Otto von Bismarck. A man who, through three bloody wars, united Germany, which previously consisted of more than thirty small kingdoms, duchies and principalities. A convinced monarchist, he practically ruled the country single-handedly for 20 years and was dismissed by the young emperor, who did not want to be in his shadow. Idol of Adolf Hitler.
His very name brings to mind the image of a tough, strong, gray-haired chancellor with a military bearing and a steely glint in his eyes. However, Bismarck was sometimes completely different from this image. He was often overcome by passions and experiences typical of ordinary people. We offer several episodes from his life in which Bismarck’s character is revealed in the best possible way.
High school student
"The strong are always right."
Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck-Schönhausen was born on April 1, 1815, into the family of a Prussian landowner. When little Otto was 6 years old, his mother sent him to Berlin to the Plaman school, where children of aristocratic families were raised.
At the age of 17, Bismarck entered the University of Göttingham. Tall, red-haired Otto does not mince words and, in the heat of arguments with his opponents, fiercely defends monarchical views, although at that time liberal views were in fashion among young people. As a result, a month after admission, his first duel occurs, in which Bismarck earned his scar on his cheek. 30 years later, Bismarck will not forget this incident and will say that the enemy then acted dishonestly, striking on the sly.
Over the next nine months, Otto had another 24 duels, from which he invariably emerged victorious, winning the respect of his fellow students and receiving 18 days in the guardhouse for malicious violation of the rules of decency (including public drunkenness).
Official
Surprisingly, Bismarck did not even consider the option of a military career, although his older brother followed this path. Having chosen the position of an official in the Berlin Court of Appeal, he quickly began to hate writing endless protocols and asked to be transferred to an administrative position. And for this he passed the strict examination brilliantly.
However, having fallen in love with the daughter of an English parish priest, Isabella Lorraine-Smith, he gets engaged to her and simply stops coming to services. Then he declares: “My pride requires me to command, and not to carry out other people’s orders!” As a result, he decides to return to the family estate.
Mad landowner
"Stupidity is a gift from God,
but it should not be abused.”
In his early years, Bismarck did not think about politics and indulged in all sorts of vices on his estate. He drank excessively, caroused, lost significant sums at cards, changed ladies and did not leave peasant daughters unattended. A bully and a rake, Bismarck drove his neighbors to white heat with his wild antics. He woke up his friends by shooting at the ceiling so that plaster fell on them. He rushed around other people's lands on his huge horse. Shot at targets. In the area where he lived, there was a saying; “No, it’s not enough yet, says Bismarck!”, and the future Reich Chancellor himself was called nothing less than “wild Bismarck.” The bubbling energy required a broader scale than the life of a landowner. The stormy revolutionary sentiments of Germany in 1848-1849 played into his hands. Bismarck joined the Conservative Party that was emerging in Prussia, marking the beginning of his dizzying political career.
The beginning of the way
“Politics is the art of adapting
to circumstances and benefit
from everything, even from what is disgusting.”
Already in his first public speech in May 1847 in the United Diet, where he was present as a reserve deputy, Bismarck, without ceremony, crushed the opposition with his speech. And when the indignant roar of voices filled the hall, he calmly said: “I see no arguments in inarticulate sounds.”
Later, this manner of behavior, far from the laws of diplomacy, will manifest itself more than once. For example, Count Gyula Andrássy, Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary, recalling the progress of negotiations on concluding an alliance with Germany, said that when he resisted Bismarck’s demands, he was ready was to strangle him in the literal sense of the word. And in June 1862, while in London, Bismarck met with Disraeli and during the conversation told him his plans for a future war with Austria. Disraeli would later tell one of his friends about Bismarck: “Beware of him. He says what he thinks!
But this was only partly true. Bismarck could throw thunder and lightning if it was necessary to intimidate someone, but he could also be emphatically polite if this promised a favorable outcome for him in the meeting.
War
“They never lie so much as during the war,
after the hunt and before the elections.”
Bismarck was a supporter of forceful methods of resolving political issues. He saw no other path for the unification of Germany other than the one paved with “iron and blood.” However, here too everything was ambiguous.
When Prussia won a crushing victory over Austria, Emperor Wilhelm wished to solemnly enter Vienna with the Prussian army, which would certainly have entailed the plunder of the city and the humiliation of the Duke of Austria. A horse had already been given for Wilhelm. But Bismarck, who was the inspirer and strategist of this war, suddenly began to dissuade him and threw a real hysteria. Having fallen at the feet of the emperor, he grabbed his boots with his hands and did not let him out of the tent until he agreed to abandon his plans.
Bismarck provoked the war between Prussia and France by falsifying the “Ems dispatch” - a telegram sent through him by William I to Napoleon III. He corrected it so that the content became offensive to the French emperor. And a little later, Bismarck published this “secret document” in central German newspapers. France responded appropriately and declared war. The war took place and Prussia was victorious, annexing Alsace and Lorraine and receiving an indemnity of 5 billion francs.
Bismarck and Russia
“Never plot anything against Russia,
for she will answer any of your cunning
with its unpredictable stupidity."
From 1857 to 1861, Bismarck served as Prussian ambassador to Russia. And, judging by the stories and sayings that have come down to our time, he managed not only to learn the language, but also to understand (as far as possible) the mysterious Russian soul.
For example, before the start of the Berlin Congress of 1878, he said: “Never trust the Russians, for the Russians do not even trust themselves.”
