Briefly trace the process of German unification.

The process of German unification can be traced as follows:

1. Middle class germans united in 1848 to create a nation-state out of the numerous German States. But the monarchy and the military got together to repress them and they gained support from the landowners of Prussia (the Junkers) too.
2. Prussia soon became the leader of the German unification movement.
3. Chief Minister Otto von Bismarck was the architect of the process with support from Prussian army and Prussian bureaucracy.
4. The unification process was completed after Prussia won wars with Austria, Denmark, and France over seven years time.
5. In January 1871, the Prussian king, Kaiser William I, was proclaimed the German Emperor in a ceremony held at Versailles.