Bismarck was born on April Fool's Day in 1815, right in the middle of Napoleon's 100 day restoration. The preceding decade had transformed the Germany he was born into. 1/n

The Holy Roman Empire had been relegated to the dustbin of history and German mediatisation had consolidated 100s of states into 39 states. As the principal theatre of war, the Germany was devastated by the Napoleonic wars. 2/n

Hapsburg power in Germany was much diminished with the rise of Prussia as a near equal, and the consolidation of the new Kingdoms like Bavaria and Württemberg prepared to assert their new found sovereignty. 3/n

Napoleon acted as a catalyst for liberal ideas that to led to secularization, constitutional reforms & the emancipation of serfs all across Germany. But he squeezed his German allies for resources to fight his unending wars. 4/n

In time interests of dynastic preservation would turned his vassal rulers against him. But Napoleon's domination of Germany helped propel both a political and intellectual reaction, fueling the growth of German Nationalism and Romanticism. 5/n

But the interests of dynastic preservation, especially among the newly aggrandizing states, were squarely at odds with the new national consciousness among the educated who yearned for a unified state. 6/n

The nationalists looked for leadership to Prussia, a modernizing state on the eastern fringes of what at this time was the traditional "German" heartland 7/n

This tension between dynasty and nation (and Prussian leadership) was the remain the defining political issue for much of Bismark's career 8/8