Conservatism, Nationalism and Prussification (Unification of Germany by Otto von Bismarck)
Conservatism, Nationalism, and Prussification as driving forces of unification
After the creation of the German Confederation, Otto von Bismarck, the Prussian representative in the union of German states, was determined to unite them into one single empire, with Prussia as its core. Prussia officially took over the rest of German sates by 1871, but in the meantime Bismarck implemented several internal and foreign policies to make that happen along with unification. After his speech on September 30th of 1862, which stated, "it is not by speeches and majority resolutions that the great questions of the time are decided – that was the big mistake of 1848 and 1849 – but by iron and blood.” (Bismarck), Bismarck made it clear that his greatest goal was to unify the whole kingdom to make it stronger; while he supported Wilhelm I’s ambition of making Prussia rise by its military power. Two of the means of unification used by Bismarck were nationalism and Prussification of the kingdom, with which he accomplished his goal by 1871. With the target of awakening nationalism among the members of society, Bismarck got involved in several disagreements with nations such as France and Austria-Hungary, sparking wars. These wars may have been intentional not only to spawn nationalism, but to have an excuse to raise the economical support for the Prussian army, and that way secure an easier seizing of the rest of the Confederation’s states. The Franco-Prussian war, for example, created some sort of friction and anti-French feelings inside the German population. The will of taking France down was not only to make people fonder of Germany, but also to take its spot as one of the most important countries in continental Europe. Bismarck tried to raise nationalism not only for the kingdom as a total, but also from its most important division, Prussia. The Austro-Prussian war was fought as a civil war among German states, and, with the victory of Prussia, the state became strongly
After the creation of the German Confederation, Otto von Bismarck, the Prussian representative in the union of German states, was determined to unite them into one single empire, with Prussia as its core. Prussia officially took over the rest of German sates by 1871, but in the meantime Bismarck implemented several internal and foreign policies to make that happen along with unification. After his speech on September 30th of 1862, which stated, "it is not by speeches and majority resolutions that the great questions of the time are decided – that was the big mistake of 1848 and 1849 – but by iron and blood.” (Bismarck), Bismarck made it clear that his greatest goal was to unify the whole kingdom to make it stronger; while he supported Wilhelm I’s ambition of making Prussia rise by its military power. Two of the means of unification used by Bismarck were nationalism and Prussification of the kingdom, with which he accomplished his goal by 1871. With the target of awakening nationalism among the members of society, Bismarck got involved in several disagreements with nations such as France and Austria-Hungary, sparking wars. These wars may have been intentional not only to spawn nationalism, but to have an excuse to raise the economical support for the Prussian army, and that way secure an easier seizing of the rest of the Confederation’s states. The Franco-Prussian war, for example, created some sort of friction and anti-French feelings inside the German population. The will of taking France down was not only to make people fonder of Germany, but also to take its spot as one of the most important countries in continental Europe. Bismarck tried to raise nationalism not only for the kingdom as a total, but also from its most important division, Prussia. The Austro-Prussian war was fought as a civil war among German states, and, with the victory of Prussia, the state became strongly
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