Editing Otto von Bismarck (section)

===Blood and Iron speech===
{{Main|Blood and Iron (speech)|l1=Blood and Iron speech}}

German unification had been a major objective of the revolutions of 1848, when representatives of the German states met in Frankfurt and drafted a constitution, creating a federal union with a national parliament to be elected by universal male suffrage. In April 1849, the [[Frankfurt Parliament]] offered the title of Emperor to King Frederick William IV. Fearing the opposition of the other German princes and the military intervention of Austria and Russia, the king renounced this popular mandate, citing his concerns over the legitimacy of the parliament to offer him the crown without the consent of the various German rulers. Thus, the Frankfurt Parliament ended in failure for the German liberals.{{citation needed|date=April 2021}} On 30 September 1862, Bismarck made a famous speech to the Budget Committee of the Prussian Chamber of Deputies in which he expounded on the use of "[[Blood and Iron (speech)|iron and blood]]" to achieve Prussia's goals:
{{blockquote|Prussia must concentrate and maintain its power for the favorable moment which has already slipped by several times. Prussia's boundaries according to the [[Congress of Vienna|Vienna treaties]] are not favorable to a healthy state life. The great questions of the time will not be resolved by speeches and majority decisions &ndash; that was the great mistake of 1848 and 1849 &ndash; but by iron and blood.{{Sfn | Hollyday | 1970 | pp = 16–18}}}}