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Through military victory, Prussia under Bismarck's influence had overcome Austria's active resistance to the idea of a unified Germany. The states south of the Main River (Baden, Württemberg, and Bavaria) signed separate treaties requiring them to pay indemnities and to form alliances bringing them into Prussia's sphere of influence. [88]
The other term, Greater Germany, remained in use for those who sought to incorporate Austria or the German-speaking parts of Austria into Germany. This became a political issue in the aftermath of World War One and then again in 1938–1945. During the Cold War, when Germany was divided, a unified Germany was called 'Gesamtdeutschland'.
At the time of the Erfurt Union in 1849/1850 it already looked like the Kingdom of Prussia could only unite the north of Germany. The large kingdoms of Bavaria and Württemberg, as well as Saxony, which finally had to join the North German Confederation after 1866 as a result of its defeat on the side of Austria, vehemently rejected the attempt at unification under Prussian leadership.
The territorial evolution of Germany in this article include all changes in the modern territory of Germany from its unification making it a country on 1 January 1871 to the present although the history of "Germany" as a territorial polity concept and the history of the ethnic Germans are much longer and much more complex.
Austria and Prussia both would fight France in the Napoleonic Wars; after their conclusion, the German states were reorganized into a more unified 37 separate states of the German Confederation. German nationalists began to demand a unified Germany, especially by 1848 and its revolutions .
Austria then lost all official influence over member states of the former German Confederation. Austria's defeat was a telling blow to Habsburg rule; the Empire was transformed via the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 into the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary in the following year. Additionally Austria was also excluded from Germany.
The origins of the rise of Bavarian nationalism as a strong political movement were in the Austro-Prussian War and its aftermath. [6] Bavaria was politically and culturally closer to Catholic Austria than Protestant Prussia and the Bavarians shared with the Austrians a common contempt towards the Prussians, leading Bavaria to ally with Austria in the war. [6]
This is a list of proposed state mergers, including both current and historical proposals originating from sovereign states or organizations.The entities listed below differ from separatist movements in that they would form as a merger or union of two or more existing states, territories, colonies or other regions, becoming either a federation, confederation or other type of unified sovereign ...