History · AS: Liberalism and nationalism in Germany, 1815-1871. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.
In 1862 King William I of Prussia was in deadlock with the liberal majority in the Landtag, which refused to pay for his army reforms. He appointed Bismarck as Minister President to break the deadlock. Bismarck was a conservative Junker, loyal to the Crown and hostile to liberalism. He simply collected taxes and reformed the army without an approved budget.
His main aim was to increase Prussian power and end Austrian leadership in Germany. He used nationalism as a tool for this, not as a goal in itself.
The war with Denmark in 1864 gave him a quarrel with Austria over Schleswig and Holstein. After isolating Austria diplomatically, Prussia defeated it in seven weeks in 1866 and created the North German Confederation.
Do not say the Treaty of Prague punished Austria harshly. Bismarck took no Austrian land for Prussia, because he wanted Austria as a possible future friend; Austria lost Venetia to Italy.
Answer: A mild peace secured Prussian control of north Germany quickly and kept Austria from becoming a permanent enemy.
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