Otto von Bismarck

Otto von Bismarck
Chancellor of the German Empire
In office 21 March 1871 – 20 March 1890
Monarch	Wilhelm I Friedrich III Wilhelm II
Deputy	Otto Graf zu Stolberg-Wernigerode Karl Heinrich von Boetticher
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Leo von Caprivi
Minister President of Prussia
In office 9 November 1873 – 20 March 1890
Monarch	Wilhelm I Friedrich III Wilhelm II
Preceded by	Albrecht von Roon
Succeeded by	Leo von Caprivi
In office 23 September 1862 – 1 January 1873
Monarch	Wilhelm I
Preceded by	Adolf zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen
Succeeded by	Albrecht von Roon
Chancellor of the North German Confederation
In office 1 July 1867 – 21 March 1871
President	Wilhelm I
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 23 November 1862 – 20 March 1890
Prime Minister	Himself Albrecht von Roon
Preceded by	Albrecht von Bernstorff
Succeeded by	Leo von Caprivi
Personal details
Born	Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck-Schönhausen 1 April 1815 Schönhausen, Kreis Jerichow II, Province of Saxony, Prussia (now Saxony-Anhalt, Germany)
Died	30 July 1898 (aged 83) Friedrichsruh, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Political party	Independent
Spouse(s)	Johanna von Puttkamer ​ ​ (m. 1847; died 1894)​
Children	Marie Herbert Wilhelm
Parents	Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand von Bismarck (1771–1845) Wilhelmine Luise Mencken (1789–1839)
Alma mater	University of Göttingen University of Berlin University of Greifswald
Profession	Lawyer
Signature

Bismarck-Monument, Hamburg

Prince Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck-Schönhausen Duke of Lauenburg, (1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), was an aristocrat and statesman of the 19th century in Europe. As Prime Minister of Prussia from 1862 to 1890, he was most responsible for the uniting most of the many independent German countries into the new German Empire in 1871 and became its first chancellor until 1890.

He was Graf von Bismarck-Schönhausen (Count Bismarck-Schönhausen) in 1865. In 1871, he was Fürst von Bismarck (Prince Bismarck). In 1890, he became the Herzog von Lauenburg (Duke of Lauenburg). At first, he did not want to become a duke, but he accepted the title later.

Unification of Germany

In the 1860s, he engineered a series of wars that lasted until 1871 and unified most of the German states except Austria into the new German Empire, which was led by Prussia. He "remained undisputed world champion at the game of multilateral diplomatic chess for almost twenty years after 1871, [and] devoted himself exclusively, and successfully, to maintaining peace between the powers".

Bismarck conducted wars against Denmark (1864), Austria (1866) and France (1871) to make Prussia more powerful. The Franco-Prussian War was very significant in the long run. France lost Alsace–Lorraine during the German victory, which was led by the brilliant Helmuth von Moltke. The war also made Germany the most important country in Central Europe.

After the death of Kaiser Wilhelm I and that of his son, Frederick III, who briefly replaced him in 1888, a new era began without Bismarck and Moltke, with Wilhelm II now on the throne.

Policy at home

Bismarck was very conservative, strongly connected to the monarchy and opposed to democracy. His most important goal was to make Prussia stronger, which he did by unifying Germany. Bismarck tried to stop the rise of socialism and to reduce the power of the Catholic Church.

One way to stop socialism was to make the working class happy. Bismarck did so by introducing many social reforms like public health and accident insurance, as well as pensions for old people. His 's pension scheme was the forerunner of the modern welfare state in Germany, and many other countries started similar systems.

