the German Confederation under Prussian dominance. By the weakening of Austria a national unity of Italy occurred, and since ~the Austrian government could no longer refuse the demands of Hungary, it secured a free government to the whole Austrian Empire.

Prussia’s victory allowed it to annex the Kingdom of Hanover, and the Duc~hies of Nassau, Schleswig, Holstein, Lauenburg, the Electorate of Hesse-Kassel, and the Free City of Frankfort. The addition of these territorial lands as provinces amounted to an area equal to one quarter of its whole kingdom.

Bismarck’s diplomacy, by which Austria was driven to war, was now universally acknowledged. The possession of Schleswig and Holstein was not the main objective of the war, nor was it during the Danish-Prussian war. The real purpose was the establishment or initiation of German national unity under the leadership of the King of Prussia. This was now partly accomplished by the formation of a northern German states Confederation, from which Austria and her southern German allies were excluded. The predominant influence would be Prussian and Protestant instea’d of Austrian and Catholic.

Bismarck showed his statesmanship and genius by taking a page from America’s President Lincoln and General Grant by opposing those who wished to humble Austria.

He insisted that the c.apital of Austria (Vienna)would not be humiliated by Prussian occupation troops, and the peace terms were lenient. Once more Bismarck showed his shrewd political statesmanship, because he needed Austria’s neutrality during his next and final move. He was nearing his go.al, and he did not wish to wound Austria too severely, leaving behind any unnecessary bitterness and feelings for revenge. The only territorial loss was Venetia, which was granted to Italy. The treaty of peace was signed at Prague on August 23, 1866.

The third hammer-blow was struck against France, and was intended to remove her from the position of the European Continent’s superpower, and by so doing to formalize a powerful united Germany, which was Bismarck’s ultimate goal. French Emperor Napoleon III (Charles-Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte, 1808-1873) expected Austria to defeat Prussia in 1866. He was greatly disappointed and furious at the actual outcome. He threatened to declare war on Prussia unless France was given a share of the spoils, to which France had no real claim. Napoleon tried in vain to obtain a reward for remaining neutral during the 1866 war. He demanded southern German territories. Bismarck not only returned a defiant refusal but went so far as to publicly publish beth

his own and Napoleon’s earlier incriminating notes, thus raising suspicions of France’s true motives. This helped consolidate Prussia’s position among the rest of the Germanies, including its former foes. Now a humiliated Napoleon, realizing the dangerous position in which he found himself embroiled issued orders for the French armies to prepare for war.

The next four years were marked by growing tension between France and Prussia. Both made a steady increase in their armaments. In 1867 things came to a head when Napoleon attempted to purchase from the King of Holland (who was also the Grand Duke of Luxemburg) his strategically located Grand Duchy, which had been a part of the Dutch king’s holdings for over fifty years. Prior to the formal purchasing agreement Bismarck, in the name of the North German Confederation, and since Luxemburg for the most part was a German country and a member of the Confederation, issued a strong protest against the purchase. Bismarck’s boldness foiled the French plan, and a conference of European nations awarded independence to the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg.

Once again Napoleon was publicly humiliated, and fresh from his defeat by peasants in Mexico, he believed that a war with Prussia was the only way to recover his prestige. But the Mexican expedition had drained the better part of the French Army, forcing Napoleon to search for allies. He attempted to drive a wedge between the southern and northern German nations. Having a shared Catholic religion, he believed if he could gain the southern German states as allies France would be more than a match for Bismarck’s Prussia. An envious and greedy Napoleon wasn’t content with defeating Prussia; he wanted to obtain additional land for his Empire, equal to that of Prussia.

