The New International Encyclopædia/Bismarck-Schönhausen, Karl Otto Eduard Leopold von
BISMARCK-SCHÖNHAUSEN, , Prince (1815-98). First
Chancellor of the German Empire. He was born
April 1, 1815, at the family manor of Schönhausen,
in the District of Magdeburg, Prussia.
He was one of the six children of Karl Wilhelm
Ferdinand von Bismarck, a captain in the Royal
Body Guard of Prussia. His mother was the
daughter of Herr Menken, a high official in the
Prussian civil service. The family traced its
lineage back directly for five centuries, and many
of its members had held high positions in the
military service of Brandenburg and Prussia
and at court. In 1832-33 Bismarck studied
jurisprudence and political science at Göttingen,
where he made the acquaintance of John Lothrop-Motley,
the American historian, an acquaintanceship
which ripened into the strong friendship of
later years. He studied for three semesters in
Berlin, was admitted to the bar in 1835, and was
referendary in Aix-la-Chapelle and Potsdam in
1836-37. In the latter city and in Greifswald
he served his term in the army as lieutenant in
the Life Guards. In Greifswald, too, he familiarized
himself with the science of agriculture.
On July 28, 1847, he married Johanna von
Putkamer, and in the same year entered the first
General Diet of Prussia, where he became known
as an able and aggressive champion of
ultra-conservative measures. In 1849 he was elected
to the Second Chamber of the Prussian Diet,
called into existence by the revolutionary
outbreak of 1848, and as a member of that body and
of the Erfurt Parliament (1850) he advocated
an increase in the powers of the monarchy and
the consolidation of the German people through
the joint action of Prussia and Austria. At the
same time he combated the Erfurt and Frankfort
plans of union. In this early part of his
career Bismarck gave little indication, except
in his strenuous advocacy of Prussia's leadership,
of the aims toward which his later activity
was to be directed.

After holding the position of Prussian
secretary of legation at Frankfort-on-the-Main,
Bismarck was appointed, in 1851, Prussian Ambassador
to the Germanic Diet at Frankfort. He
had now apparently become convinced of the
need of constitutional concessions in order to
unite the German people, and of the inherent
antagonism between the interests of Austria and
the cause of German unity; for he adopted a
more liberal programme and assumed that attitude
of hostility to Austrian pretensions which he
maintained so consistently and successfully. He
was so outspoken in his opposition to Austria
that it was deemed prudent, in 1859, on the eve
of the Franco-Italian War against Austria, to
transfer him to Saint Petersburg. There he
labored effectively to strengthen the friendly
relations between Russia and Prussia, and gained
the highest esteem of Alexander II. When, on
the death of Frederick William IV., January 2,
1861, William I. succeeded to the Prussian
throne. Bismarck was transferred from Saint
Petersburg to Paris, and in September, 1862,
was called to the post of head of the Prussian
Cabinet and Minister of Foreign Affairs. The
King was then faced by a Diet which was in
stubborn opposition to an army bill, but he

found in Bismarck a minister daring enough to
govern without a budget and without
Parliamentary majority. In this manner began the
lifelong alliance between King William and his
great minister. Bismarck now entered upon his
life-work, the unification of Germany under
Prussian leadership, and the placing of the new
Germany in the forefront of European nations.
In pursuance of this object he developed a
thoroughly consistent and often ruthless policy, and
carried it out without hesitation. Speaking to
the Budget Commission of the Prussian Diet,
September 30, 1862, he said:

“Our blood is too hot; we are fond of bearing
an armor too large for our small body. Germany
does not look to Prussia for liberalism, but for
power. Let Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden,
indulge in liberal ideas; no one will assign them
the role destined for Prussia. Prussia must
consolidate its might and nurse it for the favorable
moment. Prussia's boundaries as determined by
the Congress of Vienna are not conducive to its
welfare as a sovereign State. Not by speeches
and resolutions of majorities are the mighty
problems of the age to be solved — that was the
mistake of 1848 and 1849 — but by blood and
iron.”

