History - Bismarck essay

Submitted By Tom-Bladon
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Tom Bladon
History Essay
8 January y

How far do you agree that Bismarck was the key reason for the Unification of Germany?

Germany has not always been the super power in the middle of Europe. Before Germany existed there was the German confederation, which was a collection of 29 states that acted as there own separate country in many ways with different laws, currency and culture. The German confederation existed up until the end of 1871 where there was a decision made to create Germany. Prussia was the dominant state in the confederation and controlled a lot of what was happening and their idea was to create a whole country for a mass number of reasons. Bismarck was the Chancellor in Prussia and it was very much all of his idea to unify and it is argued without him Germany could of never unified.

Bismarck without a doubt helped and nursed his ‘baby’, which was Germany all through until it was done. It is argued that everything he did was all done to lead him to this Unification and even mistakes that he apparently made have often been accused of tricks to get his way in the long run. 'The mad Junker 1' supports the idea of him being this trickster that gets his way as it is not referring to him as a man who is mentally insane but someone who is a very clever man who was mad to get what he wants. The case of Bismarck actually being a Machiavellian supports the theory of him being 'mad' as Machiavellian is a term used to describe someone who is very clever and plays the diplomatic and political game like he did with the situation with the wars he was involved with. Bismarck utilised events that happened to make his plan of Unification happen especially with the Franco-Prussian war and the Austria-Prussian war. Both of these events benefited Bismarck not only because they were both brilliant victories for Prussia but also it had a knock on effect. This knock on effect was the influence over the other states that were in the German Confederation to get the support of the idea of Unification. Through the wars and his way of gaining support he managed to unify his Germany how he wanted it to be unified.

Bismarck was also the key reason for the unification to occur because of his position within the Prussian State. Bismarck was the Chancellor of Prussia and Prussia was one of the largest and most powerful states in the German Confederation. This power was shown in the Franco-Prussian war and also the also the war against Austria. With the power of Prussia, Historians have stated he had a 'Master Plan.' This plan was too unify the north German states under Prussia control, weaken Austria, and make Berlin the centre of German affairs and to strengthen the position of the King of Prussia. All of these aims were achieved except for Bismarck ended up bringing in more states from the south area such as Bavaria after he persuaded them over from how they dealt and weekend France and Austria. Bismarck and his master plan was the basis of the German Unification and he was the one to plan it all out so without Bismarck Germany may have never unified. Other factors to help him it wasn't all just down to him but as many historians say it was 'largely because of Bismarck2' for the unification of Germany.

On the other hand however some factors can be argued to have contributed more than Bismarck did, as he was only one man. Trading is a factor that many Historians believe contributing on a high level to the unification of Germany. Trading between each state in the German Confederation was hard due to the different currencies, economies and transport however if the states unified under one name and made a set currency and merged the economies then there was a potential of a cheaper way of living and potential for Germany to thrive. The people of each state would want this cheaper living and therefore would support the idea of German Unification. Not only would the people want this
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