The Importance of Bismarck to German Unification
When Bismarck became chancellor of Prussia in 1862 nationalism had
already started 47 years ago in 1815. Although Bismarck greatly helped
the move towards unification there were also many other factors
involved. These factors included things such as the economic power of
the Zollverein and the fact that having a strong country would make
them safer, and they all shared the same enemy: France. It is
necessary to compare these factor with each other in order to asses
the importance of Bismarck to German unification.
Historians such as Frank Eyck believe that unification of Germany 'was
a natural and desirable development.' In many ways this is true. From
1790s - 1814 French domination helped to modernize and consolidate
Germany, thus sparking the first upsurge of German nationalism. When
Napoleon defeated the most defiant state, Prussia, they were so
distraught about their defeat that they started thorough reforms. This
meant that smaller states who suffered under French rule started to
turn to Prussia in their common hatred of the French. In this way it
can be said that Germany was already starting to unify of her own
accord.
As the people continued to suffer during several decades of repression
there came a strong desire for reform. Although at first this was only
among the educated, wealthy bourgeoisie, unemployment among small
artisans encouraged them to join the revolution in hopes of secure
jobs. When an uprising occurred in France, the German liberals decided
that they too would start to push their own claims. The violent
revolutions of 1848 scared princes such as Metternic...
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...nto declaring war on Prussia. The south German states came to
their aid and they had a glorious victory. Meanwhile Bismarck won the
consent of the South German states to unite Germany with Prussia at
its head. He had achieved his task and in January 1871 the Prussian
King proclaimed the German empire.
The proclamation of the German empire was the result of a long process
to which many factors contributed to. 'German unification was, on the
part of Bismarck, a series of favorable situations wisely grasped' (Aronson,
the Kaisers) Although the Zollverein, Prussia's military power and
industrialization all pointed Germany in the right direction of
unification it would have taken many more years, or perhaps never, for
Germany to unify. Bismarck took the pieces of jigsaw and put them all
together to give us united Germany.
...h Austria’s presence. Thus, in the Nikolsburg Armistice, he agreed “to make no annexations in Austria in return for a large cash indemnity and Franz Joseph’s pledge to remove Austria from the German Confederation and whatever political structure Prussia might design to succeed it.” In doing so, Bismarck removed all legitimacy of Austrian presence in Germany. No longer could Austria involve itself in German politics without violating the treaty. As a result, this exclusion would make certain that a “centralized German state under Prussian domination” would come to exist. This war went perfectly for Bismarck, for he was able to achieve all he desired in the outcome. The armistice itself helps to prove that the war was orchestrated intentionally by Bismarck, for he exacted little from his enemy but his ultimate goal – ensuring Prussian supremacy in Germany.
The biographical approach to German unification in Bruce Waller’s Bismarck leaves the reader without much information on the European political picture as a whole and by no means provides a plethora of information on many of the political power players outside of Bismarck’s Germany. For example, Waller’s approach to Bismarck’s economic foreign policy is clearly lacking an explanation of outside factors, and those factors of the European economic situat...
There were a number of events that occurred before eventually resulting in the reunification of Germany in 1871. The first steps towards the unification of Germany began in 1814 after the downfall of Napoleon’s ‘Rheinbund’ this began the period of restoration, where princes and knights etc. reclaimed their political control over their territory that they had under the old ‘Reich’ before 1789 (Mark Allinson, 2002).
Bismarck believed that Germany should be united under Prussian leadership and that Austria should have nothing to do with Germany. Bismarck was chosen as chancellor by the Prussian king as he had a proven record as a monarchist and had little time for liberal and excessive parliamentary ideas. Bismarck helped his long term plan to unite Germany and to be the ruler by getting in a strong position with the king. The king owned Bismarck a 'favour´ as Bismarck had solved the king´s constitutional crisis. Bismarck played a crucial part in the unification of Germany as he helped to set up the Northern German Confederation after defeating Austria in the second of three wars.
