Hi, I am very interested in Otto Von Bismarck after I learnt about him a year ago in my history class. However, I am trying to find sources or even other peoples ideas as to how important Bismarck was in the unification of Germany. Currently, through research, I would suggest that Otto Von Bismarck acted as a catalyst that sped up a movement already present as he capitalized on existing German culture (especially language) in order to create a unified state, however it can be said that this would have happened regardless. A counterargument can be said that although a German identity was present and a state may have eventually been established, the integrity of this state would come into question as other existing powers such as Austria and France would have posed a threat. Please feel free to comment or even just provide sources/ links for further reading
Here is my dissertation Bibliography about Bismarck Vs the Prussian General Staff, hope this covers some of your interest points:
Allinson, M. (2002) Germany and Austria: 1814-2000, London: Hodder Education.
Barnett, C. (2014) Leadership in War: From Lincoln to Churchill, Barnsley: Pen and Sword Books.
Barry, Q. (2015) Moltke and His Generals: A Study in Leadership, Solihull: Helion & Company.
Barry, Q. (2009) The Franco-Prussian War, 1870-71: v. 1: The Campaign of Sedan. Helmuth Von Moltke and the Overthrow of the Second Empire, Solihull: Helion & Company.
Barry, Q. (2009) The Franco-Prussian War, 1870-71: v. 2: After Sedan. Helmuth Von Moltke and the Defeat of the Government of National Defence, Solihull: Helion & Company.l
Barry, Q. (2014) The Road to Königgrätz: Helmuth von Moltke and the Austro-Prussian War 1866, Solihull: Helion & Company.
Berger, S. (2004) Inventing The Nation: Germany London: Hodder Arnold.
Brevilly, J. (2001) 19th Century Germany: Politics, Culture and Society 1790-1918, London: Arnold Publishers.
Bucholz A. (1993) Moltke, Schlieffen and Prussian War Planning, Oxford : Berg Publishers.
Bucholz A . (2001) Moltke and the German Wars, 1864-1871, Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Carsten, FL. (1989) A History of The Prussian Junkers, Aldershot: Gower Publishing.
Clark, C.W. (1935) Franz Joseph and Bismarck: The Diplomacy of Austria before the War of 1866. Cambridge [Mass.]: Harvard University Press
Clark, C. (2007) Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia 1600-1947, London: Penguin.
Clark, C. (2009) Kaiser Wilhelm II: A Life in Power, London: Penguin.
Clark, C. (2012) The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914, London: Penguin,
Craig, GA. (1992) Germany 1866-1945, Oxford: Oxford University Press
Craig GA. (1955) The Politics of The Prussian Army: 1640-1945 Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Carr, W. (1994) A History of Germany 1815-1990 4th ed, London: Edward Arnold.
Dahrendorf, R. (1967) Society and Democracy In Germany” USA: Doubleday & Co.
Davies, N. (2014) Europe: A History, London: Bodley Head.
Dawson, WH. (1965) German History from 1618-1900 in Bithell, J, (1965) Germany: A Companion to German Studies, London: Methuen & Co, Ltd.
Dwyer, PG, & Showalter, D. (2001) Modern Prussian History: 1830-1947 Essex: Pearson Harlow.
Elliot, J. (1974) Fall of Eagles, Rugby: Jolly & Barker Ltd.
Embree, M. (2006) Bismarck's First War: The Campaign for Schleswig and Jutland 1864, Solihull: Helion & Company.
Embree, M. (2015) Too Little, Too Late. The Campaign in West and South Germany, June-July 1866, Solihull: Helion & Company.
Evans, RJ. (2004) The Coming of the Third Reich, London: Penguin books
Fermer, D. (2008) Sedan 1870: The Eclipse of France, Barnsley: Pen and Sword Books,
Friedjung, H. (1897) The Struggle for Supremacy in Germany, 1859–1866 translated by Taylor, AJP and McElwee, WL, London: Macmillan and Co. limited, 1935
Fulbrook, M. (1991), A Concise History of Germany, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Geiss, I. (1997) The Question of German Unification: 1806-1996 London: Routledge.
Hewitson, M. (2010) “Nationalism in Germany 1848-1866: Revolutionary Nation” Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
Howard, M. (2002) The Franco-Prussian War, London: Routledge.
Hughes, M. (1988) Nationalism and Society: Germany 1800-1945, London: Edward Arnold.
James, H. (1994) A German Identity: 1770 to the Present Day, London: Butler & Tanner Ltd.
Macksey, K. (1996) From Triumph to Disaster: Fatal flaws of German generalship, From Moltke to Guderian, London: Greenhill Books.
Mann, G. (1996) The History of Germany since 1789, London: Pimlico
Planze, O. (1963) Bismarck: And the development of Germany: The Period of Unification, 1815-1871, New Jersey : Princeton University Press.
Richter, W. (1962) Bismarck, Translated: Battershaw, B (1964), London: MacDonald.
Ritter, G. (1964) The Sword and The Sceptre: The Problem of Militarism in Germany, Vol 1. The Prussian Tradition 1740-1890, Translated Norden, H (1972) London: Penguin Press.
Roberston, CG. (1919) Bismarck, London : Constable & Company Ltd.
Simon, WM. (1968) Germany in the Age of Bismarck, London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd.
Steinberg, J. (2012) Bismarck: A Life, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Taylor, AJP. (1985) Bismarck: The Man and the Statesman, London: Hamish Hamilton.
Taylor, AJP. (1979) Europe: Grandeur and Decline, London: Pelican Books.
Taylor, AJP. (2001) The Course of German History, Oxford: Routledge Classics.
Von Blume, W. (1903) Politik und Strategie. Bismarck und Moltke, 1866 und 1870/71, Preußische Jahrbücher, cxi, Berlin.
Von Clausewitz, C. (1832) “On War” Translated Maude, F,N(1997) Ware: Wordsworth Editions.
Von Haeften, H. (1919) Bismarck und Moltke, Preußische Jahrbücher, clxxvii, Berlin.
Von Moltke, H. Militärische Werke (13 vols., Berlin, 1892-1912), Berlin.
Von Moltke. H. (1888) “The Franco-Prussian War 1870-1871” Translated 2014 CreateSpace Independent Publishing: Charleston.
Von Treitschke, H. (1898) “Politik. Vorlesungen Gehalten an Der Universitat Zu Berlin, Volume 2” Translated, M. Cornicelius (1922), C. Hirzel: Leipzig.
Wawro, G. (1997) The Austro-Prussian War: Austria's War with Prussia and Italy in 1866, Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.
Wawro, G. (2005) The Franco-Prussian War: The German Conquest of France in 1870-1871, Cambridge University Press : Cambridge.
Whitton, FB. (1921) Moltke, London: Constable Publishing.
Zuber, T. (2008) The Moltke Myth: Prussian War Planning, 1857-1871, Lanham, MD: University Press of America.