Once again Bismarck succeeded in depriving France of allies. He concluded secret offensive and defensive treaties of alliance with the southern Germanies in the case of war. Austria, in spite of French flattery, declined an alliance with Napoleon. Bismarck had been generous to his one time advisory and Austria was grateful. Italy also had no reason to turn against its Prussian ally to form an alliance with France. After all, Napoleon had French troops stationed in Rome, holding it for the Pope. A French defeat at the hands of the Prussians would compel these troops to be withdrawn. Russia, at Bismarck’s prompting, seized an opportunity to break the treaty placed on her at the time of the Crimean War, which controlled its shipping movements in and out of the Black Sea. Great Britain was not pleased with Napoleon after The Times’ published in early 1870 the text received from Bismarck of a draft treaty proposed by the French four

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years earlier in which they sought to acquire Belgium in return for supporting Prussia in 1866.

Both the French and Prussian peoples wanted war. All that was needed for hostilities to commence was a pretext. It finally came in the summer of 1870. A revolution in Spain in 1868 had driven out the Bourbon dynasty headed by Queen Isabella II (1830-1904), leaving the Spanish throne vacant. The interim Spanish government searched for a new monarch from among suitable European royal families. Their choice was Prince Leopold Stephan Karl Anton Gustav Eduard Tassilo von Hohenzollern- Sigmaringen (1835-1905), a distant cousin to, and member of, Prussian King Wilhelm’s Hohenzollern family. The French were livid. A union of the Spanish and Prussian thrones forming a circle of Hohenzollerns around France was just too much. But Leopold declined the offer, to which Bismarck suggested the Spanish submit their offer again. The French reaction was violent, and Napoleon sent his Ambassador, Vincent Benedetti (1817-1900), to Prussia, to ask King Wilhelm to forbid his cousin from accepting the Spanish throne. King Wilhelm politely informed Benedetti that even though he was the head of the Hohenzollern family he had no control over the actions of Prince Leopold, who’s father was the head of the Sigmaringen branch of the family.

Prince Leopold, worried that his actions would ignite a war, declined the throne of Spain. But Napoleon was not satisfied and instructed Benedetti to demand from King Wilhelm guarantees that no Hohenzollern family member would ever accept the Spanish throne. This was too much for King Wilhelm to tolerate, and he courteously but firmly informed the French Ambassador that the matter was closed to further discussion. Benedetti reported to Napoleon that he, Benedetti, and thus Napoleon himself, had been insulted by the Prussian king. But Wilhehn simply refused further discussions and referred the arrogant ambassador to his government.

King Wilhelm sent a dispatch of the events from his palace at Ems to Bismarck with instructions that he could do what he wished with the information. Bismarck seized the opportunity. He abbreviated the account from its original 200 words to just 20, giving the impression that the French demands had been rudely rejected and the French ambassador ignored, and then had it published. In Paris the publication had the effect Bismarck anticipated and wanted. The French demanded immediate war. The official declaration followed within the week.

For the first time in Europe’s history the numerous German Kingdoms, Dukedoms and Principalities became one

united national power. The Kingdoms of Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony and Wurttemburg, the Grand Duchies of Baden, Oldenburg, Hesse-Darmstadt, Mechlenburg-Schwerin, Mechlenburg-Strelitz, and Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach, the Duchies of Anhalt, Brunswick, Saxe-Altenburg, Saxe- Coburg-Gotha, and Saxe-Meiningen, the Principalities ofWaldeck, Lippe-Detmold, Schaumburg-Lippe, Reus~- Greiz, Reuss-Schleiz, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, and Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, and the Prussian provinces acquired from her victory in 1866 of Hanover, Hesse- Kassel, Nassau, Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenburg were joined together by Bismarck to fight a common foe and archenemy. They vowed to never again allow German lands to be overrun by French soldiers, as they had been 60 years earlier by the armies of Napoleon Bonaparte I.

Prussia’s General Helmuth von Moltke became Chief of Staff of a united German Army. He had foreseen the coming of war, and in collaboration with Bismarck and the War Minister, General Albrecht Theodor Emil von Roon (1803-1879)(made a Count in 1871), had prepared for it. Within six months from the declaration of war on July 19, 1870 and the opening skirmish of Saarbrucken onAugust 2, 1870 the united German armies had soundly defeated the French Army and stood at the outskirts of Paris, which surrendered on January 28, 1871. Every military engagement and battle occurred within the borders of France. The German and French armies clashed in 156 greater and lesser engagements, of which 17 were pitdhed battles. The German forces took 20 fortified places, captured 632,983 prisoners, including Emperor Napoleon III, and in the process totally defeated France. In a term, it was a knockout.

