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.

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".Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Empire: 1875–1914 (1987), p. 312.

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 AlsaceLorraine 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.Steinberg, Jonathan. 2011. Bismarck: a life Oxford University Press. p. 8, 424, 444.
Diplomatic Polices
Bismarck also repeated his emphatic warning against any German military involvement in Balkan disputes. Bismarck had first made this famous comment to the Reichstag in December 1876, when the Balkan revolts against the Ottoman Empire threatened to extend to a war between Austria-Hungary and Russia:
Only a year later [1876], he is faced by the alternative of espousing the cause of Russia or that of Austria-Hungary. Immediately after the last crisis, in the summer of 1875, the mutual jealousies between Russia and Austria-Hungary had been rendered acute by the fresh risings in the Balkans against the Turks. Now the issues hung upon Bismarck's decision. Immediately after the peace, he had tried to paralyse the Balkan rivals by the formation of the Three Emperors' League. "I have no thought of intervening," he said privately. "That might precipitate a European war.... If I were to espouse the cause of one of the parties, France would promptly strike a blow on the other side.... I am holding two powerful heraldic beasts by their collars, and am keeping them apart for two reasons: first of all, lest they should tear one another to pieces; and secondly, lest they should come to an understanding at our expense." In the Reichstag, he popularises the same idea in the words: "I am opposed to the notion of any sort of active participation of Germany in these matters, so long as I can see no reason to suppose that German interests are involved, no interests on behalf of which it is worth our risking—excuse my plain speaking—the healthy bones of one of our Pomeranian musketeers."
In February 1888, during a Bulgarian crisis, Bismarck addressed the Reichstag on the dangers of a European war:
He warned of the imminent possibility that Germany will have to fight on two fronts; he spoke of the desire for peace; then he set forth the Balkan case for war and demonstrated its futility: "Bulgaria, that little country between the Danube and the Balkans, is far from being an object of adequate importance... for which to plunge Europe from Moscow to the Pyrenees, and from the North Sea to Palermo, into a war whose issue no man can foresee. At the end of the conflict we should scarcely know why we had fought." {Ironically both of this prophies would come true in the Second World War of 1939-1945 (Fighting on 2 Fronts); a war which was brought about by World War I [Balkan dispute] which had been started by the Serbia killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinard in 1914]

Assassination Attempts
Twice Assassins tried to kill him.
May 7, 1866 by student Ferdinand Cohen-Blind in Berlin  who shot him multiple times (grazing him) before committing suicide in custody MAY 8, 1866, Bismarck spun around and grabbed his attacker, who was able to fire three more shots; before soldiers from the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Guards rushed up and took him into custody. A soldier nearby was shot in the crossfire. The King's physician, Gustav von Lauer, later examined Bismarck. Lauer noted that the first three bullets had only grazed Bismarck's body and the last two had ricocheted off the ribs and had caused no major injuries
July 13, 1874 a worker Eduard Kullman in Bad Kissingen, shot at him [his motive he aimed to end the Kulturkampf by killing Bismarck]. Kullmann popped out of the crowd and fired a shot towards Bismarck's head at a distance of about one to one and a half paces. The bullet grazed Bismarck's right hand and went past his head. Bismarck also reportedly suffered burns to his face from the gun going off so close to him. Kullmann threw his pistol away and tried to run away, however the coachman Sebastian Schmidt smacked him in the face with his whip. This allowed several bystanders, including Hungarian opera singer José Lederer, to attack Kullmann and prevent him from escaping so the police could arrest him. Kullmann was convicted of the attempted murder of Otto von Bismarck on October 30, 1874. He was given fourteen years' imprisonment with hard labor at Bayreuth Prison. While in prison, Kullmann committed 36 offenses and suffered severe consequences for his insubordination. He received a seven-year sentence for his offenses in prison and was transferred to Amberg Prison in 1888. Kullmann died alone there on March 16, 1892.

 References 

Category:1815 births
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