This much misunderstood statement, so
characteristic of Bismarck, concisely summarizes the
subsequent development of German history. Its
full significance is elucidated by Bismarck in his
Autobiography. Bismarck disliked war, but he
saw no way of bringing the jealous German
States together except through war. He
regarded it as indispensable to drive Austria, as
an essentially non-German and anti-national
State, out of the Confederation, and he utilized
the Schleswig-Holstein affair (see
) to antagonize Austria and finally to
force an issue between that power and Prussia.
At the same time he made Prussia the champion
of the demand for a national German Parliament
based on popular suffrage. This seemed so at
variance with his earlier political course that
Germany found it difficult to believe in his
sincerity. Nevertheless, it was entirely consistent
with the development of his character and opinions.
He gained Austria over to his views in
the Schleswig-Holstein matter, and with her
co-operation entered upon the war against
Denmark (1864). He won the confidence of Italy,
formed an alliance between that State and Prussia,
and when the Schleswig-Holstein controversy
came to a crisis in the Germanic Diet,
Prussia was ready for action. On June 1, 1866,
Austria referred the settlement of the question to
the Diet, and on June 10 Bismarck addressed to
the German courts a letter setting forth Prussia's
national policy. The following day Austria moved
in the Diet for federal execution against Prussia,
and the tie vote was decided in the affirmative,
whereupon the representative of Prussia
presented his Government's plan for a new
national organization, declared the Confederation
dissolved by its own action, and withdrew. Prussia
at once invaded the German States that
adhered to Austria, while the main Prussian
army was pushed into Austrian territory. The
brief and brilliant campaign (see  and
) secured the first object in
Bismarck's programme. The Peace of Prague
excluded Austria from the German Confederation,
which was reorganized under a permanent

Prussian presidency as the North German
Confederation. It was still necessary to bring the
South German States into the Union, to prick
the bubble of Napoleon III.'s self-assumed leadership
in European affairs, and to establish a more
satisfactory western boundary for Germany by
making the Rhine a truly German river.
Bismarck forced an issue with France with the same
relentlessness and the same certainty of result
that had characterized the contest with Austria.
The mistakes of the French diplomacy (see
) were utilized to the full, and France
was goaded into a war to which she was wholly
unequal. (See ) Throughout
the war Bismarck was at the side of his
sovereign, evincing in the course of the peace
negotiations extraordinary determination and
executive capacity. When on the 18th of January,
1871, King William of Prussia at Versailles
accepted the title of Emperor of the new German
Empire, Bismarck's policy had been vindicated.
Before this his triumph had been won by
constant contention against the centrifugal tendencies
of the old Germany and in spite of the steadfast
hostility of a large section of the German
people. Now he became a popular idol. On
April 16 the text of the Imperial Constitution
was promulgated, and Bismarck, now created a
prince, became the first chancellor of the new
Empire. His next task was that of organizing
the internal affairs of Germany upon the new
basis, and of developing an Imperial policy
worthy of a power of the first rank.

OTTO VON BISMARCK

There is no ministerial responsibility under
the Imperial Constitution of Germany, nor is the
parliamentary opposition organized as it is in
the United States and England. Bismarck never
came to believe in the wisdom of popular majorities
or control by a partisan Parliament. He
saw the necessity of a popular basis for a strong
government, but he believed above all in a strong
executive. And the necessity of German unity
was always uppermost in his mind. The promulgation
of the doctrine of Papal infallibility by
the Vatican Council of 1870 was odious to him
as tending to weaken the loyalty of the German
Catholics. In no sense intolerant of religions as
such, he was opposed to any political religious
organizations within the State, and he maintained
this position both as Prussian Minister
and as Imperial Chancellor. In January, 1873,
he caused the introduction into the Prussian
Diet of certain laws to regulate the relations
of Church and State. Thus was brought on
the six-years' struggle with the Clericals, known
as the  (q.v.), in which Bismarck
made the great mistake of his career, carrying
his measures so far that in the inevitable reaction
he was forced to acknowledge a virtual
defeat. Bismarck's position seems to have been
simply that of defending the authority of the
State against outside interference. In 1874,
replying to a Catholic attack in the Prussian Diet,
Bismarck stated his principles clearly, acknowledging
his duty to respect the dogmas of the
Catholic Church merely as dogmas, and adding:
“If the doctrine of infallibility be so
interpreted as to lead to the establishment of an
ecclesiastical imperium in imperio; if it lead
to the nullification of the laws of this country
because unapproved by the Vatican, I am
naturally driven to assert the legitimate
supremacy of the State. We Protestants are under

