OVB the MVP

Otto von Bismarck wanted to secure power for himself and for Prussia. He approached this through the ideal that “the great decisions of our day will not be decided by speeches and negotiation but by blood and iron.” In other words, Prussia will gain power through war and industrialization. OVB was like the quarterback of Prussia and he called the plays. 

War:

Bismarck did not like the fact that the Danish king was trying to centralize the provinces of Denmark against the will of the German Confederation. The province of Schlesqig-Holstein shared a culture with Prussia. Bismarck, like Putin, wanted to to eventually control the province that shared the Prussian culture. By centralizing the provinces, the king of Denmark would cause Schlesqig-Holstein to become more Danish and Prussia would loose its influence. As a result, Prussia and Austria waged a short successful war against Denmark. Bismarck successfully retained influence over a province. 

Bismarck was convinced Prussia had to control the German confederation completely. This mean that Austria, a great German power, had to be taken out of German affairs. After a 7 week war Prussia defeated Austria. As a result, Austria withdrew from German affairs. At the time, Austria was extremely influential in the southern German states due to their geographic proximity and their cultural ties. Once Austria was taken out of German affairs, Prussia secured influence over southern Germany. This time, Bismarck successfully obtained influence over Germany. 

Bismarck is to Austria as Obama is to door 

Despite all the war and blood shed, Bismarck wanted to make peace domestically with the liberal middle class and the nationalist movement in order to secure his power domestically. He realized that nationalist was not necessarily hostile to a conservative, authoritarian government (which he was trying to create and obtain). By unifying the country under a conservative authoritarian government, Bismarck simultaneously secured his power as well as fortify and stabilize Prussia. Bismarck appeased liberals by allowing universal male suffrage. He wanted parliament’s approval, but was not bound to it. He would not have allowed male suffrage if he was not threatened by it. Bismarck was able to tame parliament, but treated it with indifference. As Becky stated, Bismarck had a “you’re not worth my time attitude.” This contrasts with Louis XIV’s attitude of rewarding Parliament. 

Industrialization:

During this time period, it was imperative that a country modernize and industrialize in order to keep up with the great powers of the world and maintain influence and power. Bismarck knew this well and acted on it. 

It is clear that OVB’s strategy of “blood and iron” pushed Prussia to become join the ranks of the Great Powers. He is the MVP of Prussia.