Otto von Bismarck

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.

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[1]
Profession	Lawyer
Signature

Bismarck-Monument, Hamburg

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".^[2]

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.^[3]

References

1. Steinberg, Jonathan (2011-06-01). Bismarck: A Life. p. 51. ISBN 9780199782529.
2. Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Empire: 1875–1914 (1987), p. 312.
3. Steinberg, Jonathan. 2011. Bismarck: a life Oxford University Press. p. 8, 424, 444.