The famous “Russians take a long time to harness, but ride quickly” also belongs to Bismarck. An incident that happened to the future Reich Chancellor on the way to St. Petersburg is connected with the fast driving of the Russians. Having hired a cab driver, von Bismarck doubted whether the skinny and half-dead nags could drive fast enough, which is what he asked the cab driver about.
Nothing... - he drawled, accelerating the horses along the bumpy road so quickly that Bismarck could not resist the next question.
- You won’t throw me out?
“It’s okay...” the coachman assured, and soon the sleigh overturned.
Bismarck fell into the snow, bleeding his face. He had already swung a steel cane at the cabbie who had run up to him, but did not hit him, hearing him say soothingly, wiping the blood from the face of the Prussian ambassador with snow:
- Nothing-oh... nothing...
In St. Petersburg, Bismarck ordered a ring from this cane and ordered one word to be engraved on it - “Nothing.” Later, he said, hearing a reproach for being too soft towards Russia: “In Germany, I’m the only one who says “Nothing!” people".
Russian words periodically appear in his letters. And even as the head of the Prussian government, he sometimes continues to leave resolutions in official documents in Russian: “Forbidden,” “Caution,” “Impossible.”
Bismarck was connected with Russia not only by work and politics, but also by a sudden outbreak of love. In 1862, at the resort of Biarritz, he met the 22-year-old Russian princess Katerina Orlova-Trubetskaya. A whirlwind romance ensued. The princess's husband, Prince Nikolai Orlov, who had recently returned from the Crimean War with a serious wound, rarely accompanied his wife on her swims and forest walks, which the 47-year-old Prussian diplomat took advantage of. He considered it his duty to even tell his wife about this meeting in letters. And he did it in enthusiastic tones: “This is a woman for whom you could feel passion.”
Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck is the most important German statesman and political figure of the 19th century. His service had an important influence on the course of European history. He is considered the founder of the German Empire. For nearly three decades he shaped Germany: from 1862 to 1873 as Prime Minister of Prussia, and from 1871 to 1890 as Germany's first Chancellor.
Bismarck family
Otto was born on April 1, 1815 on the estate of Schönhausen, on the outskirts of Brandenburg, north of Magdeburg, which was located in the Prussian province of Saxony. His family, starting from the 14th century, belonged to the noble class, and many ancestors held high government positions in the kingdom of Prussia. Otto always remembered his father with love, considering him a modest man. In his youth, Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand served in the army and was demobilized with the rank of cavalry captain (captain). His mother, Louise Wilhelmina von Bismarck, née Mencken, was middle class, heavily influenced by her father, quite rational and of strong character. Louise concentrated on raising her sons, but Bismarck, in his memoirs of childhood, did not describe the special tenderness traditionally emanating from mothers.
The marriage produced six children; three of his siblings died in childhood. They lived a relatively long life: an older brother, born in 1810, Otto himself, born fourth, and a sister born in 1827. A year after the birth, the family moved to the Prussian province of Pomerania, the town of Konarzevo, where the future chancellor spent the first years of his childhood. Here my beloved sister Malvina and brother Bernard were born. Otto's father inherited the Pomeranian estates from his cousin in 1816 and moved to Konarzewo. At that time, the estate was a modest building with a brick foundation and wooden walls. Information about the house is preserved thanks to the older brother's drawings, which clearly show a simple two-story building with two short one-story wings on either side of the main entrance.
Childhood and youth
At the age of 7, Otto was sent to an elite private boarding school in, then he continued his education at the Graue Kloster gymnasium. At the age of seventeen, on May 10, 1832, he entered the law faculty of the University of Göttingen, where he spent just over a year. He took a leading place in the social life of students. From November 1833 he continued his studies at the University of Berlin. His education allowed him to engage in diplomacy, but at first he devoted several months to purely administrative work, after which he was transferred to the judicial field in the appellate court. The young man did not work in the civil service for long, since it seemed unthinkable and routine for him to maintain strict discipline. He worked in 1836 as a government clerk in Aachen, and the following year in Potsdam. This is followed by a year of volunteer service in the Greifswald Rifle Battalion Guard. In 1839, he and his brother took over the management of the family estates in Pomerania after the death of their mother.
He returned to Konarzevo at the age of 24. In 1846, he first rented out the estate, and then sold the property inherited from his father to his nephew Philip in 1868. The property remained in the von Bismarck family until 1945. The last owners were brothers Klaus and Philipp, sons of Gottfried von Bismarck.
In 1844, after his sister's marriage, he went to live with his father in Schönhausen. As a passionate hunter and duelist, he gains a reputation as a "savage".
Carier start
After the death of his father, Otto and his brother take an active part in the life of the area. In 1846, he began working in the office responsible for the operation of the dams, which served as protection against flooding of the regions located on the Elbe. During these years he traveled extensively in England, France and Switzerland. The views inherited from his mother, his own broad outlook and critical attitude towards everything, disposed him to free views with an extreme right-wing bias. He quite original and actively defended the rights of the king and the Christian monarchy in the fight against liberalism. After the outbreak of the revolution, Otto proposed to bring peasants from Schönhausen to Berlin to protect the king from the revolutionary movement. He did not take part in the meetings, but was actively involved in the formation of the Union of the Conservative Party and was one of the founders of the Kreuz-Zeitung, which has since become the newspaper of the monarchist party in Prussia. In the parliament elected at the beginning of 1849, he became one of the sharpest speakers among the representatives of the young nobility. He figured prominently in discussions about the new Prussian constitution, always defending the king's authority. His speeches were distinguished by a unique style of debate combined with originality. Otto understood that party disputes were merely a struggle for power between revolutionary forces and that no compromise was possible between these principles. There was also a clear position on the foreign policy of the Prussian government, in which he actively opposed plans to create a union that would force submission to a single parliament. In 1850, he held a seat in the Erfurt parliament, where he zealously opposed the constitution created by parliament, foreseeing that such government policies would lead to a struggle against Austria, during which Prussia would be the loser. This position of Bismarck prompted the king in 1851 to appoint him first as the chief Prussian representative and then as a minister in the Bundestag in Frankfurt am Main. This was a rather bold appointment, since Bismarck had no experience in diplomatic work.
