Bismarck Unification Of Germany Analysis

Under the reign of Otto von Bismarck, the national liberals and German unification really took to another level. After gaining the Chancellorship in 1862, Bismarck began improving Prussia's diplomatic position to ensure Prussia's dominance over Austria. In 1863, when Russia experienced a revolt in its Polish territory, Bismarck and Prussia supported Russia in its violent suppression of the rebellion. This endeared Prussia to Russia, who was traditionally an ally of Prussia's German rival, Austria. This example shows that Bismarck was able to read situations and be pragmatic to differing circumstances – therefore he has often been referred to using realpolitik tactics. This meaning that he understood situations; Bismarck himself knew this and

is seen to use one of his favourite Latin proverbs quite regularly, which was ‘one cannot make a wave, only ride it’, in reference to the support of the national liberalism at the time when he came to power. This nationalist feeling can be seen to come from France's conquest of the German lands in the first decade of the 19th century that first fully aroused German nationalists into proposing a unified German state. Indeed, J.G. Fichte's Addresses to the German Nation, given in Berlin in 1808, called on Germans to unite under their common language and traditions. Moreover, this argument has been stated that and ‘the real work of constituting the German nation had to be conducted in opposition to the existing sovereign authorities by civil initiative and voluntary association’, hereby showing that it was not completely Bismarck that led Germany to be unified by 1871. In contrary, the argument that Bismarck was a fervent German nationalist who wanted a German nation, but specifically one dominated by his Prussia. As a result, once appointed, Chancellor Bismarck set out to strengthen and improve the Prussian army and gain international allies that would help Prussia on its way to unifying Germany. This view is supported as the remarkable leadership of Bismarck and his manipulation of events in 1866 and 1870 led to the creation of the imperial Germany and to add to this ‘it is impossible to argue that things would have turned out much the same if Bismarck had not been at the helm or that his personality did not make a significant difference’. Therefore showing that without Bismarck the nationalist sentiment throughout Germany would have been able to unite if he was not in charge. But of course the opposing argument states that Bismarck was just lucky to be there at the right place at the right time; as he only ‘produced the policies that liberal Germany desired’ and therefore anyone could have done the job of unifying the nation.

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 1871.
The wars of unification are seen as important towards the unification of Germany, as it was the final step in the process, this is because it confirmed the kleindeutsch solution between having Austria in or out, which final version left Austria out of the German empire in 1871. Prior to these wars it is seen that the statement of ‘Iron and Blood’ was clearly linked to Bismarck’s intentions and is seen as a catalyst towards unification, as Germany will only become a nation if they work and fight together. This is seen as accurate as it took Bismarck ‘three wars of unification to disentangle his Small German (Prussian-dominated) nation-state from the fetters of its European environment’, therefore showing that the wars were crucial in sealing the German empire. The first war was against Denmark in 1864 and didn’t provide any real gains for Prussia and the nationalist movement, but it certainly cost Austria – this is because it showed to the people of Germany that it was only really Prussia that could defend other German states against external aggression. After the result of the war Bismarck constructed an alliance with Austria to fight Denmark over Denmark's southern provinces of Schleiswig and Holstein. Prussia received Schleiswig while Austria administered Holstein; these agreements definitely had some responsibility for the Austro-Prussian war in 1866 and it is debated whether Bismarck knew that the agreements he was in control of would lead to a war against Austria, the nation he did not want to be part of the German empire. The situation in Denmark could not stand for long, as Austrian Holstein was now surrounded by Prussian lands.