OUTCOMES OF THE AUSTRO PRUSSIAN WAR
THE TREATY OF PRAGUE
THE NORTH GERMAN CONFEDEDERATION
Esteablishment of the treaty
Austrians were quick to seek peace and did not want prolonged conflict
The peace terms were entered in the treaty were not harsh but some of the Prussian leadership wanted to enter Vienna in triumph
Bismarck did not wish to further humiliate Austria as they were still a pretty powerful power
He looked at a future where they could stil be an ally and knew that if Austria lost power it would create a power vacuum in Southern Europe, open to foreign invasion
North German confederation
Bismarck replaced the Austrian dominated German confederation with the north German confederation
This was a political union in which Prussia took over the states of the north river
Several rulers like the king of Hanover were deposed as Bismarck did not want the royal families coming back to seek revenge
Territory
The West Bank of Rhine across to eastern Prussia was now continuous Prussian territory
Saxony was one of the few places that retained its king and was allowed limited independence within the confederation. This was a special concession won by Austria
The confederation had power over an additional 4 million people in northern Germany
King of Prussia had control over foreign policy and decisions of war and peace
It was governed by a federal council (bundesrat) representing the states and a parliament(reichstag) elected by universal male suffrage
Supposed to be democratic but dominated by the parliament
Bismarck was appointed federal chancellor and was supposed to responsible to the reichstag but instead he answered directly to the king as president of the confederation
The reichstag had no control over military spending even though it amounted to 90% of the annual budget
Bismarck said that he had no plans to unify Germany and the southern states were granted independence
Bismarck did not want to risk a dilution of Prussian culture and was aware of the strong resistance to Prussian values
He set up a body to represent both parts of the country in matters of trade known as the Zollparlament
Southern states still had defensive military alliances with Prussian which meant that if they faced a common threat their armies would come under Prussian control
Victory over the hereditary army
Made Bismarck popular with the national liberals
Not all conservative junkers supported the new confederation
Indemnity bill
Introduced by Bismarck in scepter 1866 to legalize his actions in raising taxes without parliamentary approval
Only seven members voted against it as Bismarck had created an alliance between moderate liberals and flexible conservatives and was seen as a heroic figure
Bismarck had placed his trust in king wilhelm which was something no one had really done before
He had shown that the forces of German nationalism could be allied to the interests of the Prussian state
The power struggle between Prussia and Austria had finally been settled