Here he is trying to achieve equal rights for Prussia and Austria, lobbying for recognition of the Bundestag and is a supporter of small German associations, without Austrian participation. During the eight years he spent in Frankfurt, he became extremely well versed in politics, making him an indispensable diplomat. However, the period he spent in Frankfurt was associated with important changes in political views. In June 1863, Bismarck published regulations regulating freedom of the press and the Crown Prince publicly abandoned the policies of his father's ministers.
Bismarck in the Russian Empire
During the Crimean War, he advocated an alliance with Russia. Bismarck was appointed Prussian ambassador to St. Petersburg, where he stayed from 1859 to 1862. Here he studied the experience of Russian diplomacy. By his own admission, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Gorchakov, is a great expert in diplomatic art. During his time in Russia, Bismarck not only learned the language, but also developed relationships with Alexander II and with the Dowager Empress, a Prussian princess.
During the first two years he had little influence on the Prussian government: the liberal ministers did not trust his opinion, and the regent was upset by Bismarck's willingness to create an alliance with the Italians. The estrangement between King William and the liberal party opened the path to power for Otto. Albrecht von Roon, who was appointed Minister of War in 1861, was his old friend, and thanks to him Bismarck was able to monitor the state of affairs in Berlin. When a crisis arose in 1862 due to parliament's refusal to vote on the funds needed to reorganize the army, he was summoned to Berlin. The king still could not decide to increase the role of Bismarck, but clearly understood that Otto was the only person who had the courage and ability to fight parliament.
After the death of Frederick William IV, his place on the throne was taken by the regent William I, Frederick Ludwig. When Bismarck left his post in the Russian Empire in 1862, the Tsar offered him a position in the Russian service, but Bismarck refused.
In June 1862 he was appointed ambassador to Paris under Napoleon III. He studies in detail the school of French Bonapartism. In September, the king, on the advice of Roon, summoned Bismarck to Berlin and appointed him prime minister and minister of foreign affairs.
New field
Bismarck's main responsibility as minister was to support the king in reorganizing the army. The dissatisfaction caused by his appointment was serious. His reputation as a categorical ultra-conservative, reinforced by his first speech regarding the belief that the German question could not be settled only by speeches and parliamentary resolutions, but solely by blood and iron, increased the fears of the opposition. There can be no doubt about his determination to bring to an end the long struggle for the supremacy of the dynasty of Electors of the House of Hohenzollern over the Habsburgs. However, two unforeseen events completely changed the situation in Europe and forced the confrontation to be postponed for three years. The first was the outbreak of rebellion in Poland. Bismarck, heir to the old Prussian traditions, remembering the contribution of the Poles to the greatness of Prussia, offered his assistance to the Tsar. By doing this he placed himself in opposition to Western Europe. The political dividend was the tsar's gratitude and Russian support. Even more serious were the difficulties that arose in Denmark. Bismarck was again forced to confront national sentiment.
German reunification
Through the efforts of Bismarck's political will, the North German Confederation was founded by 1867.
The North German Confederation included:
- Kingdom of Prussia,
- Kingdom of Saxony,
- Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin,
- Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz,
- Grand Duchy of Oldenburg,
- Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach,
- Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg,
- Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha,
- Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen,
- Duchy of Brunswick,
- Duchies of Anhalt,
- Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen,
- Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt,
- Principality of Reiss-Greiz,
- Principality of Reiss-Gera,
- Principality of Lippe,
- Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe,
- Principality of Waldeck,
- Cities: , and .
Bismarck founded the union, introduced direct suffrage for the Reichstag and the exclusive responsibility of the Federal Chancellor. He himself took up the post of chancellor on July 14, 1867. As chancellor, he controlled the country's foreign policy and was responsible for all the internal policies of the empire, and his influence was visible in every department of state.
Fight against the Roman Catholic Church
After the unification of the country, the government faced the question of unification of faith more urgently than ever. The core of the country, being purely Protestant, faced religious opposition from adherents of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1873, Bismarck not only came under great criticism, but was also wounded by an aggressive believer. This was not the first attempt. In 1866, shortly before the outbreak of war, he was attacked by Cohen, a native of Württemberg, who wanted to save Germany from a fratricidal war.
The Catholic Center Party unites, attracting the nobility. However, the Chancellor signs the May laws, taking advantage of the numerical superiority of the national liberal party. Another fanatic, apprentice Franz Kuhlmann, on July 13, 1874, makes another attack on the authorities. Long and hard work affects the health of a politician. Bismarck resigned several times. After his retirement he lived in Friedrichsruch.
Personal life of the Chancellor
In 1844, in Konarzewo, Otto met the Prussian noblewoman Joanne von Puttkamer. On July 28, 1847, their wedding took place in the parish church near Reinfeld. Undemanding and deeply religious, Joanna was a loyal colleague who provided significant support throughout her husband's career. Despite the difficult loss of his first lover and the intrigue with the wife of the Russian ambassador Orlova, his marriage turned out to be happy. The couple had three children: Mary in 1848, Herbert in 1849 and William in 1852.
