The role of self-determination in the unification of Germany Self-determination or the right of nations to self-determination is the right that countries have to choose their sovereignty or who /what to govern them without other countries telling them to do so. In this essay I will examine what role self-determination played in the unification of the German states. In the early 1800s there was no real Germany, there were several small states that all spoke German. Then, in 1862, King Wilhelm I appointed Otto von Bismarck as prime minister of Prussia, the largest German state at the time. Otto von Bismarck had the second highest political position and therefore a lot of power. Prussia was the online state that at that time was comparable to Austria in wealth and size. Austria didn't like the idea of ​​German unification because they saw it as a threat to them. At that time Prussia was the most industrialized state and produced more resources such as coal and iron than Austria. Bismarck's idea is that a country's power comes from "blood and iron", or from war and industrialization. Therefore, Bismarck's first move is to strengthen the Prussian army to use when his unification plan leads to war. But the Prussian parliament did not want to pay for it. Bismarck neglected this and raised money through taxation. Bismarck wants to unite the German states under Prussian rule, but there are two main obstacles; France and Austria. France and Austria did not want to see a united Germany because a united Germany would have much more power and was seen as a threat to their own countries/empires. Before attacking Austria Bismarck strengthened his power by allying himself with Italy. He in turn offered Venice to Italy so that Italy would help Prussia in a... middle of paper ......Mar. 2014. .3. "Self-determination." - Plain English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation and Web. 06 March 2014. .4. "The Unification of Germany". YouTube. YouTube, January 29, 2012. Web. March 6, 2014. .5. "Self-determination." The Princeton Encyclopedia of Self-Determination. Princeton and Web. 06 March 2014. .6. "A.3. The road to national unification". A.3. The path towards national unification. Coldy and Web. 06 March 2014. .7. "The Unification of Germany." YouTube. YouTube, 23 April 2013. Web. 06 March. 2014. .