Unification of Germany - Factors of Success.

5. Bismarck’s Domestic Reforms: Bismarck never hid his determination決心 to unite Germany. In 1862-65 he carried out a comprehensive army reform by increasing the army budget considerably, improving the organization and equipment of the Prussian army in defiance of不理會 the opposition of liberal Parliament members. Besides, he built railways along the Prussian borders邊境 to ensure that the Prussian army could be mobilized動員 swiftly快速地 and win any lightning war閃電戰.

6. Bismarck’s Skilful Diplomacy: It is often argued that Bismarck’s diplomacy was the most contributive factor for the success of German unification; in fact it was the most important immediate cause but the other remote causes cannot be neglected. Basically, Bismarck’s diplomacy was to isolate Prussia’s major enemy before any war, prevent Prussia from being caught in a two-front war東西兩面戰爭, and of course, ensure Prussia’s quick victory in a lightning war. In all occasions he would make the enemy to declare war first and make Prussia the victim to get international sympathy同情. In 1849-62, furthermore, Bismarck had been Prussia’s ambassador大使 to the German Confederation, Russia and France respectively; so he had good knowledge of what the other countries wanted.

1. In the German-Danish War德丹戰爭 of 1864-65, making use of the Schleswig-Holstein什列斯威․好斯坦 Question Bismarck posed扮演 himself to be a patriot愛國者 to all Germans, and allied聯同 with Austria to relieve減輕 her suspicion猜忌 of Prussia’s aim and observe觀察 the capacity實力 of the Austrian army in action. By the Convention of Gastein加斯敦 1865 he gave Austria Holstein so as to involve her in a future dispute爭執 with Prussia.
2. Before the Austro-Prussian War奧普戰爭 of 1866, Bismarck had isolated Austria successfully. First, he had been on good term友好 with Russia since he had helped Alexander II in 1863 suppress the Polish revolt. Second, he promised implicitly暗示 Napoleon III territorial compensation at the Rhine萊茵河區 if France stood neutral中立. Third, he promised Italy Venetia威尼西亞 if Emmanuel II伊曼紐二世 offered military help. Consequently, Prussia defeated Austria easily within seven weeks. By the Treaty of Prague布拉格 1866 Bismarck ousted排斥 Austria’s influence from German affairs, and managed to unite northern Germany (the North German Confederation北德意志邦聯).
3. Before the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, France had been internationally isolated. First, Bismarck promised to help Russia liquidate廢除 the Black Sea clause條款 of the Treaty of Paris 1856 if she stood aloof中立. Second, he alienated離間 Britain from France by revealing Napoleon III’s aims at the Lowland Countries低地三國. Third, Austria had been grateful感激 to Bismarck for the lenient treatment仁慈對待 in 1866. Fourth, Italy had been grateful, too, to Bismarck for his help to recover Venetia in 1866 and hated the continuous French occupation佔據 of Rome since 1849. Fifth, Bismarck succeeded in securing a cordial友好的 military alliance with the four southern Catholic German states by revealing Napoleon III’s territorial demands at the Rhine. Making use of the Spanish Succession Question西班牙王位繼承問題 and the Ems Telegram埃姆斯電報, he made France declare war on Prussia first; France became the aggressor. Therefore, Prussia could defeat France subsequently and accomplished完成 the formation of the German Empire.

7. Military Skills of Capable Generals: Though Bismarck’s isolation policy against Prussia’s enemies was decisive in achieving German unification, the military talent才能 of such capable generals like Moltke and von Roon was also indispensable不可缺少. They contributed much to Prussia’s victories in all the lightning wars.

International:

1. Austria’s Unsuitability不合適: Traditionally, since the days of the Holy Roman Empire Austria was the leader of Germany. The Hapsburgs哈斯堡皇室 were the most prestigious具威望 rulers. Yet Austria was unsuitable to lead the German unification movement. She was a conglomerate多民族的 empire consisting of various subject peoples. Encouragement of nationalism might inspire鼓勵 the subject peoples to demand national independence and even break the empire. And whether or not the Austrian domains藩屬 should be included in a united Germany was often embarrassing為難 to German nationalists, which did really happen in the 1848 Revolution. Austria was also being ruled by conservative aristocracy少數特權階級. Encouragement of liberalism and industrialization might give rise to the middle class who in turn would ask for power. Hence, Prussia was the only choice left for the German unification movement.

2. Decline of Austria: Though the 1848 Revolution was put down鎮壓, Austria did not stop declining衰落. Economic stagnation停滯 and racial rivalries鬥爭 were the orders of the day常見現象. Metternich’s梅特涅 escape逃亡 marked the end of his repressive高壓的 Metternich System within the empire. Without Russia’s help, it would have been doubtful whether the Hungarian revolt could have been suppressed successfully in 1849. Though in 1850 Austria was able to prevent Prussia from making the Erfurt Union艾福聯盟 (the Prussian League), yet in the long run長遠而言 her position in Germany was to be replaced by Prussia. Later on, even Emperor Francis Joseph法蘭西斯․約瑟夫 changed from being repressive to liberal-minded開明. In 1850, for instance, the October Diploma十月法令 was granted to emancipate解放 all the serfs農奴 in the empire. Demands for national independence or autonomy自治, however, never ceased停止 among the Austrian domains. After her defeat by Prussia in 1866, Austria was forced to give Hungary autonomy, and changed to be the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary奧匈二元帝國. She was very weak, busy with internal reconstruction and unable to step in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870.