Joanna died on November 27, 1894 at the Bismarck homestead at the age of 70. The husband built a chapel in which she was buried. Her remains were later moved to the Bismarck Mausoleum in Friedrichsruch.
Last years
In 1871, the emperor gave him part of the possessions of the Duchy of Lauenburg. On his seventieth birthday, he was given a large sum of money, part of which was used to buy out the estate of his ancestors in Schönhausen, part of it to buy an estate in Pomerania, which he henceforth used as a country residence, and the rest of the funds were given to create a fund to help schoolchildren.
On retirement, the Emperor granted him the title of Duke of Lauenburg, but he never used this title. Bismarck spent his last years not far from. He fiercely criticized the government, sometimes in conversation, sometimes from the pages of Hamburg publications. His eightieth birthday in 1895 was celebrated on a grand scale. He died in Friedrichsruch on July 31, 1898.
Otto von Bismarck (Eduard Leopold von Schönhausen) was born on April 1, 1815 on the family estate of Schönhausen in Brandenburg northwest of Berlin, the third son of the Prussian landowner Ferdinand von Bismarck-Schönhausen and Wilhelmina Mencken, and was given the name Otto Eduard Leopold at birth.
The estate of Schönhausen was located in the heart of the province of Brandenburg, which occupied a special place in the history of early Germany. To the west of the estate, five miles away, flowed the Elbe River, the main water and transport artery of Northern Germany. The Schönhausen estate has been in the hands of the Bismarck family since 1562.
All generations of this family served the rulers of Brandenburg in peaceful and military fields.
Wilhelmina, Otto's mother, was from a family of civil servants and belonged to the middle class. Such marriages became more and more common in the 19th century, as the educated middle classes and the old aristocracy began to merge into a new elite.
At the insistence of Wilhelmina, Bernhard, the elder brother, and Otto were sent to study at the Plaman school in Berlin, where Otto studied from 1822 to 1827. At the age of 12, Otto left school and moved to the Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium, where he studied for three years. In 1830, Otto moved to the gymnasium "At the Gray Monastery", where he felt freer than in previous educational institutions. Neither mathematics, nor the history of the ancient world, nor the achievements of the new German culture attracted the attention of the young cadet. Otto was most interested in the politics of past years, the history of military and peaceful rivalry between different countries.
After graduating from high school, Otto entered the university in Göttingen on May 10, 1832, at the age of 17, where he studied law. While a student, he gained a reputation as a reveler and brawler, and excelled in duels. Otto played cards for money and drank a lot. In September 1833, Otto moved to the New Metropolitan University in Berlin, where life turned out to be cheaper. To be more precise, Bismarck was only registered at the university, since he almost did not attend lectures, but used the services of tutors who visited him before exams. He received his diploma in 1835 and was soon hired to work at the Berlin Municipal Court. In 1837, Otto took the position of tax official in Aachen, and a year later - the same position in Potsdam. There he joined the Guards Jaeger Regiment. In the fall of 1838, Bismarck moved to Greifswald, where, in addition to performing his military duties, he studied animal breeding methods at the Elden Academy.
Bismarck is a landowner.
On January 1, 1839, Otto von Bismarck's mother, Wilhelmina, died. The death of his mother did not make a strong impression on Otto: only much later did he come to a true assessment of her qualities. However, this event resolved for some time the urgent problem of what he should do after finishing his military service. Otto helped his brother Bernhard manage the Pomeranian estates, and their father returned to Schönhausen. His father's financial losses, coupled with his innate distaste for the lifestyle of a Prussian official, forced Bismarck to resign in September 1839 and take over the leadership of the family estates in Pomerania. In private conversations, Otto explained this by saying that his temperament was not suitable for the position of a subordinate. He did not tolerate any authority over himself: “My pride requires me to command, and not to carry out other people’s orders.”. Otto von Bismarck, like his father, decided "live and die in the village" .
Otto von Bismarck himself studied accounting, chemistry, and agriculture. His brother, Bernhard, took almost no part in the management of the estates. Bismarck turned out to be a shrewd and practical landowner, winning the respect of his neighbors both with his theoretical knowledge of agriculture and practical success. The value of the estates increased by more than a third in the nine years that Otto ruled them, with three of the nine years experiencing a widespread agricultural crisis. And yet Otto could not be just a landowner.
 |
At the estate, Bismarck continued his education, taking up the works of Hegel, Kant, Spinoza, David Friedrich Strauss and Feuerbach. Otto studied English literature very well, since England and its affairs occupied Bismarck more than any other country. Intellectually, the “mad Bismarck” was far superior to his neighbors, the Junkers.
In mid-1841, Otto von Bismarck wanted to marry Ottoline von Puttkamer, the daughter of a wealthy cadet. However, her mother refused him, and in order to unwind, Otto went traveling, visiting England and France. This vacation helped Bismarck to relieve the boredom of rural life in Pomerania. Bismarck became more sociable and made many friends.
Bismarck's entry into politics.
After his father's death in 1845, the family property was divided and Bismarck received the estates of Schönhausen and Kniephof in Pomerania. In 1847 he married Johanna von Puttkamer, a distant relative of the girl he had courted in 1841. Among his new friends in Pomerania were Ernst Leopold von Gerlach and his brother, who were not only at the head of the Pomeranian Pietists, but also part of a group of court advisers.
