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BISMARCK, OTTO EDUARD LEOPOLD VON, PR...

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Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 9 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BISMARCK, See also:OTTO EDUARD See also:LEOPOLD VON, See also:PRINCE , See also:duke of See also:Lauenburg (1815-1898), See also:German statesman, was See also:born on the 1st of See also:April 1815, at the See also:manor-See also:house of Schonhausen, his See also:father's seat in the See also:mark of See also:Brandenburg. The See also:family has, since the 14th See also:century, belonged to the landed gentry, and many members had held high See also:office in the See also:kingdom of See also:Prussia. His father (d. 1845), of whom he always spoke with much See also:affection, was a quiet, unassuming See also:man, who retired from the See also:army in See also:early See also:life with the See also:rank of See also:captain of See also:cavalry (Rittmeister). His See also:mother, a daughter of Mencken, See also:cabinet secretary to the See also:king, was a woman of strong See also:character and ability, who had been brought up at See also:Berlin under the "Aufklarung." Her ambition was centred in her sons, but Bismarck in his recollections bf his childhood missed the influences of maternal tenderness. There were several See also:children of the See also:marriage, which took See also:place in 1806, but all died in childhood except Bernhard (1810-1893), Otto, and one See also:sister, Malvina (b. 1827), who married in 1845 Oscar von See also:Arnim. See also:Young Bismarck was educated in Berlin, first at a private school, then at the gymnasium of the Graue Kloster (See also:Grey Friars). At the See also:age of seventeen he went to the university of See also:Gottingen, where he spent a little over a See also:year; he joined the See also:corps of the Hannoverana and took a leading See also:part in the social life of the students. He completed his studies at Berlin, and in 1835 passed the See also:examinations which admitted him to the, public service. He was intended for the See also:diplomatic service, but spent some months at See also:Aix-la-Chapelle in administrative See also:work, and then was transferred to See also:Potsdam and the judicial See also:side. He soon retired from the public service; he conceived a See also:great distaste for it, and had shown himself defective in discipline and regularity.

In 1839i after his mother's See also:

death, he undertook, with his See also:brother, the management of the family estates in See also:Pomerania; at this See also:time most of the See also:estate attached to Schonhausen had to be sold. In 1844, after the marriage of his sister, he went to live with his father at Schonhausen. He and his brother took an active part in See also:local affairs, and in 1846 he was appointed Deichhauptmann, an office in which he was responsible for the care of the dykes by which the See also:country, in the neighbourhood of the See also:Elbe, was preserved from inundation. During these years he travelled in See also:England, See also:France and See also:Switzerland. The See also:influence of his mother, and his own wide See also:reading and See also:critical character, made him at one time inclined to hold liberal opinions on govern- me extreme right, and distinguished himself by career the caeer`s . vigour and originality with which he defended the rights of the king and the See also:Christian See also:monarchy against the Liberals. When the revolution See also:broke out in the following year he offered to bring the peasants of Schonhausen to Berlin in See also:order to' defend the king against the revolutionary party, and in the last See also:meeting of the estates voted in a minority of two against the address thanking the king for granting a constitution. He did not sit in any of the assemblies summoned during the revolutionary year, but took a very active part in the formation of a See also:union of the Conservative party, and was one of the founders of the Kreuzzeitung, which has since then been the See also:organ of the Monarchical party in. Prussia. .In the new See also:parliament which was elected at the beginning .of 1849, he sat for Brandenburg, and was one of the most frequent and most incisive speakers of what was called the See also:Junker party. He took' a prominent part in the discussions on the new Prussian constitution, always defending the See also:power Of the king. His speeches of this See also:period show great debating skill, combined with strong originality and See also:imagination.

