Otto von Bismarck

Also called: Bismarck · Topic: The Rise of Nationalism in Europe · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 1 "The Rise of Nationalism in Europe"

Meaning

Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) was the chief minister of Prussia who led the unification of Germany. He used the Prussian army and bureaucracy (the trained officials who ran the state), not elections or popular revolts, and he won three wars against Denmark, Austria and France between 1864 and 1871.

He matters because he is the clearest example of how nationalism changed sides after 1848. Nationalism had been a demand of liberals and democrats. Conservative rulers took it over and used it to build a strong state from the top.

Explanation

Background: why the liberal road failed

• In 1848, liberals tried to unite Germany and failed.
• Middle-class Germans met in the Frankfurt Parliament, an elected assembly. They wanted a united Germany with a constitution.
• Friedrich Wilhelm IV, king of Prussia, refused the crown that the Frankfurt Parliament offered him in 1848. He would not take a crown from the people.

• Three forces crushed the liberal effort: the monarchy, the military and the Junkers (the large landowners of Prussia, a powerful noble class).

• The lesson for conservatives: if kings and their ministers led the making of the nation themselves, they could unite the country without giving up monarchy or losing power to revolutionaries.

• Prussia now took charge of unification, and Bismarck, as its chief minister, became its architect.

Bismarck's method: army, officials and diplomacy

• His tools were the Prussian army and bureaucracy, not street protests or popular assemblies.
• He used diplomacy and treaties to isolate one enemy at a time. Then he used short wars to defeat them.
• Britannica describes the new Germany as made by "cabinet diplomacy and war", not by a strong wave of popular nationalism. [2]
• This is why the NCERT text asks: can the army be the architect of a nation?

Three wars in seven years

• 1864: war against Denmark. Prussia defeated Denmark. [2]
• 1866: war against Austria. Prussia beat Austria in the Seven Weeks' War. Austria was Prussia's main rival for leadership of the German states. [2]
• 1870–71: war against France. Prussia beat France in the Franco-Prussian War. [2]
• 18 January 1871: Germany is proclaimed.
• Kaiser William I of Prussia was proclaimed German Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles.
• The ceremony took place at the Prussian military headquarters at Versailles, inside defeated France, while Prussian guns were shelling Paris. [2]

Results: a Prussian-shaped Germany

• The new German Reich (empire) modernised its currency, banking, legal and judicial systems. All of these followed Prussian models, so the rules of one state became the rules of the whole nation.
• Bismarck served as chancellor (chief minister) of the German Empire for 19 years. [2]
• Germany was unified from the top down: the army came first and the people later. As a result, Prussian institutions, the Junkers and army officers stayed very powerful inside the new empire.

Time, place and evidence

• Period: the age of nationalism in Europe after 1848. His wars of unification ran from 1864 to 1871.
• State and rulers: Prussia, under Kaiser William I, who was proclaimed German Emperor in 1871. Before him, Friedrich Wilhelm IV had refused the Frankfurt crown in 1848.
• Key places:
• Frankfurt, where the failed liberal parliament of 1848 met.
• Versailles in France, where the empire was proclaimed in the Hall of Mirrors.

• Paris, which was under Prussian shelling during the ceremony. [2]

• Key people: Bismarck, William I, Friedrich Wilhelm IV, and the Junker landowning class.

• How we know: the main source is the NCERT chapter The Rise of Nationalism in Europe (Class 10, Ch 1). Britannica's accounts of Bismarck, William I and Germany from 1871 to 1918 support it. [2]

Don't confuse with

• Kaiser William I: he was the king of Prussia, proclaimed German Emperor in 1871. Bismarck was his chief minister, who planned and directed unification.
• Friedrich Wilhelm IV: he was the Prussian king who refused the Frankfurt Parliament's crown in 1848, which ended the liberal road to unity. Bismarck's top-down road came after this.
• Count Camillo di Cavour: he was chief minister of Sardinia-Piedmont and did for Italy what Bismarck did for Germany. Cavour depended mainly on diplomacy and an alliance with France, which helped defeat Austria in 1859. Bismarck defeated France in 1870–71.
• Frankfurt Parliament (1848): this was the liberal, elected, middle-class attempt at unity, and it failed. Bismarck's unification was conservative and military.

Prelims Hooks

• Bismarck's three wars in seven years, in order: Denmark (1864), then Austria in the Seven Weeks' War (1866), then France in the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71). [2]
• 18 January 1871, Hall of Mirrors, Versailles: Kaiser William I was proclaimed German Emperor. Trap: Germany was proclaimed in France, not in Berlin.
• Bismarck's tools were the Prussian army and bureaucracy, not a popular revolution.
• The Junkers were the large landowners of Prussia. Together with the monarchy and the army, they crushed the 1848 liberal move.
• Friedrich Wilhelm IV refused the crown offered by the Frankfurt Parliament in 1848.
• Bismarck was chancellor of the German Empire for 19 years. [2] The Reich standardised currency, banking, legal and judicial systems on Prussian models.

Mains Points

• Nationalism changed sides after 1848.
• Before 1848, nationalism was a liberal and democratic demand.
• Under Bismarck, it became a conservative tool for building state power.

• Germany was unified through "cabinet diplomacy and war" rather than mass popular feeling. [2] This fits the NCERT question "can the army be the architect of a nation?"

• The way Germany was born shaped what came later.

• Because Germany was made by war and run on Prussian models, the Junkers, the officer corps and Prussian institutions dominated the Reich.

• This weakness was carried forward to 1914. It also links to the slide from nationalism into aggressive imperialism after 1871.

• A comparison: Germany and Italy.

• Both were unified by monarchy, army and diplomacy, not by popular revolution.
• Germany was an almost purely top-down project under Bismarck.
• Italy combined Cavour's diplomacy from above with Garibaldi's armed volunteer campaign from below. [3]
• Use this comparison to judge how far nation-building can be imposed by a state.

Related concepts

• Blood and iron
• Franco-Prussian War
• Unification of Germany
• Kulturkampf
• Paris Commune 1871
• Count Cavour
• Napoleon III
• Giuseppe Garibaldi
• Expedition of the Thousand
• Unification of Italy

Read more

• The making of Germany and Italy