North German Confederation
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The North German Confederation (Template:Lang-de) was the German federal state which existed from July 1867 to December 1870. The Confederation came into existence after the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 over the lordship of two small Danish duchies (Schleswig-Holstein) claimed by Prussia in 1866. Although de jure a confederacy of equal states, the Confederation was de facto controlled and led by the largest and most powerful member, Prussia, which exercised its influence to bring about the formation of the German Empire. Some historians also use the name for the alliance of 22 German states formed on 18 August 1866 (Template:Lang).
The growing power of Prussia was worrying other great powers, especially Second French Empire,which was ruled by the French Emperor Napoleon III and his regime, the Second French Empire. In 1868, Spain overthrew queen Isabella II, and a German prince was a candidate for her throne. France, not wanting to be encircled by a German-Spanish alliance, declared war on the Confederation. In 1870–1871, the south German states of Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, Württemberg and Bavaria joined the country. On 1 January 1871, the country adopted a new constitution, which was written under the title of a new "German Confederation" but already gave it the name "German Empire" in the preamble and article 11.
The constitution established a constitutional monarchy with the Prussian king as the bearer of the Template:Lang, or head of state. Laws could only be enabled with the consent of the Template:Lang (a parliament based on universal male suffrage) and the Federal Council (a representation of the states). During the four years of the Confederation, a conservative-liberal cooperation undertook important steps to unify (Northern) Germany with regard to law and infrastructure. The political system (and the political parties) remained essentially the same in the years after 1870.
The Confederation had nearly 30 million inhabitants, of whom eighty percent lived in Prussia.
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