Bismarck, a student of Gerlach, became famous for his conservative position during the constitutional struggle in Prussia in 1848-1850. From a “mad cadet” Bismarck turned into a “mad deputy” of the Berlin Landtag. Opposing the liberals, Bismarck contributed to the creation of various political organizations and newspapers, including the Neue Preussische Zeitung (New Prussian Newspaper). He was a member of the lower house of the Prussian parliament in 1849 and the Erfurt parliament in 1850, when he opposed a federation of German states (with or without Austria), because he believed that this unification would strengthen the growing revolutionary movement. In his Olmütz speech, Bismarck spoke in defense of King Frederick William IV, who capitulated to Austria and Russia. The pleased monarch wrote about Bismarck: "Ardent reactionary. Use later" .In May 1851, the king appointed Bismarck to represent Prussia in the Diet in Frankfurt am Main. There, Bismarck almost immediately came to the conclusion that Prussia’s goal could not be a German confederation with Austria in a dominant position and that war with Austria was inevitable if Prussia took a dominant position in a united Germany. As Bismarck improved in the study of diplomacy and the art of statecraft, he increasingly moved away from the views of the king and his camarilla. For his part, the king began to lose confidence in Bismarck. In 1859, the king's brother Wilhelm, who was regent at the time, relieved Bismarck of his duties and sent him as envoy to St. Petersburg. There Bismarck became close to the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince A.M. Gorchakov, who assisted Bismarck in his efforts aimed at diplomatic isolation of first Austria and then France.
Otto von Bismarck - Minister-President of Prussia. His diplomacy.
In 1862, Bismarck was sent as envoy to France to the court of Napoleon III. He was soon recalled by King William I to resolve differences in the issue of military appropriations, which was heatedly discussed in the lower house of parliament.
In September of the same year he became head of government, and a little later - minister-president and minister of foreign affairs of Prussia.A militant conservative, Bismarck announced to the liberal majority of parliament, consisting of representatives of the middle class, that the government would continue collecting taxes in accordance with the old budget, because parliament, due to internal contradictions, would not be able to pass a new budget. (This policy continued in 1863-1866, which allowed Bismarck to carry out military reform.) At a parliamentary committee meeting on September 29, Bismarck emphasized: “The great questions of the time will not be decided by speeches and resolutions of the majority - this was the blunder of 1848 and 1949 - but iron and blood." Since the upper and lower houses of parliament were unable to develop a unified strategy on the issue of national defense, the government, according to Bismarck, should have taken the initiative and forced parliament to agree with its decisions. By limiting the activities of the press, Bismarck took serious measures to suppress the opposition.
For their part, the liberals sharply criticized Bismarck for his proposal to support the Russian Emperor Alexander II in suppressing the Polish uprising of 1863-1864 (Alvensleben Convention of 1863). Over the next decade, Bismarck's policies led to three wars: the war with Denmark in 1864, after which Schleswig, Holstein (Holstein) and Lauenburg were annexed to Prussia; Austria in 1866; and France (Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871).
On April 9, 1866, the day after Bismarck signed a secret agreement on a military alliance with Italy in the event of an attack on Austria, he presented to the Bundestag his project for a German parliament and universal secret suffrage for the country's male population. After the decisive battle of Kötiggrätz (Sadowa), in which German troops defeated the Austrian ones, Bismarck managed to achieve the abandonment of the annexationist claims of Wilhelm I and the Prussian generals who wanted to enter Vienna and demanded large territorial gains, and offered Austria an honorable peace (Prague Peace of 1866) . Bismarck did not allow Wilhelm I to “bring Austria to its knees” by occupying Vienna. The future chancellor insisted on relatively easy peace terms for Austria in order to ensure its neutrality in the future conflict between Prussia and France, which became inevitable from year to year. Austria was expelled from the German Confederation, Venice joined Italy, Hanover, Nassau, Hesse-Kassel, Frankfurt, Schleswig and Holstein went to Prussia.
One of the most important consequences of the Austro-Prussian War was the formation of the North German Confederation, which, along with Prussia, included about 30 other states. All of them, according to the constitution adopted in 1867, formed a single territory with laws and institutions common to all. The foreign and military policy of the union was actually transferred to the hands of the Prussian king, who was declared its president. A customs and military treaty was soon concluded with the South German states. These steps clearly showed that Germany was rapidly moving towards its unification under the leadership of Prussia.
The southern German states of Bavaria, Württemberg and Baden remained outside the North German Confederation. France did everything possible to prevent Bismarck from including these lands in the North German Confederation. Napoleon III did not want to see a united Germany on his eastern borders. Bismarck understood that this problem could not be solved without war. Over the next three years, Bismarck's secret diplomacy was directed against France. In Berlin, Bismarck introduced a bill to parliament exempting him from liability for unconstitutional actions, which was approved by the liberals. French and Prussian interests clashed every now and then on various issues. Militant anti-German sentiment was strong in France at that time. Bismarck played on them.
Appearance "Ems dispatch" was caused by the scandalous events surrounding the nomination of Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern (nephew of William I) to the Spanish throne, which was vacated after the revolution in Spain in 1868. Bismarck correctly calculated that France would never agree to such an option and, in the event of Leopold’s accession to Spain, would begin to rattle sabers and make belligerent statements against the North German Union, which would sooner or later end in war. Therefore, he vigorously promoted Leopold’s candidacy, however, assuring Europe that the German government was completely uninvolved in the Hohenzollern claims to the Spanish throne. In his circulars, and later in his memoirs, Bismarck in every possible way denied his participation in this intrigue, arguing that the nomination of Prince Leopold to the Spanish throne was a “family” affair of the Hohenzollerns. In fact, Bismarck and War Minister Roon and Chief of the General Staff Moltke, who came to his aid, spent a lot of effort to convince the reluctant Wilhelm I to support Leopold’s candidacy.