His See also:

constant theme was, that the party disputes. were a struggle for power between the forces of revolution, which derived their strength from the fighters on the barricades, and the Christian monarchy, and that between these opposed principles no See also:compromise was possible. He took also a considerable part in the debates on the See also:foreign policy of the Prussian See also:government; he defended the government for not accepting the See also:Frankfort constitution, and opposed the policy of See also:Radowitz, on the ground that the Prussian king would be subjected to the See also:control of a non-Prussian parliament. The only thing, he said, that had come out of the revolutionary year unharmed, and had saved Prussia from See also:dissolution and See also:Germany from anarchy, was the Prussian army and the Prussian See also:civil service; and in the debates on foreign policy he opposed the numerous plans for bringing about the union of Germany, by subjecting the See also:crown and Prussia to a See also:common German parliament. He had a seat in the parliament of See also:Erfurt, but only went therein order to oppose the constitution which the parliament had framed. He foresaw that the policy of the government would See also:lead it into a position when it would have to fight against See also:Austria on behalf of a constitution by which Prussia itself would be dissolved, and he was, therefore, one of the few prominent politicians who defended the See also:complete See also:change of front which followed the surrender of See also:Olmutz. It was probably his speeches on German policy which induced the king to appoint him Prussian representative at the restored See also:diet of Frankfort in 1851. The See also:appointment was a bold one, as he was entirely without diplomatic ex- Uiptoermatic care perience, but he justified the confidence placed in him. During the eight years he spent at Frankfort he acquired an unrivalled knowledge of German politics. He was often used for important See also:missions, as in 1852, when he was sent to See also:Vienna. He was entrusted with the negotiations by which the duke of Al gustenburg was persuaded to assent to the arrangements by which he resigned his claims to See also:Schleswig and See also:Holstein. The period he spent at Frankfort, however, was of most importance because of the change it brought about in his own See also:political opinions. When he went to Frankfort he was still under the influence of the extreme Prussian Conservatives, men like the Gerlachs, who regarded the See also:maintenance of the principle of the Christian monarchy against the revolution as the See also:chief See also:duty of the Prussian government.

He was prepared on this ground for a See also:

close See also:alliance with Austria. He found, however., a deliberate intention on the part of Austria to humble Prussia, and to degrade her from the position of an equal power, and also great See also:jealousy of Prussia among the smaller German princes, many of whom owed their thrones to the Prussian soldiers, who, as in See also:Saxony and See also:Baden, had crushed the insurgents. He therefore came to the conclusion that if Prussia was to regain the position she had lost she must be prepared for the opposition of Austria, and must strengthen herself by alliances with other See also:powers. The solidarity of Conservative interests appeared to him now a dangerous fiction. At the time of the See also:Crimean See also:War he advocated alliance with See also:Russia, and it was to a great extent owing to his See also:advice that Prussia did not join the western powers. After-wards he urged a See also:good understanding with See also:Napoleon, but his advice was met by the insuperable objection of King See also:Frederick See also:William IV. to any alliance with a ruler of revolutionary origin. The change of See also:ministry which followed the See also:establishment of a regency in 1857 made it desirable to appoint a new See also:envoy at Frankfort, and in 1858 Bismarck was appointed See also:ambassador at St See also:Petersburg, where he remained for four years. During this period he acquired some knowledge of See also:Russian, andgained the warm regard of the See also:tsar, as well as of the See also:dowager-empress, herself a Prussian princess. During the first two years he had little influence on the Prussian government; the Liberal ministers distrusted his known opinions on See also:parliamentary government, and the monarchical feeling of the prince See also:regent was offended by Bismarck's avowed readiness for alliance with the Italians and his disregard of the rights of other princes. The failure of the ministry, and the estrangement between King William and the Liberal party, opened to him the way to power. See also:Roon, who was appointed See also:minister of war in 1861, was an old friend of his, and through him Bismarck was thenceforward kept closely informed of the See also:condition of affairs in Berlin. On several occasions the prospect of entering the ministry was open to him, but nothing came of it, apparently because he required a See also:free See also:hand in foreign affairs, and this the king was not prepared to give him.

