Search

On August 21, 1871, Prince Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck opened the first Reichstag, or parliament, in the newly united nation of Germany. This event followed Germany's victory in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, in which Prussia defeated the French and removed the last opposition to their creation of a united Germany. Bismarck's successful policies over several decades enabled the nation of Prussia to defeat all of its adversaries and not only absorb all of the lesser German states but also become the most powerful nation in central Europe. The opening of the Reichstag was one of the first steps in the establishment of this new empire.