Bismarck’s Tears

The story of Otto von Bismarck.

There’s a lesson to be learnt from every empire. The most astounding, mind-boggling, heart-wrenching lesson to digest, is the story of Otto von Bismarck, and the desolation of his life work.

A Brief Background of Bismarck

Otto was born a member to the wealthy Schönhausen estate. His father, Karl von Bismarck, was a former military officer and a Junker. A Junker is the term used to describe any wealthy Eastern Prussian, mostly nobility. Naturally, Otto followed in his footsteps, attending a variety of universities, and holding multiple military positions. In fact, he as a young man, attended the following schools before turning age 30.

List of Schools

• University of Göttingen
• Corps Hannovera
• University of Berlin
• University of Greifswald

He returned to his home in his mid 20's, following his mothers death. When he was 32, he became the head of the newly formed Prussian legislature, landing the job because of his Junker status.

Political Life

As a young politician, he openly came out as a royalist. He was a rigid conservative, and even floated the idea that the monarch had the divine right to rule, which was an idea that had fallen during the enlightenment era of France, and the English civil war.

Sometime after his entry into politics. Austria became a prominent figure in the German States, which humiliated Prussia, and it’s dream to unite the German states. Within this time, Otto begun to become less reactionary, and more pragmatic. This was when he begun operating on the basis of realpolitik. The notion of this, was to react on the basis of reality rather than theory or principle. In other words, he was flexible with his views and actions.

Bismarck became convinced that to maintain the conservative Germany he loved, and rid the states of Austria as a presence, Prussia would have to ally with other German states. Middle class liberals were more concerned with the unification of Germany, than overthrowing the conservative system in place. So unification was a brilliant compromise for conservative Prussians and liberals.

The Three Unification Wars

On 30 September 1862, Bismarck made a famous speech to the Budget Committee of the Prussian Chamber of Deputies in which he expounded on the use of “iron and blood” to achieve Prussia’s goals.

The great questions of the time will not be resolved by speeches and majority decisions, but by iron and blood. ~Otto von Bismarck

War One: Defeat of Denmark

After the passing of Frederick VII of Denmark, a diplomatic battle begun, where the throne was disputed between Christian IX and Frederick von Augustenburg. Prussia sided with Augustenburg, and declared he shall be the ruler. When Denmark refused to comply, Austria and Prussia took up arms and used force to get their way. This seemed like a victory for Augustenburg, but Otto had him removed from power, and took control of the military for Prussia.

War Two: Defeat of Austria

Austria didn’t support Prussia’s direct involvement in Denmark, taking control of their military. Otto used the disagreement as an excuse to create a war with Austria. Prussia had relatively the same number of troops as Austria, but had fewer alliances with their fellow German states. Austria had most northern and southern states backing, so as a response, Otto pulled a cunning move. He formed an alliance with Italy, who wanted Austrian land that they lost in prior wars. With Italian aid, and Prussian military Witt, Otto beat Austria in 7 weeks flat, which coined the term blitzkrieg, or lightening war.

War Three: The Franco-Prussian War

At this stage, few of the German states were found of Prussia, none of which were willing to unite under their rule. It was because of this, Otto knew he needed to do something desperate, and risky to unite Germany. That risky move, was war with France. None of the German states liked Prussia or France, but if they must choose, they’d choose Prussia over the French. So if Prussia declared war with France, the German states would back Prussia, and unite behind their king. Once war was declared, the states backed Prussia, and provided troops. Germany won victory after victory, eventually defeating France.

Unification

Soon after the three wars, while nationalism was at an all time high within the German States. Prussia offered concessions to each and every state if, and only if they unify.

Each of the states agreed, and did so enthusiastically. This was the official unification of Germany. With the unification, came the formation of the richest empire in Europe. Within a short period of time, Bismarck single handedly birthed the most powerful Europe has seen in centuries.

Downfall

Otto von Bismarck was successful in uniting Germany, but the way in which he united it lead to his very own downfall. Otto was a member of the upper-class elite, and that alone landed him the role of becoming a politician.

The issue is, that if a nation’s leaders are chosen on the basis of wealth and bloodline, like how Otto was, rather than a democratic process, a smart leader isn’t guaranteed. Yet that was the system Otto advocated for, and ensured to maintain with the formation of the empire.

This lead to the sad part of Otto’s legacy. It took one man to create the German Empire, and it also took one man to topple it. Young emperor Wilhelm II abolished Otto’s political position as chancellor, wanting to be an absolute monarch. In other words, Otto’s belief in the divine right to rule backfired, when the “divine” punk fired him.

Wilhelm thought he knew everything there is to know about politics, and was power hungry, so he figured Bismarck's services were no longer required. In 1890 Bismarck unwillingly retired, dying 8 years later in 1898. Wilhelm II then lead the empire into war, which would leave millions of Germans dead, and the country in economic ruin. Not only that, the Versailles treaty abolished the formation of the empire, officially ending Otto’s legacy.

The Moral of the Story

The moral of this story is simple, yet it’s very much so undermined in our society. And that lesson is the importance of democracy. Democracy being defined as people having the means to a state’s autonomy.

So many times throughout history, we see cases where a single individual destroys what a collective society has worked for. In this instance, we see Otto von Bismarck’s entire life work go to ruins, all because an idiotic emperor decided he wanted to be an absolute monarch.

This should be a reminder, that we can never allow money, ruling elites, or power hungry maniacs to just waltz on in, and destroy our societies. If you agree, make sure to recommend this post.