When an acute crisis arose out of the refusal of parliament, in 1862, to See also:

vote the See also:money required for the reorganization of the army, which the king and Roon had carried through, he was summoned to Berlin; but the king was still unable to make up his mind to appoint him, although he See also:felt that Bismarck was the only man who had the courage and capacity for See also:con-ducting the struggle with parliament. He was, therefore, in See also:June, made ambassador at See also:Paris as a temporary expedient. There he had the opportunity for renewing the good under-See also:standing with Napoleon which had been begun in 1857. He also paid a See also:short visit to England, but it does not appear that this had any political results. In See also:September the parliament, by a large See also:majority, threw out the See also:budget, and the king, having nowhere else to turn for help, at Roon's advice summoned Bismarck to Berlin and appointed him minister-See also:president and foreign minister. Bismarck's duty as minister was to carry on the government against the wishes of the See also:Lower House, so as to enable the king to complete and maintain the reorganized army. The Ministry. opposition of the House was supported by the country and by a large party at See also:court, including the See also:queen and crown prince. The indignation which his appointment caused was intense; he was known only by the reputation which in his early years he had won as a violent ultra-Conservative, and the apprehensions were increased by his first speech, in which he said that the German question could not be settled by speeches and parliamentary decrees, but only by See also:blood and See also:iron. His early fall was predicted, and it was feared that he might bring down the monarchy with him. Standing almost alone he succeeded in the task he had undertaken. For four years he ruled without a budget, taking See also:advantage of an omission in the constitution which did not specify what was to happen in See also:case the crown and the two Houses could not agree on a budget.. The conflict of the ministers and the House assumed at times the See also:form of See also:bitter See also:personal hostility; in 1863 the ministers refused any longer to attend the sittings, and Bismarck challenged See also:Virchow, one of his strongest opponents, to a See also:duel, which, however, did not take place.

In 1852 he had fought a duel with pistols against Georg von Vindre, a political opponent. In June 1863, as soon as parliament had risen, Bismarck published ordinances controlling the See also:

liberty of the See also:press, which, though in accordance with the See also:letter, seemed opposed to the intentions of the constitution, and it was on this occasion that the crown prince, hitherto a silent opponent, publicly dissociated himself from the policy of his father's ministers. Bismarck depended for his position solely on the confidence of the king, and the See also:necessity for defending himself against the attempts to destroy this confidence added greatly to the suspiciousness of his nature. He was, however, really indispensable, for his resignation must be followed by a Liberal ministry, parliamentary control over the army, and probably the See also:abdication of the king. Not only, therefore, was he secure in the continuance of the king's support, but he had also the complete control of foreign affairs. Thus he could afford to ignore the See also:criticism of the House, and the king was obliged to acquiesce in the policy of a minister to whom he owed so much. He soon gave to the policy of the monarchy a See also:resolution which had See also:long been wanting. When the See also:emperor of Austria summoned a meeting of the German princes at See also:Frank-fort to discuss areform of the See also:confederation, Bismarck poIrey° insisted that the king of Prussia must not attend. He remained away, and his See also:absence in itself made the See also:congress unavailing, There can be no doubt that from the time he entered con office Bismarck was determined to bring to an issue the long struggle for supremacy in Germany between the house of See also:Habsburg and the house of See also:Hohenzollern. Before he was able to complete his preparations for this, two unforeseen occurrences completely altered the See also:European situation, and caused the conflict to be postponed for three years.. The first was the outbreak of See also:rebellion in See also:Poland. Bismarck, an inheritor of the older Prussian traditions, and recollecting how much of the greatness of Prussia had been gained at the expense of the Poles, offered his help to the tsar.

By this he placed himself in opposition to the universal feeling of western See also:

Europe; no See also:act of his life added so much to the repulsion with which at this time he was regarded as an enemy of liberty and right. He won, however, the gratitude of the tsar and the support of Russia, which in the next'years was to be of vital service to him. Even more serious were the difficulties arising in See also:Denmark. On the death of King Frederick VII. in 1863, Prince Frederick of Augustenburg came forward as claimant to the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, which had hitherto been joined to the crown of Denmark. He was strongly supported by the whole German nation and by many of its princes. Bismarck, however, once more was obliged to oppose the current of See also:national feeling, which imperiously demanded that the German duchies should be rescued from a foreign yoke. Prussia was See also:bound by the treaty of See also:London of 1852, which guaranteed the integrity of the Danish monarchy; to have disregarded , this would have been to bring about a See also:coalition against Germany similar to that of 1851. Moreover, he held that it would be of no advantage to Prussia to create a new German See also:state; if Denmark were to lose the duchies, he desired that Prussia should acquire them, and to recognize the Augustenburg claims would make this impossible. His resistance to the national See also:desire made him appear a traitor to his country. To check the agitation he turned for help to Austria; and an alliance of the two powers, so lately at variance, was formed. He then falsified all the predictions of the opposition by going to war with Denmark, not, as they had required, in support of Augustenburg, but on the ground that the king of Denmark had violated his promise not to oppress his German subjects. Austria continued to act with Prussia, and, after the defeat of the Danes, at the See also:peace of Vienna the See also:sovereignty of the duchies was surrendered to the two allies—the first step towards See also:annexation by Prussia.

There is no part of Bismarck's diplomatic work which deserves such careful study as these avents. Watched as he was by countless enemies at See also:

home and .abroad, asingle false step would have brought ruin and disgrace on himself; the growing national excitement would have burst through all See also:restraint, and again, as fifteen years before, Germany divided and unorganized would have had to capitulate to the fathers of foreign powers (see SCHLESWIG-HOLSTEIN QUESTION). The peace of Vienna See also:left him once more free to return to his colder policy. ; For the next eighteen months he was occupied war with in preparing for war with Austria. For this war he Austria. was alone responsible; he undertook it deliberately as the only means of securing Prussian ascendancy in Germany. The actual cause of dispute was the disposition of the conquered duchies, for Austria now wished to put Augustenburg in as duke, a See also:plan to which Bismarck would not assent. In1865 a provisional arrangement was made by the treaty of See also:Gastein,.for Bismarck was not yet ready. He would not See also:risk a war unless he was certain of success, and for this he required the alliance of See also:Italy and See also:French support; both he secured during the next year. In See also:October 1865 he visited Napoleon at See also:Biarritz and Paris. No formal treaty was made, but Napoleon promised to regard favourably an See also:extension of Prussian power in Germany; while Bismarck led the emperor to believe that Prussia would help him in extending the frontier of France. A treaty of alliance with Italy was arranged in the See also:spring of 1866; and Bismarck then with much difficulty overcame the reluctance of the king to embark in a war with his old ally. The results of the war entirely justified his calculations.

Prussia, though opposed by all the German states except a few principalities a the See also:

north, completely defeated all her enemies, and at the end of a few See also:weeks the whole of Germany See also:lay at her feet. The war of 1866 is more than that of 187o the crisis of See also:modern German See also:history. It finally settled the controversy which had See also:Settlement begun more than a See also:hundred years before, and left of /8'66, Prussia the dominant power in Germany. It deter- See also:mined that, the unity of Germany should be brought about not by revolutionary means as in 1848, not as in 1849 had been attempted by voluntary agreement of the princes, not by Austria, but by the See also:sword of Prussia. This was the great work pf. Bismarck's life; he had completed the See also:programme fore-shadowed in his early speeches, and finished the work of Frederick the Great. It is also the turning-point in Bismarck's own life. Having secured the dominance of the crown in Prussia and of Prussia in Germany, he, could afford to make a reconciliation with the parties which had been his chief opponents, and turn to them for help in See also:building up a new Germany. The settlement of 186.6 was peculiarly his work. We must See also:notice, first, how in ;arranging the terms of peace he opposed the king and the military party who wished to advance on Vienna and annex part of See also:Austrian See also:Silesia; with greater foresight he looked to renewing the old friendship with Austria, and insisted (even with the See also:threat of resignation) that no territory should be demanded. The See also:southern states he treated with equal mqderation, and thereby was able to arrange an offensive and defensive alliance with them, On the other hand, in order to secure the complete control of North Germany, which was his immediate See also:object, he required that the whole of See also:Hanover, See also:Hesse-See also:Cassel, Hesse-See also:Nassau and the .See also:city of Frankfort, as well as the Elbe duchies, should be absorbed in Prussia. He them formed a See also:separate confederation of the North German states, but did not See also:attempt to unite the whole of Germany, partly because of the See also:internal difficulties which this would have produced, partly because it would have brought about a war with France.

