Before unification Germany was divided into thirty-nine individual states, which was brought together in a process that began in 1849 and ended in 1871.The principal architect of unification was a German statesman, Otto Von Bismarck. Bismarck’s main aim was to unite the German states into one powerful nation and gain power for Prussia. He used the methods political strategies and persuasion to bring the German states under Prussian control. Within the thirty-two years leading up to 1870, Germany went through a revolutionary change, which ended as a unified country.

Otto Von Bismarck was a great German statesman who lived in the 19th century. His main aim was to unify Germany and make Prussia in control and all powerful. He was hard and ruthless and earned the nickname of “the Iron Chancellor” (Pflanze, 1990, p90).

In 1847, King Friedrich Wilhelm IV, summoned a United Diet to consider new taxes where Bismarck appeared as a staun

Otto Von Bismarck used political strategies, bloodshed and persuasion to bring the German states into one strong nation and gain power for Prussia. He was an intelligent and shrewd manipulator that would let nothing stand in the way of his King, William I.

Bismarck’s first move was to persuade Austria to assist him in war with Denmark in 1864. As a result the states of Schleswig and Holstein , previously ruled by Denmark, became German and Austrian possessions. In 1866, after a conflict with Austria, Bismarck announced “I shall declare war on Austria, dissolve the German Confederation, subjugate the middle and smaller states, and give Germany national unity under the control of Prussia” (Friedrich, 1987, p105). As a result was left in control of the north German states. The next step was to get the south German states under Prussian control too. To do this, Bismarck planned to make the French and German government quarrel. In 1870, when France demanded the King William, head of the royal family Holhenzollerns, should give up any claims to the throne of Spain. He refused and Bismarck cleverly succeeded in making Prussia appear to be the champion and defender of all the Germans. “If France wants to interfere that is her business, if she wants to make war on us because the Spaniards elect a German as a King, it would be quite unjustifiably quarrelsomeness. Should the French attack us however, we shall of course resist” (Whitfield, 2000, p173). This comment made by Bismarck reveals the unstable relationship between France and Prussia, which eventually led to war. All Germans stood along side Prussia and France was beaten after a great defeat in Sedan. In less than six months, Paris was occupied by German troops. This war lasted approximately one year and is also known as the Franco-Prussian War.

Some topics in this essay:
Prime-minister Prussia, United Diet, Von Bismarck, Bismarck Prime-minister, King William, Von Bismarck”, Prussia” Showalter, German Prussian, Germany Germany, Bismarck German, otto von, power prussia, von bismarck, otto von bismarck, german prussian, king william, germany otto von, bring german, germany otto, gain power prussia, nation gain, conservative aristocrat, uniting germany, bismarck uniting germany, words interpreted mean,