History of the North Sea the North Sea though they saw little action. The Austro-Prussian War (1866) resulted in Prussia's gaining full control of the Kiel Canal, allowing their Baltic ports access to the North Sea. France declared war on Prussia 19 July 1870 which initiated the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871). The French Navy was, at the time far larger and superior to the North German Federal Navy, the Navy of the North German Confederation. Though the French did take a number of merchant ships bound to and from North Germany, shortages of manpower and coal, as well as conflicting orders, made the attempted blockade of
Geology of the Baltic Sea Geology of the Baltic Sea The Geology of the Baltic Sea is characterized by having areas located both at the Baltic Shield of the East European Craton and the Danish-North German-Polish Caledonides. There is a distinction between what is the current Baltic Sea depression, formed in the Cenozoic Era, and the much older sedimentary basins whose sediments are preserved in the zone. Although glacial erosion has contributed to shape the present depression, the Baltic trough is largely a depression of tectonic origin that existed long before the Quaternary glaciation. The Baltic Sea sedimentary basin was formed on top of the