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Otto von Bismarck The Iron Chancellor

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Title: Otto von Bismarck The Iron Chancellor

1
Otto von BismarckThe Iron Chancellor

Presentation By Jürgen (Connor Brandt)

2
As A Child

Born April 1st, 1815, in Schönhausen.
Schönhausen was in the Prussian province of
Brandenburg, west of Berlin. His family was very
wealthy.
He had a few siblings, but only an older brother
named Bernhard and a younger sister named
Malvina lived until they were adults.
His father was named Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand von
Bismarck, and was a former Prussian military
officer.
His mothers name was Wilhemine Luise Mencke.

Otto at the age of 11
3
His Education

He went to school at the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Gymnasi
um and the Graues Kloster-Gymnasium.
When he was 17, he joined the Georg August
University of Göttingen. He spent a year as a
member of the Corps Hannovera.
Then he enrolled in the Friedrich Wilhelm
University of Berlin.
While he went to the University, a man named Otto
Pflanze described his behavior as "exaggerated
masculinity." He was involved in 50 different
fights and he drank excessively.
Even though he wanted to be a diplomat, he could
only get minor administrative positions in Aachen
and Potsdam.

Otto at Age 21
4
His Family

He began managing the family estates in Pomerania
when his father died in 1839.
In 1847, he married Johanna von Puttkamer.
They both became Pietist Lutherans.
They had one daughter, named Marie, and two sons,
named Herbert and Wilhelm.

5
Beginning Of Political Career

He became involved in local politics when he
returned to Schönhausen eight years later.
(Around when he met his wife)
The Vereinigter Landtag, a newly created Prussian
legislature, chose Bismarck as a representative.
Bismarck was appointed by Friedrich Wilhelm as
Prussia's envoy to the assembly of the German
Confederation in Frankfurt in 1851.
Friedrich Wilhelm IV suffered a stroke in 1858.
It paralyzed and mentally disabled him, so his
brother Wilhelm took over the government of
Prussia. He also replaced Bismarck as envoy in
Frankfurt and made him Prussia's ambassador to
Russia.
During the four years Bismarck stayed in St.
Petersburg, he became friends with his future
enemy, Russian Prince Gorchakov.

Otto at Age 31
6
Prime Minister Of Prussia

In September 1862, the Abgeordnetenhaus (House of
Deputies) overwhelmingly rejected the proposed
budget for a re-organization of the army.
Wilhelm was then persuaded to recall Bismarck to
Prussia. On September 23rd, 1862, Wilhelm
appointed Bismarck Minister-President and Foreign
Minister.
He was determined to maintain royal supremacy by
ending the budget disagreement in favor of the
King. He thought that since the Constitution did
not provide for cases in which legislators failed
to approve a budget, he could simply apply the
previous year's budget. So, on the basis of the
budget of 1861, tax collection continued for four
years.
In 1863, the House of Deputies passed a
resolution saying it could no longer come to
terms with Bismarck. Bismarck then issued an
edict restricting the freedom of the press.
Bismarck remained a very unpopular politician
because of this. The House repeatedly told the
King to dismiss Bismarck, but the King supported
him.

7
Unification and Establishment of Germany

Bismarck became determined to unite the German
states into a single empire. He used the
Prussian army to capture the provinces of
Schleswig and Holstein from Denmark. He then
started a fight with Austria and its German
allies over the administration of these
provinces, in which Prussia was the victor. Next,
Prussia annexed even more territory in Germany.
He provoked hostilities with France to unite the
German states together when he was unable to
convince the southern German states to join with
his North German Confederation. When the Germans
won in the Franco-Prussian War, the southern
states agreed to join the German Empire.
As he was the chancellor of the new Germany,
Bismarck concentrated on building a powerful
state. He believed that the Catholic Church had
too muck influence (especially in southern
Germany). He also worked to prevent the spread
of socialism, partly by introducing health
insurance and pensions.
Bismarcks goal was to make the German Empire the
most powerful in Europe. He negotiated an
alliance with Austria-Hungary to counteract
France and Russia in 1879. Italy later joined the
alliance. Bismarck also arranged the two
Mediterranean Agreements of 1887.

Wilhelm I was proclaimed German Emperor in the
Hall of Mirrors, In Versailles, France
Otto wearing his uniform, including the hat,
called a Pickelhaube
8
His Last Years

Wilhelm I died, leaving the throne to his son,
Friedrich III. But he was already suffering from
an incurable cancer and spent all three months of
his reign fighting the disease before dying. He
was replaced by his son, Wilhelm II, who opposed
Bismarck's careful foreign policy.
Bismarck later wrote a blistering letter of
resignation, decrying Wilhelm's interference in
foreign and domestic policy.
Bismarck resigned at age 75. Bismarck was given
a new title and entered retirement at Varzin.
Within one month after his wife died on November
27th, 1894, he moved to Friedrichsruh near
Hamburg.
Bismarck spent his final years gathering his
memoirs. He died on July 30th, 1898, at the age
of 83, at Friedrichsruh.