(Actually answered by me on Quora
Well he used a combination of diplomacy/war and an usurpation of the policies of his rivals to isolate and defeat his opponents. German unification proceeded in three stages. all of which were punctuated by war.
Otto Von Bismarck source: Tons of Facts
Stage 1 involved the Second Schleswig War (1864) that saw Prussia in alliance with Austria win over control of Schlewsig, Holstein and Lauenberg from the Danes.
Stage 2 witnessed the Prussian German Confederation defeat Austria and her allies in the Austro-Prussian War (1866). Prussia would then annex Hanover, Schleswig-Holstein, Hesse-Cassel, Nassau, Frankfurt and several smaller regions. Austria was pushed to the side.
Stage 3 involved Bismarck duping the French (Napoleon III) into the Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871) via the Ems Telegram/Dispatch He then set up an alliance with Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt that culminated in the siege of Metz, the defeat of the French at the Battle of Sedan and the greater siege of Paris.
The vanquished French who were no match for Prussia’s military might and organizational prowess were then forced to recognize in an embarrassing session at Versailles (specifically the Hall of Mirrors) German unification under the banner of the Prussian monarch Wilhelm I.
Opposition in Germany from the left and working class was neutralized by Bismarck’s adoption and re branding of the Social Democrat’s Gotha Program (drafted in 1875). This established the modern German welfare state in 1883. In doing so he pulled the rug from underneath the legs of his opponents.
Map of German Unification source: Age of the Sage
He was a rather shrewd man, the Iron Chancellor.
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