What tactics did Otto von Bismarck employ in unifying the German states? (For more information, check textbook pages 564-565)

Until 1871, Germany consisted of a number of independent independent states of varying size and governance. The battles between the countries were numerous. A major cause was religious differences which resulted in, among other things, the thirty-year war in the 17th century. Another reason was changing alliances with neighboring states, mainly France.

After the Napoleonic Wars, the German states were united in 1815 in the German alliance with Austria as the dominant power. Nationalism spread throughout Europe in the 19th century, and so did the German states. Ideas of a united German empire began to take shape and two competing models developed. One was called Grossdeutschland ("Greater Germany") and included the multi-ethnic empire of Austria-Hungary. The other, called Kleindeutschland ("Little Germany"), would exclude Austria, be dominated by Prussia and gain a clear German majority. Through a more advanced industrialization and the German Customs Association (Zollverein), where Austria was not included because of its protectionist stance, Prussia became increasingly dominant in Germany economically and infrastructurally. After Prussia's victory against Austria in the German Unity War in 1866, the Little German solution won; Prussia took the dominant role in Germany and, when one was on the verge of victory in the Franco-German war, proclaimed the German Empire in 1871.