Germany · Government / Government of Germany. Chronological records rendered directly from the World History Database.
Bismarck seeks advice from conservative and democratic politicians and presents a draft constitution to the other state Governments. It is his intention to make the new federal state look like a confederation in the tradition of the German Confederation
Prussia and a large number of North and Central German states sign a Bundnis (alliance). The treaty created a military alliance for one year
The North German states agree to form a federal state based on the Prussian proposals of June 1866. They agree to have a Parliament elected to discuss a draft constitution
The North German Confederation is the alliance of 22 German states (Augustbundnis)
The North German Confederation had nearly 30 million inhabitants, of which eighty percent lived in Prussia
Prussia and the other north German states prepare the election of a North German Parliament. This konstituierender Reichstag is elected in February 1867 based on state laws
The North German Confederation allows free movement of citizens within the territory of the Confederation
The North German Confederation establishes a common passports
The North German Confederation establishes a common postal system
To solidify Prussian hegemony, Prussia and several other North German states joined the North German Confederation. King Wilhelm I serves as its President, and Bismarck as its Chancellor. From this point on begins what historians refer to as "The Misery of Austria", in which Austria serves as a mere vassal to the superior Germany, a relationship that was to shape history up to the two World Wars
Appointed Head of the North German Confederation
The North German Confederation allows equal rights for the different religious denominations
The North German Confederation establishes unified measures and weights (with the obligatory introduction of the metric system)
The North German Confederation becomes a member of the Zollverein, the German customs union of 1834
The North German Confederation establishes a common penal code
Laws can only be enabled with the consent of the Reichstag (a Parliament based on universal male suffrage) and the Federal Council (a representation of the states)
The North German Confederation adopts a new constitution, which was written under the title of a new "German Confederation" but already gave it the name "German Empire"
The south German states of Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, Wurttemberg and Bavaria join the North German Confederation
This factsheet is generated from stored World History Database records matching the country, broad category, detailed category and exact Event value shown above. Duplicate display records are collapsed; database wording is otherwise preserved. Source provenance varies by record, so formal academic citation should be checked against the relevant primary source, archive or specialist historical reference.