The biggest advantage for Bismarck not to enter Vienna may be to keep the Austrian Empire from collapsing, otherwise under the blow of Prussia, the Austrian imperial system is likely to collapse, Hungary will definitely become independent, Hungary will become independent, Bohemia may not be able to be preserved, and the Bosniaks, Serbs, Croats and Romanians in the south will not be willing to accept Austrian foreign rule.

Once Austria collapses, there will be a huge geopolitical vacuum in the south of the German region, and it is really difficult to say what kind of situation the new Germany will face, and if it is involved in the struggle for the Balkans, there may not be a long-term European peace in the Bismarck era. Bismarck's aim was to unify Germany, and he was not very interested in ruling other peoples or expanding the empire.

So historically, Bismarck was very unfriendly to Poland, even though there were a large number of Poles in his own country, and he launched a cultural war with Catholicism to expel a large number of Poles from the country; He was also not interested in the Slavs and the Hungarians, and he openly stated that "one cannot accommodate Czechs, Slovaks, Serbs...... The heavy burden on his back...... Germany was not going to be strong by transfusing a lot of Slavic blood. ”

Therefore, the complete destruction of the Austrian Empire was not Bismarck's goal, but it was impossible for Bismarck to destroy the fragile center of the Austrian Empire, the capital of the Austrian principality, whose population was much smaller than that of the Slavs and even the Bohemians, and Bismarck could not see the consequences of the possible collapse of the empire.

Therefore, the refusal of the Prussian army into Vienna was not that Bismarck wanted to gain Austria's friendship and therefore did not want the Austrians to be humiliated, it was just his rhetoric, which was a high-sounding disguise for political purposes. Otherwise, it will be even more difficult to explain to the countrymen, to explain to the army. It is impossible to tell the people that if they do not occupy Vienna, they do not want Prussia to be given the opportunity to occupy the territory of southern Europe, and then he will be strangled to death by the nationalists.

None of this would have happened now, for Bismarck had made the war for the power of national unity, which he had painstakingly brewed, full of hardships, and then come to an abrupt end just as he had just entered the stage of the Gao Qi Dynasty, like a feast, after intensive preparations, patiently greeted every guest, and played a strong music, and just as everyone was about to enjoy a sumptuous meal and wine, the host announced that it was over.

Then the guests dispersed, but the host's purpose was achieved, and the guests' gifts were delivered!

Bismarck achieved his goal, and Austria announced its withdrawal from the German Confederation.

The French could only acquiesce in a fait accompli, unless they were willing to accept the risk of going to war with the Prussian and Polish coalitions, which had already mobilized, and if they were unprepared for it.

As a result, Austria withdrew from the German Confederation, Prussia became the only power in the Confederation, and annexed the Kingdom of Hanover, which was a staunch supporter of Austria, and became the Prussian province of Hanover. The Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt ceded part of its northern territory to Prussia, and the remaining northern half of its territory (Upper Hesse) joined the North German Confederation. The small states of Nassau, Hesse-Kassel, and the Free City of Frankfurt were annexed by Prussia to form the province of Hesse-Nassau along with the territories ceded by Hesse-Darmstadt.

The expanded territory of Prussia was limited, and only for Hanover, sandwiched in the center of the Prussian territory, was annexed. However, it connected the main territory of eastern Prussia with the western Rhine industrial region. Prussia's territory, connected to the same at the same time, also made Prussia's territory the largest contiguous land in North Germany, with a total area of more than half of North Germany, all independent North German states, now bordering Prussia, Prussia is like a big tree, these small states are the branches of the tree, and the economy is heavily dependent on Prussia, it is impossible to survive independently from Prussia.

However, the three kingdoms of Bavaria, Baden, and Württemberg together still accounted for more than a third of the entire territory of the German Confederation, and even exceeded this proportion in economic output. They were culturally Catholic, in religious conflict with North Germany, and in line with France and Austria. So they used to be on the side of Austria, but now that Austria has withdrawn from the German Confederation, they are beginning to draw closer to France, hoping to rely on French power to maintain their independence.

What Bismarck received was a very limited, loose confederation known as the "unfamous Prussian-German state".

This confederation, both nominally and in substance, was not a single country, but through the federal parliament, through a vote on common action, no different from the previous loose confederation co-led by Austria and Prussia, so it was not unacceptable to France.

