ABSTRACT
Bismarck's fixation on consolidating the national state was also recognised by National Liberals such as Rudolf Haym who, for all his criticism of Bismarck's methods and the 'confusing and even corrupting effect' of his political strategies, reminded himself in 1881 'that nobody else has such a lively regard for the idea of making the young empire vital, permanent, and resilient'. 'All his twists and turns and inconsistencies can be explained by the power of this idea', Haym believed, and he saw Bismarck as 'representing for me the incarnation of the national state" The Reich Bismarck created in 1870-71 was in many respects an artificial creation, forged in an atmosphere of militarism and war and not the result of an organic or evolutionary process of unification. Bismarck was as aware as anyone that political unification did not signify national unity. He was particularly concerned about all Germans in the new Reich who had fought against Prussia in the war of 1866.
