Bismarck And German Unification Essay

Improved Essays
Nationalism is based off the ideas of one feeling the superiority of their country against others based off of race, culture and power. Through the process of German unification it brought about the sense of nationalism and the ideas of a nation. A nation consists of a common culture, being financially powerful, and unified. Otto von Bismarck who was the Prime Minister of Prussia at this time helped succeed Germany to being one of the top five major powers of Europe. Bismarck wanted his country to be just for the German race and work together to fulfill that feeling of superiority against others. Throughout this paper I will dissect the details of the German unification and how it turned into a powerful nation. In the beginning, Germany started off as many German states and kingdoms in which Bismarck wanted Prussia and the unification of the German …show more content…
In 1870 there was a dispute on who would be the new king of Spain. Bismarck spoke with the Emperor of Prussia, Wilhelm I to help find a new king in which they went and spoke with Karl Anton the prince of Honenzollern Sigmaringen. Anton had a son named Leopold H.S. who was nominated to be the king of Spain. After making this decision, Bismarck sent a letter to Spain about this decision which was intercepted by the French. Duke de Gramont who was the minister of France gave an abrupt speech about Prussia. Napoleon III sent count Benedetti to talk to Wilhelm so that he would take back Leopold’s nomination for king. Wilhelm willingly takes back the candidacy and agrees to not let Leopold get the nomination again. In July of 1870, Napoleon declares war on Prussia but is defeated and captured by the Prussians. After the Franco-Prussian War the rulers of Bavaria and Wurttemberg join Germany under the King of Prussia. Shortly after the war the Treaty of Versailles is signed, this established the 3rd Republic of

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    In the early 1800s alliances were introduced to hold peace in Europe, but ended up leading more war. Otto von Bismarck mainly used war to ‘unify’ Germany and keep peace all over Europe. In this, he thought France wanted revenge and no peace, so he formed a Dual Alliance with Austria-Hungary; Italy later joined along with them creating the Triple Alliance. After this, Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914. Russia then decided to join and team with Serbia against Austria-Hungary for an attack.…

    • 266 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the early 1800s, nationalism would start to spread across Europe along with industrialization. Nationalism is showing love and devotion for one’s country, specifically, in places like Prussia and Italy at the time. Unification was brought most in part by nationalism and industrialization. Language and religion kept people divided, but also could bring them together. Multinational empires were common in Europe, especially in Russia and Italy.…

    • 619 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Heinrich Von Treitschke: Warfare and Nationalism to gain Liberation Germany faced the worst era of political imperial leadership, which suppressed the economy. During the nineteenth-century, Europe had many historical nationalists who studied their history and then glorified their nation's past (Kohn 21). A historian named Heinrich Von Treitschke vastly influenced Germans through his, political speech, named “The Greatness of War” shifting Germany’s perspective on the needs of the citizen’s committing to the country’s needs before theirs. My goal in this paper is to elaborate on how Treitschke impacted Germany’s view and nations mission by providing background history of Germany during the nineteenth century and connecting it to how Heinrich was glorious in bringing…

    • 1437 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Nationalism is outlined as having a way of happiness and loyalty to one's country or nation. Nationalism is Associate in Nursing extreme variety of nationalism and loyalty to one’s country. Nationalists place the interests of their own country on top of the interests of alternative countries. Nationalism was current in early twentieth century Europe and was a major reason behind war I.…

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    What is nationalism? Nationalism is when a country or state comes together to go towards a common goal. Many countries have had some type of nationalism that made the places that they are today. This includes revolutions or even protests. They have a wide variety of small gatherings to whole countries fighting, but they usually have an impact on the modern world.…

    • 507 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Wilhelm II however did allow input in the foreign policy and he did what the majority felt was…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    German Unification Dbq

    • 1005 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Ideas and beliefs have proved to be an extraordinary force throughout all of history. Ideas in the enlightenment period leading to a new way of thinking, religious beliefs leading to war. For Italy, Germany and others it was nationalism which changed their history in the 19th century and led to wars for independence. Although nationalism helped Italian and German unification it also led to the breakup of empires such as the Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman. Nationalism is the idea that people of the same history, belief ,language and culture should unify and become independent of foreign rule.…

