Otto Von Bismarck Of Prussia

Otto von Bismarck of Prussia

With, Otto von Bismarck, Germany grew from a fragile union of states to a dominant empire. For the 19th century, Bismarck's policies limited the destinies of most of the countries of Europe. Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck-Schonhausen was born on April 1, 1815, at Schonhausen. Otto decided to learn law at universities in Berlin, and then entered the Prussian civil service. He then left the service and went back to his family but then entered politics in 1847. At the time the German states were not well organized and could never form tight bonds. Bismarck was determined to free the states from Austrian domination and to unite them under Prussian rule. Otto served as a delegate at the congregation of the German union and as representative to Russia and France. In 1862 he was appointed minister-president of Prussia.

Bismarck's goal was to unite the German states into a strong, single, German empire with Prussia at its center. Bismarck understood that war would be unavoidable in order for German unification. At first Bismarck's policies were not widely accepted my neither the parliament nor the people, public opinion began turning for his favor in 1864. In 1864 he used the Prussian army, in coalition with Austria, to extort the states of Schleswig and Holstein from Denmark. In 1866 he enthralled a Prusso-Austrian fight over the management of these states which lead into the Seven Weeks' War against Austria. Austria and its allies were quickly defeated, and Bismarck added Schleswig-Holstein, and Hannover into Prussia. The German Confederation was removed and replaced by the North German Confederation, which was made up of the northern and central German states, under Prussian leadership. This new confederation did not include Austria.

Bismarck negotiated a peace with Austria. Bismarck's goal was to avoid making the Austrians enemies; as he wanted Austria to be neutral in any