Who was Otto von Bismarck?
Otto von Bismarck came from the Prussian landowning class and worked as a diplomat. He became Prussia's minister-president in 1862 and in 1871 the first chancellor of the German Empire. People called him the Iron Chancellor. He brought the German states together under Prussian leadership after wars against Denmark, Austria and France. At home he guarded the king's power against liberal parliamentarians, fought the Catholic Centre Party and the socialists, and set up the first national insurance system for workers. Kaiser Wilhelm II forced him out in 1890.
Political views
- Speaking in 1862, he held that the great issues would be settled by 'iron and blood' and not by speeches and majority votes.Source: bismarck-stiftung.de
- Through the 1870s he led the Kulturkampf, a struggle with the Catholic Church and its Centre Party in which the Liberals sided with him.Source: dhm.de
- He then let that struggle end, split from the Liberals and began working with the same Catholic party.Source: en.wikipedia.org
- He supported a law of 1878 that banned Social Democratic groups and their newspapers.Source: en.wikipedia.org
- He brought in insurance for health in 1883, accidents in 1884, and old age and disability in 1889, partly to draw workers away from socialism.Source: dhm.de
- In 1879 he dropped free trade and chose tariffs to protect industry and farming, which broke his ties with the National Liberals.Source: dhm.de
- He supported efforts to Germanize the Polish-speaking provinces of Prussia.Source: en.wikipedia.org
- Once the empire existed he described Germany as a satisfied power. He then used alliances, and the Berlin congress of 1878, to keep Europe in balance.Source: bismarck-stiftung.de
Legacy
Admirers say he built a united Germany, kept Europe's great powers at peace for around two decades from 1871, and set the foundations for the modern welfare state. Some historians add that he never shed the authoritarian outlook of the Junker landowners he came from. Critics focus on the pressure he put on Catholics, socialists and Poles, and on a constitution that kept parliament weak. Many historians think this weakness made it harder for democracy to take root in Germany later.
In their own words
“Not by speeches and majority decisions are the great questions of the day decided - that was the great mistake of 1848 and 1849 - but by iron and blood.”