On January 18, 1871, in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, surrounded by German kings, dukes, princes and generals, Bismarck’s final achievement, his over-riding goal, the crowning of Wilhelm yon Hohenzollern King of Prussia as the Emperor of a united Germany, was accomplished. Germany, under the leadership of Prussia, would dominate Europe, much of Africa and Asia for over 40 years, and for those years Europe remained at peace.

Bismarck accomplished in only nine years by his "Iron and Blood" strategy, a unification of nearly all of the German states, excluding only the Empire of Austria, Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, Principality of Liechtenstein, and the Confederation of Switzerland, into a single Prussian military empire. An empire that was not weak and fraught with internal dissension as had been the old German Confederation, but strong and influential under hereditary rule by a Prussian king. Under this single rule came strength and power. Bismarck accomplished

6 JOMSA

his aims by overriding national legislation and through a number of brilliant diplomatic achievements: First, the establishment of Prussia as a capable military power, then by defeating the only opposition to its growth (internally and externally), and finally by a conflict between an archenemy with the combined peoples of a common tongue.

The Danish-Prussian War Service Medals

In 1865 three war service medals in ten varieties were produced and issued by the Kingdom of Prussia to members of its armed forces, civil, and political participant. They included two campaign crosses and a circular service medal. These medals were presented only to Prussian nationals and not to nationals of its ally, Austria.

The numerous varieties were a result of Bismarck’s intent to install prestige within the Prussian people by giving them a wide array of medals for every aspect of service. Bismarck took this idea from Napoleon Bonaparte, who who reportedly made the statement, "With enough medals I can conquer Europe."

The design for the two crosses is identical, comprising a formee (straight arm ends) cross pattee, encircled by a wreath, measuring 3.1 x 3.1 centimeters in overall size. The obverse is identical for both, bearing at the center the profile of King Wilhelm I, encircled with the wording WILHELM KOENIG VON PREUSSEN (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Obverse of the Diippel Storm Cross.

One of the two campaign crosses is referred to as the Dtippel Storm Cross and was presented to those troops who took part in the campaign and victorious engagement against the Danish fortifications of Dfippel

(Dybbol), from March 30 to April 18, 1864. The Duppel fortifications consisted of an inner fortress surrounded by an outer chain of ten redoubts. After a heavy bombardment and assault on six of the redoubts (all of which were stormed and taken on April 17, 1864) the fort and remaining redoubts surrendered. The reverse center of this cross bears a crowned eagle atop a cannon. The four arms of the cross bearing: D~PPEL 18APR 1864 the date the Danish garrison surrendered (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Reverse of the Diippel Storm Cross.

Four crosses of the Dt~ppel design were issued (Figure 3):

Combatants Cross: issued in two metals, one of bronze, and one of nickel, having a ribbon consisting of a wide blue center flanked on each side by equal width but thinner black and white stripes (reading: black/white/blue/white/black), and edged in white.

Non-Combatants Cross: also issued in two metals, one of bronze, and one of a silver-bearing alloy, having a ribbon of orange broken by two evenly spaced thin blue stripes (reading: orange/blue/orange/blue/ orange), and edged with thin white/black/white stripes. The silver-bearing cross, being a shinier variety, was the preference for wear by some officers who would exchange their issued bronze cross for a silvered variety. Thus, there exist original Reserve Troops ribbons attached to the Non-Combatants silvered cross.

Reserve Troops Cross: struck in bronze, having a ribbon consisting of a thin black center strip flanked on each side by equal width and wider blue and white stripes (reading: blue/white/black/white/blue), and edged in white.

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