Bismarck%20and%20German%20Unification

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Bismarck and German Unification
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• 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!

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• If Bismarck couldnt 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?

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• Under Bismarcks 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.

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• These rapid and dramatic developments raise some
  issues

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• 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?

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• 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 so strong
  economically?

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