Otto von Bismarck

prince von Bismarck-Schönhausen, prince von Lauenburg; german

politician, premier of Prussia, chancellor of German Reich, his
cognomen was The Iron Chancellor. He has contributed to the
unification of Germany. In domestic policy he was a follower of
evolutionary conservatism.

EARLY POLITICAL CAREER

The first public occurrence of Bismarck took place on May 17, 1847, in the
United Parliament. However, it didn't make a good impression, he was
perceived as a reaction Junker. The beginning of the relevant political career
of Bismarck was the year 1849, in which he was selected from a group
Zauche - Belzig Brandenburg to the Prussian Parliament . Already in 1851 he
was appointed a Member of the Parliament of Frankfurt . This is where his
political views fully came to light - conservative, staunch supporter of the
monarchy, as well as an opponent of Austria and its dominant position in the
German Union . On the position of the member of the Federal Parliament,
Bismarck remained for the next eight years, then he was canceled. After the
cancellation from Frankfurt Bismarck was offered deputation in one of the
capitals of Europe - he chose St. Petersburg. In the Russian capital, he was
welcomed with open arms from both the Foreign Minister Alexander
Gorchakov, and the Tsar Alexander II. During the stay Bismarck learned to
speak Russian. With a good knowledge of different languages, and with his
charm and wit, Bismarck became popular in diplomatic circles and the court.
In 1861 there was a change on the throne of Prussia. New ruler was William I.
In March of 1862 Bismarck was dismissed from St. Petersburg and at the
same time appointed a deputy in Paris. There he could take close look at the
diplomatic skills of Napoleon III, which took quite a negative view. He noticed
that Napoleon's efforts were chaotic and he didn't care about long-term goals
in foreign policy.
THE UNIFICATION OF GERMANY
On 23 September 1862 during his stay in Paris, a message came to Bismarck
that he has been appointed Prime Minister of Prussia and temporary chairman
of the national government. At the beginning of Bismarck's work in the
Parliament his main goal was to limit the position of liberals who were the
strongest group in parliament. He even tried to negotiate with the
representative of the nascent labor movement Ferdinand Lassalle.
Discussions were focused on project about giving voting rights to the workers.
However, consultations have not yielded any results. On February 8, 1863
Alvensleben convention was signed, in which Bismarck had is investment.
The Convention was to ensure that Russia's will cooperate with Prussia to
check the January Uprising. Thanks to its signature Bismarck was counting on
Russia's neutrality in any conflict with Austria and France. Another Bismarck's
diplomatic action was to weaken the position of Austria, especially in
Germany. Thanks to Bismarck's persuasion, William I did not go to the
reunion of Heads of State of the Union of German, which due to the position
of Prussia, weakened the status of the convention. At the same time,
Denmark continued to debate on the systemic status of the duchies of
Schleswig and Holstein, which belonged to the German Confederation. To
defend these territories Bismarck proposed Austria to fight with Germany
against Denmark. Franz Joseph I accepted this proposal. The war that
erupted in 1864 has brought successful coalition partners. The Schleswig-
Holstein established condominium, but Bismarck's governance caused a lot of
trouble. In this situation Austria proposed division of the duchies, and as a
result Schelswig went to Prussia, while Holstein to Austria. The war was
beneficial to the chancellor's plans for the future. First of all, it weakened the
prestige of Austria, which instead upholding the German Union and its
constitutional order, participated in the annexation of one of its members. This
has strengthened the position of the Bismarck as Prime Minister. However,
Bismarck was attacked on 7 May 1866 by a student Ferdinand Cohen-Blind,
act showed that Bismarck is not too popular in Prussian society.

