have them all united in one nation with Prussia as its head. He argued that the only way to bring about this union was by war, for he believed that the great questions of the day are settled by blood and iron.

When Bismarck came into power as adviser to the King of Prussia, the first thing he advised was to smash Austria. To do this he needed a strong new military tool. So Bismarck and King William proceeded to get this tool ready. They built up a great army by demanding military service of every man. Every able-bodied young Prussian was called to serve for at least two years in the army. Some of the people of Prussia objected to this forced military service, but the King, encouraged by Bismarck, had his own way about it.

In good time Bismarck thought Prussia was strong enough to master Austria so they looked for some WAR ON excuse to begin the trouble. The people DENMARK of the two Danish provinces of Schleswig and Holstein were trying to throw off the rule of Denmark. This was Bismarck's chance to test his new army with little risk and also his opportunity to pick a quarrel with Austria. Sixty thousand Prussians and Austrians seized the territory in dispute. They easily defeated Denmark and forced her to give up the two provinces. But then Austria and Prussia could not agree about who should have them. Austria wished to make them into a separate state and this was also the wish of the people of the conquered provinces, but Bismarck was determined to add them to Prussia so as to extend her coast line

and secure some excellent harbors, especially the one at Kiel. He said there were too many small states in Germany already. This dispute soon led to war between Austria and Prussia as Bismarck had foreseen.

Bismarck had great faith that his new army could fight. The next thing was to prove it to the Austrians. The Prussians had adopted as their field rifle the breech-loading weapon known as the needle gun. It had a long range, considerably beyond that of the old-fashioned, smooth-bore musket. When a zealous young Austrian officer reported this to his superiors the only answer was, "The battalions of Austria will sweep away these piff-paff soldiers like dust."

AT WAR, 1866

In 1866 the opportunity came to "sweep away" the Prussians. Prussia forced the war upon Austria, PRUSSIA AND AUSTRIA and Italy helped Prussia. The marvelous new military system of the Prussians worked like a clock, and Prussia struck her enemy with such speed as to amaze Europe. The great general of this war was Von Moltke. In the years before the war he had planned all the campaigns, and he now saw them come out just as he had planned them.

Von Moltke sent three armies into Austro-Hungary by different routes. They met the Austrians at Sadowa. King William, Bismarck, and Von Moltke took up their position on a hill from which they could view the battle. The struggle was long and doubtful. It began in the early morning. For hours the armies fought with terrific fury. Up until two o'clock it seemed to be an Austrian victory. But then the Prussian Crown Prince arrived with his army and turned the tide. At half past three the

Austrian army was beaten and had begun the retreat. They had lost about 40,000 men, while the Prussians. had lost but 10,000. Austria acknowledged her defeat, and Bismarck, who feared France might join Austria, gladly gave her easy terms. The war lasted only about six weeks.

Now that the war was over and Austria subdued, what was Bismarck's next step? Prussia was anxious to punish Austria by taking the Bohemian frontier from her. When Bismarck learned this, it is said he burst into a torrent of weeping. He declared it would wreck all his plans and make Austria a lasting enemy of Prussia. He thought Prussia would some day need Austria's help. The King finally listened to Bismarck and the only penalty exacted from Austria was that she should leave the other German states alone and let Prussia manage them as best she could. Thus Austria was forced out of German affairs and Prussia became the leading state in Germany.

Prussia now got all the north German states, twenty-two in all, to form a North German Confederation. The King of Prussia was made President of the Federation. Bismarck wrote up the constitution and was careful to see that Prussia had enough power to control all important matters.

Still Germany was not yet a unit. There were several independent south German states that were FRANCO-PRUSSIAN influenced by Austria on the east WAR, 1870 and by France on the west. France was then supposed to be the strongest military power in Europe, but Prussia had no fear of France, single-handed. Bismarck made the south German states believe that the French were going to take some of their territory and thus gained their

consent to join hands with the German Confederation in a war. Bismarck said that the way to complete the union of the German states was to engage them all in a war against some other nation. Accordingly, he trumped up a quarrel with France as to who should sit on the throne of Spain. When Bismarck published in the press the story of this trouble with France, he told it in a way that was most insulting to France. He said he "intended it to be a red rag for the French bull." His plan was to anger France so she would declare war. Then Germany might pose before the world as merely fighting in self-defense. France declared war in 1870 and the south German states joined the North German Confederation as Bismarck had planned.

The French army was poorly prepared compared with the splendidly drilled Prussian soldiers. One French army was shut up in the strong fortress of Metz and besieged. The other French army surrendered at Sedan, and the French emperor was taken prisoner. Within six weeks the French empire had fallen and a republic was proclaimed in that country. In eight weeks the Germans were at the gates of Paris.

Immense stores had been collected at Paris, and the citizens were armed to defend their capital city. The French astonished the world with their splendid defense. It is interesting to know that aircraft figured in this siege when Gambetta and other leaders escaped from Paris by balloon and organized new armies outside. But they had no time to drill the new recruits, and they failed to break through the great circle of iron that surrounded the city. After