The elites who truly govern a big country have deep thoughts and grand plans that are unimaginable to ordinary people.
Bismarck made a series of strategic plans for the revitalization of Prussia, for the unification of Germany, to defeat France, and to make Germany a powerful country on the European continent. The complexity is unimaginable!
There is no need to mention the elaborate planning in the Prussian-Danish War and the Prussian-Austrosian War. Just talking about the Franco-Prussian War against France at this moment, Bismarck's various efforts are already beyond the comprehension of ordinary people.
The purpose of launching a war is to end it under one's control. In other words, the purpose of launching a war is to end the war, and to achieve one's expected goals during the war, this is the most successful strategist.
Bismarck is definitely not a war maniac! Although he has the reputation of being an iron-blooded prime minister, in fact, he is not warlike at all in his heart!
Iron and blood are just appearances, war is just a means to achieve the goal!
In fact, in real history, after the Franco-Prussian War ended, Bismarck became an outright anti-war activist.
He opposed any foreign war by Germany, especially William II's series of overseas expansion and attempt to compete with Britain for hegemony as a great power strategy, which he firmly opposed.
Bismarck is a down-to-earth person. He knows when to fight and when to hide one's strength and bide one's time. Even if a war is to be fought, he must be fully prepared.
Why do we have to fight this war with the French? Because Bismarck knew very well that France was the biggest stumbling block to German unification.
Although Austria also prohibited Prussia from unifying the North and South German Federation before, Austria has been defeated. At this moment, only France can affect the unification process of the German Federation.
Defeating France will eliminate the biggest interference in the unification process, and defeating France can also greatly inspire the pride of the German nation!
National pride is such an incredible artifact! Only with a sense of national pride can divided countries with the same language and culture come together and let the people of other countries completely admire Prussia. This is the cornerstone of unification of the people!
The ultimate desire of mankind is to pursue a better life! Prussia must be the strongest in order to give the people of those countries hope, and others will fall into your arms.
And defeating France can send a very clear signal to the entire German nation.
We in Prussia are the most powerful. By following us, you are equivalent to following safety and happiness!
The second main reason is France's own territorial ambitions for many German states. If Bismarck can force France to take the initiative to go to war, then all the people of the entire South German Federation will unite together out of fear. , all will fall into the arms of Prussia out of fear.
The benefits of fighting France are countless, not only the above two points, but thirdly, this war can also satisfy Britain's continental checks and balances policy.
In order to support Prussia and the French in this war, the British will definitely provide countless practical benefits, not only the military aid, but the British can even share some military technology, and Prussia's limited maritime trade will also Expanded under British care.
Being able to reach a strategic alliance with Britain, or even just ten years of friendly and peaceful development, is a very rare historical opportunity for Prussia.
How did a weak country achieve a breakthrough in its national destiny? In fact, they carefully sneaked through the shadows of many powerful powers, taking advantage of their negligence, taking advantage of their inattention, taking advantage of the flaws exposed in their battles, keenly seizing the opportunity, then breaking through, and overtaking in corners.
By the time those big countries react, it's already too late. For weak countries to rise, they can only rely on cheating, quickness, and exploitation.
The fourth benefit is more direct. Rich France has a lot of money in its pockets! The reparations after the war will definitely make the victors smile from ear to ear.
But compared with the previous strategic benefits, war reparations rank at the bottom of the ranking of benefits.
The entire Franco-Prussian War has brought Bismarck all the benefits without any harm. This war can be said to be fought and taken advantage of. Even if it is just a draw, Prussia will have countless benefits!
For this war, Bismarck worked tirelessly and organized a strategic deception plan that lasted for more than ten years.
He organized a comprehensive official data falsification campaign, hiding all the true national strength of Prussia! Showing weakness to the outside world makes the whole world think that it will definitely lose!
It was this kind of war deception that made French Emperor Napoleon III even more arrogant and took the initiative to declare war!
It is precisely this kind of strategic deception that makes Britain deeply worried, and it will spare no effort to increase its chips to fully support Prussia!
It is this kind of war deception that makes other European countries that are swinging between the two sides relax a little bit and prevent the anti-Prussian alliance from appearing!
For this shocking scam, Bismarck was completely prepared to do anything. He even deceived the king. Now in the entire Prussia, except for Moltke and his direct officials, no one knows about the existence of the scam!
"Xiao Letian! It's because you are a smart man and saw the flaw in my plan, otherwise you would have no chance of knowing about this shocking scam of mine!"
"Now it's time to close the net. Faced with the fruits that are about to be harvested, do I have to change my original intention and change from an iron-blooded prime minister to a weak prime minister?"
"Do you really think that I will negotiate with other German countries with a smile on my face? Absolutely not. I released the evil wolf France to force them to unify and merge with us!"
"I want everyone to fight in front of my iron-blooded prime minister! No one dares to put forward any inappropriate conditions!"
"No one in Germany can bargain with me! Not even my king, not even the royal family in Europe!"
"For my goal, I would rather be criticized by thousands of people! I would rather be known as an independent husband in people's mouth! I can even be in the history textbooks and bear the infamy of the ages! It doesn't matter, I just want to succeed!"
Xiao Letian said with a serious face, "Dear old friend, don't think like this. Human nature always worships the strong. As long as you can give Germany endless victory, then you will definitely have a place in history!"
"Do you still remember the little story about Napoleon I's restoration?"
In 1815, Napoleon I marched towards Paris. His troops were unstoppable along the way. At that time, all the newspapers in Paris, France, made a fuss. It was a big joke that the whole world still remembers!
Day One: "Monsters from Corsica land in Port Joan."
The next day: "The unspeakable man-eating demon approaches Grasse."
Day 3: “Despicable thieves enter Grenoble.”
Day 4: "Napoleon Bonaparte captures Lyon."
Day Five: "General Napoleon approaches Fontainebleau."
Day 6: "His Majesty the Supreme Emperor arrived in his loyal Paris today."
Did you see it? This is the true face of human beings facing the strong! You don’t have to be so excited, history will never forget your achievements, Germany will not forget, and neither will human civilization!
There will always be a place for you in the history books! Let future generations comment on the merits and crimes of a thousand years, but we just want to have a clear conscience!
