Overview

With the defeat of the revolution of 1848, the attempt to unite the German states had also failed. An agreement in the spirit of a Greater Germany, as demanded by Emperor Franz Joseph, was out of the question for Bismarck, who had been Prussian Prime Minister since 1862. For him, unity was only conceivable under Prussian leadership and without Austria. The two great powers still fought together in the war against Denmark (1864). Two years later, the separation from Austria was completed in the German War.