Bismarck, Prussia and the Wars of Unification

House of Hohenzollern• First Count of Zollern (a

county in the HRE) identified in 11th century;

• Family took name from castle in Swabian Alps.

• Dukes of Prussia since 16th century;

• Kings in Prussia since 1701;• Kings OF Prussia since

Frederick the Great (1740-1786)

• In 1772 the duchy of Prussia was elevated to kingdom in its own right.

House of HohenZollern and Prussia

• Frederick the Great (1740-1786) is usually credited with transforming Prussia from a state with an army into an army with a state and helped establish its core values: – Pervasive idea of Dienst or ‘service’.– Absolute professionalism and

loyalty to the throne;– Reciprocal relationship between

crown and aristocracy;– Rigid distinction between nobility

and bourgeoisie;– Military conception of honor;– Hatred of Jews.

Kings of Prussia• Frederick the Great (1740–1786) Previously king in Prussia• Frederick William II (1786–1797) (nephew of Frederick the Great)• Frederick William III (1797–1840) (son of Frederick William II)• Frederick William IV (1840–1861) (son of Frederick William III)• William I (1861–1888) (brother of Frederick William IV)• Frederick III (1888) (son of William I)• William II (1888–1918) (son of Frederick III)

Prussia during the vormarz (1815-1848)

• When the 1815 Congress of Vienna awarded Prussia lands to the West of the Rhine in compensation for its losses during the Napoleonic era, they did so in the expectation that this would not increase Prussian strength–

• The lands were all farmland, and owned by a Catholic population, so wouldn’t be welcomed by the Protestant Prussian nobility.

• However, what was unknown to Metternich and to the Junkers east of the Elbe, was that those farms were sitting atop one of the greatest coal seams in Europe.

• The inclusion of these states were going to make Prussia a powerhouse of German industry, but it also made the state of Prussia increasingly difficult to govern, unless the interests of the landed classes could be reconciled with those of the increasingly wealthy bourgeoisie.

• Those same bourgeoisie wanted a more liberal constitution and more control over the state than the Junkers were willing to accept.

• The tensions would eventually lead to the 1848 revolution.

The 1848 revolution and the Unification of Germany

• Frederick William IV seemed in a dilemma as to whether he should ride the revolutionary wave as a supporter of liberal reform or repress it and reinforce the absolutist rule.

• In the end he opted for the latter but with some compromise. Prussia adopted a constitution, which included a parliament (Landtag in German) with universal suffrage.

• This was subjected to three tier voting rights, which reserved two thirds of the Landtag to the top two-thirds of Prussia’s tax payers (less than 20% of the electorate)

• Moreover, the King retained control of the army and had rights of veto and rule by decree• Although the new constitution was not what the Liberals might have envisaged at the

beginning, the fact that Prussia was willing to adopt any constitution at all was potentially highly significant. It could be a starting point for future reform.

• The constitution therefore pleased moderate Liberals, isolated the radical Left and consolidated monarchical authority.

• The restoration of the Habsburg dynasty in Vienna in 1849 (partly with Russian help) meant that a Grossdeutsch solution, requiring the break up of the polyglot Austrian empire, would be impossible.

• March 1849, the Assembly decided to offer the crown of Germany to Frederick William IV, but the latter was never seriously tempted and on 3 April 1849 rejected the offer.

• Between May and July Prussian troops – acting throughout German territories outside of Austria, crushed the rebellions one by one.

The Erfurt Plan, 1849• The Erfurt Plan was invented by General Joseph

von Radowitz who had acted as Frederick William IV’s plenipotentiary at the revolutionary diet of Frankfurt.

• His plan offered a Kleindeutsch solution in which Austria would be excluded but retain a kind of ‘union’ with the Reich;

• The Austrians rejected the idea;• 1850 March – Radowitz , now acting as Prussian

Foreign Minister, called a meeting of representations of German states at Erfurt, and opened a parliament there which lasted from March 20th-April 29th 1850.

• The union never came into effect and was dealt a fatal blow when Austria and Prussia reached an agreement in November 1850 at Olmütz in Moravia.

• Frederick William IV realised that Russia would support its ally Austria, and that Prussian troops would be outnumbered and outmuscled by his Austrian counterpart.

• The agreement in Moravia, sometimes called the ‘humiliation of Olmütz’, led to the Prussians returning to the Confederation.

• Radowitz resigned as Foreign Minister.

Background to the Wars of Unification

• The humiliation of Olmutz was Austria’s last foreign affairs success for three decades. • In the 1850, Prussia was regarded by virtually all international states as the least important of

the major powers and was consistently underestimated by virtually all international states – a factor which helped it succeed in the long run.

• Prussian industrial strength stemmed from its natural resources, communications, growing rail network, education system which favored technical knowledge up to the level of higher education, entrepreneurs who were helped both by the Zollverein and by Prussian state ministers who supported their efforts.