As Bismarck had hoped, Leopold's bid for the Spanish throne caused a storm of indignation in Paris. On July 6, 1870, the French Foreign Minister Duke de Gramont exclaimed: “This will not happen, we are sure of it... Otherwise, we would be able to fulfill our duty without showing any weakness or hesitation.” After this statement, Prince Leopold, without any consultation with the king or Bismarck, announced that he was renouncing his claims to the Spanish throne.
This step was not part of Bismarck's plans. Leopold's refusal destroyed his hopes that France would itself start a war against the North German Confederation. This was fundamentally important for Bismarck, who sought to ensure the neutrality of the leading European states in a future war, which he later succeeded in largely due to the fact that France was the attacking party. It is difficult to judge how sincere Bismarck was in his memoirs when he wrote that upon receiving the news of Leopold’s refusal to take the Spanish throne "My first thought was to resign"(Bismarck more than once submitted requests for resignation to Wilhelm I, using them as one of the means of putting pressure on the king, who without his chancellor meant nothing in politics), however, another of his memoirs, dating back to the same time, looks quite reliable: “At that time I already considered war a necessity, which we could not avoid with honor.” .
While Bismarck was wondering what other ways could be used to provoke France into declaring war, the French themselves gave an excellent reason for this. On July 13, 1870, the French ambassador Benedetti showed up to William I, who was vacationing on the Ems waters, in the morning and conveyed to him a rather impudent request from his minister Gramont - to assure France that he (the king) would never give his consent if Prince Leopold again put forward his candidacy for Spanish throne. The king, outraged by such an act that was truly daring for the diplomatic etiquette of those times, responded with a sharp refusal and interrupted Benedetti’s audience. A few minutes later, he received a letter from his ambassador in Paris, which stated that Gramont insisted that William, in a handwritten letter, assure Napoleon III that he had no intention of harming the interests and dignity of France. This news completely infuriated William I. When Benedetti asked for a new audience to talk on this topic, he refused to receive him and conveyed through his adjutant that he had said his last word.
Bismarck learned about these events from a dispatch sent in the afternoon from Ems by Councilor Abeken. The dispatch to Bismarck was delivered during lunch. Roon and Moltke dined with him. Bismarck read the dispatch to them. The dispatch made the most difficult impression on the two old soldiers. Bismarck recalled that Roon and Moltke were so upset that they “neglected food and drink.” Having finished reading, Bismarck some time later asked Moltke about the state of the army and its readiness for war. Moltke responded in the spirit that “the immediate start of war is more profitable than delaying it.” After this, Bismarck immediately edited the telegram at the dinner table and read it to the generals. Here is its text: “After the news of the abdication of the Crown Prince of Hohenzollern had been officially communicated to the French Imperial Government by the Spanish Royal Government, the French Ambassador at Ems presented to His Royal Majesty an additional demand: to authorize him to telegraph to Paris that His Majesty the King undertakes for all future times never give his consent if the Hohenzollerns return to their candidacy. His Majesty the King refused to receive the French Ambassador again and ordered the adjutant on duty to tell him that His Majesty had nothing more to tell the Ambassador."
Even Bismarck's contemporaries suspected him of falsification "Ems dispatch". The German Social Democrats Liebknecht and Bebel were the first to talk about this. In 1891, Liebknecht even published the brochure “The Ems Dispatch, or How Wars Are Made.” Bismarck wrote in his memoirs that he only deleted “something” from the dispatch, but did not add “a word” to it. What did Bismarck delete from the Ems Dispatch? First of all, something that could indicate the true inspirer of the appearance of the king’s telegram in print. Bismarck crossed out the wish of William I to transfer “to the discretion of your Excellency, i.e. Bismarck, the question of whether we should inform both our representatives and the press about Benedetti’s new demand and the king’s refusal.” To strengthen the impression of the French envoy's disrespect for William I, Bismarck did not insert into the new text a mention of the fact that the king answered the ambassador "rather sharply." The remaining reductions were not significant. The new edition of the Ems dispatch brought Roon and Moltke, who dined with Bismarck, out of depression. The latter exclaimed: “It sounds different; before it sounded like a signal to retreat, now it sounds like a fanfare.” Bismarck began to develop his further plans for them: “We must fight if we do not want to take on the role of the defeated without a fight. But success depends largely on the impressions that the origin of the war will cause in us and others; it is important that we be those who were attacked, and Gallic arrogance and resentment will help us in this ... "
Further events unfolded in the direction most desirable for Bismarck. The publication of the "Ems dispatch" in many German newspapers caused a storm of indignation in France. Foreign Minister Gramon shouted indignantly in parliament that Prussia had given France a slap in the face. On July 15, 1870, the head of the French cabinet, Emile Olivier, demanded a loan of 50 million francs from parliament and announced the government’s decision to draft reservists into the army “in response to the call to war.” The future President of France, Adolphe Thiers, who in 1871 would make peace with Prussia and drown the Paris Commune in blood, was still a member of parliament in July 1870, and was perhaps the only sane politician in France in those days. He tried to convince the deputies to refuse Olivier a loan and to call up reservists, arguing that since Prince Leopold had renounced the Spanish crown, French diplomacy had achieved its goal and there was no need to quarrel with Prussia over words and bring the matter to a break on a purely formal issue. Olivier responded to this that he was “with a light heart” ready to bear the responsibility that now fell on him. In the end, the deputies approved all the government's proposals, and on July 19, France declared war on the North German Confederation.
