Quiz on Bismarck and the Unification of Germany What was Bismarck's strategy to unify Germany during the 1860s? How did Bismarck overcome resistence in the legislature to his plan to expand military spending? How did Bismarck engineer the annexation of the Danish territories of Shleiswig and Holstein in 1864? What diplomatic maneuvers did Bismarck use to isolate Austria and quickly defeat them in the Prusso-Austrian War? How did Bismarck use trickery to get the French to declare war on Prussia in 1871? What military strategy enabled the Prussian break through against the French during the franco-Prussian War? How did Bismarck justify the authoritarian power of the Kaiser to over rule the legislature? Why did Bismarck choose Catholics to be scapegoats in his first Kulturkampf? By the end of the century the Social Democratic party had become the largest political party in Germany. How did Bismarck try to cripple its power?