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Unification of Germany: Otto von Bismarck

(How important was Bismarck to the eventual unification of Germany? Is it true to say that he was only successful because he was willing to use force? To what extent did he use the skills of a diplomat?)

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Bismarck, 1815-1898. One of the most prominent and remembered figures of the Unification of Germany. But how important was he really? Was he, as some claim, a great diplomat, highly successful, and excellent at carrying out plans? Or was he, like others say, a manipulative, unjust man, who only succeeded because he was willing to use force to get his way?

So, the first question we have to ask ourselves is like with Cavour and the Italian Unification whether or not he planned on unifying Germany from the start. Well, whilst some may think that this was his master plan to unify Germany from the start (a point which I will go into more detail about later on), I go with the majority's opinion when I say that he was probably simply a brilliant opportunist.

To back up this statement, I can use evidence from his part in the German Unification.

Bismarck first came to power as the new Minister-President of Prussia in 1862, and immediately started to put his diplomatic skills to work by helping the Prussian king to increase taxes. Normally, one would attribute this to diplomacy skills; however there is one other point we have to consider here. The extra money was going towards enlarging and better equipping the army. Could Bismarck have already been planning for a stronger army before he even had any power over it?

The next step he took was to gain the support of the Russians. This was entirely opportunistic he closed the Prussian borders the Polish refugees, gaining Russia's support and ensuring that Russia would not interfere in the wars Prussia would later partake in. This was not a very diplomatic move; there were no negotiations involved, and closing the frontier in such a way was a fairly violent action, proving that he was willing to use force if it meant that he could reap the benefits in the future.

However, Bismarck's first major step towards the Unification of Germany came in 1863: the Schleswig-Holstein conflict. In this conflict, I believe he showed the true quality of diplomacy if at least in part for personal (Prussian) gain in managing to set aside the feud between Prussia and Austria in order to send an army with the Austrian army to settle the conflict. Even though in the end Prussia ended up with both Schleswig and

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