Friday, January 27, 2012

Bismark and German Unification

Proclamation of the German Empire in the Palace of Versailles.

von Bismarck

After the 1848 revolution, it appeared as if German Unification was reached when the Frankfurt Parliament offered the crown to the King of Prussia, but Frederick William's refusal delayed such dreams. Prussia had a number of significant advantages. Prussia, thanks to the Zollverein had achieved economic preeminence over the other member states. Prussia also achieved a significant measure of Industrialization. Most importantly, Prussia had one of the most remarkable statesmen of the 19th century, Otto von Bismarck. When William I took the throne of Prussia in 1861, he made the most important decision for German unification when he named Bismarck as his Prime Minister. Bismarck was a member of Junker who was known for his arch-conservative views. Bismarck delivered his famous "Blood and Iron" speech . According to Bismarck, “Germany is not looking to Prussia's liberalism but to her power. The great questions of our time will not be decided by speeches and majority resolutions, that was the mistake of 1848-9, but by Iron and Blood." Bismarck needed to modernize the Prussian army by giving them the latest weapons. In 1864, he entered an alliance with Austria against Denmark, over the territories of Schleswig and Holstein. Schleswig came under Prussian control, while Holstein came under Austrian Control. His first stage of the plan was to start a war with Austria. In 1866 after securing an alliance with Italy and securing a promise of non-participation from the French , Prussia then under the orders of the Bismark declared war on Austria, citing disputes over Holstein as a reason for the attack. Prussian forces brought upon the defeat of Austria in a matter of 7 weeks. Bismarck wisely treated Austria with leniency to keep them out of the next stage of his plan, war with France. After the defeat of Austria he annexed the small German states in the north that supported Austria. Other German states were convinced to join Prussia in the creation of the North German Confederation. The states of southern Germany concluded a military alliance with Prussia in case of French aggression. In 1870, Bismarck provoked war with France. Bismarck made it to seem as if France was the outward aggressor in a conflict that began when a prince, who was a kinsman of the Prussian King (Hohenzollern) was invited to take the throne of Spain. To Napoleon III, the thought of having Hohenzollerns on two fronts was too much to bear. Napoleon III thought he had won when he removed the name of his cousin for heir apparent to the Spanish throne. Yet Bismarck who wanted war, rewrote the "Ems Dispatch" a telegram sent by the Prussian King to Bismarck informing him of what had happened between the King and the French ambassador, to make it look like as if the King had insulted France. The French were so angered that Napoleon III declared war on Prussia. At Sedan, France, the "finest army in the world" was defeated by Prussia. On January 18,1871, William I was proclaimed German Emperor in the Palace of Versailles and thus German  Unification was complete.