Otto Von Bismarcks and unification of Germany - Essay Example

Otto Von Bismarck's Unification of Germany Otto Von Bismarck was a loyalist to the Prussian Bureaucracy. He was raised a noble man and in 1959 he was named the Prussian ambassador to Russia. In 1962, he became the Prussian ambassador to France however later in tha year he was named chancellor. He kept his distance from the traditional Prussians and stated that Germany's unification was at hand but it needed to be achieved through war, "blood and iron" (Huber & Schoningh 135). He immediately expanded the military budget to produce great numbers of a new weapon that could be reloaded three times as fast as the other guns at that time. All this talk of war made Bismarck an outsider not only in the government but with the general population (Huber & Schoningh, 134-136). Bismarck was appointed chancellor of Prussia by King Wilhelm IV. An attempt to unify German had been made in 1848 -1849. That attempt failed mainly because of the many foreign power interest in Germany including Denmark, the Netherlands, and Britain. Habsburg Austria although its population was only 12% German was gaining a great deal of power in the Prussian territory (Kopp, 29). Bismarck concentrated through out his career on excluding Austria from German affairs so the Prussian tradition to prevent the Prussian tradition could be preserved and not eroded by the Nationalism and Democratization of the Austrians (Seaborn, 247). King Wilhelm I was thinking of abdicating as an independent Germany seemed hopeless. Bismarck assured Wilhelm that he could complete an arms reform even though the Landtag or the land owners did not approve of spending so much money on arms. Bismarck managed to increase the size of the army and the store of arm despite the opposition. Because he had the favor of the king, he remained in his position of power (Mirriman, 428). Blood and Iron Bismarck said that Germany would be independent by blood and iron. True to his word, in 1863, the Poles began to fight for concessions from Russia, The Russians believed that retaining control of Poland was essential to their policy. France stood with the Poles but Bismarck threw his support to Russia forming a friendship relationship with Russia. This was strategic on Bismarck as he felt a free Poland would threaten the Prussian territory. While this was going on, Austria called a meeting of the Germanic Confederation to have the Berman Princes find the best way of preserving a German Confederation. Franz Joseph, the Emperor of Austria wanted the support of the historic dynasties to help in containing liberalism, democratization and socialism. Since Austria had the dominant control in this Confederation, Bismarck did not want the King of Prussia to attend. These two politicians disagreed for some time over the Prussian King's decision, and finally, after much emotion persuasion the Prussian King did not attend the meeting. Since he was the second most powerful leader, after Austria, no decisions could be made at the meeting. Austria was having problems at home at this time as well so the matter was tabled. This was a victory for Bismarck. Austria seemed to be losing their power as the Margyars, Poles and Czechs were pulling away feeling less important (Gall, 121-148). Next, Schleswig and Holstein was uncomfortable under the Treaty of London of 1852 which put the Dannish King as the Duke of Holstein and the Duke of Schleswig. Schleswig. Schleswig and Holstein were made up mainly of Germans, at least in the south and they resented having a Danish leader. In 1863, Busnarcj exploited the demise of the King of Denmark and joined with Austria in the Danish War putting Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenberg into the Prussian and Austrian control. In 1865, Holstein was put under the Austrian control and Schleswig was controlled by Prussia. This was a big step forward for Bismarck. Through all of this Bismarck was constantly trying to persuade the Prussian kind to put distance between Prussia and Austria and to form an alliance with Italy. Bismarck told the ambassador to France that he was succeeding in putting distance between the Prussian King and Austria which was a key factor in unifying Germany (Phelps & Stein, 27-28). Several things happened. Italy aliened with Prussia but only for a few months, Austria was challenged by Bismarck when Bismarck wanted the Federal Diet changed to be prejudicial against Austria and finally the Prussian army went into Holstein. This was the Six Weeks War in which Bismarck won Holstein. At this point, Bismarck returned to diplomacy holding Prussia back from causing too much damage to Austria. While Austria was humbled, she may could be an ally that Bismarck might need in the future (Phelps & Stein, 27-28). Success Germany was growing in the West annexing Schleswig and Holstein, the Kingdom of Hanover, the Electorate of Hesse-Nassau and the City of Frankfort. This established the North German Confederation. With all this happening, the Landtag gave Bismarck retrospective immunity to Bismarck's unconstitutional acts. He was now gaining favor with in Germany and raised to nobility as Count Bismarck and he became part of the prestigious Prussian Order of the Black Eagle (Planze, 236). During this time, the Austrians began a period of assimilation of the peoples in its territory. The North German Confederation was governed by a constitution dictated by Bismarck. The Federal Presidency was approved of by the Prussian royalty. The Prussian minister became the Federal Chancellor. The first democratization showed itself in an election of the lower parliamentary house. This was a break down of the traditional German particularism in a confederation that was made up of historic dynastic states. Prussian institutions such as the army, postal service and the Zollverein were functioning in the new Confederation which gave the area a Prussian character and made it more acceptable to the general population. This was helpful in unify the people after a great deal of turmoil. Prussia had wanted to dominate the Germanies north of the Main River but now that they had it, it was not enough. Bismarck was willing to bring in more territories (Plenze, 236-257). Bismarck Wants More It was now France that was keeping Bismarck away from having the southern German territory. There was a strong rivalry between the German Europe and the French Europe. Bismarck planned to exploit this rivalry to unify north and south Germany against the French and increase the south's acceptance of the rule of the Prussians. Bismarck tried negotiating with the French who thought they deserved some compensation for staying out of the Prussian Austrian war but it did not seem possible to keep France and England happy. The outcome was the Franco-Prussian War which is also called the War of German Unification. The war ended with the formation of a federal German Empire. This was called the Second German Reich by the King of Prussia. He became the King of all of the territory. This announcement took place in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles outside Paris marking Bismarck's victory over the French. (Seaborn, 247-256) A New Constitution The German Empire had a constitution that included a Federal Parliament, Reichstag. It was elected by the populous but most of the power was with the Bundesrat of State delegates who controlled the army and the economy. Europe was forever altered. The French were very unhappy they lost Alsace-Lorraine to Germany. Bismarck feared that the French would try to take back that land and he began to isolate France to limit her opportunity to win Alsace-Lorraine back. The German Empire would remain as a major influence in Eruope. It grew in strength and gained economic and diplomatic respect due largely to the work of Otto Von Bismarck's less than legal but tenacious work (Robinson, 328). References Gall, L. (1986). Bismarck. The White Revolutionary. New York: Wadsworth. Huber, M., & Schoningh, F. (1968). A Histoy of Germany. Germany: Westfalen-Duckerei. Merriman, J. (1996). A History of Modern Europe, New York : W.W. Norton Mark . Pflanze, P.(1990) Bismarck and the Development of Germany. New York: W.W. Norton Mark. Phelps, R.H. & Stein, J. M. (1958) German Heritage. New York: German Heritage. Robinson, J.H. (ed). (1904) Readings in European History, 2 Vols. Otto von Bismarck, The Man and Statesman. Boston: Ginn. Seaborn, J. (1998) How much did Bismarck's success from 1862-70 depend on the errors and misjudgements of others New York: Thomson Kopp, A. (1996). The German War 1866. New York: Holt, Reinhart and Winston. Read More