1867
Prussia materialized its new-found hegemony in Northern
Germany by founding the North-German Confederacy. All German states north of the
river Main became members. Hesse-Rhine became a member only for the northern
part of its territory. The Presidency of the Federation was given to the King of
Prussia. A bicameral Federal Parliament (Bundersrat and Reichstag) was founded.
Bismarck became Federal Chancellor. On this map, the members of the Confederacy
are all depicted in the yellow colour previously used for Prussia. The German
Realm, that came forth from the Confederacy, will also be yellow on the
following maps. The Austrian Empire concluded its "Ausgleich" or compromise with
the Hungarians of the Empire. A Dual Monarchy was established. Carved from the
surrounding remnants of the Austrian Empire, the Kingdom of Hungary, that was
abolished when the Austrian Empire was established in 1804, was revived. Both
states, Empire and Kingdom formed a political and personal union, in which both
parties were completely equal and had their own say in the foreign policy and
defence of what was to be known as the Dual Monarchy. The Hungarians were mostly
appeased, but the Slav peoples of both Realms were not. This would become a
great problem for the Dual Monarchy in the age of nationalism where a Pan-Slav
movement was aspiring for the liberation of Slav peoples in both Austria and
Turkey, under Russian leadership. Austria-Hungary was already in rivalry with
Russia over the Balkans, still ruled by the waning Ottoman Empire.
