Austria From The German Confederation example essay topic

Unification was not only the by-product of Bismarck's real agenda, which was to defend and reinforce traditional Prussian interests. The three major conflicts, the war with Denmark over Schleswig-Holstein, the war with Austria in 1866 and the Franco-Prussian war in 1870 were not pre-arranged in a plan to unite Germany, but instead they were separate and self-contained. However this being the case, Bismarck did use the outcomes of these events in his favour and used them to create a united Germany with the militaristic Prussia as the main power force. Bismarck was employed in 1862 as minister-president and stopped any co-operation between the Prussian government and the nationalist movement over the Army Bill, which the Liberals had already halted in the Landtag. Despite the bill for army reforms not being passed Bismarck continued collecting the proposed taxes while pretending in the Landtag that he was working with the Liberals. Bismarck's real agenda was to overcome the Liberals and the nationalists.

He also wanted to exclude Austria from the German Confederation and make every state within the Confederation an authoritarian monarchy with Prussia at the head. He also wanted to keep power for the Junkers, the aristocratic class which he grew up in. In 1864 German and Danish nationalism came to a head-on clash over Schleswig and Holstein, two states which were placed precariously between Prussia and Denmark. The war which ensued was constructive towards the process of unification but this was not the purpose.

After King Frederick died in 1863 and with him died the Dutch role in the duchies, Bismarck saw the two states as easy pickings and went about annexing them as part of Prussia. Bismarck used German nationalism to great effect in this conflict because he knew that Holstein was almost entirely German, and Schleswig contained a significant proportion of German speakers. Bismarck shared the campaign with Austria and so Austria gained control of Holstein... Throughout the conflict, Bismarck showed himself to be a "clever exploiter of situations" as Ful brook describes him. Bismarck originally intended Schleswig-Holstein to be annexed by Prussia, because this would result in a command of the North and Baltic Seas and used this in the later stages of reunification. The war with Austria in 1866 was partly caused by the conflict that had occurred in 1864 in Denmark.

The main cause however was that the dualism that occurred between the two European powerhouses had run its course. This provided Prussia with a chance to extend its interests inside the German Confederation and thus a further step towards unification. Bismarck decided to exclude Austria from the German confederation, because he knew that Prussia was now powerful enough to overcome Austria and this would unite the supporters of Austria behind Prussia. The plan became known as Klein deutschland. The final victory at K"oniggr " at also assisted in the crushing of the Liberals, who were thrashed in the 1864 elections.

The outcome of this war pleased the Landtag so much that its members signed an Indemnity Bill in 1866, giving consent to the expenditures which had occurred under the un-passed Army Bill. Once again nationalist feelings provided the influence for the next of Bismarck's stepping stones, war with France. However this was also provides clear evidence that Bismarck had no plans of furthering the already existing Prussian influence in the North German Confederation. This is due to the fact that Bismarck had had prior occasions to wage war with France, coming in 1867 when nationalist feelings exploded after hearing that Napoleon the Third was negotiating with Holland to purchase Luxemburg. War came around however three years later when in 1870, the French leaders were disgusted at the appointment of Prince Leopold, a catholic as the new owner of the Spanish throne. Leopold stepped down but this obviously caused great humiliation for the Prussians.

The war was sparked after Bismarck's Ems telegram and due to this secret alliance, the southern German states were obliged to help their northern compatriots out. This of course assisted the process of reunification because that militaristic link had been formed between the North German Confederation and the southern states. Not Completed.