Otto Von Bismark and The German Empire (1890)
Otto Von Bismark was born on April 1st, 1815 in Prussia, to a family with great nobility (from
his father’s side) and academic government officials (from his mother’s side). His education
was completed in Berlin and had a minor diplomatic post until he left that at the age of 24 to
run his family estate. In 1847, Bismark was sent as a new representative of the new
Prussian government and became a powerful figure in the government against liberal and
anti-monarchist revolutions that occurred throughout Europe in 1848. From 1851-1862 he
became an ambassador for France and Russia and began to discover how strong or weak
the European powers were. He then came to the conclusion that a united Germany would
help eliminate some political affairs in Europe- under the ruling of the Prussian government.
In 1862, Bismark was appointed chief minister of Prussia by King William I where he decided
to use divisive measures and his intellect to influence the King and use royal decrees to find
ways around having to consult parliament.
How Bismark Managed to Unite Germany
Bismark wanted Prussia to become one of the more dominant powers in Europe and
decided to achieve this by starting small conflicts between neighboring countries that had
German-speaking regions. He began with Denmark and took over areas of Schleswig-
Holstein, in 1864. The germanic states were very distrustful of each other and due to these
engineered attacks on territories, Austrian Emperor Franz Josef I declared the beginning of
the Austro-Prussian War- with Austria losing and solidifying the dominance of Prussia in
Europe (1866). Creating foreign enemies was Bismark’s tactic and France became his next
target. The southern German states did not want to join the Prussian union (due to being
under the Austro-Hungarian sphere of influence, but slowly curcumin to Prussian influence
due to the loss of the war) so Bismark used the simmering tensions between Prussia and
France to threaten them. He managed to edit a telegram by William I that insulted both
Prussia and France- leading to France declaring war on Prussia in 1870. The French lost the
war by 1871 against the Prussians and their German allies, removing the border between
Lorraine and Alsace (German provinces), and the prestige of winning the Franco-Prussian
War caused German city-states to want to become a part of untied Germany under the ruling
of William. In the process, they put a heavy reparations bill on France in the Treaty of
Frankfurt and crowned Willaim as the King of United Germany in the Hall of Mirrors in
Versailles in 1871.
The German Empire
The German Empire was established in 1871 after the unification of Germany and was
dissolved in November 1918 after the abdication of the Kaiser, turning the empire into the
Weimar Republic. Prussian-controlled united Germany fell under a less-Prussian political
sphere of influence after the retirement of Bismark in 1890. The empire consisted of 26
territories as a whole (mostly ruled by royal families) which included six kingdoms, four grand
duchies, seven states, three free Hanseatic cities, and one imperialist territory. During his
time being chancellor, Bismarck tried to create alliances amongst European powers like
France which in turn would consolidate German power in Europe. After establishing a united
Germany, Bismarck wanted to preserve the balance of power in the continent and feared
Otto Von Bismark was born on April 1st, 1815 in Prussia, to a family with great nobility (from
his father’s side) and academic government officials (from his mother’s side). His education
was completed in Berlin and had a minor diplomatic post until he left that at the age of 24 to
run his family estate. In 1847, Bismark was sent as a new representative of the new
Prussian government and became a powerful figure in the government against liberal and
anti-monarchist revolutions that occurred throughout Europe in 1848. From 1851-1862 he
became an ambassador for France and Russia and began to discover how strong or weak
the European powers were. He then came to the conclusion that a united Germany would
help eliminate some political affairs in Europe- under the ruling of the Prussian government.
In 1862, Bismark was appointed chief minister of Prussia by King William I where he decided
to use divisive measures and his intellect to influence the King and use royal decrees to find
ways around having to consult parliament.
How Bismark Managed to Unite Germany
Bismark wanted Prussia to become one of the more dominant powers in Europe and
decided to achieve this by starting small conflicts between neighboring countries that had
German-speaking regions. He began with Denmark and took over areas of Schleswig-
Holstein, in 1864. The germanic states were very distrustful of each other and due to these
engineered attacks on territories, Austrian Emperor Franz Josef I declared the beginning of
the Austro-Prussian War- with Austria losing and solidifying the dominance of Prussia in
Europe (1866). Creating foreign enemies was Bismark’s tactic and France became his next
target. The southern German states did not want to join the Prussian union (due to being
under the Austro-Hungarian sphere of influence, but slowly curcumin to Prussian influence
due to the loss of the war) so Bismark used the simmering tensions between Prussia and
France to threaten them. He managed to edit a telegram by William I that insulted both
Prussia and France- leading to France declaring war on Prussia in 1870. The French lost the
war by 1871 against the Prussians and their German allies, removing the border between
Lorraine and Alsace (German provinces), and the prestige of winning the Franco-Prussian
War caused German city-states to want to become a part of untied Germany under the ruling
of William. In the process, they put a heavy reparations bill on France in the Treaty of
Frankfurt and crowned Willaim as the King of United Germany in the Hall of Mirrors in
Versailles in 1871.
The German Empire
The German Empire was established in 1871 after the unification of Germany and was
dissolved in November 1918 after the abdication of the Kaiser, turning the empire into the
Weimar Republic. Prussian-controlled united Germany fell under a less-Prussian political
sphere of influence after the retirement of Bismark in 1890. The empire consisted of 26
territories as a whole (mostly ruled by royal families) which included six kingdoms, four grand
duchies, seven states, three free Hanseatic cities, and one imperialist territory. During his
time being chancellor, Bismarck tried to create alliances amongst European powers like
France which in turn would consolidate German power in Europe. After establishing a united
Germany, Bismarck wanted to preserve the balance of power in the continent and feared
