Post by Deleted on Oct 24, 2006 13:37:40 GMT -5
An assessment on the contribution of Bismarck in Germany to national unification
The unification of the German States in the late 19th century was due to several factors. The prominent of these factors was a man named Otto Von Bismarck. However, he was only the primary factor, as there were many other factors involved in the unification. I will go onto explain these factors and assess the importance or the magnitude of their contribution in the unification of Germany.
As I have said, the most important factor, in my opinion, was Bismarck. Bismarck came into power in 1862 as Minister-President. Bismarck immediately set to pushing through a Prussian Army reform bill in support of his monarch. Bismarck was anti-liberal and the unification of Germany was never seen as one of his main aims. However, the actions that Bismarck took after his appointment of Minister-President made this unification occur. Bismarck believed that Prussia’s power should be increased and that liberalism and democracies were standing in the way or Prussia increasing her power. Bismarck did believe in a “Germany” of sorts, but it was a Prussian dominated Germany that Bismarck aimed for. Bismarck saw the path to this dominant Prussia was one through “iron and blood” and “Not by parliamentary speeches and majority votes”. Bismarck’s methods became known as ‘Realpolitik’, doing whatever he could by any means necessary. This included going to war three times.
The first of Bismarck’s wars was the Prusso-Danish War. This was a war between Prussia, Austria and Denmark. The Danish King looked to annex the independent states of Schleswig and Holstein. Prussia fought along side Austria in defending these two provinces, and defeating the Danish Army. On first appearances, this action seems admirable and that Prussia and Austria were operating as friends. However, if you look below the surface, there is a much more cunning side to this action. Prussia gained control of Schleswig and Austria of Holstein in the Convention of Gastein. This meant more territory for Prussia, and also that the Austrian territory of Holstein was separated by Prussian territory. Bismarck immediately set about making Austrian access to Holstein difficult and created more tension between the two states.
The second of Bismarck’s wars was the Austro-Prussian war. Tensions had been heightening between these two nations so conflict was seen as inevitable. Austria was already getting annoyed with Prussia due to the Prussians limiting the Austrian’s acess to their new territory, Holstein. Austria breaks off negotiations about Holstein and places the matter in the hands of the Bund. Bismarck immediately accuses Austria of breaching the Convention of Gastein and sends Prussian troops into Holstein, hoping to provoke a war. However, the Austrian troops do not put a fight and left Holstein without conflict. However, tensions were once again heightened between Austria and Prussia. Austria took this opportunity to order the mobilization of her armed forces, but this made Austria appear the aggressor of the two states. Bismarck now made two secret agreements against Austria. The first was with Napoleon III, the emperor of France. This was a verbal agreement from Bismarck which was later ignored and denied. Napoleon was led to believe that if he remained neutral in an Austro-Prussian war, France would receive territory in the Rhineland or in Belgium. The second agreement was with Italy. Bismarck signed a treaty with Italy that said if Italy declared war on Austria after Austria had declared war on Prussia, then Prussia would restore the province of Venetia to Italy. This agreement was only valid for three months. Meanwhile, Austria had accused Prussia of violating the Bund in invading Holstein, so Bismarck withdrew the Prussian soldiers from Holstein. However, the Austrians went even further and suggested Prussia be excluded from the Bund and that the other members of the Bund join in war against Prussia. Prussia withdrew from the Bund and sent an ultimatum to the other states; choose between the Bund or the Kleindeutsch.
Prussia quickly defeated Austria and its allies, deciding the conflict with a crushing victory at the Battle of Königgrätz. The war lasted only a few weeks. As a result of the Peace of Prague, the German Confederation was dissolved; Prussia annexed Schleswig, Holstein, Frankfurt, Hanover, Hesse-Kassel, and Nassau. Austria also promised not to intervene in German affairs. To solidify Prussian hegemony, Prussia and several other North German states joined the North German Confederation in 1867 with King Wilhelm I of Prussia as its President, and Bismarck as its Chancellor. The southern German States were all to join a Customs Union heavily dominated by Prussia and were forced to make military allegiances with Prussia. The northern German states were now unified in what resembled an early Germany.