Bismarck, meanwhile, communicated with the Reichstag deputies. It was important for him to carefully hide from the public his painstaking behind-the-scenes work to provoke France into declaring war. With his characteristic hypocrisy and resourcefulness, Bismarck convinced the deputies that the government and he personally did not participate in the whole story with Prince Leopold. He shamelessly lied when he told the deputies that he learned about Prince Leopold’s desire to take the Spanish throne not from the king, but from some “private individual”, that the North German ambassador left Paris on his own “for personal reasons”, and was not recalled by the government (in fact, Bismarck ordered the ambassador to leave France, irritated by his “softness” towards the French). Bismarck diluted this lie with a dose of truth. He did not lie when he said that the decision to publish a dispatch about the negotiations in Ems between William I and Benedetti was made by the government at the request of the king himself.
William I himself did not expect that the publication of the “Ems Dispatch” would lead to such a quick war with France. After reading Bismarck's edited text in the newspapers, he exclaimed: "This is war!" The king was afraid of this war. Bismarck later wrote in his memoirs that William I should not have negotiated with Benedetti at all, but he "subjected his person as monarch to the unscrupulous treatment of this foreign agent" largely because he yielded to pressure from his wife Queen Augusta with "her femininely justified by timidity and the national feeling she lacked.” Thus, Bismarck used William I as a cover for his behind-the-scenes intrigues against France.
When the Prussian generals began to win victory after victory over the French, not a single major European power stood up for France. This was the result of the preliminary diplomatic activities of Bismarck, who managed to achieve the neutrality of Russia and England. He promised Russia neutrality if it withdraws from the humiliating Treaty of Paris, which prohibited it from having its own fleet in the Black Sea; the British were outraged by the draft treaty published on Bismarck’s instructions on the annexation of Belgium by France. But the most important thing was that it was France that attacked the North German Confederation, despite the repeated peace-loving intentions and minor concessions that Bismarck made towards her (the withdrawal of Prussian troops from Luxembourg in 1867, statements about his readiness to abandon Bavaria and create from it to a neutral country, etc.). When editing the Ems Dispatch, Bismarck did not impulsively improvise, but was guided by the real achievements of his diplomacy and therefore emerged victorious. And, as you know, the winners are not judged. The authority of Bismarck, even in retirement, was so high in Germany that no one (except the Social Democrats) thought of pouring buckets of mud on him when in 1892 the true text of the “Ems Dispatch” was made public from the rostrum of the Reichstag.
Otto von Bismarck - Chancellor of the German Empire.
Exactly a month after the start of hostilities, a significant part of the French army was surrounded by German troops near Sedan and capitulated. Napoleon III himself surrendered to William I.
In November 1870, the South German states joined the United German Confederation, which was transformed from the North. In December 1870, the Bavarian king proposed to restore the German Empire and German imperial dignity, destroyed at one time by Napoleon. This proposal was accepted, and the Reichstag turned to Wilhelm I with a request to accept the imperial crown. In 1871, at Versailles, William I wrote on the envelope the address - "Chancellor of the German Empire", thereby confirming Bismarck's right to rule the empire that he created, and which was proclaimed on January 18 in the hall of mirrors at Versailles. On March 2, 1871, the Treaty of Paris was concluded - difficult and humiliating for France. The border regions of Alsace and Lorraine went to Germany. France had to pay 5 billion indemnities. Wilhelm I returned to Berlin as a triumphant man, although all the credit belonged to the chancellor.
The "Iron Chancellor", representing the interests of the minority and absolute power, ruled this empire in 1871-1890, relying on the consent of the Reichstag, where from 1866 to 1878 he was supported by the National Liberal Party. Bismarck carried out reforms of German law, government and finance. His educational reforms in 1873 led to conflict with the Roman Catholic Church, but the main cause of the conflict was the growing distrust of German Catholics (who made up about a third of the country's population) towards Protestant Prussia. When these contradictions manifested themselves in the activities of the Catholic Center Party in the Reichstag in the early 1870s, Bismarck was forced to take action. The struggle against the dominance of the Catholic Church was called "Kulturkampf"(Kulturkampf, struggle for culture). During it, many bishops and priests were arrested, hundreds of dioceses were left without leaders. Church appointments now had to be coordinated with the state; Church officials could not serve in the state apparatus. Schools were separated from the church, civil marriage was introduced, and the Jesuits were expelled from Germany.
Bismarck built his foreign policy based on the situation that developed in 1871 after the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian War and the seizure of Alsace and Lorraine by Germany, which became a source of constant tension. With the help of a complex system of alliances that ensured the isolation of France, the rapprochement of Germany with Austria-Hungary and the maintenance of good relations with Russia (the alliance of the three emperors - Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia in 1873 and 1881; the Austro-German alliance in 1879; "Triple Alliance" between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy in 1882; The "Mediterranean Agreement" of 1887 between Austria-Hungary, Italy and England and the "Reinsurance Treaty" with Russia of 1887) Bismarck managed to maintain peace in Europe. The German Empire under Chancellor Bismarck became one of the leaders in international politics.
