Otto Von Bismarck
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Otto Von Bismarck was the man who single handedly unified Germany and turned it into a world power. Otto Von Bismarck was born in 1815 into the higher class in Prussia. He started out as an arrogant drinker, hardly fit for leading Prussia.
Bismarck joined the Prussian military, but found it too hard for him, so instead he joined the diplomatic corps. It is from here that he lost his arrogance and learned how to lead.
From there Bismarck became an ambassador for Prussia. This meant that he visited other countries like France and Russia for diplomatic reasons, whether to give a message to that country or to propose alliances or trade deals.
Thanks to Bismarck's diplomatic prowess, he quickly rose through the ranks until he was appointed chancellor of Prussia. He is often given the nickname of the iron chancellor for what he did in this position.
Prussia was the most powerful of German states at the time, but all of the German states were seperated and ununified. The people wanted to be unified, but there just wasn't any easy way of doing it diplomatically.
By this time it was 1861 and although technically Bismarck wasn't the king of Prussia, he was the one making the decisions and in charge. The real king, William I, was merely a figurehead and was manipulated by Bismarck.
From this new position Bismarck conducted a series of wars, the first against Denmark, and the other against Austria. In both cases Prussia came out as the clear winners and won territory.
Tensions rose against the new great power that was Prussia and France over the German territories controlled by the French. Bismarck famously altered the telegrams sent between the two powers in order to make them both feel insulted.
In 1871 Prussia declared war on France in order to rescue some German states controlled by the French.
The Franco-Prussian War was a big success for Prussia. In the peace terms Bismarck tried to keep the demands small to not cause any resentment, but his people demanded that he take more, so he was forced to take 2 more French provinces, ingraining a French hatred for the Germans that would come to fruition mere decades later.
In the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles, William I, the Prussian king was crowned ruler of all of Germany. crowning William here was a great insult to the French.
Photo by karen horton
Peace followed for some time for Germany and for Bismarck, and in this peace time Bismarck pursued religious change for the one third of the population that was Catholic.
Photo by 55Laney69
In the end Bismarck gave up and teamed up with the Catholics to fight the socialist threat.
In the 1880's Bismarck created some first for any country in his fight against the socialists. Bismarck created national health care, accident insurance, and old age pensions for the people.
Bismarck was also integral in the meeting of the European powers that signaled the end of the Scramble For Africa, having started in the 1860's. The scramble for Africa was the mass race for colonization, control, exploration, and exploitation of Africa.
Bismarck, despite the many wars he made for Prussia and Germany is seen as someone who strove for peace and tried to keep wars like World War 1 from happening.
After his forced resignment in 1890, Bismarck was replaced by a number of incompetent leaders; directly leading to World War 1. Bismarck died in 1898.
Bismarck once said in 1897, "Jena came twenty years after the death of Fredrick the Great; the crash will come twenty years after my departure if things go like this." This prediction of World War 1 is accurate almost to the exact date.
Bismarck also said a year before he died, "One day the great European War will come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans." This prediction was also correct and is eerily accurate.
Bismarck's legacy on history is one of the unification of Germany and his attempts to keep Europe at peace despite the oncoming storm. He is one of the most important figures in German history.
Photo by extranoise