3. Crimean War克里米亞戰爭 of 1854-56: During the Crimean War Austria stood neutral. This annoyed激怒 Britain and France on one hand, and Russia on the other. The former前者 was angry that Austria did not help uphold維持 the validity有效性 of the Vienna Settlement by checking Russia’s aggression altogether, while the latter’s後者 outrage憤怒 was due to the fact that Austria did not make a reward報答 for Nicholas I’s尼古拉一世 help in 1849. Hence, after the war Austria was internationally isolated, meaning the end of the Holy Alliance神聖同盟, which was a favourable factor to both the Italian and German unification movements. A.J.P. Taylor says, “Cavour and Bismarck were the real victors勝利者 of the Crimean War.”

4. Italian Unification Movement: The success of Risorgimento意大利統一運動 in 1861 not only weakened Austria but inspired the German nationalists to realize實現 their dream of national unity. The creation of the Kingdom of Italy deprived剝奪 Austria of 1/8 of the national revenue收入, and shattered粉碎 the Hapsburg prestige. In addition, the German nationalists hoped that there would be a hero like Cavour加富爾 to lead the German unification movement.

5. Rise of Napoleon III: Louis Napoleon was the first leader of a major European power determined to liquidate the Vienna Settlement. He was made emperor in 1852 by plebiscite全民表決; his endless eagerness熱心 to acquire獲得 additional territories was to secure得到 continuous public support at home. Hence, Bismarck could take advantage of利用 his territorial ambitions野心 easily to achieve German unification.

6. Britain’s Splendid Isolation光榮孤立: Since 1822 the policy of “Splendid Isolation” had become the main stream主流 of the British foreign policy. Britain was the most unwilling to get involved in affairs of continental Europe歐洲大陸. She would step in介入 if only the balance of power勢力均衡 was threatened, e.g. the Crimean War. In this highly destructive war she was nearly defeated; her army performed very badly. In 1857, moreover, the Indian Mutiny印度僱佣兵叛變 shocked震動 the British Empire. All these further weakened the British willingness to step in European affairs. Thus, Britain welcomed the rise of Prussia to check Napoleon III’s endless territorial expansion.

Economic:

  To recover from the physical destruction during the lengthy漫長的 Napoleonic Wars, Prussia carried out effective economic reforms. In 1816 she was the first German state to have emancipation解放 of all the serfs. Rich supply of labour became available. In 1818 the Maassen Tariff Reform Act abolished customs barriers關稅障礙 among all the Prussian provinces省份. Economic prosperity繁榮 was achieved. Gradually, almost all the other German states joined Prussia’s free trade system. In 1834 the Zollverein關稅同盟 was formed. It was a large free trade bloc集團 of Germany. By 1844 only Austria was not a Zollverein member. The formation of the Zollverein had the following implications意義:

1. Prussia became the richest German state. Textiles, clothing, mining and railway construction, etc. were growing rapidly. Besides, Prussia usually negotiated談判 trade treaties with other great powers on behalf of代表 the whole of Germany. Her prestige rose remarkably. Though in the German Confederation Austria was still the leader, in the Zollverein it was Prussia. Dual雙重 leadership was strengthened. Except Austria all the other German states looked to Prussia for leadership in economic matters. The Hohenzollerns霍漢索倫家族 were increasingly able to challenge the Hapsburgs in piloting German affairs. During the 1848 Revolution, for example, the leaders of the Frankfurt Assembly offered the crown to the Prussian king, not the Austrian emperor. In 1850 King Federick William IV even wanted to unite Germany with his Erfurt Union. Though the Treaty of Olmutz奧爾梅玆 gave Prussia a setback挫折 and humiliation, it was undoubted that Prussia had surpassed超越 Austria in both prestige and wealth by the early 1850s.
2. Given the economic integration整合 and Prussia’s leading position, almost all the other German states followed Prussia’s systems of currency, banking, railways, weight and measure度量衡, etc. This not only enhanced提高 Prussia’s prestige but helped break the regional and religious differences分歧 among the German states, in particular between the Protestant新教 north and Catholic south. Berlin became the capital would-be將來的 of Germany. It was the political and financial centre, and all the major railways were centred以這裡為中心 here. A sense of belonging歸屬感 took place among all the Germans, perhaps except Austria. So economic unity paved the way for political unity. Keynes凱恩斯 says that the success of German unification in 1871 was built upon “coal and iron”, rather than Bismarck’s “blood and iron”.
3. Unlike Cavour, Bismarck found it unnecessary to carry out economic reforms to strengthen Prussia. Before his rise to power in 1862, in fact, the Zollverein had flourished滋潤 Prussia’s economic capacity實力. Bismarck needed merely spending the huge national wealth on his army reform and construction of more railways so that Prussia could win easily in any lightning war.
4. The exclusion排除 of Austria from the Zollverein weakened considerably her leading position in Germany vis-à-vis面對 Prussia. Before 1848 Metternich opposed Austria’s participation in the Zollverein because economic progress and industrialization might encourage the rise of middle class in his empire. Such people would threaten the rule of the Austrian aristocracy. After 1848 Austria changed the policy but her application for membership in the Zollverein was usually blocked阻撓 by Prussia. Consequently, Austria’s economic hardship was never improved. She remained an agrarian以農業為主的 economy. In the long run, Germans tended to think of national unity without her.
5. The importance of the Zollverein to the success of German unification should not be exaggerated誇大. By the 1860s, actually, the industrial capacity of the Zollverein was just about ¼ of the British. So Prussia’s economic foundation基礎 was merely a supplementary輔助性, not a major, factor for the creation of the German Empire.

Conclusion

  David Thomson points out that in the 19th-century Europe there were struggles between the forces of change and the forces of continuity. Prussia championed代表 the former, and the success of German unification in 1871 marked surely a turning point in European history.