In the field of foreign policy, Bismarck made every effort to consolidate the gains of the Frankfurt Peace of 1871, promoted the diplomatic isolation of the French Republic, and sought to prevent the formation of any coalition that threatened German hegemony. He chose not to participate in the discussion of claims against the weakened Ottoman Empire. When at the Berlin Congress of 1878, under the chairmanship of Bismarck, the next phase of the discussion of the “Eastern Question” ended, he played the role of an “honest broker” in the dispute between the rival parties. Although the Triple Alliance was directed against Russia and France, Otto von Bismarck believed that a war with Russia would be extremely dangerous for Germany. The secret treaty with Russia in 1887 - the "reinsurance treaty" - showed Bismarck's ability to act behind the backs of his allies, Austria and Italy, to maintain the status quo in the Balkans and the Middle East.
Until 1884, Bismarck did not give clear definitions of the course of colonial policy, mainly due to friendly relations with England. Other reasons were the desire to preserve German capital and minimize government spending. Bismarck's first expansionist plans aroused vigorous protests from all parties - Catholics, statists, socialists and even representatives of his own class - the Junkers. Despite this, under Bismarck Germany began to transform into a colonial empire.
In 1879, Bismarck broke with the liberals and subsequently relied on a coalition of large landowners, industrialists, and senior military and government officials.
Conflict with Wilhelm II and Bismarck's resignation.
With the accession of Wilhelm II in 1888, Bismarck lost control of the government.
Under Wilhelm I and Frederick III, who ruled for less than six months, none of the opposition groups could shake Bismarck's position. The self-confident and ambitious Kaiser refused to play a secondary role, declaring at one of the banquets in 1891: "There is only one master in the country - that is me, and I will not tolerate another"; and his strained relations with the Reich Chancellor became increasingly strained. The most serious differences emerged on the issue of amending the “Exceptional Law against Socialists” (in force in 1878-1890) and on the right of ministers subordinate to the Chancellor to have a personal audience with the Emperor. Wilhelm II hinted to Bismarck that his resignation was desirable and received his resignation from Bismarck on March 18, 1890. The resignation was accepted two days later, Bismarck received the title of Duke of Lauenburg, and he was also awarded the rank of Colonel General of the Cavalry.Bismarck's removal to Friedrichsruhe was not the end of his interest in political life. He was especially eloquent in his criticism of the newly appointed Reich Chancellor and Minister-President Count Leo von Caprivi. In 1891, Bismarck was elected to the Reichstag from Hanover, but never took his seat there, and two years later he refused to stand for re-election. In 1894, the emperor and the already aging Bismarck met again in Berlin - at the suggestion of Clovis of Hohenlohe, Prince of Schillingfürst, Caprivi's successor. In 1895, all of Germany celebrated the 80th anniversary of the “Iron Chancellor”. In June 1896, Prince Otto von Bismarck took part in the coronation of Russian Tsar Nicholas II. Bismarck died in Friedrichsruhe on July 30, 1898. The “Iron Chancellor” was buried at his own request on his estate Friedrichsruhe, and the inscription was engraved on the tombstone of his tomb: "Loyal servant of the German Kaiser Wilhelm I". In April 1945, the house in Schönhausen where Otto von Bismarck was born in 1815 was burned down by Soviet troops.
Bismarck's literary monument is his "Thoughts and Memories"(Gedanken und Erinnerungen), and "The Big Politics of European Cabinets"(Die grosse Politik der europaischen Kabinette, 1871-1914, 1924-1928) in 47 volumes serves as a monument to his diplomatic art.
References.
1. Emil Ludwig. Bismarck. - M.: Zakharov-AST, 1999.
2. Alan Palmer. Bismarck. - Smolensk: Rusich, 1998.
3. Encyclopedia "The World Around Us" (cd)
The first Chancellor of the German Empire, politician, Prince Otto von Bismarck is known not only for his state activities, but also for his apt statements, some of which have long become aphorisms. Today Anna Zarubina recalls the most striking quotes of the “Iron Chancellor”.
“Life has taught me to forgive a lot, but even more to seek forgiveness”
“They never lie so much as during the war, after the hunt and before the elections”
“Stupidity is a gift from God, but it should not be abused.”
"All of us - people and government Same"
Otto von Bismarck. Drawing by Franz Kruger, 1826
“The Russians take a long time to harness, but they travel quickly”
“Make alliances with anyone, start any wars, but never touch the Russians”
“Even a victorious war is an evil that must be prevented by the wisdom of nations.”
“Never trust Russians, because Russians don’t even trust themselves.”
Otto von Bismarck as Chancellor of Germany, 1871
“We cannot make history, we can only wait for it to happen.”
“Politics is the art of the possible”
“It’s not the work that’s exhausting., and responsibility"
“When the arguments run out, the guns start talking. "Force is the last argument of a stupid person"
“Iron Chancellor” Otto von Bismarck with his dogs Tiras II and Rebecca at the Friedrichsruh estate, July 6, 1891
“When you want to fool the whole world, tell the truth”
“Revolutions are prepared by geniuses, carried out by romantics, and their fruits are enjoyed by scoundrels.”
“All you have to do is put Germany in the saddle, and she will be able to gallop.”
“With bad laws and good officials it is quite possible to rule the country. But if the officials are bad, even the best laws will not help.”
Otto von Bismarck, 1886
“Freedom is a luxury that not everyone can afford”
“Friendship between a man and a woman becomes very weak when night falls.”
“With a gentleman I will always be half a great gentleman, with a crook I will always be half a big crook.”
“I was destined by nature to become a diplomat: I was born on the first of April”
