A confederation of German states ruled by princes and kings which existed from the [[Congress of Vienna]] in 1815 until the [[Peace of Prague]] in 1866. [[Otto von Bismarck]] pulled together the German states into one nation, [[Germany]], with a centralized government in 1871. | A confederation of German states ruled by princes and kings which existed from the [[Congress of Vienna]] in 1815 until the [[Peace of Prague]] in 1866. [[Otto von Bismarck]] pulled together the German states into one nation, [[Germany]], with a centralized government in 1871. |