The Iron Chancellor - Otto Von Bismarck - Essay Example

The Iron Chancellor Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck or popularly known as Otto Von Bismarck was one of the most influential politician and s man of Germany who belonged in the second half of nineteenth century. He was the Minister-President of Prussia for 28 years (1862-1890). Bismarck was one of the earlier proponents of German Unification and in 1871 he became the first chancellor of newly founded German empire. Owing to his diplomatic skills and strong policies formed, undertaken and implemented, he was also known as the iron chancellor. He had a long lasting impact on German and International politics through out his tenure and even posthumously his influence hovered around the diplomatic arena of Germany often impacting the foreign relations. Early Life and Career Otto Von Bismarck was born on 1st April 1815 at Schönhausen, Brandenberg, Prussia. Bismarck was from an aristocratic family and both his father and mother were from noble blood. The military background of his father and the political background of his mother unified at an optimum level within Bismarck and in later period of life helped him to excel in life. Bismarck completed his schooling at the Friedrich-Wilhelm and Graues Kloster secondary schools. Thereafter he went to University of Gottingen (1832-33) to study law and later enrolled himself in University of Berlin (1833-35). Bismarck had a brief career in law and as a soldier but returned to his family estate following his mother’s death. In 1847 he married Johanna von Puttkammer and their happy married life reproduced three children, two boys and a daughter. Till his marriage there was almost no sign that this man one day will become one of the father figures of modern Germany. Rather his education and sophistication caught eyes as he was comfortable in English, German and Russian. He was also well versed in Shakespeare and Byron and used to quote them in his letters. Early Political Career It was in the year of his marriage that he became an elected member of newly formed Prussian legislature and owing to his conservative Lutheran background he shared an image of reactionary and royalist politician. His loyalty to the monarchy can be easily gauged from the fact that he was an open advocate of the ideology that god has entrusted the divine right to rule on the monarchy. If Bismarck’s election as a legislative member in Prussia is considered as his introduction to politics then year 1848 might be considered as the first step to famous hood. In 1848 a revolution swapped Germany and the king soon found him self to be safe only around the military protection at Postdam. The liberals who were considered to be the driving force against this revolution were offered several facilities so that they tame their onrush on monarchy. The situation remained at a bottleneck as liberals seemed to be not interested in any sort of negotiation. Bismarck remained loyal to the king and soon tried to unite the peasants in his constituency in order to raise a force in favour of the king. In no time he travelled to Berlin to unite with the King’s force but there he was suggested to devote his service to restore the food supply chain for the army from his own estate and keep his constituted force ready in order to render his service when needed. Situation at the battlefield had worsened for the German monarchy with king’s brother William who was throne in later times flying in England to save his back. Bismarck joined with Augusta, Williams’s wife to place her son on Prussian throne, but in later period of their life none of them reckoned Bismarck’s role at their distress. However irrespective of what he received Bismarck played an important role to restore the relation between king and his brother at least at working level. Strangely enough Bismarck did not find a place in next year’s (1848) Prussian assembly. Later this year liberal fell weak, following a group of internal collision and friction. The conservatives took advantage of the situation and were able to win back their lost glory to a large extent. Following the restoration of the conservatives Bismarck too were re-elected in Prussian assembly. Interestingly the greatest proponent of German Unification was against that idea at this particular phase of his political career. Bismarck was with a view that German unification might cost Prussia of its own identity. However when he was asked to represent Prussia in Erfurt parliament a common platform for all the German states, he accepted that with comfort. Erfurt was an ironical body, the main goal of that parliament was to discuss a possible German unification but in sharp discourse their main interest were limited in refuting each other’s proposal. In other words it was a chaotic body. Prussia and Austria were most important German states of that time and might be considered as the two main sources of dispute on German unification. The two states never came close on a possible remedy of German unification and the desired