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become the state religion in Germany and else- where. Today there are 800 million Protestants among the planet’s 2.2 billion Christians. Prussia’s prime minister Otto von Bismarck was successful in merging parts of Germany and Prussia together, creating a more powerful political union.

By the early 1800s, the Germanic people were still living in a number of small and medi- um-sized states, as well as in Prussia (in the eastern part of present-day Germany) and in the Austrian Hapsburg Empire. Others had tried to unify these areas but failed. However, Otto von Bismarck, Prussia’s prime minister, succeeded in merging the coun- try in 1871, an act that would have tremendous repercussions well into the twentieth century. A GERMAN REVOLUTIONARY Karl Marx was a German philosopher and revolutionary socialist born in 1819 in the city of Trier in Prussia. His published The Communist Manifesto in 1848. The book sought to explain the goals of Communism. He argued that historical developments revolved around the exploitation of one class over another. Bismarck believed in the concept of realpolitik , the idea that the success of a nation was based using political maneuvering toward realistic goals, not those focused on philosophical or ethical concerns. Today, many people use the term “power politics” to indicate the same approach. Bismarck manipu- lated German politics to unite the country under Prussian rule. He fought and won wars with Denmark, Austria, and France to unite the thirty-nine indepen- dent German states, while adopting liberal social policies at home. Bismarck’s concept of realpolitik influenced Germany long after his death. A system of alliances and treaties with other countries led to German defeat in

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MAJOR NATIONS IN A GLOBAL WORLD: GERMANY