The third of Bismarck’s wars followed only four years later. The Franco-Prussian war was the cause of several clever manoeuvres by Bismarck. Prussia's victory over Austria increased tensions with France. The French Emperor, Napoleon III, feared that a powerful Prussia would upset the balance of power in Europe. Bismarck, at the same time, sought war with France; he believed that if the German states perceived France as the aggressor, they would unite behind the King of Prussia. Bismarck set about increasing tension with the French at any possible moment. Bismarck refused to acknowledge that he had ever made an agreement about France gaining territory for remaining neutral in the Austro-Prussian War. Bismarck went a set further and leaked the news that the French were requesting German territory to the press, causing a surge of anti-French feeling. Bismarck further manipulated the French movements for further territory gains in leaking any attempt made by the French to buy land to the press. For example, the French attempt to buy Belgium or when the French attempted to buy Luxemburg. Each one of these attempts to gain more territory was met with a surge of anti-French feeling and relationships between France and Prussia. A suitable premise for war arose in 1870, when the German Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was offered the Spanish throne, which had been vacant since a revolution in 1868. The French not only blocked the candidacy, but also demanded assurances that no member of the House of Hohenzollern becomes King of Spain. Bismarck then published the Ems Dispatch, a carefully edited version of a conversation between King Wilhelm and the French ambassador to Prussia. Bismarck’s edited version of the telegram portrayed the French as being aggressive and the publication was intended to provoke France into declaring war on Prussia.
The Ems Dispatch had the desired effect. France mobilized and declared war, but was seen as the aggressor. As a result, German states, swept up by nationalism and patriotic zeal, joined Prussia and provided troops for the coming battles. The Franco-Prussian War was a great success for Prussia. The German army, commanded by Moltke, the Prussian Chief of Staff, won victory after victory. The major battles were all fought in one month and the French were defeated in every battle. The remainder of the war featured very careful German operations and massive confusion on the part of the French. When peace was established in 1971, France was forced to pay a large indemnity of £200,000,000 and surrender Alsace and Lorraine.
Bismarck decided to act immediately to secure the unification of Germany. He opened negotiations with representatives of southern German states, offering special concessions if they were to agree to unification. The negotiations were successful and King Wilhelm was crowned "German Emperor" on 18 January 1871 in the Hall of Mirrors in the Château de Versailles. Each of the twenty-five German states retained its independence. The King of Prussia, as German Emperor, was not sovereign over all of Germany; he was only in charge of the Central Government, foreign affairs and the armed forces. The new German Empire was formed by the cunningness and the ability to manipulate situations of Bismarck. Bismarck brought the German states together over a period of thirty years and got them all to agree to become part of the new German Empire.
However, Bismarck could only be described as the architect, or builder, of German Unity. Bismarck used a lot of “materials” or situations that happened prior to him becoming Chancellor of Prussia. For example, the Napoleonic Wars had caused a great surge in Nationalist feelings for Germany, in that the majority of Germans did not want French rule. Nationalistic feelings further increased in the years after the Napoleonic wars, mainly amongst university students and lecturers. Though nationalistic ideas and movements were suppressed by the Bund, 25,000 nationalists met at Hambach in 1832. This was a new student movement called ‘Young Germany’. The nationalists adopted red, black and gold as their colours. In 1833 the extreme nationalist students made several attempts at an uprising but each time they were easily crushed by Metternich using the Bund. In 1840 France threatened to extend her eastern frontier into Germany as far as the River Rhine. This caused a great surge in Nationalism amongst the Germans as they did not want to be under French control once again. Many patriotic songs were written about defending the ‘Fatherland’. This invasion did not go ahead but the surge in nationalistic feeling and anti-French feelings remained.
The German states were also already being drawn together and working together in the Prussian Zollverein. In 1836, the Zollverein contained twenty five of the thirty nine German states and covered an area which had the population of twenty five million living in it. The Zollverein drew the German states together, stimulating economic growth, and firmly establishing Prussia as the economic leader in Germany. Some economic historians such as Helmut Böhme use the Zollverein to dispute the general view of Bismarck as the unifier of Germany. A Zollverein Congress was established to decide on policy matters and this was seen as one of the first United Governments between the states.
The Industrial Revolution of Prussia also meant that Prussian power greatly increased and Prussia established herself as the most powerful German state. The Industrial revolution in Germany meant that there were new engineering techniques and new roads and railways were built throughout Germany, helping to increase trade and also bring the Independent German states closer together and closer to becoming a united Germany.
As you can see, though Bismarck was essentially very important to the Unification of Germany, Bismarck generally manipulated and expanded on feelings and situations that already existed. However, it is undisputable that Bismarck was very important to the unification of Germany and was very smart and very cunning in how he achieved the formation of the New German Empire. In my opinion, Bismarck was the most important factor in the unification of Germany, but it must be remembered that he was not the sole reason for the unification of the German states.
