How did the unification of Germany change world history?

Welcome: How did the unification of Germany change world history?
Description: The nation we currently know as Germany was not always a country. In fact, Germany the country is one of the more recent additionsto the map of Europe. As late as 1860 the area we today call Germany was divided up into 39 separate states. While many of the people living in these states shared a common, language, a common culture, common history and for the most part a common language the German people had been intentionally left divided at the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars (1815). The division of the German people began to end in 1860 when the Prime Minister of Prussia, a man by the name of Otto Von Bismarck began to take steps to unite the German people under one ruler.
Grade Level: 6-8
Curriculum: Social Studies
Keywords: Germany, Bismark, Nationalism, Unification
Author(s): Andrea Lance