To what extent was the unification of Prussia due to weaknesses of Austria?

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Raluca Petre                                                                                                 25.02.07

To what extent was Germany’s unification under Prussia due to the weakness of Austria?

Albeit Austria’s superiority and influence in Germany during the Vormarz period, her  weaknesses, becoming more present and noticeable after 1848, allowed Prussia to unify the patchwork of German states into one single entity to a certain extent, especially if we are to consider that Austria’s absorption into her own affairs and problems of her multi-racial empire constituted as weaknesses that allowed Prussia to take over the lead, while her isolation in Europe following the Crimean War also worked towards Prussia’s advantage. With the close co-operation between Prussia and Austria, which characterised the Vormarz period, being replaced by an increasingly tensed rivalry between the two states( with Prussia not being so willing to accept Austrian dominance over the German states) the weaknesses of Austria and the ascendancy of Prussia on the other hand, allowed for Prussia to emerge as winner in their final showdown in 1866. Nonetheless, it is a complex combination of factors that made “the Prussian solution to the German question” a reality, from the ones regarding Prussia’s growing economic and military strength to Bismarck’s diplomacy, factors without which Prussia might have never been able to outwit Austria in the race for domination of the German states, while the growing nationalism acted as a long term background to the unification process.

        

Firstly, the mere idea that ever since 1815 Metternich, the Austrian minister, wanted to maintain the continued security of Austrian great-power status within a stable, non-revolutionary Europe rather than to achieve unification certainly played to her disadvantage as by refusing unification, she allowed another state like Prussia to fill in the vacuum. Although Austria emerged as the dominating Germanic power at the peace conference held in Vienna in 1815 and set up the German Confederation, thus being superior to Prussia in terms of influence, Austria was absent from the first trace of a more unified German state- the Zollverein.  Austria was unable to join as she could not convert to a lower tariff system and although she tried to form a Zollunion in 1849 this attempt failed, thus continuing to isolate Austria from the Prussian-dominated economic coalition of the German states. Nonetheless, Austria continued to be the dominant power as at the time, Prussia could not even dream of effectively competing against her, had it not been for Austria’s own decline that encouraged her to. For example, the reactionary policies of Metternich such as the Karlsbed Decrees might have been perpetuated had his fall of power not occurred in the midst of the 1848 French Revolution. Therefore, Austria also lost ground from a political aspect as well considering that the fall of their own minister did not only heighten the Germans’ revolutionary conflagration but also impeded her from exerting her customary influence on Germany as she had her own numerous issues to solve in the spring and summer of 1848. The trend of her not being able to fully commit herself to German affairs and to rise up to her Dual Power title that she shared with Prussia was continued during the setting up of the Erfurt Parliament by Prussia; this, again, added up to Austria’s weaknesses, as now her Frankfurt Diet was rivalled by the Erfurt Parliament. Although the situation heated up between the two assemblies over the Hesse-Cassel dispute, forcing Prussia to abandon the Prussian Union Plan at the meeting of Olmutz, the return to the previous status quo of the alliance between the two states was not wholehearted as some deeply blamed Austria for the failure of a somewhat united Germany, hence further weakening her position. Moreover, it may be argued that the international aspect also greatly weakened her position and confidence of interfering in Germany. While her economy was in decline due to the costly war in Italy in 1856, she was feeling isolated and cornered internationally as well after her involvement in the Crimean War, costing her her friendship with Russia without obtaining that of Britain and France either. This was not only a blow to Austrian prestige, therefore influencing public opinion in the German states, but, in my opinion, it also prevented a future fear of an Austro-Russian alliance as it had happened in the past, forcing Prussian climb-down at Olmutz.

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However, on the other hand, Prussia was not only contrasting with the Austrian weaknesses but it was experiencing a period of an overall trend of ascendancy which, despite various setbacks such as the failure of the Prussian Union Plan, propagated her to a favourable position. While Austria was stagnating, Prussia saw internal reforms that certainly made her the most powerful and able among the German states, thus making unification under Prussia more likely. While the Zollverein acted as a weakness for Austria, it was certainly a benefit for Prussia in terms of her leading the unification process as it ...

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