In the new confederation he became See also:

sole responsible minister, with the See also:title Bundes-Kanzler; this position he held till 189o, in addition to his 'former See also:post of premier minister. In 1871 the title was altered to Reichs-Kanzler. The reconciliation with the Prussian parliament he effected by bringing in a See also:bill of See also:indemnity for the money which had been spent without leave of parliament. The Radicals still continued their opposition, but he thereby made possible the formation of a large party of moderate Liberals, who thenceforward supported him in his new Nationalist policy. He also, in the constitution for the new confederation, introduced a parliament (.Bundestag) elected by universal See also:suffrage. This was the chief demand of the revolutionists in 1848; it was one to which in his early life he had been strongly opposed. His experience at Frankfort had diminished his dislike of popular See also:representation, and it was probably to the advice of See also:Lassalle that his See also:adoption of universal suffrage was due. He first publicly proposed it just before the war; by carrying it out, notwithstanding the apprehensions of many Liberal politicians, he placed the new constitution on a firmer See also:base than would otherwise have been possible. Up to 1866 he had always appeared to be an opponent of the National party in Germany, now he became their See also:leader. His next task was to complete the work which was See also:half-finished, and it was this which brought about the second of the great See also:wars which he undertook. The relations with Napoleon III. form one of the most interesting but obscurest episodes in Bismarck's career. We have seen that he did not See also:share the common See also:prejudice against co-operation with France.

He found Napoleon willing to aid Prussia as he had aided See also:

Piedmont, and was ready to accept his assistance. There was this difference, that he asked only for See also:neutrality, not armed assistance, and it is improbable that he ever intended to alienate any German territory; he showed himself, however, on more than one occasion, ready to discuss plans for extending French territory, on the side of See also:Belgium and Switzerland. Napoleon, who had not anticipated the rapid success of Prussia, after the See also:battle of See also:Koniggratz at the See also:request of Austria came forward as mediator, and there were a few days during which it was probable that Prussia would have to meet a French attempt to dictate terms of peace. Bismarck in this crisis by deferring to the emperor in See also:appearance avoided the danger, but he knew that he had been deceived, and the cordial understanding was never renewed. Immediately after ,an See also:armistice had been arranged, See also:Benedetti, at the orders of the French government, demanded as recompense a large See also:tract of German territory on the left See also:bank of the See also:Rhine. This Bismarck peremptorily refused, declaring that he would rather have war. Benedetti then made another proposal, submitting a draft treaty by which France was to support Prussia in adding the See also:South German states to the new con-federation, and Germany was to support France in the annexation of See also:Luxemburg and Belgium. Bismarck discussed, but did not conclude the treaty; he kept, however, a copy of the draft in Benedetti's See also:handwriting, and published it in The Times in the summer of 187o so as to injure the See also:credit of Napoleon in England. The failure of the See also:scheme made a contest with France inevitable, at least unless the Germans were willing to forgo the purpose of completing the work of German unity, and during the next four years the two nations were each preparing for the struggle, and each watching to take the other at a disadvantage. It is necessary, then, to keep in mind the See also:general situation in considering Bismarck's conduct in the months immediately preceding the war of 187o. In 1867 there was a dispute regarding the right to See also:garrison Luxemburg. Bismarck then produced the See also:secret See also:treaties with the southern states, an act which was, as it were, a See also:challenge to France by the whole of Germany.

