In the mid 1800s, Germany was divided. The northern half of the German Confederation was Lutheran, as was Prussia, therefore they had a closer relationship with Prussia. The southern half was Catholic and therefore had a closer relationship with Austria, who was also Catholic. In 1848 and 1849, the Frankfurt Assembly failed to unify Germany. Austria and Prussia were seen as the only two states that could unify Germany. Prussia had a strong army and most Germans looked more to Prussia to unify Germany rather than Austria. Austria was afraid of the creation of a strong German state in central Europe. In the 1860s, Count Otto van Bismark was appointed by King William I to enlarge the Prussian army and to unify Germany. Bismark loved Prussia, was very conservative, and very anti-nationalistic. He sought to strengthen Prussia and to unite Germany under Prussia, “not by speeches and majorities…but by iron and blood.”
One of the most important concepts to Bismark was Realpolitik, the “politics of reality.” Realpolitik was politics based on practicality instead of theory or ethics. It was a goal-oriented political approach very similar to Machiavellianism. The basic idea was to achieve your goal by any means necessary, even if it goes against your principles. Lying, cheating, stealing, and declaring and fighting war were some of the things that someone practicing Realpolitik would do. Bismark was very open about his dislike for people. If someone opposed him or his ideas, he would become overcome with rage and often not be able to focus.
Though there was much opposition by the legislation in Prussia, Bismark continued on with his plans. There were three wars in which Bismark put his Realpolitik strategy to work. His first war was against Denmark, in which both states were fighting for the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. Bismark lured Austria into joining Prussia in war and proceeded to inform Denmark that Austria was declaring war on them also. This tactic proved...