Germany wasn't a country before 1871. However, Germany existed as a cultural region. Austria was always considered to be a part of Germany, even the leading part. When Germany united, there were two options, the small-Germany (kleindeutsche) and large-Germany (großdeutsche) solution, the latter including either the whole Austrian empire or just the German-speaking parts in the unified country. The reason why this did not come to pass was that Bismarck and the Prussian rulers (Hohenzollern) wanted to control Germany, not share the rule with the competing Habsburh family, the rulers of Austria-Hungary.