During the next three years the Ultramontane party hoped to bring about an See also:

anti-Prussian revolution, and Napoleon was working for an alliance with Austria, where Beust, an old opponent of Bismarck's, was See also:chancellor. Bismarck was doubt-less well informed as to the progress of the negotiations, for he had established intimate relations with the Hungarians. The pressure at home for completing the work of German unity was so strong that he could with difficulty resist it, and in 187o he was much embarrassed by a request from Baden to be admitted to the confederation, which he had to refuse. It is therefore not surprising that he eagerly welcomed the opportunity of gaining the See also:goodwill of See also:Spain, and supported by all the means in his power the offer made by See also:Marshal See also:Prim that Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern should be chosen king of that country. It was only by his urgent and repeated representations that the prince was persuaded against his will to accept. The negotiations were Bismarck and France. carried out with the greatest secrecy, but as soon as the See also:acceptance was made known the French government intervened and declared that the project was inadmissible. Bismarck was away at Varzin, but on his instructions the Prussian foreign office in See also:answer to inquiries denied all knowledge or responsibility. This was necessary, because it would have caused a See also:bad impression in Germany had he gone to war with France in support of the prince's candidature. The king, by receiving Benedetti at See also:Ems, departed from the policy of reserve Bismarck himself adopted, and Bismarck (who had now gone to Berlin) found himself in a position of such difficulty that he contemplated resignation. The French, however, by changing and extending their demands enabled him to find a cause of war of such nature that the The Ems whole of Germany would be See also:united against French telegram, aggression. France asked for a letter of See also:apology, and Benedetti personally requested from the king a promise that he would never allow the candidature to be resumed.

Bismarck published the telegram in which this See also:

information and the refusal of the king were conveyed, but by omitting part of the telegram made it appear that the request and refusal had both been conveyed in a more abrupt form than had really been the case.' But even apart from this, the publication of the French demand, which could not be complied with, must have brought about a war. In the See also:campaign of 1870-71 Bismarck accompanied the See also:head-quarters of the army, as he had done in 1866. He was See also:present at the battle of See also:Gravelotte and at the surrender of See also:Sedan, and it was on the See also:morning of the end of September that ,he had his famous meeting with Napoleon after the surrender of the emperor. He accompanied the king to Paris, and spent many months at See also:Versailles. Here he was occupied chiefly with the arrangements for admitting the southern states to the confederation, and the establishment of the See also:empire. He also underwent much anxiety lest the efforts of See also:Thiers to bring about an interference by the neutral powers might be successful. He had to carry on the negotiations with the French preliminary to the surrender of Paris, and to enforce upon them the German terms of peace. For Bismarck's political career after 1870 we must refer to the See also:article GERMANY, for he was thenceforward entirely absorbed After1870. in the affairs of his country. The foreign policy he controlled absolutely. As chancellor he was responsible for the whole internal policy of the empire, and his influence is to be seen in every See also:department of state, especially, however, in the great change of policy after 1878. During the earlier period the estrangement from the Conservatives, which had begun in 1866, became very marked, and brought about a violent See also:quarrel with many of his old See also:friends, which culminated in the celebrated Arnim trial. He incurred much criticism during the struggle with the See also:Roman See also:Catholic See also:Church, and in 1873 he was shot at and slightly wounded by a youth called Rullmann, who See also:pro- fessed to be an adherent of the Clerical party.

Once before, in 1866, just before the outbreak of war, his life had been attempted by a young man called See also:

Cohen, a native of See also:Wurttemberg, who wished to See also:save Germany from a fratricidal war. In 1872 he retired from the See also:presidency of the Prussian ministry, but returned after a few months. On several occasions he offered to retire, but the emperor always refused his consent, on the last time with the word " Never." In 1877 he took a long leave of absence for ten months. His See also:health at this time was very bad. In 1878 he presided over the congress of Berlin. The following years were chiefly occupied, besides foreign affairs, which were always his first care, with important commercial reforms, and he held at this time also the office of Prussian minister of See also:trade in addition to his other posts. During this period his relations with the ' It was not till many years later that our knowledge of these events (which is still incomplete) was established; in 1894 the publication of the See also:memoirs of the king of See also:Rumania showed, what had hitherto been denied, that Bismarck had taken a leading part in urging the See also:election of the prince of Hohenzollern. It was in 1892 that the See also:language used by Bismarck himself made it necessary for the German government to publish the See also:original form of the Ems telegram. Reichstag were often very unsatisfactory; and at no time did he resort so freely to prosecutions in the See also:law-courts in order to injure his opponents, so that the expression Bismarck-Beleidigung was invented. He was engaged at this time in a great struggle with the Social-Democrats, whom he tried to crush by exceptional penal See also:laws. The death of the emperor William in 1888 made a serious difference in his position. 1`-Ie had been bound to him by a long See also:term of loyal service, which had been rewarded with equal See also:loyalty.