CHANCELLOR OF GERMANY
In 1871, Otto von Bismarck was raised to the rank of Fürst (Prince). He was
also appointed Imperial Chancellor (Reichskanzler) of the German Empire,
but retained his Prussian offices (including those of Minister-President and
Foreign Minister). He was also promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general, and
given another country estate, Friedrichsruh, near Hamburg, which was larger
than Varzin, making him a very wealthy landowner. Because of both the
imperial and the Prussian offices that he held, Bismarck had near complete
control over domestic and foreign policy. The office of Minister President of
Prussia was temporarily separated from that of Chancellor in 1873, when
Albrecht von Roon was appointed to the former office. But by the end of the
year, Roon resigned due to ill health, and Bismarck again became M-P.
Bismarck launched an anti-Catholic Kulturkampf ("culture struggle") in Prussia
in 1871. This was partly motivated by Bismarck's fear that Pius IX and his
successors would use papal infallibility to achieve the "papal desire for
international political hegemony. ... The result was the Kulturkampf, which,
with its largely Prussian measures, complemented by similar actions in
several other German states, sought to curb the clerical danger by legislation
restricting the Catholic church's political power." In May 1872 Bismarck thus
attempted to reach an understanding with other European governments to
manipulate future papal elections; governments should agree beforehand on
unsuitable candidates, and then instruct their national cardinals to vote
appropriately. The goal was to end the pope's control over the bishops in a
given state, but the project went nowhere. Bismarck accelerated the
Kulturkampf. In its course, all Prussian bishops and many priests were
imprisoned or exiled. Prussia's population had greatly expanded in the 1860s
and was now one-third Catholic. Bismarck believed that the pope and bishops
held too much power over the German Catholics; he was further concerned
about the emergence of the Catholic Centre Party (organised in 1870). With
support from the anticlerical National Liberal Party, which had become
Bismarck's chief ally in the Reichstag, he abolished the Catholic Department
of the Prussian Ministry of Culture. That left the Catholics without a voice in
high circles. In 1872, the Jesuits were expelled from Germany. More severe
anti-Roman Catholic laws of 1873 allowed the Prussian government to
supervise the education of the Roman Catholic clergy, and curtailed the
disciplinary powers of the Church. In 1875, civil ceremonies were required for
weddings, which could hitherto be performed in churches. The Catholics
reacted by organizing themselves; they strengthened the Centre Party.
Bismarck, a devout pietistic Protestant, was alarmed that secularists and
socialists were using the Kulturkampf to attack all religion. He abandoned it in
1878 to preserve his remaining political capital; by the time, he came to need
the Centre Party votes in his new battle against socialism. Pius IX died that
year, replaced by the more pragmatic Pope Leo XIII who negotiated away
most of the anti-Catholic laws. In 1873, Germany and much of Europe and
America entered the Long Depression, the Gründerkrise. A downturn hit the
German economy for the first time since industrial development began to
surge in the 1850s. To aid faltering industries, the Chancellor abandoned free
trade and established protectionist import-tariffs, which alienated the National
Liberals who demanded free trade. The Kulturkampf and its effects also
stirred up public opinion against the party that supported it, and Bismarck
used this opportunity to distance himself from the National Liberals. This
marked a rapid decline in the support of the National Liberals, and by 1879
their close ties with Bismarck had all but ended. Bismarck instead returned to
conservative factions—including the Centre Party—for support. He helped
foster support from the conservatives by enacting several tariffs protecting
German agriculture and industry from foreign competitors in 1879.

LAST YEARS OF LIFE

After the resignation in 1890, chancellor settled in Warcino and Fredrichsruh .
Having now a lot of free time, he wrote with the help of Lothar Bucher his
memories - Gedanken und Erinnerungen. They consisted of three volumes.
The first two were published soon after Bismarck's death, immediately
breaking sales records. The third volume was supposed to be published after
Wilehm's II death. This, however, did not happen, because due to the
abdication of ruler in 1918, the publisher decided that he could publish it
faster. Former Chancellor was adored by the public, while the emperor and
his entourage felt aversion to Bismarck. One such example was the infamous
wedding of Bismarck's son - Herbert Hungarian and Margareta Hoyos in
Vienna in 1892. Then the Chancellor Caprivi Leo forbade the German
Ambassador in Austria- Hungary, accepting an invitation to the wedding of
Herbert, who was partying in Vienna. He also asked the Emperor Franz
Joseph I not to take accept the former chancellor. For Bismarck this was a
painful time. Situation has not changed even after a very symbolic Wilhelm's II
reconciliation with Bismarck in Berlin on 26 January 1894, however, the warm
welcome for the former chancellor from thousands of residents of the capital
proved that the prince still enjoys great popularity. Bismarck in the last years
of his life was still very interested in politics. He was still eating and drinking
too. With greater intensity diseases troubled Bismarck, and that caused him
annoyance. In 1895, in Warcino his wife Joanna died. For Bismarck it was a
very hard blow, from which he couldn't come back to normal life. Until 1896,
he hardly ever had visitors, also he didn't appear in public. Since the death of
his wife Bismarck took care of his daughter Maria. His health condition kept
getting worse. On July 30, 1898 in Friedrichsruh , at the age of 83 years he
died .