• Russia’s attempts to expand its influence into the Ottoman empire was firmly resisted by Britain and France and led to the Crimean war. The Tar expected Austria to contributed at least diplomatic support to his cause but the latter supported the British and French instead.

• 1855 Concordat between the Austrian empire and the Catholic Church alienated German Protestants and anti-Catholic Liberals who saw the church as a force of conservatism and reaction.

• 1859-61 North Italian War - Austrian diplomatic isolation was confirmed when it went to war with France and Piedmont to try and defend its Italian posssessions. Its erstwhile allies, Russia and Prussia, offered no assistance and the Austrians were defeated by the French led by the idealistic Napoleon III, suffering a loss of prestige in the meanwhile.

• Napoleon III did not appreciate that by weakening Austria in this way, he was empowering a more dangerous foe on his borders.

• But then again, he was not alone. Prussian power was consistently underestimated. Britain felt it had nothing to fear from Prussia and it could prove a strong bulwark against France and Russia;

The Prussian system• More important in the long-term was the new Landtag with its three Tier voting

system and the post of Minister-President that was identified in the new Constitution.• The Minister-President was appointed as head of the government by the King and was

not answerable to the Landtag. • However, his position would become precarious if he was unable to get the Landtag

onside.• The difficulty that any Minister-President faced was that, despite the three-tier voting

system, the Landtag was dominated by Liberals (the Progressives).• The tensions that led to 1848 revolution would be played out once again, but in the

constitutional environment of the elected Landtag.• This conflict would come to a head in the constitutional crisis of 1860-62.• Prince Otto von Bismarck, had been part of the imperial circle and had been an active

player in Prussian politics as an outspoken supporter of monarchy and critic of Liberalism, but had gained a reputation for outrageous statements.

• In particular, his recommendation in the 1850s that Prussia should ally with Napoleon III (the very embodiment of illegitimacy) against Austria, shocked his contemporaries.

• When he was sent as ambassador to St Petersburg in 1859 he said he was being placed ‘in cold storage’, and he was probably correct.

• However, the situation within Prussia was to become so fraught by 1862 that Wilhelm turned to him to save the monarchy.

Background to Bismarck’s appointment• Within Austria Albrecht von Roon (1803-1879), Minister of War, 1859-73,

proposed army reforms that met with stern opposition within the Prussian Landtag:– Increase in military service from 2-3 years;– New regiments and reduced role of Landwehr;– Improve equipment;

• Parliament refused to agree, so fresh elections were called, but the Progressives won a larger majority (285 out of 352 delegates).

• The problem was not so much the reforms or the expense, but the status of the semi-civilian Landwehr (a sort of national guard or citizens’ army).

• What was at stake was an army controlled by the king and an army controlled by parliament.

• The issue ran to the heart of power. The Landwehr stood for everything the Liberals wanted and everything that the Prussian nobility hated.

• In essence, the issues of the revolution were being played out again.• Roon recommended to Wilhelm that Prince Otto von Bismarck be

appointed Minister-President.

Blood and Iron• Bismarck’s maiden speech to the Prussian

Landtag was an attempt to win over Liberals and nationalists to his government:

– ‘The position of Prussia in Germany will not be determined by its liberalism but by its power ... Prussia must concentrate its strength and hold it for the favorable moment, which has already come and gone several times. Since the treaties of Vienna, our frontiers have been ill-designed for a healthy body politic. Not through speeches and majority decisions will the great questions of the day be decided - that was the great mistake of 1848 and 1849 - but by iron and blood (Eisen und Blut)’

The Constitutional Crisis of 1860-62• But in the end Bismarck’s solution was to act as if parliament did not

exist – He raised money by taxation and threatened military action if

people refused to pay. – Civil servants who objected were dismissed.– Few were willing to risk a repeat of 1848.• Both Albrecht von Roon AND Otto von Bismarck made

themselves deeply unpopular at the Landtag and among Liberal Prussians generally.

• Would Wilhelm I ask them to resign? • Was there a master plan (as Bismarck himself suggested in his

memoirs) or was it merely opportunism (AJP Taylor) that enabled Bismarck to survive?

• In any case, he was about to manipulate the international situation in Prussia’s favour.

• When the Polish revolted against Russian rule in 1863, Bismarck offered to help the Russians put it down. This was refused, but an important diplomatic point had been scored and it provides an indication that Bismarck was preparing the road ahead.

1st War of Unification – Austro-Prussian War against Denmark, 1864

The Austro-Prussian War against 1863 November – The succession of Christian of Glucksburg IX of Denmark, re-opened the question of the sovereignty over the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein which contained predominantly German populations.

• The issue had arisen previously in 1848-9 but during the revolutions of that time, the Frankfurt Parliament was forced to sign the humiliating Treaty of Malmo.