    • 1005 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Nationalism In The 1800s

    • 950 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The 1800s saw the rise of nationalism throughout Europe and it led to the unification of the Italian and German states. Nationalism continues to play a role in European politics in the modern world and is one of the most important developments of the 1800s. Although nationalism played an important role in Europe in the 1800s, its definition varied and this variation would inspire different causes. The differences in the definition of nationalism given by Giuseppe Mazzini and Ernest Renan significantly impacted their respective countries of Italy and France in different ways. Mazzini and Renan exploited their definitions of nationalism to achieve specific goals.…

    • 950 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    It was at the time a new and power source of tension in Europe and was tied to militarism and clashed with the interest of emperor powers in Europe. Nationalism created a new era of interest of which nations could compete. It was the time when people of all countries were fighting and rose up to defend the countries they loved. A time when German, France, Great Britain and Austria-Hungary started fighting over influence and colonies and smaller nations were striving towards independence to fulfill their dream of being a sovereign state.…

    • 370 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Two of the greatest men in modern history, Otto von Bismarck and Adolf Hitler were determined to transform Germany into a great power. Despite being Prussian, Bismarck was nonetheless driven to unify Germany due to the fear of liberal ideology in a fragmented Germany. In essence, Bismarck was violent and would not stop at anything until his goals were realized with the eventual formation of a German state. Meanwhile, Adolf Hitler, an Austrian, sought to rid the nation of any race that was not “pure,” creating a utopian society based upon his radical ideology. Like Bismarck, Hitler was close-minded and would always go with his instinct, regardless of what was truly in the best interest of the masses.…

    • 1453 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the nineteenth century, German and Italy both underwent radical unification movements to integrate the independent states. Each country’s unification efforts shared some similarities, in addition to some differences, due to the events occurring in Europe at the time, as a result of cultural diffusion. The consensus agreement of historians remains that the German and Italian movements drastically altered European society. Although the methods through which the newly formed nations contrast, the ideas of Europe at the time reflect the movements and changes of Europe. A key element of both nations is the principal state that allowed the new nation to have a strong military, political, and economic status.…

    • 765 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    With advanced weaponry and new tactics, this war tested the newly developed war tactics, new weaponry, and advanced machinery. Germany’s national interest was to develop an advanced army that rivaled Great Britain, this would prove to be one of the reasons of the outbreak of a large scale war. The newly unified Germany by Otto von Bismarck meant that they did not have the benefits that the other European powers had, the lack of colonies throughout Europe meant that they would be economically inferior to other countries. Germany’s economic inferiority rallied for the support of using their superior military to show their strength to other European nations. Nationalism became the leading force in the certification of the German identity, and the newly created German superpower wanted to look for “their place in the sun”.…

    • 1470 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    The Nazi nationalism was meant to make the German people to love their country to the extent of sacrificing their lives for the prosperity of their nation. The superiority of the Germans that was created through Nazi nationalism was meant to make Germany a stronger and better country. However the results of the Nazism were not admirable because many innocent people were killed for being weak Germans, being non-Germans or for speaking against the Nazi ideology. However, the effect of the Nazi nationalism was more destructive than constructive. The Nazi ideology was deeper than the usual historical narrative of genocide, but also included the introduction of an education system that was detrimental to the lives of the German people.…

    • 1543 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Nationalism is the sense of pride or loyalty to a nation and region because they have something to share like same language, culture, and history. Nationalism is a powerful force that can have positive and negative effect on nations and regions. This essay will discuss those positive and negative effects of nationalism. The positive effect of nationalism is that it can build up a desire for independence within a country and this can cause them to overthrow colonial rule.…

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The Purpose Of Nationalism

    • 1340 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Nationalism itself could be defined as a sense of belonging, of people who identify and create a sense of understanding due to the common culture and characteristics among themselves, hence be called as a nation. “It is an ideological movement for the attainment and maintenance of autonomy, unity, and identity on behalf of a population deemed by some of its members to constitute an actual or potential ‘nation’” (Tarling 2004, p. 15). The core of nationalism is nation hence it projects an individual’s attachment to the nation. Originally, major causes such as religion along with cultural and political identity led to a nationalistic movement in Asia which united the people to go against the western powers.…

    • 1340 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays