Before unification in 1871, Germany was simply a group of many small states that all spoke German and shared many things in common. However, many people tried but were not successful in bringing them together to create a single state. It was not until Otto von Bismarck's personal obsession to build a united empire at any material or human cost made it happen. The great loss of life and the inflexible goal became known as his "blood and iron" policy, finally pulling those many small states together to create one large and very powerful German nation. The blood is that of the soldiers spilled in all the wars that Bismarck's army had fought to conquer the neighboring countries in order to unify Germany. The iron stood for the strength of his leadership, because iron is hard, resistant and very strong. Bismarck was a very strong leader and he did not let anything or anyone get in his way. Also, iron represented all the weapons of the used by the soldiers that fought in the wars. Bismarck's ideal to create a unified and larger Germany was put into effect by forming an army and going to war against its neighbors, such as Denmark, Austria and France. Otto von Bismarck's personal goal of creating a German empire, and his method of overcoming any political obstacle in his way, together with his powerful policy of "blood and iron," helped lead up to the unification of Germany.
"The constitutional crisis brought Bismarck to power." (Graham) When Bismarck worked with the Minister of War von Ron and the Chief of General Staff Moltke William, they created proposals to convince the Prussian parliament to increase the size of the army and carry out various other army reforms. (Graham) The main reform of the army was increasing its s...
... middle of paper ...
...ed in their hatred for France since the Napoleonic Wars, when France had looted the German states and pressed an estimated 250,000 Germans into the French armies." ("Causes of the Franco") This war lasted around 6 months, and the German states, headed by Prussia, defeated the French forces.
Even though Bismarck's "blood and iron" policy created many conflicts throughout the years, he ended up turning Germany into one united state. How did Otto von Bismarck use "blood and iron" to unite Germany? He used his army (the "blood") to attack the neighboring countries and he used his strength and determination (the "iron") to get what he wanted once he did that. Bismarck could not have done what he did without the help of many people, but his strong character and his will to never give up on his goals, helped him turn 39 separate states into the Germany we know today.
Research will be drawn from many sources including several historical studies and online articles. The sources used revolve around Bismarck's attitudes and actions toward German unification and general policy. Sources include works by historians A.J.P. Taylor and James Wycliffe Headlam. The policies of Bismarck during the interwar period were researched as well, through several scholastic journals and written works.
For example, in Herman Wagener’s memorandum, or private letter, to Otto Von Bismarck, he gave recommendations on strategies to strengthen the army and essentially gain more dominance and power (doc 3). Herman Wagener, being a conservative politician, advised Bismarck in the private letter that he shift the masses’ opinion while strengthening the power and reliability of the army. Also, Kaiser Wilhelm 1 made a speech to Reichstag proposing that they enforce “... the repression of Social Democratic excesses ...” (doc 5) and also promote workers’ welfare. This German Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm 1, made his speech to Reichstag naturally hoping to influence the parliament to support Bismarck by saying that they need to convict the socialists in order to cure defects which will lead to more support from many people and more power. In addition, in 1884 Bismarck spoke in support of the Socialists, in support of their ideas, and apologized for the proposal that the government tried to win more support for the Anti-Socialist law (doc 6). Bismarck made this speech in support of the Socialists in order to gain their support to increase his dominance and power. Finally, Eugen Richter wrote a newspaper article in 1890 explaining Chancellor Otto Von
The biographical approach to German unification in Bruce Waller’s Bismarck leaves the reader without much information on the European political picture as a whole and by no means provides a plethora of information on many of the political power players outside of Bismarck’s Germany. For example, Waller’s approach to Bismarck’s economic foreign policy is clearly lacking an explanation of outside factors, and those factors of the European economic situat...
Rulers of areas in Europe (including Germany) attended the ‘Wiener Kongress’ from October 1814 to June 1815 in order to adjust Europe post Napoleon. (Only the states of Germany that survived Napoleon attended Vienna.) The main aim of this conference was to reward the states and countries which were most successful in defeating Napoleon, not to consider democratic ideas. The areas rewarded were Russia, Prussia, Austria and Great Britain. These countries/states were rewarded by gaining land/territories. As well as gaining territories some areas also lost and e.g. although it expanded Prussia lost areas of Poland to Russia however the outcome of this loss was that Prussia became ‘a more coherently German state.’ (Mark Allinson 2002) Once the conference was over Germany was made up of 39 states, markedly fewer than before. Each state kept their own independence in the form of currency, laws and Armies.
