Little Germany

Many events throughout European history helped unify Germany. Starting with the beginning of the Reformation all the way to the founding of the German Empire occurred many important pieces to help "little Germany" form.

In 1517 a monk by the name of Martin Luther released his 95 Theses which went against the selling of indulgences and the Catholic Church. This occurrence help open up the minds of Europeans everywhere. He got them to believe that their faith was in God and the bible and not with the buying of material pieces of paper sold by the church. At this time he defied the Holy Roman Empire because he was stopping them from having a universal language and religion. The end of the 30 Year's War was in 1648 and brought about the Peace of Westphalia which brought about the sovereignty of German states and the end of the Holy Roman Empire. During the year of 1792 France declared was on Austria which began the start of the Napoleonic Wars. But in the end France was defeated with great victory for Prussia. The wars with France helped bring together many German states to bring up arms and come together which in the end contributed to German nationalism. In 1803 the redistribution of German states had to come about and many imperial free cities and ecclesiastical territories were abolished. The end of the Napoleonic Wars was reached in 1815 and the Congress of Vienna occurred. The Congress of Vienna left the German states to deal with their own problems and solve them as they each see fit. The German Confederation was formed and was supposed to replace the