With the end of Napoleonic era, in the 1820s, the European continent began to experience a wave of popular revolts with a strong nationalist content. The year 1848 was emblematic in this wake of events. In the decades that followed, the processes of formation of Nationalist States began, a process that involved the modernization of various regions of Europe, as well as a series of wars. It was in this context that the figure of great statesmen appeared, such as Otto von Bismarck, one of the main characters of German Unification.
Bismarck was born in Schönhäusen, Kingdom of Prussia, in 1815. In its political formation, the conservative positions, inclined to the formation of a strong and expansionist monarchy, had great weight. Since before being appointed Prime Minister in 1862, his role as a parliamentarian had already signaled strong pressure against the perspectives of Prussian liberal politicians.
The appointment of Bismarck as Prime Minister of Prussia by the King William I, took place on September 22, 1862. Since then, its program of political-economic measures has concentrated on two main paths:
1) the modernization of the infrastructure of the Prussian State and 2) the modernization and sophistication of the war machine, that is, of the arms industry. With these actions, Bismarck's main objectives were to integrate all regions of his country to prepare him to be the center of a future empire and face the military against other powers that were also prominent at the time, such as the Austrian Empire, France and the Russia.Territorial integration was promoted through the construction of railways, which had the function of transporting raw materials (such as iron) and various products from one region to another. The Prussian army received large investments to develop new weapons and improve the other equipment used by the infantry. Prussia was prepared to carry out its strategy of pressuring the Austrian Empire and the other smaller states of Germanic culture to yield to unification.
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The first strategy was employed in 1863, when Frederick VII of Denmark died and there was an impasse over the succession of the ducats of Schleswig-Holstein. These duchies were in the Germanic domains, and Bismarck pressured Austria to enter, with Prussia, into war with Denmark. In 1865, the duchies were annexed to Prussia, thus beginning the expansion process. Later, Austria itself became the target of the Prussians, owing to various disagreements about the unification project. In 1866, at the Battle of Sadowa, Prussia defeated Austrian forces and annexed many of their territories, forming the so-called Confederation of Germany, a prototype of what would be the II Reich.
In 1870, the mighty Prussian army, allied with the German states already annexed, faced one of its most powerful enemies, the French Empire, commanded by Napoleon III. So had the beginning of Franco-Pussian War, from which the French suffered a crushing defeat. One of the results of this war was the annexation of the Alsace-Lorraine region, which would belong to Germany until the end of the First World War. Another important result was the acclaim of William I as Emperor of Germany at the Palace of Versailles in France.
With the rise of the German Empire, Bismarck was raised to the post of chancellor, which gave him powers still most notorious, with which he further strengthened the German National State, becoming known like Iron Chancellor.
By Me. Cláudio Fernandes