When Otto von Bismarck was recalled from Paris to become Minister-President of Prussia in 1862, German nationalism was already more than 40 years old. First apparent in the opposition to Napoleon´s occupation of the German states, national feeling grew into a movement after 1815. This feeling was encouraged by a growth of interest in German literature and music and by increased economic cooperation between the north German states. By 1848 it was strong enough to make the creation of a united Germany one of the main demands of the revolutionaries. Otto von Bismarck was a Prussian patriot who inherited the traditions of love of king, army and country from his family.
The German state was forged out of the fires of the Franco-Prussian war in 1871 by the Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Prussia was by far the largest and most dominant state of the 25 unified in the creation of Germany, with the King of Prussia automatically becoming the Kaiser (Emperor) of the German Reich. In 1888, Kaiser Wilhelm II ascended to the throne, obtaining absolute and total control of the country. However, there is still debate as to whether Wilhelm II exercised full control of Germany or if true power lay in the hands of others in the years preceding the First World War.
However, with the designation of Wilhelm II as the new Kaiser, Bismarck’s ways and goals weren’t longer taken into account and was dismissed in 1890. The new Kaiser had different objectives; he was ambitious and wanted to improve the notability of Germany by expanding the empire. This expansion involved more colonies from where they would be able to import cheaply raw materials and labour supply. The whole new tendency whose sole purpose was to expand was named Weltpolitik. This Imperialism was one of the many causes of WW...
...d they facilitated final result. The Army failed responsibility of the government, 1933 Tasset Support convinced Hindenburg to have Hitler as Chancellor. The German Bureaucracy never supported the system. Stresemann created National Myths about different areas of the government, such as showing that the Prussian king was communist through his fake documents. The Treaty of Versailles Peace terms did not match the outcome of the war because the Allies handled the peace settlement badly and Germany never disarmed. Hitler was a master demagogue received support from all segments of the population, but mainly middle class protestant. Hitler had the doors to power open for him without their assistance they could have not come into power.
A biography called “Otto Von Bismarck: Iron Chancellor of Germany” was written by Kimberley Heuston. She was born in 1960 in Utah, Provo. She got her Bachelor Degree in history and science, at Harvard University, and an MFA in children’s literature at Vermont Collage. Later she worked as an English and history teacher. Also, Kimberley Heuston was awarded by Association for Mormon letter and for young-adult literature.
In the year 1929 their was a large depression in the country of Germany. This depression was made up of power struggle and economic distress. The people of Germany no longer trusted the democratic government that they once knew. This allowed Adolf Hitler, the great speaker that he was, to persuade the German people to bring him and his Nazi party into power. Adolf Hitler approached the German people speaking of nationalism which was very much needed after World War I. Not only did he need the...
For Germany, they thought that a unified state would help secure personal liberties of its citizens and could keep them protected. The middle and working class were at this time united under a common goal of removing the conservative elite, but each class had very different reasons for wanting to achieve that goal. When the moment came in the revolutions of 1848 where Germany failed to become unified, the cause was the slow moving middle class and division within the working class that can explain why Germany went back to a conservative monarchy.
Coal and Iron and the Unification of Germany in 1871 In 1862, Bismarck said that ‘the great questions of the day will be settled by blood and iron.’ Although there is undoubtedly some degree of accuracy in this statement, the most important reason for the unification of Germany, which ended ‘the great questions of the day,’ was ‘coal and iron.’ This is a quote from British economist John Maynard Keynes, who argued that the industrial and economic preparation before the wars, which united Germany, were more important. This is because the economic strength created by the rapid industrialisation enabled the creation of a powerful Prussia.
After years of trying to unify as one nation and countless failures, the German people now believed that they themselves were among the superior races of the world and it was Germany’s destiny to become the greatest nation the world had ever seen. Under Bismarck’s rule the economy boomed. The German Industrial Complex, powered by its heavy war production, made many men and the nation itself very wealthy. This wealth and prosperity led to an intoxicating feeling among its people, a feeling that they were the next great world
Bismarck's Foreign Policy „Versuche zu Dreien zu sein, solange die Welt durch das un sunny“ Gleichweighed the five Großmächten bestimmt! “ This was the general formula of Bismarck’s foreign policies meaning “When there are. five great powers be one of three. “ The five great powers at that time. were France, England, Russia, Austria-Hungary and the new United States.
Bismarck's Domestic Policy Assessment The Kulturkampf was a domestic struggle between the Catholic Church and Otto Von Bismarck and his allies at the time, the German Liberals. Bismarck was the first German chancellor from 1871 to 1890. During his time as chancellor he shaped Germany into the state it was before the First World War, bringing about a number of reforms to further the Germany he envisioned. One of the main conflicts Bismarck encountered was with the Catholic Church.