Otto Von Bismarck-German Unification-Nationalism

German unification was achieved at a far quicker pace than anticipated by even the most optimist analyst. Such a breath-taking union has its own difficulties as experienced by the German themselves. In order to better understand the desire, or otherwise, of the German nation towards unification of their nation in the post-World War II era, it was thought important to go further back in history and determine the causes of the division of the German nation. The geostrategic location of Germany in the European continent was as much a cause of separatism as was their peculiar history. Because of their desire to exorcise the horrors of Hitler's Third Reich, they consider 1945 as the Zero-Hour and have made tremendous sacrifices to forget the past.

Otto Von Bismarck, a Prussian statesman that dominated German and European from the 1860s until 1890, created the alliances between the western German states and North German Confederation, the final step in German Unification. However, at the end of World War one in 1918, German unification was weakened. Germany lost a lot of territory, and the people of Germany started to lose faith in their country, until they started to believe in Hitler. Hitler was a sign of hope and faith to the people of Germany. When hitler came to power in 1933, he promised Germany that he will get germany out of the Treaty of Versailles.

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

In addition to the damaging consequences of the First World War with the requirements of the Treaty of Versailles, certain features of Germany caused the state to be susceptible to the influence of this dangerous ideology. Along with the damage to the national ego as a result of the First World War, Germany had co-existing and conflicting highly modern strands of development forced to integrate with powerful remnants of archaic values and social structures, and had a deeply fractured parliamentary political system, and the weaknesses of this system reflected the social and political differences within the population. This shame and failure after World War I was superimposed onto a modern country which once had an advanced economy, a sophisticated state

By the early 1800s the Germany we know today was constructed of 39 independent states the largest of which was Prussia. These states shared similar culture and industry which in turn brought them closer together. Though this caused a problem in Europe since they thought unified Germany would be too powerful. At the time there was one main leader for German unification, Otto von Bismarck. He followed a philosophy known as realpolitik, a system of politics principles based on practical rather than more moral or ideological considerations. Bismarck United the various kingdoms of German into one unified state. He started three wars to accomplish his goal but after unification he successfully maintained peace in europe. This unified Germany one of the most militarily dominant nation in Europe.

During the 19th century, Nationalism was a big player when it came to unity in Europe. The man who played the main role in unification in Germany was Otto von Bismarck. He made progression through three wars. The question people still ask today is, did Otto von Bismarck plan to unify Germany, or did he just take advantage of the opportunities that fell into his lap. Otto Von Bismarck was most definitely a planner as shown through countless actions and statements shown threw his time of power during the three wars. The first war was the Danish war were Germany with the help of Austria took control of the provinces of Schleswig and Holstein. The second war was the Austrian-Prussian war, where there was a disagreement over administrations of Schleswig. The third and final war was the Franco-Prussian war, were France was determined to prevent German Unification.

Internal divisions during the Kulturkampf only escalated and grew to involve even more interested groups with time. An obvious difference of opinion that arose early during this period was on the issue of the separation of church and state; Catholics as well as Protestants opposed this obvious and blatant attack on their interests, while German liberals firmly sided with Bismarck on the issue. This separation of church and state also consequentially caused an even greater schism between the large, predominantly Catholic, Polish minority residing in Eastern Prussia, whose nationality was already suppressed by the required use of the German

In the 1800’s there was a growing sense of nationalism as Europe was under the control of emperors and kings. Unity became a value countries across Europe sought to achieve. This included Germany and Italy. Both countries had many issues to resolve though before they could achieve any type of unification. Though very similar in overcoming them, Germany and Italy’s end result contrasted in many ways.

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.

One of the notable leaders for Germany's unification was Wilhem I the King of Prussia. Wilhem succeeded Frederick William in 1861. His support came widely from middle class conservatives and wealthy landowners also called the Junkers or nobility. The Junkers opposed the revolutionary liberals. Wilhem’s proposals as king were he wanted an increase in military strength and size. However at the time Parliament the legal body of Prussia would not give in to his demands and refused to give the king any money. This pushed Wilhem to appoint a new Prime Minister in order to achieve his wish for of a bigger military. The most well know figure behind the German unification was Otto von Bismarck or the “Iron Chancellor” a conservative Junker. Bismarck was appointed as Wilhem’s Prime Minister in 1862. Bismarck believed in the idea of politics of reality or Realpolitik or “a foreign policy based on calculations of power and national interest” ( Kassner 3).

For centuries Germany has not always been unified and if they were not for a long time not till a foreigner came along. Such foreigners such as the French invasions by Napoleon Bonaparte ruined the German self-identity and a strong union not until other movements came along to help bring upon ideas to conjure up. Movements such as Romanticism has had given a significant influence to German people, philosophers, writers, and to its artists to help create an identity for Germany which soon later developed into romantic nationalism. Now for a look as to whether or not the Romantic period actually shaped and paved a way for German Nationalism from the early 1800s to the 1850s period. German Nationalism can be traced back to the Napoleonic era where the study of folklore and popular Art by Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm, and the study of folk songs by Johann Gottfried von Herder can be discovered. To better understand how German Nationalism was it is important to have an intellectual understanding what was the starting cause of the idea and how it was influenced by Romanticism where Romantic Nationalism is derived from. The ideology of Germany on the political sense was parse for them at that time as it consisted only of the loose groupings of states united only by a common language, vague cultural ties, and the weak government of the Holy Roman Empire. The need for a

Before the revolution of 1848, class status defined every citizen 's place in the social, political, and economic order causing problems throughout Germany. Due to the separation of the states, some Germans advocated German unification under a single constitutional monarchy; however, after the defeat of Napoleon, their dreams were crushed. Developing power was scattered among three hundred different states consolidated under the Holy Roman Empire. Powerful regions like Prussia and Austria gained increasing authority over other small city-states who had to make do with the limited power they possessed. This division of power among the states ignited a flame that eventually erupted when the aristocrats, the middle class, and the workers

Germany, like any democracy, was home to a multitude of political and social divisions in the lead up to and during the First World War, caused by the differing opinions of groups within the German population. Prior to 1914, Germany had been in a relatively long period of peace; 1914 marked the end of this with Germany’s entry into the war, and with this, the divisions in Germany could only get worse, as the fate of the country lay at stake. While the war did cause some new divisions to arise, by 1917 its main effect on Germany’s divisions was that it caused existing divisions to grow and evolve, making every topic and debate larger and louder.

Despite the fact that Italy was unified, it wasn’t as nearly as strong as Germany was becoming. Bismarck joined both authoritarianism and nationalism to increase Prussia’s power. He was a very clever diplomat and used whatever means possible to work towards his goal. Bismarck’s Realpolitiks, the pursuing of realistic goals by any available method instead of the pursuit of an ideology. Bismarck never wanted to have enemies for long and hoped to pacify the Liberals with foreign policy achievement, notably the unification of Germany. He wanted to exclude Austria from the unification process. This led to the Austria-Prussian and Franco-Prussian wars. His plan was successful. Even with the fact south German states were reluctant to join in his unification because of strong religious and political traditions. After the overpowering of France in 1871 the southern states finally joined. This was the defeat the brought them together.

Germany became a unified country in 1871 under the leadership of Otto Von Bismarck. The separate states up until this time were independent, Prussia being the strongest and most influential, followed by Austria. There are several contributing factors to the unification of Germany, the most influential of which being the leadership of Otto Von Bismarck. The three wars that Prussia fought with Denmark, Austria and France also played significant roles in the unification of the German states. Another factor to consider is the increase in support of nationalism around Western Europe at the time, and the changes in German society. Through an evaluation of these factors and relevant sources one can