“A thousand years will pass and Germany's guilt will not be erased” (Hans Frank quotes 1). This quote from Hans Frank, a high-ranking official in Nazi Germany, accurately reflects Germany's worldview at the end of World War II. Frank was later convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg Trials and executed; however, his meaningful statement will endure. Germany tore the world apart during World War II, but its aggression dates back to the early 1870s. German actions, from the Franco-Prussian War to the formation of the Nazi Party, plunged Europe and the rest of the world in the chaos of World War II. The man who unified Germany and inflicted this destruction on Europe was none other than Adolf Hitler, one of the most evil men to have lived on this planet. Germany's blatant disregard for world peace and its quest for world domination makes it responsible for the devastating actions that took place during World War II. Beginning with the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Germany led the world down a dark path of global turmoil. Bismarck started the Franco-Prussian War in order to form a unified Germany. He started this conflict by issuing a statement to the press known as Ems Dispatch. This dispatch caused tensions between France and Prussia which ultimately led to the start of the Franco-Prussian War. In this short war, Prussia was supported by the southern German states against non-allied French forces. At the end of the conflict, Bismarck demanded war compensation from France: 5 billion francs. The newly created German Empire quickly grew to become "the strongest state on the European continent" (Colton 533). Basically, the Franco-P...... middle of paper ......l>."Invasion of Poland, autumn 1939." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Internet. May 2, 2011. .Rees, Laurence. "BBC - History - World Wars: Hitler's invasion of Russia during World War II." BBC - Homepage. Internet. May 2, 2011. “The Treaty of Versailles”. History learning site. Internet. May 2, 2011. “WWII Deaths.” Second World War. Internet. May 2, 2011. “Timeline of World War II in Europe.” The place of history. Internet. May 2, 2011. “Second World War – Main Causes.” Story on the main page of the Net. Internet. May 2 2011. .