The war was the result of a succession dispute over the Spanish crown. What was seemingly a Prussian-Spanish alliance made the French feel encircled. Bismarck was able to entice Napoleon III into quick, aggressive action through the manipulation of Ems Telegram. This prompt action from Napoleon III led to growing anti-French and pro-German sentiment and led to the southern German states aiding the Prussian cause. William Carr has argued that South Germany’s involvement in Prussia’s cause meant that they had to come to terms with the new political situation. Although numerous southern states were reluctant to join the German Confederation, Bismarck therefore had to make numerous concessions. None the less the German Empire was born on the 18th January 1871. Harry Hearder argues that the North German Confederation already signified a unified German State. The declaration of the German Empire in 1871 re-emphasized the creation of a unified Germany and included the southern states. This would suggest that the Seven Weeks War with Austria had more significance in the eventual unification of
build up a name for himself, as well as, to get to know people in high
But Bismarck never actually attached himself to the National Liberal aims, and instead he ‘mainly sought to safeguard the position of the federal states, above all Prussia, and ensure their rights were protected’, so therefore it can be seen that he had planned unification from the outset, thus Bismarck playing a very important role in the unification of Germany. Furthermore his ‘domestic policies were driven by his determination to consolidate the new national state’, once again showing his large impact on the unification of Germany. However it is undeniable that the national liberal movement did play a large and important role in the unification of Germany and the most obvious and clear example of this is that ‘the National Liberals were the most powerful political party in Germany by the end of the unification process’ showing their political power. However, without Bismarck it could be argued that they would not have been able to get their views across but also Bismarck sought unification through war to secure the Germany he supposedly wanted. This is seen as Bismarck knew that ‘an agreement with Austria to divide Germany was always unlikely and that ultimately force would have to decide the issue’, this clearly linking into the Wars of Unification that followed which in the end secured the unification of Germany
In the late 1800s, Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck used different strategical plans in order to gain as much power possible, the majority of the plans consisted of him taking advantage of the different political parties. Bismarck used many traditional political strategies in order to gain the power he craved for, such as creating harsh laws and prohibiting certain beliefs or ideas. Unfortunately, these strategies did not satisfy the people, so Bismarck later started to increase the welfare of the working class, apologized to the Socialists, and did much more to obtain more political strength which eventually created a new conservatism. In an effort to increase political power for the Kaiser, Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck uses liberal and traditional
In the 1800s Germany was not one single German nation, instead it was made up of 2 dozen German-speaking kingdoms. The reason for nationalists wanting to unite these Kingdoms was so that they could form a greater Germany (19th century anti-Semitism). Nationalists wanted Germany to be a nation that would go up against the economic and military power of Britain, France and Russia (19th century anti-Semitism). However, it was not an easy task to unite the Kingdom.
He brought in the Carlsbad Decree, banning the teaching of nationalism and liberalism. Lecturers were expelled for teaching nationalism and students were not allowed to talk about liberal and nationalist ideas. On the other hand, the second most powerful Germanic state, Prussia was open to the idea of liberalism and nationalism. Prussia welcomed the idea of one German nation. Other states grew closer to Prussia and an economic union called Zollverein was created that did included Austria in it. This economic union allowed Prussia to improve its economic situation and its military. An attempt to unify Germany was made in 1848, which ended up in a partial failure. The 1848 attempt made it clear that the German’s wanted Germany without Austria. The attempt was partially a failure because Prussian king did not take the title of German Emperor since the commoners were giving it and it made the Prussian King feel
Research will be drawn from many sources including several historical studies and online articles. The sources used revolve around Bismarck's attitudes and actions toward German unification and general policy. Sources include works by historians A.J.P. Taylor and James Wycliffe Headlam. The policies of Bismarck during the interwar period were researched as well, through several scholastic journals and written works.
There were many events that lead up to the Bolshevik Revolution. First off, in 1848, Karl Marx and Fredrich Engels published a thought-provoking book. The Communist Manifesto expressed their support of a world in which there was no difference in class. A world in which the workers and commoners ran the show and there was no high and supreme ruler. Many intellectual Russians began to become aware of this pamphlet as well as the advanced state of the world compared to Russia. Other countries were going through an industrial revolution, while the Czars had made it clear that no industrial surge was about to happen in Russia. The popularity of the Czars further went down hill as Nicolas II’s poor military and political decisions caused mass losses in World War I. Eventually, the citizens could take no more and began a riot in St. Petersburg that led to the first Russian Revolution of 1917.
As you can see all these factors enabled the reactionary regimes to return to power after the 1848 Revolutions. I do not think that one was more influential than another but that they are all connected. Perhaps without one, another may not have had such an effect. For example, the existence of social and economic difficulties increased the divisions between the revolutionaries. They found it increasingly difficult to agree with one another on how to combat them, let alone be able to compromise on a new form of government. Also if the new widened franchise had not been so inexperienced the revolutionaries would have had an easier time replacing the old regimes, which had in fact not been that strong to start with. The reactionary regimes regained power so quickly because of all of these reasons and although the 1848 Revolutions had emphasised the “ineptitude and impotence”8 of the old sovereigns and governments, they brought with them too many resentments, grudges and radical changes, for which Europe was not yet ready.
From the 1790s to 1814 French troops successively conquered and occupied the area that later constituted the German Empire. French domination helped to modernize and consolidate Germany and -- toward the end -- sparked the first upsurge of German nationalism. In different ways the French emperor Napoleon I helped German unification. It was important that he encouraged many of the middle-sized German states to absorb huge numbers of small independent territories, mostly bishoprics, church lands, and local principalities.
Prior to unification in 1871 the territory that would become Germany was comprised of thirty-nine independent states and city states joined together in a loose German Confederation. The most powerful among these states was Prussia, both geographically the largest state and that with the largest population. The influential politicians and policies that came out of Prussia were instrumental in the gradual formation of a united Germany. Beginning with the rise of Napoleon, the nineteenth century was a time of incredible change which dramatically altered the political balance of Europe. In order to understand the factors that culminated in official German unification on January 18 1871, it is necessary to examine the preceding decades. No single factor can be credited for the unification of the German states. Rather, the combined forces of social change, economic strength within a unified customs union, the moral justifications provided by nationalism, Bismarck’s careful manipulation of internal politics and the advantages gained through military action resulted in the unification of Germany.