1. The nationalist sentiments among the middle-class Germans forced them to unite different regions of the German Confederation into a nation-state (governed by an elected parliament) in 1848. 2. This initiative of nation-building was however repressed by the combined forces of monarchy and the military, supported by large landowners of Prussia. 3. Following these repressive measures, Prussia took on the task of national unification. Otto Von Bismarck was the chief architect of this process, along with the Prussian army and the bureaucracy. 4. Three wars fought over seven years - with Denmark, France and Austria ended in Prussian victory and thus completing the unification process. The Prussian King, William I, was thereafter proclaimed the German emperor in a ceremony held at Versailles. 5. The new state in Germany further went on to initiate a strong emphasis on modernizing currency, banking, legal and judicial systems.