Coal and Iron and the Unification of Germany in 1871 Essay -- Blood an

Coal and Iron and the Unification of Germany in 1871 In 1862, Bismarck said that ‘the great questions of the day will be settled by blood and iron.’ Although there is undoubtedly some degree of accuracy in this statement, the most important reason for the unification of Germany, which ended ‘the great questions of the day,’ was ‘coal and iron.’ This is a quote from British economist John Maynard Keynes, who argued that the industrial and economic preparation before the wars, which united Germany, were more important. This is because the economic strength created by the rapid industrialisation enabled the creation of a powerful Prussia. It was under this powerful Prussia, with some skilful diplomacy and opportunism, that Germany was successfully united in the wars of German Unification. Without such economic development and prosperity, it is questionable whether Germany would have been united by 1871. The main reason for the unification of Germany by 1871 was ‘coal and iron.’ This includes important factors such as the presence of raw materials in Prussia, the development of the railways and the Zollverein in Germany, and the industrialisation, which took place in Prussia, particularly in the 1850s. This economic strength, stems back to the Congress of Vienna, where Prussia was given mineral rich land. It gave Prussia the coal and iron producing areas of the Rhineland, and the mineral rich Ruhr and Saar. The availability of such natural resources created an economic take off in Prussia in the 1850s. As a result, Germany became Europe’s largest producer of key industrial commodities, such as coal and iron. New mines and iron works w... ...d, stable financial environment. This enabled a strong and successful Prussia to emerge. Prussia was then able to progress to unite Germany. This was because the strong economy permitted the establishment of a strong military force. This strong military force was then able to go forward and unite Germany by ‘blood and iron.’ This process was undoubtedly assisted by the skilful negotiation and opportunism of Bismarck. The longer-term factors – the economic and industrial factors – enabled the shorter-term reasons for unification to occur. Without a strong financial backdrop, Prussia would not have had such a powerful and efficient army, which was clearly important in the unification of Germany. It was ‘iron and coal’ that enabled the new German Reich to be proclaimed in the Hall of Mirrors, Versailles on 18th June 1871.