Was Germany Unified By

In 1871 the new German Empire was established and became one of the most important developments of the nineteenth century. This essay will outline the historical debate of whether Germany was unified by "coal and iron" or "blood and iron". The contributions of Otto von Bismarck will be looked at as well as economic, nationalist and military factors in the unification of German. Various sources will be used to show historians views on the subject and that of people who were present at the time.

Austria and Prussia where were the two dominant states within the German confederation. The 1848 revolutions had caused an emergence of a middle class who was interested in the political affairs of Germany. It also brought to the forefront Prussia's growing hostility towards Austria. This was heightened even further by Prussia's humiliation at the Erfurt Union. In which the Prussian king had proposed a "Kleindeutschland" approach to uniting Germany, which would be predominantly German and not include Austria, with Prussia as the leading force. But due to Russia's support of Austria this idea was thrown out. The treaty of Olmutz was signed in 1850 in which Germany reverted back to the German confederation of 1815 with Austria as it's most dominant.

In order to consider the "coal and iron" debate among historians and the reasons for Prussia emerging as the leading power in relation to Austria the Prussian economy will be outlined. Prussia had a rich source of coal and iron and other minerals with gain of Westphalia areas at the treaty of Vienna. These areas were extremely beneficial to the development of industry and the military in Prussia. There was also significant government interest in the development of the economy, Von Motz the finance minister(1825-30) reformed taxation laws and put into a programme specifically for the building of roads, the banking system was also reformed by Von Ruther in 1846,hence strengthing Prussia's economic even further. One the most significant economic factors was the zollverein in which Prussia was the dominant force. This was a German customs union which allowed free trade between the member states which in 1836 covered 25 German states and over 26 million people. Through Prussian negotiations it allowed the member states to trade with Piedmont, Holland, Belgium and France. In 1834 the zollverein showed a vast rise in customs revenue from 14.4 million to 27.4 million thalers in 1845.Austria was opposed to free trade and therefore did not take part, it wasn't until the success of the zollverien was evident and realisation of the growing economic and political power of Prussia did Austria try to join. The Austrian minister president Schwarzenburg proposed a zollunion between Austria and the zollverein in which Austria would be the leading force. This was quickly dismissed as the German states believed that Austria was not a dominant economic force within Europe, instead they looked to Prussia for economic and political direction, thus excluding Austria.

Equally important was the Prussian industrial revolution which saw the shift from agricultural work to industrial work such as mining the coal and iron and also the technological innovations." output of iron rose from 0.5 million to 1.29 million tons between 1852 and 1857 due to rapid conversion from charcoal smelting to coke smelting"(Morris,p82). Political reforms also played its part with mining laws of 1851 and 1860 which enabled taxes to be cut on coal output. The steel industries greatest success was the Alfred Krupp foundries in the Ruhr whose technology in artillery developments played a vital part in the strength of the Prussian military. Due to the vast military orders this foundry which employed seven went on to employ nearly 2000 of which it trebled over the next three years.

The development of the railways was also important as it enabled a link to further a field German territories and boosted the Prussian economy, 55% of Prussian railways were operated by the state in 1860.Railways were also very significant in the wars of unification as they enables Prussia to immobilise their troops far quicker than their opponents, railways had specific plans so that troops could get to specific frontiers in vast quantities. A specific department was set up in the army dedicated to study the railways and how they could be used to advance the Prussian military.

The strength of the Prussian army played a vital part in the wars of unification as did the appointments of Helmut von Moltke as the chief of staff and Albert von roon as war minister. There reforms significantly strengthened the Prussian army. By 1866 they could immobilise 370 000 troops and now outnumbered the Austrian army who having to defend on more than one frontier. There was also great organisation of the army due to its officer's high standards of professionalism and their application of using industrial and technological development with the army. Such as their use of the railways which played a significant factor in the victories over Austria and France. It took Austria 45 days for her troops to be ready to fight with Prussia whereas Prussia only took 25 due to its use of the railway. Another technological advancement that was used was the telegram. One its most famous industrial and technological advancements were their use of the Dreyse needle gun which fired 5 times factor than that of the muzzle loader which was favoured by other armies.

In contrast with the flourishing Prussian economy and military, Austria's had been significantly harmed due to trying to deal with the unrest of 1848. Austria's resources were also seriously damaged by the Crimean war. There was no economic growth and the loss of Lombardy in 1859 to Italy was a severe blow to its economy along with the financial crisis of 1857 which had preceded it. There exclusion from the zollverein damaged Austria economy as they were no longer a significant player in the German market as it was cheaper for German states to trade with each other within the zolverein. There loss to Italy in 1859 also weakened their army as there were having to defend on more than one front. The Austrian army was also much unorganised and levels of training were very weak in relation to the Prussian army. Therefore Prussia became the dominant economic and political power within Germany.

There was also a great nationalist feeling within Prussia. The failure of the 1848 revolutions had played a significant part in the growing need for a unified Germany. The invasion of napoleon had brought the German people together as they had to work together to drive out the French army. This nationalist feeling was evident even before Bismarck was involved