the conviction that the kingdom of Prussia
ought not to be ruled by the Pope, and we
demand that you, the Ultramontane section of
the Roman Catholics, respect our convictions as
we do yours.” The controversy led to an attempt
upon Bismarck's life by a mechanic named Kullmann,
in 1874. Finally, however, Ultramontane
resistance drove Bismarck into an attitude of
intolerance which proved untenable. Personally
he had passed through four stages in his
religious views, having arrived through rationalism,
skepticism, and conventional Christianity at a
profound religious conviction, with a firm faith
in God and immortality. He was tolerant
because he cared little for creeds and outward
forms.

An equally difficult problem confronted
Bismarck in the growing power of the Socialists.
Two attempts on the life of the Emperor in
1878, by avowed Socialists, enabled the Chancellor
to overcome the scruples of the Liberals in the
Reichstag, and to secure the passage of special
laws for the suppression of socialistic agitation.
The Kulturkampf had brought Bismarck into
alliance with the National Liberals; his conservative
tendencies broke this alliance, and he came
to an understanding with the Conservatives and
Catholics. Now that he had suppressed the
political activity of the Socialists for the time
being, Bismarck very characteristically gave his
attention to checking the movement by making
many features of the Socialist programme his
own, and he initiated a policy of paternalism,
which was considered not far removed from State
Socialism in some of its aspects. The most notable
of the laws passed to placate the working
classes were the sickness, accident, and old-age
insurance acts of 1883-1889.

With the industrial and commercial development
of the Empire, the time seemed ripe for
expansion beyond the seas, and in 1884 Bismarck
entered upon his colonial policy, at first
half-heartedly. In a speech before the Reichstag,
June 26, 1884, he declared his opposition to
forced colonization, and his willingness to
support only such a colonial policy as grew out of
the need of protecting German subjects in
foreign lands. He favored leaving the management
of affairs largely to chartered trading companies,
and added: “It is not our intention to found
provinces, but to foster commercial enterprise.”
To stimulate industry and thereby to check the
continuous emigration from Germany, Bismarck
advocated a protective tariff. To settle the African
question, as raised by the work of the
International African Association, he arranged a
conference at Berlin in 1884-85, which secured the
recognition of the Congo Free State and laid
down the lines upon which the partition of Africa
has been effected. Bismarck was the author of
the policy of subsidizing steamship lines from
Germany to Asia, Africa, and Australasia. He
never changed the conservative views on colonization
that he had expressed in 1884, although
circumstances forced him into action hardly
consistent with those views. As early as 1865 he
had advocated the Baltic and North Sea Canal,
which was constructed after his retirement.

The genius of Bismarck was always most
conspicuous in international affairs. He deliberately
brought on three wars — with Denmark,
Austria, and France — in order to further the
great consummation of German unity. The

German Empire once established, the great
Chancellor's policy became one of peace. He avoided
entangling Germany in the Eastern Question;
but when the rivals of Russia were aroused by
the Treaty of San Stefano, in 1878, he asserted
Germany's leadership in Europe by inviting an
international congress to meet at Berlin. (See
.) He formed the Triple
Alliance to secure Germany against both France
and Russia, but at the same time maintained
the most friendly relations with Russia. France
he did not regard as a serious competitor of
Germany after 1871. His matured convictions in
regard to Germany's position are set forth in
his autobiography. In that work, after some
observations on Russia's relations to the Eastern
Question, he observed that if Russia failed to
receive assurance of German neutrality, the old
coalition of the Seven Years' War — the alliance,
that is, of Austria, Russia, and France against
Prussia — might be revived. “If Germany
possesses the advantage,” he said, “of having no
direct interests at stake in the East, she labors
on the other hand under the disadvantage of an
exposed position in the heart of Europe, with an
extended frontier, which has to be defended on
every side, and surrounded by enemies ready to
enter into alliance against her. At the same time,
Germany is, perhaps, the only great Power in
Europe which is not tempted by objects unattainable
except through war. It is our interest to
maintain peace, while our Continental neighbors,
without exception, foster ambitions, either secret
or officially avowed, which can be realized only
by war. We must direct our policy in accordance
with these facts — that is, we must do our
best to prevent war, or at least to restrict it.”
Bismarck's largeness of view and freedom from
petty enmity is shown by his efforts, as soon
as Austria had been beaten at Sadowa, to establish
friendly relations between that Power and
Germany. A man of strong passions, he allowed
no prejudice to blind him to the requirements of
sound national policy.

