Bismarck and the German Unific

How Successfully Did Bismarck Unite Germany?
Initially being appointed in 1862 by King Wilhelm I to solve Prussian domestic quarrels over army reforms, Bismarck was given the opportunities and power he desired to pursue his goal of uniting Germany under Prussia. In order to do this he had to apply sharp foreign politics to secure Prussian dominance in Germany by 1971, but then also secure domestic unification in the German states by religious, economic and political means. Bismarck was dismissed from office by 1890, and it remains controversial how successful he was in uniting Germany and its people. This matter will be examined in this essay, taking into account Bismarck’s contributions to German Unification from 1862 through 1890 and assessing his ultimate success.
In 1848/49 German Unification had already been attempted by the liberal democrats, yet the established National Assembly was ineffective, and eventually crushed by the Prussian military. Otto von Bismarck also longed for a united Germany, however he was delighted this did not happen under the banner of liberalism, but was determined to bring united Germany under the control of the conservative, anti-liberal Prussian monarchy. However between 1858 and 1862 Prussia wa

The motive Bismarck had been looking for soon presented itself in the form of the Schleswig-Holstein situation. When Denmark attacked Holstein, Bismarck urged Austria to assist Prussia in the conflict, which it did, leading to a rather quick end of the war. Bismarck knew Austria would come to help, because it was still the head of the German Confederation and a lack of concern in this case would probably cause further Austrian separation from the German states. After the war, Prussia stayed in control of Schleswig and Austria remained in the southern Holstein, which posed the obvious problem for Austria that it now had a territory which was among Prussian territory. Bismarck now finally had his motive for war and Prussia (together with Italy in the south) attacked Austria (supported by Saxony, Hanover, Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden, Hesse-Darmstadt, Hesse-Cassel and Nassau). Prussia was able to achieve a straightforward success, due to its superior military equipment, its road and rail network, its larger force and because Austria had to fight a two-front war. The war was over with the treaty of Prague in August 1866, and Prussia formed all German territories north of the river Main into a North German Confederation from which Austria was excluded. Bismarck also renewed the Zollverein in this year to exclude Austria and bring further unity to the German states. However Austria “only” had to cede its influence in Germany and the territories of Holstein and Venetia. Bismarck did not want to make the settlements too brutal because he was interested in maintaining good relations with Austria, probably in recognition of his further ambitions in southern Germany and a fear of Austrian alliance with France. The first half of Bismarck’s campaign towards Prussian unification of Germany was extremely successful; his strategy of alienating Austria and then provoking her into war worked was a masterpiece of political and military ingenuity and a perfect example of his opportunism.