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When did Bismarck rise to power?
Germany became a modern, unified nation under the leadership of the “Iron Chancellor” Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898), who between 1862 and 1890 effectively ruled first Prussia and then all of Germany.
What wars did Otto von Bismarck start?
24.4. 4: Otto von Bismarck and the Franco-Prussian War In the 1860s, Otto von Bismarck, then Minister President of Prussia, provoked three short, decisive wars against Denmark, Austria, and France, aligning the smaller German states behind Prussia in its defeat of France.
Was Otto von Bismarck powerful?
Bismarck’s diplomacy of Realpolitik and powerful rule at home gained him the nickname the “Iron Chancellor”. German unification and its rapid economic growth was the foundation to his foreign policy. He disliked colonialism but reluctantly built an overseas empire when it was demanded by both elite and mass opinion.
What did Bismarck think of America?
“You are so happily placed in America that you need fear no wars,” said Bismarck, who ruled a country that bordered its rivals. “What always seemed so sad to me about your last great war was that you were fighting your own people. That is always so terrible in wars, so hard.”
What did Bismarck think of Lincoln?
But if there were Bismarckian touches in Lincoln’s statecraft, he was not, on the whole, a Bismarckian statesman. Bismarck himself sensed this; he disliked Lincoln. The two men were on different sides of the struggle between liberty and coercion. An earlier generation had a better sense of this than ours does.
What was the most powerful German state before unification?
Austria
Traditionally Austria was the dominant German state, and as such the Habsburg king was elected as the Holy Roman Emperor. This influence started to change in the 1740s when Prussia, strengthened by newly acquired lands and an enlarged military, began to challenge Austria’s hegemony.
What was the final stage of German unification?
The southern states became officially incorporated into a unified Germany at the Treaty of Versailles of 1871 (signed February 26, 1871; later ratified in the Treaty of Frankfurt of May 10, 1871), which formally ended the war.
Where did Otto Eduard von Bismarck come from?
Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck was born April 1, 1815, at his family’s estate in the Prussian heartland west of Berlin. His father was a fifth-generation Junker (a Prussian landowning noble), and his mother came from a family of successful academics and government ministers.
Why was Bismarck important to the unification of Germany?
A master strategist, Bismarck initiated decisive wars with Denmark, Austria and France to unite 39 independent German states under Prussian leadership. Although an arch-conservative, Bismarck introduced progressive reforms—including universal male suffrage and the establishment of the first welfare state—in order to achieve his goals.
Why did Bismarck want to avoid war with France?
Bismarck, at the same time, did not avoid war with France, though he feared the French for a number of reasons. First, he feared that Austria, hungry for revenge, would ally with the French. Similarly, he feared that the Russian army would assist France to maintain a balance of power.
How did Bismarck provoke Napoleon into declaring war on Prussia?
Through a series of clever diplomatic tactics Bismarck was able to provoke Napoleon into declaring war on Prussia, and this seemingly aggressive move on France’s part kept the other European powers such as Britain from joining her side.