bismark essay

Bismark is a man who was thought to be the winning trigger towards German unification. He aimed to increase the power of Prussia by whatever means necessary. as a result of Bismarcks leadership, Prussia was declared victorious in the FRanco-Prussia war against France in 1870, which altimately led to the eventual unification of Germany in 1871. This outcome made many people generaly accept that bismarck alone was responsible cor ghe unification of Germany under Prussian domination. however since that time other factors have been considered, such as Prussias economic strength and its military, nationalism and the decline of Austria. all of these things bruahg toether a larger Germany so it is possible to argue that Bismark did not make Germany: rather Germany made Bismarck.
Bismarck took the initiative, as opposed to Austria, in the war against denmark. he done whatever was best for germany in order to publish his sense of leadership. he controlled all foreign interference when prussia was against france. many believed he was born - in 1815 - in order to be the hero for germans unification. he had good relationships with other countires such as Russia, he know for prussias securit being fiendly with Russia would be key. he supported king williams budget dupiute by going to paris and solved that said despute. bismarcks actions and succes seemed too good to be true, historians arued that bismarck always did have a long-term plan for the unification of germany whereas others argued that he followed a day-to-ay policy, taking a course most likely to achieve his aims. bismarck first gave some support to the ideas if liberalism and nationalism, but he later changed his mind. as he himself noted in 1898: "my sympathies remained on the side of authority".
Nationalism in Germany was on a stady pace of growing round about 1850. This was round about the end of the napoleonic wars in 1815 where the Deutscher Bund was created which was a German confederation aiming to bring toether the 39 states of Germany. This is evidence which shows that before Bismarcks actions, German nationalism was already many years old. At this period for Germany, unification was more a progress than a completed aim, they now communicated and could trade with each other which before was seen unlikely to ever happen. the Zollverien was created to break down the customs barriers between the different states. although this had some succes for germany it did not create full unification. another attempt to bring together the states of germany was the Frankfurt Parliament in 1848. These two factors are only a small part of the whole road towards a united germany which was why nationalism only played a small part when helping to create the idealistic view on Germany.
It can be argued that Bismarck was able to capitalise on the mistakes of his opponents in order to unify Germany. An example of when Bismarck was able to do this was in 1864 with the Schleswig-Holstein situation. The combined forces of Austria and Prussia entered Schleswig-Holstein to face the Danish forces. Prussian nationalists, who favoured the grossdeutsch idea, were in favour of this action as the Germany speaking people in Schleswig-Holstein were to be freed from Danish control and put under Prussian control. However the situation that occurred was that Schleswig and Holstein were split between Prussia and Austria. Bismarck meanwhile took Duke Augustenburgs forces under his control, which angered the Austrians yet both countries met at Gastein in 1865 and "papered over the cracks". However in 1866 the Austrians frustrated that the final decision about Schleswig-Holstein had not been braught to the attention of the Diet of Frankfurt. Bismarck took charge of all the frustration which made Germany be seen as the more 'organised' country. However the Austrians braught on their own frustration, Bismarck did not weaken his own opponents.
When the German Confederation was introduced in 1815, Austria was the leading state out of the 39. They held the place as the most influential and dominant force in the Confederation. Since the introduction of the German Confederation in 1815, Austria and Prussia began a period of rivalry. Austria was the most powerful state in the confederation, allowing them to control most of what was going on. As time progressed Austria faced a series of severe defeats against Napoleon in the first decade of the century which meant Austria had to accept the abolition. .The Austro-Prussian War of 1866 saw Austria suffer a crushing defeat in only 6 weeks; as a result, she was thereafter excluded from German affairs all together. Additionally, Austria lost influence and territory in Italy. So, Austria's decline during the 19th century was caused, firstly, by Napoleon,who undermined the traditional Hapsburg powerbase in Germany, and then by the rise of Prussia. This was a great impact when unifiying geman however the affects of war meant Germany could suffering due to a lack of food during war and financially.
Blood and Iron is the title of a famous speech by German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck given in 1862 about the unification of the German territories. It is also a famous phrase that Bismarck uttered near the end of his speech that has become one of his most famous quotations.In September 1862, when the Prussian Landtag was refusing to approve an increase in military spending desired by King Wilhelm I, the king appointed Bismarck as Minister-President and Foreign Minister. A few days later, Bismarck appeared before the Landtag's Budget Committee and stressed the need for military preperation. He concluded in his speech that the position of Prussia in Germany wont be determined by its liveralism but by its power, he said what prussia should and shouldnt concentrate on and it must be done though "Iron and Blood" - which was made the title of that speech and remembered by many as part of the road towards the unified Germany. in conclusion, bismarck was undoubtably a very controlling factor when looking at the unification of Germany. although the leadership of Bismarck did help trigger other important factors in germany, he did not fashion German unity alone he exploited powerful forces which already existed and just made them stronger. this included prussia as a whole, strength and power which overall put austria into decline. other countries made many mistakes during the time of bismarcks actions which is why it was seen as one of his successes, however those countries caused most of their own mistakes. bismarcks role when over viewed is - in many historians eyes - the most important factor because he took control when all the wars where happening and he kept other countries on a friendly level to stop any confliction in germany, without him the eventual unification of germany in 1871 may never have came around.