Bismarck and German Unification King William I of
Bismarck and German Unification
• King William I of Prussia was having difficulty getting the Landtag (the Prussian Government) to agree about how the army should be reformed. • He urgently requested his Prussian ambassador to France, Otto von Bismarck, to come to Berlin and help him push through these reforms. • “Hurry! Delay is dangerous!”
• If Bismarck couldn’t help the King push the reforms through parliament, then he would lose his crown. • Yet, only nine years later, Germany was a united country and William was Emperor. How?
• Under Bismarck’s leadership, Prussia fought three wars: • Demnark 1864 • Austria 1866 • France 1870 -71 • The consequence of these wars was that the various states of Germany were united in one empire under Prussian leadership.
• These rapid and dramatic developments raise some issues:
• • • Did Bismarck plan this when he became minister-president of Prussia in 1862? Or was he a skilful opportunist who took full advantage of events as they unfolded? Did Germany become united because Bismarck was so skilled and so daring as a statesman?
• • • Could this process of unification have been achieved without such a strong and successful Prussian army? What part did the growth of nationalism play? Could unification have been achieved under Prussian control had it not been so strong economically?
• All these issues are related and come together to explain how and why Germany became united.
- Slides: 8