To what extent was the Unification of Germany a result of planning by Bismarck and to what extent was it a result of other factors?.
Bismarck was an exceptional politician and was extremely outspoken but also a great negotiator. He was first installed as Chancellor of Prussia as he had a reputation for employing strong tactics and for being a strong believer in Realpolitik, which meant that, he was going to be harsh with the opposition. Bismarck's aim was not to unify Germany.
Bismarck was not employed because he was viewed as being the man who could unify Germany, but because Wilhelm I was advised that he was the man that could make Prussia stronger and make them into a power that could challenge Austria. However Bismarck did play a big hand in uniting Germany even though it was not his primary aim from the outset.
By the early 1860's Bismarck was in a highly favourable situation for implementing his aims. These aims were to seize any possible opportunities that occurred to make Prussia the dominant power in Germany but he was aware that this could result in extreme international ramifications, which could have resulted in a hostile coalition of powers being formed against Prussia. Bismarck was in a favourable situation because at this time Austrian power was unstable as they had just been defeated by Italy, Austria's relationship with another major power, Russia, was at an all time low after the Crimean war, and also at this time for there own individual reasons both France and Russia were seeking to amend the balance of power within Europe. This made it far easier for Bismarck to implement his aims, as they didn't face an amazing amount of opposition as all the other powers were concerned with other matters. Bismarck could not and did not engineer or plan for this European situation but he did take full advantage of it.
The outcome of the Austro Prussian war in 1866 which was engineered by Bismarck to a certain extent, was not only a Prussian victory, it also resulted in the creation of the Peace of Prague.