Bismarck and German Unification

Bismarck and German Unification

Before the 19th Century, German-speaking people had no idea of ‘national identity’ German speaking people occupied Central Europe, but the German states were usually very small (and the Germans there mixed with other races). The upper classes looked towards France as the foundation of European civilization. Although a German Confederation was created after 1815, it was not concerned with promoting a united Germany since the 39 rulers had no wish to see their independence limited by the establishment of a strong central government. Austria and Russia did not want to see a strong Germany to be created. The July Revolution of 1830 in France sparked off riots in several German states, although Metternich eventually suppressed them. The pace of political debate picked up and public opinion grew bolder in the 1840s. By the 1840s there were growing demands for a united Germany. The 1848 Revolution in Berlin also aided in the development of nationalism and liberalism in Germany. Many students joined secret societies to campaign for a united Germany. In March 1848, Germany began to create a united Germany. A large number of liberals attended a pre-parliament rally at Frankfurt. They decided to establish a national Frankfurt. They also decided to establish a national parliament through universal male suffrage. In the Parliament, they drafted a constitution for the not yet unified Germany. Since the assembly came to a conclusion that only Austria but not the whole Austrian Empire could be included in the “Unified Germany”, Austria withdrew from the proposed federation. The Assembly then turned to Prussia for leadership. They invited Frederick William IV to be the Emperor of Germany. Frederick refused to accept the crown. He did not want to provoke Austria, and did not want to accept the crown offered by the liberals. In June 1849, as Prussia, Austria, Bavaria, Hanover, Saxony and Wurttemberg had one after the other withdrawn their representatives, the Assembly dissolved itself. Prussia grew in size and population after 1815. She got part of Poland in the 18th century, and got Saxony after Vienna century, and got Saxony after Vienna Congress
During the 19th century, reforms were carried out with in Prussia to strengthen power. In 1818, Zollverein were created. Industries and trade developed rapidly. In 1834, a larger custom union was created and Prussia was the leader of the newly established union. The economic benefits were so obvious that 38 states joined the Zollverein. Only
Austria was excluded. Trade between German states and foreign countries became easier, it promoted German prosperity and it became the first step in the political unification and industrialization. King William I became the King of Prussia in 1861. He embarked on programs to increase the Prussian army from 500,000 to 750,000 and demanded taxation increase in the Prussian Parliament. The King ignored the Parliament and built the new army. The Parliament also refused the King’s demand. Relationship between the King and the Parliament turned worse and William II then appointed Otto von Bismarck as the Prime Minister. Otto von Bismarck was an aristocrat. He hated parliament and democratic ideas. He believed that Prussia would become stronger by increasing the government’s power. He was a member of the Diet of the German Confederation in 1851-59. In 1847, he became a member of Prussian Parliament. In the Diet, he openly challenged the leadership of Austria. He suggested that Germany must be united by Prussian’s term He was appointed as Prussian Ambassador in 1859 to Russia. During the period, he successfully secured the friendship between Russia and Prussia. He wanted to ensure that once Prussia was in war against Austria, Russia would not intervene. In 1862, he became the Prussian ambassador. He determined to build a strong army and decided that Austria must be defeated and expelled from the German family so that the German states could be united and form a German Empire with Prussia as the leader. Bismarck also launched agrarian and economic reforms to increase food supply and raw materials for industrialization. Economic reforms included building of railways, encouragement of foreign trade, and banks were created to finance industries and trade. Military reforms were also held. The military budget was increased for the creation of new weapons and intensive military training raised efficiency. In order to expand the Prussian army, Bismarck put the newspapers under censorship and dismissed all liberal elements from the government. Taxes were raised without the approval of the Parliament to support the expansion of the army. Bismarck had extraordinary diplomatic abilities, which gave him great advantage in the fight for Prussian supremacy and German unification. During the Polish Revolt of 1863 most countries, including Austria, supported the rebels. However, Bismarck sent Prussian troops to support Russia in dealing with the revolt. This was very successful and made Prussia Russia’s favorable country in respects to German affairs. At the Convention of Gastein, August 14, 1865, Prussia and Austria agreed to maintain joint sovereignty, with Prussia administering Schleswig and Austria administering Holstein. Bismarck created a situation where an incident could easily be engineered. He then gained neutrality from all major European nations and isolated Austria by using diplomatic skills. This was very successful; Bismarck accomplished what he set out to do. In 1866 the Austro-Prussian war came about. Bismarck created this war. He knew the Prussian army he’d built would be far superior to the Austrian army. In just over two weeks, Prussia had completely defeated Austria. Austria lost influence in the German states. The North German Confederation was created under Prussian leadership. Bismarck would go on to annex the other German territories to Prussia and to extend German influence passed its borders. In 1970, France declares war on Prussia but it was no match for Bismarck’s army and the new Germany was now an Empire. Bismarck and German unification produced long-term effects on Europe. The new German Empire became far stronger than Prussia alone. Militarily, economically it is strongest nation in Europe. It was a huge blow to European liberalism as the new state is a conservative monarchy. Germany became a defender of the status quo. The balance of power in Europe was completely disrupted by Bismarck and German unification. It would be safe to say that World War I was a direct result of this shift in European power.