To what extent was Bismarck responsible for the unification of Germany?

When Germany was unified by 1867 there were many factors and people that directly or indirectly
conduced to this! The "russian prime minister Otto von Bismarck was probably the person that had
the bi##est contribution in the pro#ress in the German unification! $owe%er there were other
important factors that were essential for the unification! Bismarck&s responsibility for the
unification is especially in the political and diplomatic part within Germany and a#ain within
'urope! But German unification was partly also the accomplishment of nationalism which started
already way before Bismarck&s accomplishment as chancellor!
But in the German politics that led to the unification Bismarck was the main factor that led to it!
Bismarck&s contribution be#an acti%ely with the (chleswi#)$olstein affair where *enmark claimed
the German)speakin# lands of (chleswi# and $olstein for itself! Bismarck&s accomplishment here
was that he mana#ed to con%ince +ustria to ,oin a "russian led military alliance a#ainst +ustria and
thus pro%ed "russia as a capable and successful possible leader in Germany! -ollowin# *enmark&s
defeat Bismarck also succeeded in di%idin# the . new territories between "russia and +ustria in
"russia&s fa%our! $e mana#ed to secure the more northern (chleswi# for "russia and so the +ustrian
$olstein was trapped in between "russian territory! This links directly to Bismarck&s next
achie%ement in German politics the German war between "russia and +ustria! Bismarck used the
aftermath of the (chleswi#)$olstein affair to create an en%ironment in which +ustria had to declare
war on "russia! $e achie%ed to create this en%ironment throu#h small pro%ocations of +ustria! This
made +ustria look like the a##ressor! +lso Bismarck ne#otiated a secret military alliance with the
newly created /talian state in case of a war a#ainst +ustria which would make +ustria force to
di%ide its troops! $owe%er the fast success in the war a#ainst +ustria the war is also called the 7
weeks war was not Bismarck&s accomplishment but rather of the "russian #enerals von Moltke and
von Roon! This disa#rees with Bismarck&s own %iew of how the German unification happened as he
wrote in his memoires that he planned e%erythin# from the be#innin# on e%en the war but rather
supports the e%idence that Bismarck was only a opportunist and didn&t ha%e much influence on the
result of the war! $owe%er Bismarck achie%ed to persuade the "russian kin# Wilhelm / to not
in%ade +ustria and con0uer 1ienna but to offer them peace and so turnin# them into a possible
future ally! 2oon and 3oltke won the war especially by turnin# the "russian infrastructure ad%ance
into a war decisi%e factor as the "russian army for example could be mo%ed on 4 different train
routes southwards while the +ustrians only had one! +lso they mana#ed to counter the more
efficient and precise +ustrian artillery so that it had almost no effect on the outcome on the war
and turned the back)loadin# "russian needle)#un into another war decidin# factor! But a#ain
Bismarck had a part in the military de%elopment that allowed 2oon and 3oltke to win the wars as
he #a%e the military the needed finances for reforms a#ainst the "russian 5andta#&s
1
%eto in the
Landtag affair. Thus it can be said that while Bismarck created the en%ironment which led to the
wars and %on 3oltke and %on 2oon turned this en%ironment into a decisi%e %ictory for "russia!
But the aftermath of the German war that created for the first time a "russian dominance in
Germany especially 6orth Germany was a#ain Bismarck&s accomplishment! $e mana#ed to create
the 6orth German confederation in such a way that it had a liberal and democratic outlook to please
the liberals and radicals but in reality it was a "russian dominated system that e%en stren#thened
the "russian monarchy! -or example the two parliamentary houses the upper house Bundesrat and
the lower house Landtag were "russian dominated! While the princes of the 6orth German states
were sittin# in the Bundesrat and so #a%e "russia effecti%e control the 5andta# was an elected
parliament! $owe%er as the main part of the 5andta# dele#ates were "russian landowners Junckers
"russia had a permanent ma,ority in the 5andta# and was able to block e%ery decision that was
1 This was the "russian 5andta# not the 5andta# of the 6orth German confederation!
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a#ainst "russia&s plans! With the German confederation Bismarck achie%ed his main aim durin# that
period! The "russian domination of 6orth Germany! "russia was also able to annex a few 6ort
German countries like $anno%er (chleswi# or $olstein! -or the German politics in total Bismarck
was the main factor that allowed "russia to take first control o%er 6orth Germany and later o%er
whole Germany! $owe%er as Bismarck was not a military leader the %ictory in the . wars was to a
lar#e extent an achie%ement of the . Generals %on 3oltke and %on 2oon! Bismarck was responsible
for the German politics that led to the unification howe%er he is not responsible for the %ictory in
the war
Bismarck&s contribution in 'uropean politics especially diplomatics is similar to his contribution in
German politics! Bismarck was a#ain mainly responsible for "russia&s diplomatic success while the
%ictory in the wars was a#ain the accomplishment of 2oon and 3oltke! This can be seen for
example when Bismarck was confronted with the "olish uprisin# problem in 2ussia! +lthou#h he
declared pri%ately support for 2ussia he refused to declare this publicly after Britain and -rance
protested a#ainst his support! This brou#ht him the reputation of a fled#in#! /n the end howe%er he
mana#ed to keep the diplomatic relations with Britain on almost the same le%el with only a few
setbacks and impro%ed his relations with 2ussia as althou#h "russia was displeased with Bismarck
after his refuse of a public declaration but the relations were impro%ed a#ain after Bismarck
allowed the 2ussian army to enter "russian territory to defeat the 2ebells after they fled into
"russia! +lthou#h this was a important accomplishment in Bismarck&s diplomatic career as it
secured 2ussian neutrality in case of wars but an e%en bi##er accomplishment of his was the
turnin# of the supposedly loss in the Hohenzollern candidature to the %ictory for "russia that led to
the German confederation! +s Bismarck supported Leopold von Hohenzollern's candidature for the
(panish throne after its 0ueen /sabella // was thrown out of the country this caused lots of trouble
especially with -rance when 5eopold accepted the candidature! Bismarck took now especially
ad%anta#e of the followin# pressure by -rance towards Wilhelm as he was the head of the
Hohenzollern family! +s Wilhelm a#reed to the demands of the -rench forei#n miniser genor! duc
de "rammont he forced 5eopold to withdraw his candidature althou#h e%en Wilhelm was
con%inced that a $ohen;ollern kin# in (pain would #i%e "russia a stron# ad%anta#e in a war as
-rance would be isolated between two "russian kin#s! Bismarck now took ad%anta#e of the #ms
telegramm! This tele#ram was sent by Wilhelm to Bismarck in which he politely declined +#enor&s
demand to declare that a $ohen;ollern will ne%er sit on the (panish thrown! Bismarck howe%er
shortened the tele#ram and edited it to be insultin# and rude and force -rance into a war with
"russia! The followin# war a#ain was won by 2oon and 3oltke! +#ain Bismarck was responsible
for the wars while 2oon and 3oltke won the war!
Bismarck was definitely responsible for the German unification! $e created the political
en%ironments that led to the war! $owe%er the wars were won by his #enerals and he had almost no
influence on the outcome of those! +nd as nationalism played a %ery little role in the German
unification it can be said that Bismarck was the main factor for the unification! But a#ainst his own
claim that e%erythin# was planned by him before he #ot to power the e%idence rather supports that
Bismarck ,ust used his opportunism! /n the end it can be said that Bismarck was to a %ery lar#e
extend responsible for the unification!

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