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Otto von Bismarck

Otto von Bismarck in August 1890
Personal data
Date of birth1 April 1815
Place of birthSchönhausen, Prussia
Date of death30 July 1898(age 83)
Place of deathFriedrichsruh, German Empire
Political partyNone
SpouseJohanna von Puttkamer
ReligionLutheranism
1st Chancellor of the German Empire
In office21 March 1871 - 20 March 1890
MonarchWilhelm I (1871 � 1888)
Frederick III (1888)
Wilhelm II (1888 � 1890)
Succeeded byLeo von Caprivi
Preceded bynone (office established)
9th Minister President of the Kingdom of Prussia
In office23 September 1862 - 1 January 1873
MonarchWilhelm I
Succeeded byAlbrecht von Roon
Preceded byAdolf of Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen
11th Minister President of the Kingdom of Prussia
In office9 November 1873 - 20 March 1890
MonarchWilhelm I (1873 � 1888)
Frederick III (1888)
Wilhelm II (1888 � 1890)
Succeeded byLeo von Caprivi
Preceded byAlbrecht von Roon
Federal Chancellor of the North German Confederation
In office1867 - 1871
PresidentWilhelm I
Succeeded byGerman Empire
Preceded bynone (Confederation established)
23rd Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Prussia
In office1862 - 1890
MonarchWilhelm I (1862 � 1888)
Frederick III (1888)
Wilhelm II (1888 � 1890)
Succeeded byLeo von Caprivi
Preceded byAlbrecht von Bernstorff

Otto von Bismarck

Royal NameThe Prince of Bismarck
DipstyleHis Serene Highness
OffstyleYour Serene Highness
AltstyleSir

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Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg (1 April 1815 � 30 July 1898), simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman who unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept the world at peace after 1871.

As Minister President of Prussia from 1862 � 1890, he oversaw the unification of Germany. In 1867 he became Chancellor of the North German Confederation. Bismarck designed the German Empire in 1871, becoming its first Chancellor and dominating its affairs until he was removed by Kaiser (Emperor) Wilhelm II in 1890. His diplomacy of Realpolitik and powerful rule gained him the nickname the "Iron Chancellor". As Henry Kissinger has noted, "The man of 'blood and iron' wrote prose of extraordinary directness and lucidity, comparable in distinctiveness to Churchill's use of the English language."

As the leader of what historians call "revolutionary conservatism" Bismarck became a hero to German nationalists; they built hundreds of monuments glorifying the symbol of powerful personal leadership. Historians praised him as a statesman of moderation and balance who was primarily responsible for the unification of the German states into a nation-state. He used balance-of-power diplomacy to keep Europe peaceful in the 1870s and 1880s. He created a new nation with a progressive social policy, a result that went beyond his initial goals as a practitioner of power politics in Prussia. Bismarck, a devout Lutheran who was loyal to his king (who in turn gave Bismarck his full support), promoted government through a strong, well-trained bureaucracy with most decisions in the hands of a Junker elite representing the rural aristocracy in the east.

Bismarck had recognized early in his political career that the opportunities for national unification would exist and he worked successfully to provide a Prussian structure to the nation as a whole. While the new nation had universal male suffrage, the elected officials did not have full control of the government. His anti-Catholic and anti-Socialist programs in the 1870s and 1880s left a devastating legacy of distrust and fragmentation in German political culture.


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