goal of Erfurt parliament seemed to be a distant one. Finally in 1850 Prussian prime minister of that time Radowitz extended a proposal of German unification under the dominance of Prussia, not only the proposal was turned down rather Prussia received enough humiliation on a quarrel over Hesse region. Following the collapse of Erfurt Bismarck was chosen as a representative of Prussia in the Diet of the German Confederation in Frankfurt. In order to move to Frankfurt Bismarck left his seat at Prussian Assembly. His time in Frankfurt matured him as a politician and there by can be considered as a turning point in his political career. Bismarck’s indomitable character reflected in his years at Frankfurt through his long battle with Austrian representative on equal rights for Prussia (Till that time Austrians at Frankfurt used to enjoy more privilege and respect than Prussians). His eight years in Frankfurt witnessed his transformation from an ultra conservative to a more radical and pragmatic leader. Bismarck soon realised that in order to combat the Austrian political influence Prussia along with maintaining good relationship with other German states also has some foreign allies. His effort in order to restore and keep up a friendly relation with Russia and France clearly portrays this fact. His success on easing up the relation with Russia and France on one hand robbed Austria two valuable foreign friends and on the other temporarily stopped France and Russia to join hands against Prussia. The legendary visionary also noted Austria’s opportunist nature when in Crimean war Austria joined hand with Britain and France against Russia. Bismarck was with a view that at the advent of similar crisis same alliance would add to the agony of Prussia. However he also correctly diagnosed that Austria would no longer receive any help from Russia once going against them in Crimean war. After William enamoured the Prussian thorn, Bismarck was taken from Frankfurt and placed in Russia as Prussian Ambassador. This incidence had greater implication than could be observed in naked eyes. It was demotion in a package of promotion as sitting far in Russia Bismarck can only watch the Austrian troop drove away by Italy and his beloved Prussia instead of grabbing this opportunity that came right away with a weakening Austria, concentrated to stop the French advance in Venetia. His four years at Saint Petersburg were anything but eventful, far from Prussia the only significant incident that took place in his life was his meeting with his future enemy The Russian Prince Gorchakov. Owing to Bismarck’s friendship with then prime minister of Prussia Albrecht Von Roon, he remained well informed about domestic affairs and had two important visits one in France and the Other in England; both matured him as a politician as he gauged his future enemies like Napoleon III, Palmerston, Earl Russell and Disraeli. Bismarck as Prime Minister In 1861 William I came to adorn the Prussian thorn and thereafter Bismarck’s importance in Prussian political scenario experienced a steep rise. Bismarck’s return in the main stream of Prussian politics was ensured by an ever growing liberal influence in Prussian assembly. Liberals were hard to convince by the then existing Prussian ministers and soon it was realised by the monarch himself that Bismarck is the only appropriate person to break the ice. By then the monarch has experienced enough humiliation at the hand of the liberals in form of rejecting his military budget. Some one with more personality and authoritative power as well as wisdom was the dire need of time. Although Bismarck’s indomitable nature and his desire for absolute freedom in terms of his decisions regarding foreign affairs were adding to the discomfort of the king but soon he realised that he is bereft of any choice. Bismarck’s long time friend Roon advised the King to recall Bismarck and in 1862 (23rd September) Bismarck was appointed as the Minister-President and Foreign Minister of Prussia. Bismarck’s appointment as the President and Foreign Minister of Prussia resulted in a culmination of three intelligent human being in a single cocoon; Bismarck, Roon and Moltek. Three of them shared good terms among themselves and had a relation of trust and mutual respect. Their unification had great implication for Prussia’s and later Germany’s future and strong health. Where, Bismarck was an excellent diplomat, Roon was a great organiser and Moltek was a gifted Military personal who used to have every strategy in his arsenal. Bismarck was determined to end the budget bottleneck in King’s favour and was ready to go any length for that. He suggested or rather dictated the terms saying if this years budget can not be passed in the duet then tax would be collected following last years budget since nothing has been mentioned in the legislation regarding such a deadlock. This movement depicts Bismarck’s determination and intelligence and established him as a maestro in diplomacy; it had also won him King’s favour and trust. This favour and