Bismarck's Influence on German Unification

In the years 1848 to 1871, Prussia emerged as the dominant state and by January 1871, dominated a united German state. This dominance was partly due to Prussia's economic strength and growth in the time period, which gave them the financial stability to exert their power over the other German states. However there were also other factors that contributed to Prussia's dominance, including the weakness of Austria, military reform victories, and the role of Bismarck in creating an exceptionally strong Prussia.

The economic strength of Prussia was crucial to its dominant position. Firstly prior to 1848, the establishment of the Zollverein in 1818 contributed greatly to Prussia's economic success. The customs union united the German states economically and under Prussian control proved highly successful. This was important in making Prussia dominant as it excluded Austria, and Prussia's growing economic strength in relation to Austria's declining economy was crucial to Prussia's dominance especially in the Austro-Prussian war in 1866. Also essential to the victory of that war was the expansion of Prussia's railways. Firstly the new industry provided many jobs that boosted the economy, and furthermore the expansion of railways meant increased trade, so this expansion was vital to Prussia's economic strength. In relation to the war, a factor in Prussia's victory was their ability to move their troops almost five times as quickly as the Austrian's, due to their large rail network. If Prussia hadn't been economically stable and successful, then the country wouldn't have had the foundation and resources to exert its assertiveness in both the wars and international diplomacy. Overall, economic factors were essential in Prussia's emergence as the dominant state in Germany.

However, another factor contributed to Prussia's dominance was the comparative weakness of Austria. In the earlier parts of this time frame, Austria conclusively appeared the dominant state. At the ‘Capitulation of Olmutz' on 29th November 1850 Prussia's Minister-President Mantuffel and Austria's Chief Minister Schwarzenburg met to discuss the future of a united Germany, resulting in Prussia's Union Plan to be abandoned with great humiliation to Prussia. However as the years moved on, Austria's power over the German states began to decline. Austria began to face the problem of minority nationalism, particularly with the Italians and Hungarians, and the loyalty of the members of the army from differing nationalities was dubious, and weakened the Austrian Army. The Crimean war of 1853-56 left Austria unpopular with her European friends; her wavering diplomacy had turned her against both Russia and Britain and France. Prussia remained strictly neutral and in doing so gained valuable friendship from Russia. Furthermore, Austria's defeat in the North Italian War in 1859 left