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Bismarck
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Bismarck (1981) (edit title/settings)

by Edward Crankshaw (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

Among non-academic historians, there is no one of greater accomplishment than Crankshaw (The Fall of the House of Hapsburg, The Shadow of the Winter Palace); and his talents are fully on display here. Heretofore the best Bismarck biography has been A. J. P. Taylor's, but Crankshaw's is likely... read more

Summary edit see section history

Born to landed Prussian gentry, Otto von Bismarck was a minor and not very obedient diplomat who had a vision of a more powerful Prussia that he turned into reality. Coming out of nowhere during the turbulent period at the end of the 1840s, he overplayed his hand and was exiled to the Russian... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

Born to landed Prussian gentry, Otto von Bismarck was a minor and not very obedient diplomat who had a vision of a more powerful Prussia that he turned into reality. Coming out of nowhere during the turbulent period at the end of the 1840s, he overplayed his hand and was exiled to the Russian embassy and to Frankfurt-on-Main for several years, but he had his friends at the Prussian court, and he managed to offer his services as chancellor during a crisis in the early 1860s. As much a conman as a statesman, Bismarck made the role of chancellor more powerful than it was supposed to be and eventually became the king's master more than his servant. His most stunning longterm strategy was to play France and Austria against each other so that they each thought of Prussia as an ally, but Bismarck soon went to war with Austria while France sat by, and then a few years later, Prussia went to war with France. Prussia not only won both wars, but in the process she--or rather Bismarck almost single-handedly--unified the little kingdoms and cirty states of the German Confederation into a single modern country. For a quarter of a century, Bismarck consolidated his rule, but eventually, the two kings he was able to control died and their successor, Wilhelm II, decided he didn't need Bismarck, and so put him out to pasture--an unhappy retirement for the a who loved power, wealth, and lots of food and drink.

Bismarck distrusted democracy and did every thing he could to undermine the parliament (Reichstag) and the development of classical liberalism in Prussia and Germany. He used extreme propaganda tactics by controlling newspapers and suppressed civil liberties when it suited his purposes. He made the king of Prussia into the emperor of Germany and essentially made over all of Germany into Prussia as much as he could. (Militarism and authoritarianism.) He also was antagonistic toward Catholicism and did not care for Slavs. He had temper tantrums when he did not get his way.

If any of his characteristics remind you of Adolf Hitler, another chancellor of Germany who made his office stronger than it was supposed to be constitutionally, it might well be said that Bismarck paved the way for Hitler by undermining the development of democratic institutions and by setting the example of a strongman leader who runs roughshod over everything in the way of his personal vision for Germany.

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Quotes edit see section history

  • “Nothing has contributed more to the legend of Bismarck’s statesmanlike moderation than his fight, even to the point of tears and resignation, to keep defeated Austria intact as a future ally. The mistake has been to equate moderation with native virtue. Moderation is a quantity, not a quality: it may co-exist with a perfect lack of generosity, with a very black heart. For example, the most accomplished blackmailers are moderate in their demands. Bismarck’s moderation had this calculating quality; and the dynamics behind each display of moderation were the same driving force that pushed him into his most extreme and violent attitudes, gestures, actions.”
    Edward Crankshaw
  • “Apparently when the great man had a stomach upset Johanna was in the habit of comforting him with the best foie gras. On one occasion, when her husband was thus suffering, she telegraphed to Berlin for a fresh supply. When the handsome terrine was presented at table the next day <chancellery head Christophe von> Tiedemann was fascinated by his master’s behaviour. <Bismarck>, of course, had the first go at it, taking out a very large segment; and then, as it made the round of the table, followed it with a jealous eye so obvious that nobody else dared help himself to more than a token portion. When it came back to him, scarcely diminished, he finished it off.”
    Edward Crankshaw

First Sentence edit see section history

Otto von Bismarck-Schoenhausen was born in 1815 on All Fool's Day.

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Edward Crankshaw (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Viking Press
Country: USA
Publication Date: 1981
ISBN: 067016982X
Page Count: 451

Classification edit see section history

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