Diplomatic Polices

Bismarck also repeated his emphatic warning against any German military involvement in Balkan disputes. Bismarck had first made this famous comment to the Reichstag in December 1876, when the Balkan revolts against the Ottoman Empire threatened to extend to a war between Austria-Hungary and Russia: Only a year later [1876], he is faced by the alternative of espousing the cause of Russia or that of Austria-Hungary. Immediately after the last crisis, in the summer of 1875, the mutual jealousies between Russia and Austria-Hungary had been rendered acute by the fresh risings in the Balkans against the Turks. Now the issues hung upon Bismarck's decision. Immediately after the peace, he had tried to paralyse the Balkan rivals by the formation of the Three Emperors' League. "I have no thought of intervening," he said privately. "That might precipitate a European war.... If I were to espouse the cause of one of the parties, France would promptly strike a blow on the other side.... I am holding two powerful heraldic beasts by their collars, and am keeping them apart for two reasons: first of all, lest they should tear one another to pieces; and secondly, lest they should come to an understanding at our expense." In the Reichstag, he popularises the same idea in the words: "I am opposed to the notion of any sort of active participation of Germany in these matters, so long as I can see no reason to suppose that German interests are involved, no interests on behalf of which it is worth our risking—excuse my plain speaking—the healthy bones of one of our Pomeranian musketeers." In February 1888, during a Bulgarian crisis, Bismarck addressed the Reichstag on the dangers of a European war: He warned of the imminent possibility that Germany will have to fight on two fronts; he spoke of the desire for peace; then he set forth the Balkan case for war and demonstrated its futility: "Bulgaria, that little country between the Danube and the Balkans, is far from being an object of adequate importance... for which to plunge Europe from Moscow to the Pyrenees, and from the North Sea to Palermo, into a war whose issue no man can foresee. At the end of the conflict we should scarcely know why we had fought." {Ironically both of this prophies would come true in the Second World War of 1939-1945 (Fighting on 2 Fronts); a war which was brought about by World War I [Balkan dispute] which had been started by the Serbia killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinard in 1914]

Assassination Attempts

Twice Assassins tried to kill him.

• May 7, 1866 by student Ferdinand Cohen-Blind in Berlin who shot him multiple times (grazing him) before committing suicide in custody MAY 8, 1866, Bismarck spun around and grabbed his attacker, who was able to fire three more shots; before soldiers from the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Guards rushed up and took him into custody. A soldier nearby was shot in the crossfire. The King's physician, Gustav von Lauer, later examined Bismarck. Lauer noted that the first three bullets had only grazed Bismarck's body and the last two had ricocheted off the ribs and had caused no major injuries
• July 13, 1874 a worker Eduard Kullman in Bad Kissingen, shot at him [his motive he aimed to end the Kulturkampf by killing Bismarck]. Kullmann popped out of the crowd and fired a shot towards Bismarck's head at a distance of about one to one and a half paces. The bullet grazed Bismarck's right hand and went past his head. Bismarck also reportedly suffered burns to his face from the gun going off so close to him. Kullmann threw his pistol away and tried to run away, however the coachman Sebastian Schmidt smacked him in the face with his whip. This allowed several bystanders, including Hungarian opera singer José Lederer, to attack Kullmann and prevent him from escaping so the police could arrest him. Kullmann was convicted of the attempted murder of Otto von Bismarck on October 30, 1874. He was given fourteen years' imprisonment with hard labor at Bayreuth Prison. While in prison, Kullmann committed 36 offenses and suffered severe consequences for his insubordination. He received a seven-year sentence for his offenses in prison and was transferred to Amberg Prison in 1888. Kullmann died alone there on March 16, 1892.

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  Cohen-Blind shoots Bismarck
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  Cohen-Blind's 6-shot Lefaucheux Pepperbox-Revolver

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  Kullman shoots at Bismarck
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  Kullman's Joseph Chaineux "bundle" revolver which shot "bundle" of small cartridges or pellets) from a single barrel
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  Eduard Kullmann in prison July 13, 1874

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  Anton von Werner's patriotic, much-reproduced depiction of the proclamation of Wilhelm I as German emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. Bismarck is in the centre, wearing a white uniform (1885).
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  Cartoon from 1867 making fun of Bismarck's different roles, from general to minister of foreign affairs, federal chancellor, hunter, diplomat and president of the parliament of the Zollverein, the Prussian-dominated German customs union
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  Cartoon showing Bismarck polices of Keeping France Politcally isolated
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  Dropping the Pilot. Cartoon by Sir John Tenniel (1820-1914), first published in the British magazine Punch, 29 March 1890. Bismarck forced retirement by Wilhelm II; Baimarck later received a personel copy by Tenniel