 As time went on and Prussia, under King Wilhelm I and his Minister President Otto von Bismarck, began to exert more influence in the German region (eventually unifying Germany under Prussian rule in 1871), Cullmann began to believe that his political ideals were fundamentally incompatible with those of the German Government.As a result, he decided to emigrate from his homeland.Settling first in London due to fears that he would be forced to join in the ongoing American Civil War, Cullman eventually came to America in 1865.