The reason why the annexation of Hanover was not interfered with by other powers was the place of Hanover, which was ruled by a family of the same blood as the British royal family, and the British royal family came from Hanover, so the United Kingdom under Victoria's rule was called the Hanover Dynasty, but because Victoria succeeded to the throne, German law did not recognize the right of female inheritance, and the succession of Empress Theresia caused the Seven Years' War because he was a woman.

After Queen Victoria succeeded to the throne, Hanover did not recognize her succession, and the Hanover throne was inherited by her kindred, Duke Cumberland. Britain lost the last territory on the European continent, but the British did not care, the British did not object, and there was nothing to hinder the annexation of Prussia here.

As for Britain, Bismarck, in addition to forming a military alliance with Britain against France, and signing a tariff agreement, allowed Britain's interests in Central Europe to increase with the expansion of Prussia's territory. led British Foreign Secretary Palmerston to believe that the enlargement of Prussia (whatever improper means used) was not contrary to British interests; On the contrary, France and Russia, not the Central European powers, are the unstable factors on the continent.

With the acquiescence of the British, Prussia succeeded in annexing Hanover, a key piece of land that cut off Prussia's main territory and main industrial region. With a geographical structure that spanned the eastern and western ends of Germany and covered all the other North German states, it became the only great power in the German Confederation.

This was the only thing Bismarck got, and it cost a lot and the gain was small, although it was important. But unlike China, a decisive victory can often be passed on to the entire country.

Because Germany, and even the whole of Europe, lacks a unified historical experience, maybe their nation has a voice calling for reunification, but most people, especially the ruling class, do not know the meaning of reunification, do not know what reunification brings them, and the fear of the unknown makes them reject reunification.

The Chinese, on the other hand, have long accepted the concept of unification, they know that reunification is just like that, they should eat, eat and sleep, but the process of reunification is the most difficult, as long as it is determined that the strongest person has absolute unification ability, and then there are very few opponents, and then the ruler will also feel that the people are determined and package themselves as heroes who obey the heavens.

This is the impact of Qin Shi Huang's unification of the world on China, and the unification of China's main territory was completed more than 2,000 years ago, and the impact on this nation was huge. This is not to say how great Qin Shi Huang was or how great his contribution was, but to objectively narrate history, and it must be said that his influence was huge. Even if some people refuse to recognize the benefits of reunification for China, believing that reunification has eliminated China's sense of competition, the strong competitive mentality of the Spring and Autumn Warring States is lost in the mentality of the Chinese. Unification hindered de facto competition, so there was no longer a hundred flowers blooming and a hundred schools of thought contending, which led to the conservatism of culture, the backwardness of thought, and the obsolescence of technology, which led to the later decline.

However, even if they do not admit that reunification is good, and think that the kind of small states that have been unable to grow in the melee for thousands of years, and that the population of dozens or hundreds of states standing side by side with a population of no more than one million is a benign competition ecology, they must also admit that Qin Shi Huang left a profound historical imprint and historical tradition on the Chinese nation.

There is also such a situation in the West, when a certain kind of force explodes, or a certain hero is born, it will have an impact on future generations, and the more brilliant they erupt, the more profound the impact on future generations.

Without Alexander the Great, there would be no Hellenistic era, without the Hellenistic era, there would be no Indian statue technology, and without Indian statue technology, China would not have Longmen Grottoes. Without Caesar, without Spain and France, or at least Spain and France would not be a Latin people, but a Germanic or Celtic culture like Germany. Because the Roman Empire ruled Spain and France, the languages and customs of these two places were Latinized and became Latin peoples; Because the Roman Empire was repulsed by the Germanic barbarians on the banks of the Rhine, the German regions were guaranteed freedom two thousand years ago.

And when the tide of nationalities came, Spain became the first nation-state, and France soon formed a unified French national consciousness, but the German region was full of states, and it is difficult to say that it was not because they failed to absorb a unified culture and consciousness from the Roman Empire. In a sense, the German states were no different from the Germanic barbarian tribes that were divided during the Roman period.

In the end, it was under the impact of France that a unified national consciousness broke out, and at this time, the most fundamental culture of their nation was even divided into Catholicism and Protestantism. If they had been conquered by Rome in the early years, and had accepted the unified administrative structure, the unified official language, and the unified religious culture set up by Rome two thousand years ago, perhaps the concept of the Germans would have been formed even earlier.