Before the mid-1800’s, Italy and Germany were split into many different republics, city-states, and principalities until two men unified each respective country. These men used every means available to them to unify their countries and further expand their realms as well as securing the safety of their country. They also, at times, worked together in order to expand and secure their borders specifically against the Austrians. Leading politicians Otto Von Bismarck and Camillo Cavour united their countries of Germany and Italy by engaging in military action and utilizing diplomacy to expand their borders while uniting the people, even though Bismarck favored the less prudent “blood and iron” mixture.
The structure of Italy was made up of several
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Still, they had been defeated by Napoleon Bonaparte as well as by liberals within Prussia. These liberals, who desired reform from king Fredrick Wilhelm IV and were inspired by the enlightenment, called for a new government and the creation of a new German state unifying Prussia and the surrounding smaller German states. This situation eventually helped Bismarck gain the peoples vote and unify the country as he used the peoples desire to establish the new country which was more in line with his ideology. Bismarck used the people’s desire to wage war with Denmark, Austria, and eventually France, expanding the German borders. Bismarck was able to convince the other German states to join with the Prussian state and serve its king. In addition, Bismarck was able to manipulate foreign policy in order to keep Germany out of important wars like the Crimean War, which if they had entered, might have led to a war encompassing the entirety of Europe. “As long as an honorable arrangement concerning the influence of each in Germany cannot be concluded and carried out, we will both plough the same disputed acre, and Austria will remain the only state to whom we can permanently lose or form whom we can permanently gain” (2). Bismarck used extraordinary diplomatic skills to keep countries like Britain, Russia, …show more content…
The creation of both of these states brought about new European powers, Germany especially, and would challenge powers such as Britain. While empires and kingdoms rose from the ashes, they also provided a way for Liberals to gain power. While both states were newly formed at this time by the use of military force and diplomatic procedures, Italy had a greater tendency to favor military means.
Notes:
1. Ziblatt, Daniel. Structuring the state: the formation of Italy and Germany and the Puzzle of Federalism. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2006. Accessed February 24, 2018.
2. “Documents of German Unification, 1848-1871.” In Paul Halsall, ed., Internet History Sourcebooks: Modern History (New York: Fordham University, 1997). https://sourcebooks.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/germanunification.asp.
3. Steinberg, Jonathan. "How Did Bismarck Do It? History Today, February 2011. Accessed February 24, 2018.
4. Gerwarth, Robert. "Bismarck and the German Right." History Today. Accessed March 31, 2018.
5. “Documents of Italian Unification, 1846-61.” In Paul Halsall, ed., Internet History Sourcebooks: Modern History (New York: Fordham University, 1997).
Germany and Italy did not play the role in this war. German question in the post-war period was one of the main, and about Cold war too. Let's look at Italy and Germany during the Cold War and how it affected their future. After World War II, many countries had serious problems in almost all areas, political, social and economic. One of the winners of the major issues after the war was the German question and the reason for the conflict between them, and led to the division of Germany and Europe.
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.
As the major defeated power, Germany was punished heavily by the Treaty of Versailles. She was to pay a huge indemnity, cede traditional territories, lose all overseas possessions, accept almost total disarmament and the "war-guilt" clause, etc. Both Italy and Germany had unsuccessful democratic experiment. The coalition party governments in both countries had been incompetent in restoring national pride and getting rid of massive unemployment and hyper-inflation. Thus, a strong leader and efficient one-party rule were accepted in both Italy and Germany.
(Versaware, 1999, p.1) (Chastain, 1998, p.1) (World Book, 1999, p. 381)(Richards, 1977, p.139-143)(Compton's Encyclopedia, 1999, p.1) This is when Bismarck, a beneficiary of good fortunes, set his own designs for Prussia into motion (Encyclopedia Britannica, 1994, p.3) Otto von Bismarck , during the course of 1860-1862, benefitted from some unpredictable circumstances. "That same year [1862] a bitter dispute between the Prussian government and Parliament over the size of the army reached an impasses.
There were only a few german land which were free from Bismarck hands which he had wanted to Annex those ones even more. The southern German states would join Bismarck's confederation afraid of an attack from France. This had stated each state had individual leadership, whilst he was the main president of the confederation. All the states had finally come together to wage a war against the french which no outside country had come to help. The Franco-Prussian war had finally ended with France paying five billion francs and extra territory.
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
The controversies surrounding his life still go on between historians today. He is portrayed as a destroyer of liberty and also as a compromiser of liberalism. Some see Bismarck as trying to preserve the old order of Europe. Bismarck worked against liberal plans for unification of Germany but stood proudly in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles as the German Empire he helped to create was proclaimed. Bismarck as man and as statesman has been a point of interests for many history scholars’ interpretations. Bismarck’s empire lasted only 20 years after him. Bismarck believed that armed force was necessary in relations among governments – Blood and Iron his methods. Through three successful wars Bismarck united Germany. With the creation of the 2nd German Reich Germany become the strongest nation on the continent. After the union of the German states Bismarck became an outspoken activist for peace on the continent. Bismarck never succumbed to the temptation of conquest. Bismarck led the German people to empire but is criticized by not training the nation in self-governing. Bismarck never talked about racial supremacy or unlimited conquest. He believed in a balance of power resting upon the existence of strong nation states.
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.
Berghahn Books. 2000 Germany and the Germans. After the Unification of the. New Revised Edition. John Ardagh.
After years of trying to unify as one nation and countless failures, the German people now believed that they themselves were among the superior races of the world and it was Germany’s destiny to become the greatest nation the world had ever seen. Under Bismarck’s rule, the economy boomed. The German Industrial Complex, powered by its heavy war production, made many men and the nation very wealthy. This wealth and prosperity led to an intoxicating feeling among its people, a feeling that they were the next great world power.
In 1871 two new major states of Europe had been formed—the German Empire and the kingdom of Italy. The new German Empire, under the hand of Otto von Bismarck, was steered carefully, always with an eye upon France, for the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71) had left France thirsting for revenge and for recovery of the lost provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. 2
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. This consolidation process, called mediation, led to the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire and brought the same French legal codes, measurements, and weights to most German-speaking areas, thus helping to modernize them. In 1806 Napoleon defeated the last independent and defiant German state, Prussia. The Prussians, quite naturally, were concerned about their defeat and started a thorough reform and modernization of the state and army (they "reinvented government"). Reformed Prussia became the hope of many other Germans who started to suffer increasingly under French occupation (which turned more repressive and exploitative) and their often forced cooperation with France.
... These three wars achieved Bismarck’s goals of obtaining support for the army reforms and unifying Germany under Prussian leadership (which meant the expulsion of Austria from Germany’s affairs). So, the unification of Germany in 1871 was achieved through a combination of factors: the idea held by the German people of a unified nation (nationalism), the fear held by the German aristocracy of anything which may result in a reduction to their power, such as liberalism and the ‘Napoleonic Fear’, the Prussian King William the first whose most important roles were appointing Bismarck and the introduction of the army reforms, and of course, Otto Von Bismarck. Bismarck was the reason for the three wars against Austria, France and Denmark, the implication of the Prussian army reforms and he made sure that the German states finally unified under the rule of a Prussian monarch, or ‘German Kaiser’, ruler of the newly founded German Empire in 1871.
Sprout, Otto. Bismarck and the Development of Germany Vol. 1. The Period of Unification, 1815-1871. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990.