trust came to play an important role in immediate next year when the liberal coalition won an absolute majority in assembly and screamed their throat out regarding Bismarck’s disposal from the office. The King by then became dependent upon Bismarck and gave no heed to those demands. Bismarck’s tenure as Prime Minister made him more unpopular especially among the liberals but his policies were effective at least in terms of the interests of the monarch. Bismarck as a Chancellor Considering his abilities and no doubt his loyalty towards king, Bismarck was promoted as chancellor of Germany with the initiation of the first German Empire (with King William I as the undisputed German emperor) in 1871. After becoming the chancellor of Germany Bismarck’s first initiative was to curb the power of the Catholics as he believed that the Catholic church has accrued too much political power over a long period of time and such power can be a threat to the King and there by the government in long run. Bismarck’s anti catholic campaign followed a series of policies, however with little impact. In the long run Pope Leo XIII managed to win friendship from Bismarck and that brought an end to his disliking towards the Catholics. Though unsuccessful but his campaign against the Catholics brought him a new ally in assembly in form of National Liberal Party. However this friendship was short lived and broke at the wake of an economic crisis initiated in 1873 through the collapse of Vienna stock exchange, which led Bismarck to discontinue with free trade a policy that liberals are greatly in favour of. This break up was in favour of Bismarck since it once again brought him close to his old allies the conservative centre party. Bismarck’s chancellorship was marked with several path breaking policies and a few of them worth naming – Germanize the minorities in order to prevent Austro – Hungarian conflict, discriminatory policies against the poles, Anti Socialist Law. All of them brought severe criticism both in home land and abroad but failed to stop the determined man from going with them. On the other hand he has also implemented the health insurance act (1883), accident insurance act (1884); old age pension and disability insurance act (1889) all these combined mainly benefited workers. Bismarck’s foreign policy at the first half of his political career was mainly directed towards finding foreign allies for Prussia so that it can gather strength against Austria and in course of time manage to lead the German unification process. Once after uniting the Germany, the motto of his foreign policy was shifted towards establishing peace in Europe and isolating France from the main stream of foreign relation. His hatred towards France was the result of the defeat in Franco-Prussian war. He was largely against colonialism and believed diplomacy should prevail over military power exhibition. One of the most significant treatises that he developed was the league of three emperors in which Austro-Hungarian Empire, Russia and Germany agreed to disarmament against each other. However the three nation treatise was short lived and soon was replaced by a dual alliance between Germany and Austro-Hungarian Empire against a Russian attack. Though Bismarck was against colonialism but once he saw the public sentiments favouring colonial expansion, he readily moved towards it and “the creation of Germany’s colonial empire proceeded with the minimum of friction” (Crankshaw, 395) However as a hole his love for peace over war gets depicted through his words at the context of Bulgarian Crisis (1888) when at the brink of an European War he said “At the end of the conflict we should scarcely know why we had fought.”. (Ludwig, 73) Bismarck as a visionary leader Bismarck’s foresight gets depicted through his foreign policy. His alliance with different foreign nations in order to isolate Austria and France and his formation of three emperor league are a few examples of that. As a leader he was well aware of his potential and draw backs. He was never willing to indulge in naval affair with Britain as it might bring catastrophic results. Most interestingly his future predictions were the pillars that held him as nothing less than a prophet in politics. Even in his last suggestion towards William II he accurately predicted that “Your Majesty, so long as you have this present officer corps, you can do as you please. But when this is no longer the case, it will be very different for you.” (Palmer, 267) Moreover he rightly predicted the First World War as described in his words "One day the great European War will come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans." (Ballin and Churchill, 195) Role of Bismarck in German Unification Bismarck’s role in German unification is one of the most debated topics in history. Arguably it was his diplomatic charisma combined with military invasion that made Germany united. Bismarck as mentioned earlier was against German unification in earlier phase of his political career. Though it did not take time to change and it was Bismarck who came to rescue the King when his military budget to modernise his army was rejected by the liberals in duet. Addressing the duet Bismarck gave his famous blood and iron speech “Prussia must concentrate and maintain its power for the favorable moment which has already slipped by several times. Prussias boundaries according to the treaties of Vienna are not favorable to a healthy state life. The great questions of the time will not be resolved by speeches and majority decisions--that was the great mistake of 1848 and 1849--but by iron and blood.”