The unification of the German States in the late 19th century was due to several factors. The prominent of these factors was a man named Otto Von Bismarck. However, he was only the primary factor, as there were many other factors involved in the unification. I will go onto explain these factors and assess the importance or the magnitude of their contribution in the unification of Germany.
As I have said, the most important factor, in my opinion, was Bismarck. Bismarck came into power in 1862 as Minister-President. Bismarck immediately set to pushing through a Prussian Army reform bill in support of his monarch. Bismarck was anti-liberal and the unification of Germany was never seen as one of his main aims. However, the actions that Bismarck took after his appointment of Minister-President made this unification occur. Bismarck believed that Prussia’s power should be increased and that liberalism and democracies were standing in the way or Prussia increasing her power. Bismarck did believe in a “Germany” of sorts, but it was a Prussian dominated Germany that Bismarck aimed for. Bismarck saw the path to this dominant Prussia was one through “iron and blood” and “Not by parliamentary speeches and majority votes”. Bismarck’s methods became known as ‘Realpolitik’, doing whatever he could by any means necessary. This included going to war three times.
The first of Bismarck’s wars was the Prusso-Danish War. This was a war between Prussia, Austria and Denmark. The Danish King looked to annex the independent states of Schleswig and Holstein. Prussia fought along side Austria in defending these two provinces, and defeating the Danish Army. On first appearances, this action seems admirable and that Prussia and Austria were operating as friends. However, if you look below the surface, there is a much more cunning side to this action. Prussia gained control of Schleswig and Austria of Holstein in the Convention of Gastein. This meant more territory for Prussia, and also that the Austrian territory of Holstein was separated by Prussian territory. Bismarck immediately set about making Austrian access to Holstein difficult and created more tension between the two states.
The second of Bismarck’s wars was the Austro-Prussian war. Tensions had been heightening between these two nations so conflict was seen as inevitable. Austria was already getting annoyed with Prussia due to the Prussians limiting the Austrian’s acess to their new territory, Holstein. Austria breaks off negotiations about Holstein and places the matter in the hands of the Bund. Bismarck immediately accuses Austria of breaching the Convention of Gastein and sends Prussian troops into Holstein, hoping to provoke a war. However, the Austrian troops do not put a fight and left Holstein without conflict. However, tensions were once again heightened between Austria and Prussia. Austria took this opportunity to order the mobilization of her armed forces, but this made Austria appear the aggressor of the two states. Bismarck now made two secret agreements against Austria. The first was with Napoleon III, the emperor of France. This was a verbal agreement from Bismarck which was later ignored and denied. Napoleon was led to believe that if he remained neutral in an Austro-Prussian war, France would receive territory in the Rhineland or in Belgium. The second agreement was with Italy. Bismarck signed a treaty with Italy that said if Italy declared war on Austria after Austria had declared war on Prussia, then Prussia would restore the province of Venetia to Italy. This agreement was only valid for three months. Meanwhile, Austria had accused Prussia of violating the Bund in invading Holstein, so Bismarck withdrew the Prussian soldiers from Holstein. However, the Austrians went even further and suggested Prussia be excluded from the Bund and that the other members of the Bund join in war against Prussia. Prussia withdrew from the Bund and sent an ultimatum to the other states; choose between the Bund or the Kleindeutsch.
Prussia quickly defeated Austria and its allies, deciding the conflict with a crushing victory at the Battle of Königgrätz. The war lasted only a few weeks. As a result of the Peace of Prague, the German Confederation was dissolved; Prussia annexed Schleswig, Holstein, Frankfurt, Hanover, Hesse-Kassel, and Nassau. Austria also promised not to intervene in German affairs. To solidify Prussian hegemony, Prussia and several other North German states joined the North German Confederation in 1867 with King Wilhelm I of Prussia as its President, and Bismarck as its Chancellor. The southern German States were all to join a Customs Union heavily dominated by Prussia and were forced to make military allegiances with Prussia. The northern German states were now unified in what resembled an early Germany.