His attachment to Emperor William I. was in
every way creditable to him. After the death of
the Emperor in 1888, Bismarck remained in office
during the brief reign of his successor, the
Emperor Frederick.

William II. had learned his statecraft in the
school of Bismarck, but it was inevitable that
the autocratic young Emperor should come into
collision with the strong-willed minister who had
been so long accustomed to the personal direction
of Prussian and German affairs. Numerous quarrels
finally led to the resignation of Bismarck,
which occurred on March 20, 1890. He retired
to Friedrichsruh. On leaving office the title of
Duke of Lauenburg was bestowed upon him by
the Emperor, together with one of the highest
military ranks (Generaloberst of cavalry). The
open estrangement between the two continued
until after Bismarck's severe illness in 1893,
when the Emperor made advances toward a
reconciliation, which took place in form at least.
Bismarck's eightieth birthday (April 1, 1895)
was made the occasion of a great demonstration
throughout Germany, He was visited by the
Emperor and by thousands of military and
political associates, and a Bismarck Museum was
founded in Berlin.

So positive a force in the life of his day necessarily
aroused both intense admiration and bitter

hostility. He was, beyond question, the greatest
European statesman of the century, and one of
the greatest statesmen of all time. His genius
was of the rare constructive type, and he is justly
included in the trio of creators of modern
Germany, together with the Great Elector Frederick
William and Frederick the Great. He had set
himself a great end, the realization of a united
Germany and the fullest development of the German
nation; he pursued it relentlessly, and he
achieved it by methods at least as unimpugnable
as those applied to any similar task in history.
Against his critics he could set up the worldly
but weighty defense of success. He found
Germany a group of jealous kingdoms and principalities,
the shuttlecock of Austria and France.
He left it a united nation, one of the world's
great Powers, and the dominant force on the
Continent of Europe. In his Gedanken und
Erinnerungen, the work of his years of retirement,
commonly though somewhat inaccurately called,
in its English translation, “Bismarck's
Autobiography,” he has left a valuable epitome of
his views on many points of European policy.
In this and in his collected speeches, letters, and
papers must be sought his Apologia. In private
life Bismarck was a kind husband and father, a
genial friend, and a considerate landlord.
Physically and mentally, he was a man of surpassing
power and endurance, and his capacity for
work, creative or absorptive, was tremendous.
Though not a scholar in the strict sense of the
word, he was a man of wide information, always
accessible to his ready memory. While not a
finished orator, the pungency of his speech and
the aptness of his quotations from history and
literature always held his audience in the Reichstag.
He died July 30, 1898. For his own epitaph
he wrote simply, after his name and the
dates of his birth and death, “a faithful German
servant of the Emperor William I.” He had
three children — Countess Marie, born August 28,
1848; Prince Herbert, born December 28, 1849;
and Count Wilhelm, born August 1, 1852, and
died in 1901.

. Bismarck, the Man and the
Statesman:  being the reflections and reminiscences
of Otto, Prince von Bismarck, written and
dictated by himself after his retirement from
office, 2 vols., translated by Butler, popularly
known as Bismarck's Autobiography (New York,
1899); Busch, Bismarck: Some Secret Pages
of His History, 2 vols. (New York, 1899);
Bismarck, Gesammelte Werke, 5 vols. (Berlin,
1892); and id. Politische Reden, ed. von Kohl,
9 vols. (Stuttgart, 1892-94); Blum, Das deutsche
Reich zur Zeit Bismarcks (Leipzig and Vienna,
1893); Sybel, The Founding of the German
Empire, 7 vols. trans. (New York, 1898); Tuttle,
Brief Biographies: German Political Leaders
(New York, 1876); Lowe, Prince Bismarck
(London, 1885); Dawson, Bismarck and State
Socialism (London, 1890); Munroe-Smith,
Bismarck and German Unity (New York, 1898);
Klaczko, The Two Chancellors — Gortchakoff and
Bismarck (London, 1876); Oneken, Das Zeitalter
Wilhelms I. (Berlin, 1890).