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Early Europe since 1815 - 1914

Name

Course

Date
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Early Europe since 1815 - 1914

A - Evaluating the unification Germany:

What was the role of Bismarck in the unification of his country?

Otto von Bismarck was the chief architect of the unification of Germany. Bismarck

embraced the art of love king, army, and country, which motivated most Germans to unite under

Prussian leadership and eliminate Austria’s influence. His monarchist tactics and lack of

preference for liberal and excessive parliamentary ideas enabled Bismarck to be in a stronger

position compared to other leaders when it comes to solving constitutional crises.

Bismarck set up the Northern German Confederation following the defeat of the Austrian

forces after three wars. He used a short-term goal of eliminating Austria out of Germany,

although the long-term vision was to unify his country by later teaming up with Austria to defeat

Danish. His efforts bore fruits when Austria gained control over the duchies of Holstein while

Prussia had direct control over the duchies of Schleswig (Anonymous n.d, p.n.p). Eventually,

Austria had full control of Holstein; hence, overcoming the barrier that was the threat of Austria.

After blaming Austria for not properly conducting the affairs of Holstein, Bismarck achieved his

goal of attacking small German states to help them unify and defeat Prussia (Kassner 2012, 2).

Furthermore, Bismarck entered a treaty with Italy to avoid interfering in German affairs. The

plan became successful in the formation of the Northern German confederation in the treaty. At

this stage, Germany was not yet unified since the southern states were still separate.

Bismarck managed to unify the southern states by provoking a war with France,

particularly when he edited a telegram from the King to the French. He edited the telegram to

convey an insulting message to the French as if it had come from the King. Consequently, the

French declared war on Prussia, a situation that compelled the southern states to declare their
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support for Prussians. Bismarck achieved his objective after the Prussians won the war and

strengthened the treaty on the French; hence, weakening them (Anonymous n.d, p.n.p). He

coerced southern states to back up the treaty and any king who shall defy the orders shall be

overthrown.

Bismarck was responsible for the unification of Germany through nationalism. With the

support of other leaders, Germans unified and they valued culture and nationalization, which

resulted in the creation of the Zollverein, which marked a major milestone in the unification of

Germany. The formation of Zollverein facilitated the trade between 39 German states and traders

enjoyed relatively lower taxes that had been initially set very high. Precisely, the Zollverein

unified German states and they conducted their affairs with unity. It is worth mentioning that the

proclamation of the German Empire in 1871 marked the climax of the unification of Germany

with the efforts of Bismarck (Anonymous n.d, p.n.p). The increased expansion of nationalism

necessitated the demand for a unified country. From the foregoing, Bismarck’s effort in

spearheading the creation of Zollverien led to a stable economy that supported the buildup of the

German military power and strength; hence, the strong influence in the northern German states.

Therefore, Bismarck empowered Prussia to increase its military power and expand its army

following the creation of the northern states. Germany eventually developed and attained a

greater economic development and the Zollverien siphoned a lot of money into the country;

hence, making Prussia very wealthy.

What role did war and diplomacy play in the unification movement?

Many a time, Otto von Bismarck urged Germans to conceive diplomacy, although many

of the enemies such as Italy saw to it that he was interested in attaining European hegemony for

Germany. Diplomacy played a crucial role in Germany’s political scene and enhanced the
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balance of power. Additionally, diplomacy formed the architect of German unification because it

facilitated the formation of alliances and the formidable Prussian army. Notably, Bismarck’s

focus for prioritizing diplomacy was to ensure the successful development of foreign policy and

national strategies to consciously integrate force to achieve the ultimate goal of German

unification (Kassner 2012, 4). Therefore, diplomacy played a significant role in the success of

Germany in the wars and even during the First World War since the use of force was only a

complement rather than being an alternative to diplomacy. Therefore, Bismarck used diplomacy,

coupled with a military force of national power to attain his ultimate political ambition of

unifying the country and obtaining victory. Indeed, Bismarck’s statesmanship was primarily

based on the fusion of force and diplomacy. Notably, it is diplomacy that gave Prussia to emerge

to the rank of first-rate power due to Bismarck’s outstanding skills as a diplomat and a politician.

Consequently, diplomacy ensured the success of Germany’s Second Reign and the subsequent

elevation of its rank as a world power.

After his victory over France

After the Franco-Prussian war, nationalism rose in Germany since both Austria and

Prussia wanted to speak for the German states. Therefore, Bismarck embarked on protecting

German interests both abroad and at home. Prussia focused on reinforcing its authority and it

spoke for all German states to defend their interests. However, Austria diverted its attention to

gain control over the Balkans. Therefore, Bismarck embarked on increasing the Prussian

hegemony in all German states and raise them to the international level. Consequently, Prussia

assumed the leadership of the new empire that Bismarck and his emperor had longed for (Wawro

2004, 27). The southern states fully backed up the efforts of activities of Germany; hence,

leading to the signing of the treaty of Versailles of 1871 to end the war formally.
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The growth of "nationalism" in Germany

Nationalism is the constant increase in a threat that weakens the interconnectedness of the

world, as experienced in many recent German elections. Germans became interested in

superiority and put down certain groups. Several factors heightened the growth of nationalism in

Germany. For example, cultural nationalism, economic nationalism, and political nationalism

were all experienced in Germany in the 19th century through to the twentieth century. For

example, most Germans were advocating for a romantic movement, support for political unity,

and the opposition to political unity, all of which, led to the revolutions attained in 1848 (Howard

2007, 6). From the perspective of the Romantic Movement, several poets, German writers,

musicians, and philosophers promoted the pride of Germany through its advanced culture that

values progress. Therefore, nationalism was a cohesive force in Germany.

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Bibliography

Howard, Michael. The First World War: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press.

[ISBN: 978-0199205592], 2007. https://b-ok.africa/dl/651264/ff46c0

Anonymous. The importance of Bismarck to German Unification, n.d.

https://4.files.edl.io/75e0/02/05/20/191318-7a41e124-686d-4d1f-af03-35d47eb0f162.pdf

Kassner, Kenneth, R. Coercive Diplomacy: Otto von Bismarck and the Unification of Germany.

Strategy Research Project, United States Army War College; Philadelphia, 2012.

https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a561542.pdf

Wawro, Geoffrey. The Franco-Prussian War: The German Conquest of France in 1870-1871.

Cambridge University Press, 2004.

http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam034/2002041685.pdf