To what extent did Empire affect lives of continental Europeans Essay

To what extent did Empire affect lives of continental Europeans - Essay Example The resulting constitutional conflict was prevailed over by Otto Van Bismarck, the Minister President of Prussia in 1862 (Gooch, 1960, 58). Over the course of the latter part of the nineteenth century Bismarck involved Prussia in three wars, at some stage which the smaller German states were taken away from the presidency of Austria, the German Confederation was disbanded and Prussia developed to form a new and more entirely integrated Germany (ibid). France, on the other hand, became more centralized and liberal society during and after the Empire. The leaders in Paris confronted a few restrictions, and businessman took advantage of the freedom of commerce. Urban labourers and landless peasants, on the contrary, could stage only weak rebellions against their landowners. Even though the nobility had been dispossessed of its privileged and several of its owned land, the social hierarchy persisted; over the next five decades the nobility would unite with the upper bourgeoisie to form a new ruling class, which is known as the notables. The Church had lost its important role in society, yet it lingered on as a powerful force. A British blockade throughout the Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods had weakened the once flourishing Atlantic imperial economy. During these twenty-five years, England had surpassed the French economy in industrialization (ibid). The Empire in Germany symbolized success. Strengthened by the three victorious wars, she had replaced the nation of France as the first military power in continental Europe. The Prussian character was perceived to be equalled by remarkable progress in other directions. In almost all sectors of education and scientific innovations, the German Empire did not stand second to another. In manufacturing, German industry and commerce improved leaps and bounds. This success has been attributed by several of the historians and other scholars to the Prussian genius for organisation,