The third of Bismarck’s wars followed only four years later. The Franco-Prussian war was the cause of several clever manoeuvres by Bismarck. Prussia's victory over Austria increased tensions with France. The French Emperor, Napoleon III, feared that a powerful Prussia would upset the balance of power in Europe. Bismarck, at the same time, sought war with France; he believed that if the German states perceived France as the aggressor, they would unite behind the King of Prussia. Bismarck set about increasing tension with the French at any possible moment. Bismarck refused to acknowledge that he had ever made an agreement about France gaining territory for remaining neutral in the Austro-Prussian War. Bismarck went a set further and leaked the news that the French were requesting German territory to the press, causing a surge of anti-French feeling. Bismarck further manipulated the French movements for further territory gains in leaking any attempt made by the French to buy land to the press. For example, the French attempt to buy Belgium or when the French attempted to buy Luxemburg. Each one of these attempts to gain more territory was met with a surge of anti-French feeling and relationships between France and Prussia. A suitable premise for war arose in 1870, when the German Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was offered the Spanish throne, which had been vacant since a revolution in 1868. The French not only blocked the candidacy, but also demanded assurances that no member of the House of Hohenzollern becomes King of Spain. Bismarck then published the Ems Dispatch, a carefully edited version of a conversation between King Wilhelm and the French ambassador to Prussia. Bismarck’s edited version of the telegram portrayed the French as being aggressive and the publication was intended to provoke France into declaring war on Prussia.
The Ems Dispatch had the desired effect. France mobilized and declared war, but was seen as the aggressor. As a result, German states, swept up by nationalism and patriotic zeal, joined Prussia and provided troops for the coming battles. The Franco-Prussian War was a great success for Prussia. The German army, commanded by Moltke, the Prussian Chief of Staff, won victory after victory. The major battles were all fought in one month and the French were defeated in every battle. The remainder of the war featured very careful German operations and massive confusion on the part of the French. When peace was established in 1971, France was forced to pay a large indemnity of £200,000,000 and surrender Alsace and Lorraine.
Bismarck decided to act immediately to secure the unification of Germany. He opened negotiations with representatives of southern German states, offering special concessions if they were to agree to unification. The negotiations were successful and King Wilhelm was crowned "German Emperor" on 18 January 1871 in the Hall of Mirrors in the Château de Versailles. Each of the twenty-five German states retained its independence. The King of Prussia, as German Emperor, was not sovereign over all of Germany; he was only in charge of the Central Government, foreign affairs and the armed forces. The new German Empire was formed by the cunningness and the ability to manipulate situations of Bismarck. Bismarck brought the German states together over a period of thirty years and got them all to agree to become part of the new German Empire.
However, Bismarck could only be described as the architect, or builder, of German Unity. Bismarck used a lot of “materials” or situations that happened prior to him becoming Chancellor of Prussia. For example, the Napoleonic Wars had caused a great surge in Nationalist feelings for Germany, in that the majority of Germans did not want French rule. Nationalistic feelings further increased in the years after the Napoleonic wars, mainly amongst university students and lecturers. Though nationalistic ideas and movements were suppressed by the Bund, 25,000 nationalists met at Hambach in 1832. This was a new student movement called ‘Young Germany’. The nationalists adopted red, black and gold as their colours. In 1833 the extreme nationalist students made several attempts at an uprising but each time they were easily crushed by Metternich using the Bund. In 1840 France threatened to extend her eastern frontier into Germany as far as the River Rhine. This caused a great surge in Nationalism amongst the Germans as they did not want to be under French control once again. Many patriotic songs were written about defending the ‘Fatherland’. This invasion did not go ahead but the surge in nationalistic feeling and anti-French feelings remained.
The German states were also already being drawn together and working together in the Prussian Zollverein. In 1836, the Zollverein contained twenty five of the thirty nine German states and covered an area which had the population of twenty five million living in it. The Zollverein drew the German states together, stimulating economic growth, and firmly establishing Prussia as the economic leader in Germany. Some economic historians such as Helmut Böhme use the Zollverein to dispute the general view of Bismarck as the unifier of Germany. A Zollverein Congress was established to decide on policy matters and this was seen as one of the first United Governments between the states.
The Industrial Revolution of Prussia also meant that Prussian power greatly increased and Prussia established herself as the most powerful German state. The Industrial revolution in Germany meant that there were new engineering techniques and new roads and railways were built throughout Germany, helping to increase trade and also bring the Independent German states closer together and closer to becoming a united Germany.
As you can see, though Bismarck was essentially very important to the Unification of Germany, Bismarck generally manipulated and expanded on feelings and situations that already existed. However, it is undisputable that Bismarck was very important to the unification of Germany and was very smart and very cunning in how he achieved the formation of the New German Empire. In my opinion, Bismarck was the most important factor in the unification of Germany, but it must be remembered that he was not the sole reason for the unification of the German states.