• The duchies, with the support of German nationalists supported the claims of the Duke of Augustenburg (a German);

• Meanwhile Danish nationalists encouraged Christian to absorb Schleswig completely within the Danish state, thereby violating the 1852 Treaty of London.

• Bismarck won Austrian support in a joint effort of the German confederation in support of Augustenburg’s claims

• Austria wanted an opportunity to regain lost prestige and saw this as an opportunity to re-assert its dominance within the Federation.

• As far as Bismarck was concerned, this was really about Prussia’s expansion and the German question.

• This war would reveal the horrors of warfare in the industrial era.• The Danes wrongly expected the British to intervene after the Battle of Duppel. • They surrendered by the Treaty of Vienna (August 1864) and had to hand over the duchies to Austria

and Prussia.

Aftermath

• Prussian success owed much to Danish miscalculation but nonetheless, these events turned Albrecht von Roon from persona non grata to national hero.

• General Helmuth von Moltke, a student of Carl von Clauswitz and a devotee of his philosophy, appeared as Chief of Staff during the War with Denmark and made his reputation.

• The Treaty of Vienna in July 1864, gave Prussia and Austria joint sovereignty over both Schleswig and Holstein and completely by-passed the claims of the Duke of Augustenburg.

• Prussian resistance to Austrian requests for entry to the Zollverein perhaps led Vienna to encourage Augustenurg’s supporters to reassert their hero’s claims to the Duchies.

• War was averted by the Treaty of Gastein of August 1865, by which Prussia took control of Schleswig and Holstein was given to Austria.

1865 Convention of Gastein

Realpolitik in action

• Bismarck shocked conservatives by running counter to all their assumptions about diplomacy, but which had the effect of consolidating Prussia’s diplomatic advantage:– Firstly, In October 1865 Bismarck met Napoleon III of France at

Biarritz (Austria’s enemy in the North Italian War, and the devil’s nephew as far as most German nationalists were concerned).

– Secondly, in April 1866 – Bismarck then made a secret alliance with Italy, perhaps with Napoleon III’s help. The result would be to force Austria to divide its forces.

• The negotiations with the upstart Napoleon III were bad enough, but alliance with Liberal Italy against the imperial Franz Josef, a fellow German and sovereign emperor, ran counter to their assumptions about revolution and the preservation of the old order. But Bismarck went even further, making contacts with Hungarian and Balkan revolutionaries as well.

The 2nd War of Unification: the Austro-Prussian War of 1866

• Bismarck then deliberately stoked up tensions by publishing new proposals to reform the German Confederation by expelling Austria and introducing universal male suffrage and all troops to be controlled by Prussia.

• William I proclaimed ‘To the German People’, Prussia’s decision to take up the struggle for the unity of Germany hitherto thwarted by the self-interest of the individual states.’

• Austria asked the Bundestag to reject those proposals.• Prussia withdrew from the Bundestag.

Battle of Königgrätz• 1866 June – start of the Seven Weeks’ War

• Not wishing to be dominated by Prussia, and perhaps fearing a tide of liberalism, most states allied with Austria, but Prussian troops were able to defeat northern states very quickly.

• The German army under the command of General Helmuth von Moltke (1768-1845), was in the hands of military genius.

• The Prussian General Staff planned the mobilisation, deployment and provisioning of Prussia’s forces by exploiting Prussia’s superior railway network.

• The decisive battle was fought at the village of Sadowa, northwest of the Bohemian town of Königgrätz.• Prussia held 5 lines leading down to the Bohemian war zone, compared

with one serving Austrian needs. The Austrian troops were thus able to mobilise themselves in half the time it took the Austrian forces.

• By splitting the army into three units along a front 200 miles long, Moltke was able to increase its speed of movement and flexibility.

• Breech-loading rifles gave the Prussians an ability fire at five times the rate of the Austrian’s muzzle-loading musket. (7 shots a minute; 5 times faster than the Austrians, leading to 5 times more casualties on the Austrian side).

The aftermath of Königgrätz• The German Confederation was now dead, and Austrian influence

within German too.• Bismarck did not need an enemy on his doorstep and wanted Austria

as an ally in the future, so the Treaty of Prague (23 August) was mild, forcing Austria to pay an indemnity, and to give Venetia to Italy but otherwise not to be punished.

• Bismarck struggled to get these terms agreed not because of opposition from France or Austria, but because Wilhelm I and General von Moltke wanted more.

• Prussian territory was extended, not at Austria’s expense – e.g. Holstein, Schleswig, Hanover, Hesse and Nassau – which had opposed Prussia, were now added to Prussia and their lands filled out the strategic gap between Prussia in the east and its Rhineland provinces.

• Given all the difficulties with the Landtag, Bismarck’s Conservative contemporaries expected him to tear up the constitution and start again, now that he had so much popular support.

