The North German Confederation Treaty of 1866 is considered the first legal document establishing the modern German nation state, forerunner to the German Empire.
Key Facts
- Treaty signed
- 18 August 1866
- German name
- Augustverträge (August Treaties)
- Confederation constitution date
- 1 July 1867
- North German parliament election
- February 1867
- Expanded to German Empire
- 1870–71
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The Austro-Prussian War of summer 1866 ended with Prussian victory, dissolving the German Confederation of 1815 and creating a power vacuum in northern and central Germany that Prussia moved swiftly to fill through diplomatic agreements with the other German states.
Prussia concluded a series of treaties with northern and central German states, culminating in the treaty of 18 August 1866, establishing a military alliance and an agreement to transform that alliance into a federal nation state based on Prussian constitutional plans for the former German Confederation.
The treaties led directly to the election of a North German parliament in February 1867 and the adoption of a federal constitution on 1 July 1867, creating the North German Confederation. This body was subsequently expanded to include the south German states in 1870–71, forming the German Empire.
Political Outcome
Formation of the North German Confederation, the immediate precursor to the unified German Empire of 1871.
Loose German Confederation of 1815 dominated jointly by Austria and Prussia
Prussian-led North German Confederation replacing the dissolved German Confederation