November Treaties

The November Treaties concluded in November 1870 on the accession of the Kingdom of Bavaria, and Württemberg, the Grand Duchies of Baden and Hesse to the North German Confederation. A new foundation was not envisaged but the North German Federation was to expand with the southern German states in order to form the German Empire.

The November Treaties are detailed as follows:

As a result, the constitution of the North German Confederation had to be adapted. Many changes had already appeared in the constitution of the German Confederation of 1 January 1871, but Württemberg had already ratified the treaty, as a result of which the new constitution had already been overtaken. Bavaria did not follow the ratification until the end of January, but allowed the legal effect to start retroactively on 1 January.

On 18 January 1871, the Emperor's proclamation in Versailles followed, which, from a legal point of view, did not constitute the founding of the empire, but a commission. The Constitution of the German Empire was adopted on 16 April to make constitutional law appropriate to the latest situation.

After the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, the North German states had joined the North German Confederation under the leadership of Prussia. In 1870, France under Napoleon III declared war on Prussia and thus triggered the Franco-Prussian War. France was surprised by the fact that Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and Hesse had joined Prussia, although there had been mutual covenants of protection and trusts since 1867.

During the war, in which the Prussians won, a near-reaching agreement emerged and the road to founding the empire was opened. Otto von Bismarck, Chancellor of the North German Confederation, pressed for diplomatic access to the remaining sovereign states, the Grand Duchy of Baden, the Grand Duchy of Hesse, the Kingdom of Württemberg and the Kingdom of Bavaria, in the sens of the Lesser German solution. Their governments differed in their unity. It therefore needed diplomatic skills to maintain the sovereignty of the southern German states at the same time and to anchor the unity of constitutional law. In addition, the foreign policies attracted the suspicion of the remaining European powers (Russian Empire, Austria-Hungary and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland) and had to be avoided.

...
Wikipedia