• Once again Bismarck confounded expectation and did the very opposite – he used Königgrätz to negotiate, from a position of strength, a new political alliance with the Liberals.

• He presented an Indemnity Bill in which the Prussian executive recognised that its four years of rule without a parliamentary approved budget had been without ‘legal foundation.’ and sought Parliament’s assurance that no action would be taken against it.

• The result was the National Liberal Party – committed to consolidating the drive towards unification, and supporting Bismarck.

• This would become Bismarck’s main political ally in the early years of the Second Reich after 1871.

The Prussian Constitution

The North German Confederation and the Zollparlament

• In fact, Bismarck went even further.• As well as retaining the existing constitution in Prussia, and designed a new

‘federal’ constitution for the North German Confederation based on the Prussian Constitution, with an assembly elected by universal male suffrage.

• The North German Confederation offered northern states like Saxony, the ability to preserve a measure of their sovereign independence whilst accepting the Kaiser as Supreme Ruler.

• After 1871, after the final war of unification with France, the same constitution would be extended to include the southern German kingdoms, consisting of Bavaria (Catholic), Wurttemberg (Protestant), Baden (Protestant) and the Grand Duchy of Hesse.

• Further still, Bismarck then created yet another level of government – the Zollparlament – that would include ALL the states of the Zollverein, including the southern states mentioned above.

• Bismarck hoped this would help get the southern states used to working nationally but it was not to prove easy - elections from the southern states returned opponents of Prussia.

The Hohenzollern Candidate• French designs on Luxembourg bitterly opposed in the German

Confederation’s Reichstag. King William III wanted to sell it to pay off his debts; Napoleon III was the likely buyer for the former member of the German Confederation.

• Moltke sought to use the affair as a pretext for war. A conference in London, however, caused both sides to retreat.

• Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, a relative of the King of Prussia, was invited to rule in Spain. Bismarck urged Wilhelm I to give this his full support – precisely because he knew it would unsettle Napoleon III.

• When news leaked, protests from Paris caused Wilhelm I to give his verbal assurance that Leopold’s candidacy would be withdrawn.

• Bismarck found a way to rescue the situation – he edited the telegram he received from Wilhelm I at the Spa town of Ems (the so-called ‘Ems Telegram’) and released a version of it that to the press that he knew would inflame French opinion.

• Bismarck had no way of knowing what the result would be but France declared war.

The 3rd War of Unification:Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71

• Bismarck claimed that France had ‘committed a grievous sin against humanity’ and called upon the southern states to support Prussia. They agreed to do so.

• This was the 1st war in which all the German states fought; all wished to be associated with a German triumph.

• Prussian victory once again depended upon Moltke’s strategic use of railway lines (French were outnumbered 6-2 here); the Germans mobilised 470,000 troops compared with 300,000 for the French;

• 1st September Battle of Sedan – German artillery had longer range and a higher rate of fire than the French and the Krupp breech loading rifle proved more efficient than its French equivalent.

• Napoleon was imprisoned on 2nd and taken prisoner; he was deposed by a revolutionary government that continued to fight on until 20th September.

• The German armies surrounded Paris on 20th September and defeated the French army at Metz in October, but the French fought.

• On the 18th January Wilhelm I was proclaimed German Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles. 10 days later the French finally agreed to accept an armistice.

Consequences• Against the backdrop of German nationalist sentiment, separate

treaties were signed with each of the four southern states by which they agreed to join the German empire.

• Bismarck’s trump card – call upon the German people to remove those rulers who stood in the way of unity.

• The Federal Constitution allowed each state to keep its monarchies and power over internal maters but real power was in the hands of the emperor. Army officers and handpicked ministers.

• May 1871 – Treaty of Frankfurt – imposed an indeminty upon France that was the equivalent to that which Napoleon had imposed upon Prussia at Tilsit in 1807.

• Alsace and Lorraine were annexed to Germany – useful as a source of iron ore and for the strategic fortresses of Strasbourg and Metz.

Did Bismarck make Germany or did Germany make Bismarck?

• The big debate is whether Bismarck foresaw events and brilliantly achieved his goals or merely used the opportunities as they presented themselves.

• A number of factors helped Bismarck:– German nationalism– Prussian economic growth– The International situation– The Prussian army

Realpolitik

• Bismarck played the nationalist card in the hope of uniting the Prussians, Liberals and Conservatives alike, behind the Hohenzollern dynasty, using it to justify and to accelerate a programme of Prussian expansionism.

• Bismarck was himself no German nationalist – he was interested in Prussian power, and Prussian power alone – but he was willing to manipulate idealistic forces to serve the interests of Prussian power.

• Realizing the power of mass politics, Bismarck ‘used the techniques of the French Revolution to frustrate its ends’ (Jonathan Steinberg).