German national unification was a complex process that was achieved by Otto von Bismarck. The date in which Germany would start to exist as a unified country was January 18, 1871, as announced by the empirical proclamation at Versailles in the Hall of Mirrors. The creation of the unified Germany was achieved by military might and savvy political moves between the years 1864 and 1871 in the course of Bismarck’s wars with Denmark, Austria, and France.

The groundwork for German unification came from the growth of nationalism. During the late eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century, most Germans related to a particular German, town, region, or state. “Germans” were usually regarded as a cultural identification rather than a national or political identification. Between the years 1815 and 1848, hard-surfaced roads, improved mail service, and railroads to establish a collective existence among the German people. Prussia introduced the Zollverein, a customs union that united most of the German states under a single economic system. These basic material changes in life encouraged many German people to advocate national unity due to developing economic advantages.

The years of 1864 through 1871 mark the “revolution from above” with rumblings of unification coming from Bismarck. At that particular time, Bismarck was a recent convert to the national cause. In 1848 he had been an outspoken enemy of the revolution and the nationalistic goals. During the 1850’s Bismarck’s ideas towards a unified Germany began to change. He became convinced that a German nation could be compatible along with the maintenance of a strong Prussian state. Bismarck believed that nationalism could be turned into established political and social hierarchies and that a pursuit of national goals could be used to deflect citizen attentions away from their domestic discontents. With this national ideology, Bismarck would unite Germany in an empire.

e revolution of 1848, advocates of national unity seemed to win a sudden and convincing victory. In the face of widespread political disorder, the conservative defenders of the establishment retreated, and an all-German parliament met in Frankfort to iron out the final details of a new Germany. Although a united Germany looked as if would appear in 1849, the failure to work together would hinder the dreams of a united German nation. “The failure of the German National Assembly in 1848-1849 demonstrates support for national unity but also how limited and divided that it was and how formidable the obstacles were”. Deep divisions for nationhood within the German people were evident as the flames of revolution were extinguished and the dreams of nationhood remained unfilled.

In conclusion, the date of January 18, 1871, is an obvious choice for the creation of Germany. The swift changes in domestic and foreign relations, economic, military, and technology gave Bismarck the opportunity to unify Germans under one nation during the 1860’s until 1871. The political genius of Bismarck embraced the nationalistic sentiment of Germans and created a state. The wars of Denmark, Austria, and France, enabled Bismarck to unify the country and provide an Imperial state until the end of World War I.

The state of Germany was then created on the date of January 18, 1871. The imperial title was given to the King of Prussia in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. German, French, and Danish speaking citizens were all included in the new German Nation state. “The imperial state created was a thin layer of government superimposed on the states and heavily dependant on Prussia”. The state was created by the act of war and the violence that it accompanies. The genius of Bismarck created wars that would ultimately expand German states and unify the country.

The matter of Schleswig and Holstein was far from being settled between Prussia and Austria. Renewed tensions we

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