The unification of Germany into a politically and administratively
integrated nation state officially occurred on 18 January 1871 at the
Versailles Palace's Hall of Mirrors in France. Princes of the German
states gathered there to proclaim Wilhelm of Prussia as Emperor Wilhelm
of the German Empire after the French capitulation in the
Franco-Prussian War. Unofficially, the transition of most of the
German-speaking populations into a federated organization of states
occurred over nearly a century of experimentation. Unification exposed
several glaring religious, linguistic, and cultural differences between
and among the inhabitants of the new nation, suggesting that 1871
really only represents one moment in a continuum of the larger
unification processes.
Historians debate whether or not Otto von Bismarck, the Minister
President of Prussia, had a master-plan to expand the North German
Confederation of 1866 to include the remaining independent German
states into a single entity, or whether he simply sought to expand the
power of the Kingdom of Prussia. They conclude that factors in addition
to the strength of Bismarck's Realpolitik led a collection of early
modern polities to reorganize political, economic, military and
diplomatic relationships in the 19th century. By establishing a Germany
without Austria, the political and administrative unification in 1871
at least temporarily solved the problem of German dualism.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unification_of_Germany>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1126:
Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty of China abdicated the throne in
favour of his son Qinzong.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emperor_Huizong_of_Song>
1884:
Welsh physician William Price was arrested for attempting to cremate
his deceased infant son; he was acquitted in the subsequent trial,
which led to the legalisation of cremation in the United Kingdom.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Price_%28physician%29>
1943:
As part of Operation Iskra, the Soviet Red Army broke the Siege of
Leningrad, opening a narrow land corridor to the city.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Iskra>
1958:
African Canadian Willie O'Ree of the Boston Bruins played his first
game in the National Hockey League, breaking the color barrier in
professional ice hockey.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_O%27Ree>
1991:
In a sting operation conducted by the FBI, Mayor of Washington, D.C.,
Marion Barry was arrested for possession of crack cocaine.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion_Barry>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
septempartite (adj):
[[divide
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/septempartite>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
I have always observed that to succeed in the world one should appear
like a fool but be wise.
--Charles de Montesquieu
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_de_Montesquieu>
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