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Quite simply, Bismarck understood that German Unification was not going to be achieved peacefully - it would require war with surrounding powers, both to unify Germany, and in self-defense when other powers would feel threatened by a unified Germany - something that hadn't existed since around the 11th Century.

Bismarck wanted war with Denmark over Schleswig and Holstein when Denmark chose to annex them outright - doing so helped start the ball rolling towards reunification.

It's unclear whether Bismarck wanted war with Austria - Bismarck claimed years later that he carefully planned it, but the war mainly occurred because Austria refused to see Prussia as an equal, and decided to go to war to prevent Prussia from dominating Germany. Unfortunately, Austria was badly beaten by Prussia.

Finally, France historically felt itself to be the eminent power on the continent, and was worried about having a unified Germany on it's doorstep. France had historically benefitted from having a relatively friendly Spain to the south, and disorganized states to the East (minor German and Italian states). France declared war on Prussia, and Bismarck siezed on it to increase German nationalism and to get the remaining small German states to rally around Prussia. The Germans completely humiliated France, and Bismarck and Prussia siezed the moment and created modern Germany, having Kaiser Wilhelm crowned in Versaille in 1871.

2006-10-13 02:17:54 · answer #1 · answered by ³√carthagebrujah 6 · 0 0

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