(Hollyday, 16-18) It helped Prussia to develop a strong army that eventually made it a viral force and led to the unification of Germany. Bismarck appropriately identified that Austria is the biggest hurdle on the way of German Unification and therefore he used his diplomatic skills to undermine its strength. In 1862 Austria in order to strengthen its military, economic and legal powers over the Bund (a common body of all the German states), called a conference of all the German states. Bismarck advised the King not to be present in the conference and with one of the larger of the two largest German states absent no consent could be reached. In another occasion Bismarck turned the duchies crisis in his advantage. He convinced the Prussian king to restore the London protocol that meant supporting Denmark’s claim over duchies (except Schleswig and Holstein). After Prussia Austria follow suit and signed an alliance with Prussia over London protocol. However the smaller German states were against London protocol and preferred Austenberg claim. Supporting London protocol made both Prussia and Austria unpopular among smaller German states. It was a nothing to loose situation for Prussia as it was never popular among those smaller sates. But situation was different for Austria as those sates till then considered Austria as the protector of their interest and they started to consider Austria as a traitor. Again under Gastein convention Prussia and Austria divided Schleswig and Holstein among them, with Schleswig going under Prussian rule and Holstein under Austrian dominance. But the way to Holstein was through Prussia and Austrians felt insecure about it. A war with Austria was inevitable but Bismarck before going to war with Austria diplomatically increased Prussia’s strength. First France and then Italy became Prussia’s allies and that move on one hand increased Prussia’s strength and on the other deprived Austria valuable foreign help in war. Even when war started Bismarck’s policies taken long back had shown their colour. (Pflanze) Firstly his army though slightly smaller in size were better equipped owing to 1862 army reform and on the other the Austrian army deprived by Bismarck in 1864 were bereft of appropriate level of modernization. The war ended in favour of Prussia and the north German confederation came into origin. Then owing to Bismarck’s diplomatic excellence an issue around the Spanish throne led to Franco-Prussian war that north German confederation with ample help from their southern counter part won comfortably. This incident brought the North and South Germany closer than ever finally ending up as the United Germany on 18th January 1871. Historians believe that German unification was backed by several other issues like growing nationalistic ideologies during 18th and 19th century, transformation of German arts and the presence of Zollverein, but even accepting those, Bismarck’s contribution in unification of Germany remains as significant as it is. Conclusion: After the death of William I, a brief tenure of Frederick III passed by like a whisper. However with William II on throne divergence between the king and Bismarck kept on growing. William II was particularly displeased with Bismarck’s careful foreign policy and was in favour of much rapid aggression. It ended up with Bismarck resigning from his office in 1890. Eight years letter he died at the age of 83. His role in German and International politics is subject to heavy debate. To some he was the father figure of modern Germany and the creator of German unification, to others he was a ship without destination and his achievements were largely exaggerated. Often Bismarck’s policies had been criticised as the catalyst to First World War. But it was unprecedented aggression on behalf of William II that earned Germany too much foreign enemies, coming under one hood and launching an assault. However leaving all the debates aside no one can ignore Bismarck’s talents and his excellence as a great politician and diplomat. Works cited 1. Alan Palmer, Bismarck, Charles Scribner’s Sons (1976) 2. Churchill, Winston, The World Crisis, C. Scribners Sons, 1923 3. Crankshaw, Edward. Bismarck. The Viking Press. 1981 4. Hollyday, Frederick. B. M. Bismarck (Great Lives Observed), Prentice-Hall, 1970. 5. Ludwig, Emil, Wilhelm Hohenzollern: The last of the Kaisers, READ BOOKS,1927 6. Pflanze. Otto Bismarck and the Development of Germany. 3 vols. Princeton University Press, 1971 Read More