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Bismarck and German Unification

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.

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Bismarck and German Unification

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  1. Bismarck and German Unification

  2. 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!”

  3. 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?

  4. 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.

  5. These rapid and dramatic developments raise some issues:

  6. 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?

  7. 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 sostrong economically?

  8. All these issues are related and come together to explain how and why Germany became united.

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