His171 Part 7, E3 Eznotes

Germany started out as a divided nation fighting for dominance in Europe. Otto Von Bismarck was able to take this struggling complexity and unify it. During this process Bismarck turned the small country of Prussia into a powerhouse, growing the population from 11 to 18 million. Bismarck sprung from a landlord class and moved his way up the political ladder as realpolitik, realistic Politician. He was a man of simple ideals; he stressed duty, service, order, and the fear of God. These ideals along with manipulative tactics are what lead Bismarck on his journey of the unification of Germany, proving that without Bismarck’s diplomatic efforts between 1871 and 1890 Europe would not be the stabilized continent it is today.

First, Bismarck's policies reflect a new kind of conservatism. Legislation passed by Bismarck’s government are described in document 1. In 1869 through 1878, the government under Bismarck granted freedom of religion and access to citizenship, civil rights, and political office. These policies were created by Bismarck to gain support for his position as chancellor. In document 3, Wagner, a supporter of Bismarck, explains that “the

Otto von Bismarck is widely known as the first modern politician. Because of this, his interpretation of conservatism is different and is the first of its kind. The reason Bismarck represents a new and different kind of conservatism is that unlike traditional conservatives, Bismarck is willing to adapt his views to fit the people's current needs. While Bismarck's methods can be considered traditionally conservative in his early days as a political leader, with things such as the Anti-Socialist Acts, by looking deeper and analyzing what he did later in life shows that he was a more modern conservative. Some examples of Bismarck’s modern conservatism were his restraint on letting Germany go to war with any other country, and his policy of separation of church and state. Compared to other leaders like Napoleon III, Bismarck had the ability to plan and invest in Germany’s future. Bismarck supported this by being able to change his views and ideas when it became necessary. Bismarck’s time was born when the Franco-Prussian war began. This is what led to Bismarck becoming so famous at the time, as his military victories were heard of all over

Nationalism and liberalism were two popular political philosophies of the late 19th century. Nationalism is the aspiration of a people with a common language, culture and traditions to be unified. Nationalism grew into a movement after 1815, influenced by literature, music, politics and economic developments between the northern Germany states. By 1848, nationalism was strong among Germans, but the course to unify German would prove to take time.

Germany was unified by “blood and iron” in the Prussian wars before Germany was one nation. The Prussia war campaign against Denmark, Austria, and France led to the creation of the German Empire. After each victory against these countries the German Empire gained more and more territories and continuously expanded. The idea of nationalism was not only used to fuel these wars, but also afterwards in creating a limited government. In fueling these wars, the citizens were promised that a unified German Empire will lead to prosperity and peace. They were only too happy to go on the offensive and try and claim new lands in the name of their great nation. Once they had conquered these lands and claimed a small piece as a prize, they set up Kaiser Wilhelm as the Emperor on July 18, 1871. After this the Reichstag was formed as the limited government with the illusion that they could make a difference. In truth, Kaiser Wilhelm would shoot down any bill he seemed to disagree with. Also they all reported to Wilhelm and could easily be fired for causing too much trouble for them. With the German

Prince Otto von Bismarck was seen as both a political genius and a power monger, like a German version of Alexander the Great by the people. Bismarck was a conservative, who used the people around him to reach his goals; and in doing so, he pitted people against one another. According to the book 19th Century Germany by John Breuilly, modern historians have found it very hard “to separate the man from his achievements” (Breuilly 172). The historians have run into a roadblock that consists mostly of “Bismarck’s individuality and his responsibility for the political development of the Empire” (Breuilly 172). Bismarck was known to support nationalism and patriotism, and he believed in the Burschenschaften or student organizations. He also believed in the concept of faith in power, more in ideas. Bismarck only cared for two things: Prussia and Prussian power, and he would do anything to obtain Prussian domination. Although Bismarck did not care for Germany, he was all for German Unification. Historians cannot decide if Bismarck’s legacy is positive or negative but they agree that he was a “brilliant and shrewd tactician who succeeded in postponing the problem of political mobilization for 60 years” (Breuilly 172). In Otto von Bismarck, some people saw a great man who was ahead of his time, while others saw nothing more than a bloodthirsty power monger, who wanted a united Germany to

had one of the best education rates to be seen in a long time. Along

The nation of Germany has had a significant impact on the history of the world. In the early twentieth century the country presented itself as one of the strongest military powers of Europe and a major participant of the First World War. In the mid-twentieth century, under the command of Adolf Hitler, Germany initiated the Second World War. Today, Germany is an economically developed nation, even with the many troubles it faced after the end of the Second World War. This major power, which caused a stir in the twentieth century, was in most part created by the Junker Otto von Bismarck. Bismarck used the system of realpolitik to unite the divided German states under Prussia. Had Bismarck not been involved in the German unification, it is extremely likely that the powerful German empire which made its mark in history would not exist and the impacts it made on the world would be nullified.

The leading drive in Prussia for unification was a man named Otto Von Bismarck. Otto Von Bismarck was a master strategist that initiated a series of

Bismarck and Kaiser Wilhelm were two German officials around the time of world war one. They both had foreign policies and they were both pretty different. Bismarck’s foreign policy had many aims. One of the aims was to leave territorial expansion behind. He unified Germany and to do so had to incorporate many other states into Prussia. He was also very much in favor of peace instead of war. He also never tried to strengthen the naval forces of Germany especially not to ruin the relationship with England. Next, he decided to keep France isolated as well as friendless so that could not start a war as revenge. He also focused on Germany 's relationship with Austria and Russia. He also distrusted Italy.

Bismarck was the man who did the most to unify Germany. It was clear that unification was one of his major objective which he announced in his famous ‘Blood and Iron speech’. I was fascinated by how he managed to unify the so many divided states. Thus, my historical investigation examines the question, to what extent was the Franco-Prussian war Bismarck’s final step to unify Germany? To assess whether the Franco-Prussian war was Bismarck’s final step for unifying the loose net of 39 German states or not, the investigation analyses the previous steps made by Bismarck to unify Germany. It investigates the events between 1962, when Bismarck became Minister president of Prussia and 1971, when Germany became officially unified. The events analyzed are the Danish war, The Prussian Austrian war and the Franco Prussian war.

“The German Empire in 1871 was constitutionally a federal state based on a compromise between Prussian dominance and the attempt of other, medium-sized states to keep their autonomy” (Wolf).

Bismarck understood this very well and that is why he said "The questions of the day [meaning the unification of Germany] will not be settled by speeches and majority decisions... but by

Otto Von Bismarck, the man who really set the ball rolling, and ensured it landed in the right hole, is one of the main reasons Germany was unified. He was the Prussian foreign minister and although his actual reason for wanting to unify Germany was to increase the power of Prussia, still he was the main reason for why Germany was united under the rule of the Kaiser. When Bismarck was brought into office in September 1862 he resolved the constitutional crisis in Prussia by simply ignoring Parliament. He ordered the

The role of Bismarck in the unification of Germany was also a key factor however, if he was to be put in one category for having unified Germany 'coal and iron' or 'blood and iron' he would be put into