German unification Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

German unification - Essay Example The Schleswig-Holstein War humbled Denmark, the Austro-Prussian War ended in the defeat of Austria-Hungary and the Franco-Prussian War completed German unification by the defeat of France. (Mahajan, 1999: 3) Thus, Germany turned out to be supreme and one of the most powerful sovereign states of the region. There was no single event that determined the whole process of unification; rather, many factors worked in combination and contributed to the completion of uplift progression of the German nation. All the strata of society including political leadership, intellectuals, philosophers, poets, writers, economists, military personnel, students, farmers and civil society added their share in the whole development. Otto Von Bismarck, the iron-Chancellor of Prussia, played the most formidable role in this regard.1 His skill as a diplomat was unrivalled during his reign as chancellor of Prussia and Germany. The mastery he showed in foreign policy was such that he was able to outwit all othe r powers and make their leaders look pathetic. (Graham, 2007:1) The Vienna settlement of 1815 conceived the idea of German Confederation of thirty-nine states rather than the unification of the country.2 The decisions taken in the Vienna settlement were extremely unsatisfactory one for the German people especially the moderates and nationalists, who were expecting concrete course of action which could lead them towards the way to unification. But instead of unification, only the positions of different German and non-German princes were restored under Confederation as they had been before the intervention of Napoleon Bonaparte.3 The main objective behind German Confederation was to guarantee external and internal peace of Germany and the independence of the member states. The thirty-nine states agreed not to declare war on one another, and had the obligation of helping one another in the hour of need. (Leads,