How successful was Bismarck in dealing with opposition?

Bismarck was successful in managing political opposition as demonstrated through is deft manipulation and pragmatic partnership with the Liberal party to secure consolidation of German unification and pass the Tariff Act. While his policies to tackle Catholic and Socialist opposition were less successful his measures to reverse Kulturkampf tempered his failures to tackle opposition from the Catholic Centre party, whilst the success of the socialist was arguably an inevitable result of economic change beyond Bismarck’s control. Bismarck was successful with dealing with political opposition from the National Liberals. Although naturally conservative, by allying with the Liberals Bismarck was able to pass multiple acts to consolidate his project of German unification. For example, laws to allow the provision of a common currency and unifying civil and criminal codes for all states were passed. Having successfully passed measures to consolidate unification Bismarck subsequently broke with the Liberal party to pass the 1879 Tariff Act, forming a bloc in the Reichstag with the Free conservative and the Centre party. Despite opposition from both the SPD and the NL, Bismarck deftly recognised the popular support for the Tariff’s, successfully passing the bill whilst simultaneously contributing to the subsequent fracturing of the National Liberals. Thus, Bismarck’s pragmatic partnership with the National Liberals demonstrates his ability to successfully manage opposition to preserve his political authority.