Question

What methods did Cavour and Bismarck use to unite Italy and Germany?

Answer 1

Answer:  They used REALPOLITIK methods.

Explanation/context:

• Count Camillo di Cavour was prime minister of the Kingdom of Sardinia, serving under King Victor Emmanuel II.  This was a time in history (in the 19th century) when prime ministers were starting to exercise more control of policy than the kings themselves.  It was also a time of something that came to be known a "Realpolitik" (a German term), or "realistic politics."  Cavour was a political realist who chose paths of action that would benefit his overall aims, whether or not they fit some specific ideology or master plan.  I suppose "compromise" would be another way of saying that, but I'd prefer to say he practiced political realism.
• Otto von Bismarck was Minster President and Minister of Foreign Affairs for the Kingdom of Prussia.  He used Realpolitik (reality politics) methods to increase Prussian power and align other German states together with Prussia into the German Empire.  In his leadership of Prussia, Bismarck helped create wars with neighboring countries to increase national pride among the German people.   The main wars that Bismarck provoked in increasing national pride and unity among the German people were the Austro-Prussian War (1866) and the  Franco-Prussian War (1870-71).  Following the Francp-Prussian War, the German Empire was established, and Wilhelm I appointed Bismarck to the position of Chancellor.