For his relations to the emperors Frederick and William II., and for the events connected with his dismissal from office in See also:

March 189o, we must refer to the articles under those names. After his retirement he resided at See also:Friedrichsruh, near See also:Hamburg, a house on his Lauenburg estates. His criticisms of the government, given sometimes in conversation, sometimes in the columns of the Hamburger Nachrichten, caused an open See also:breach between him and the emperor; and the new chancellor, See also:Count Caprivi, in a circular despatch which was afterwards published, warned all German envoys that no real importance must be attached to what he said. When he visited Vienna for his son's See also:wedding the German ambassador, Prince See also:Reuss, was forbidden to take any notice of him. A reconciliation was effected in 1893. In 1895 his eightieth birthday was celebrated with great See also:enthusiasm: the Reichstag alone, owing to the opposition of the Clericals and the Socialists, refused to vote an address. In 1891 he had been elected a member of the Reichstag, but he never took his seat. He died at Friedrichsruh on the 31st of See also:July 1898. Bismarck was made a count in 1865; in 1871 he received the rank of See also:Furst (prince). On his retirement the emperor created him duke of Lauenburg, but he never used the title, which was not inherited by his son. In 1866 he received £6o,000 as his share of the donation voted by the Reichstag for the victorious generals. With this he See also:purchased the estate of Varzin in Pomerania, which henceforth he used as a country See also:residence in preference to Schonhausen.

In 1871 the emperor presented him with a large part of the domains of the duchy of Lauenburg. On his seventieth birthday a large sum of money (£270,000) was raised by public subscription, of which half was devoted to repurchasing the estate of Schonhausen for him, and the See also:

rest was used by him to establish a fund for the assistance of schoolmasters. As a young man he was an officer in the See also:Landwehr and See also:militia, and in addition to his civil honours he was eventually raised to the ' rank of general. Among the numerous orders he received we may mention that he was the first See also:Protestant on whom the See also:pope be-stowed the order of See also:Christ; this was done after the cessation of the Kulturkampf and the reference of the dispute with Spain concerning the See also:Caroline Islands to the See also:arbitration of the pope. Bismarck's wife died in 1894. He left one daughter and two sons. See also:Herbert (1849-1904), the See also:elder, was wounded at See also:Mars-le-Tour, afterwards entered the foreign office, and acted as private secretary to his father (1871-1881). In 1882 he became councillor to the See also:embassy at London, in 1884 was transferred to St See also:Peters-See also:burg, and in 1885 became under-secretary of state for foreign affairs. In 1884 he had been elected to the Reichstag, but had to resign his seat when, in 1886, he was made secretary of state for foreign affairs and Prussian minister. He conducted many of the negotiations with Great See also:Britain on colonial affairs. He retired in 1890 at the same time as his father, and in 1893 was again elected to the Reichstag. He married Countess Margarete Hoyos in 1892, and died on the 18th of September 1904.

He left two daughters and three sons, of whom the eldest, Otto Christian See also:

Archibald (b. 1897), succeeded to the princely title. The second son, Wilhelm, who was president of the See also:province of Prussia, died in 1901. By his wife, Sybilla von Arnim-Krochlendorff, he left three daughters and a son, Count Nikolaus (b. 1896). I2 vols. (See also:Stuttgart, 1892-1894), is the best; there is a cheap edition in Reclam's Universalbibliothek. Bismarck was an admirable letter-writer, and See also:numbers of his private letters have been published; a collected edition has been brought out by See also:Horst See also:Kohl. His letters to his wife were published by Prince Herbert Bismarck (Stuttgart, 1900). A See also:translation of a small selection of the private letters was published in 1876 by F. Maxse. Of great value for the years 1851-1858 is the See also:correspondence with General L. v.

Gerlach, which has been edited by Horst Kohl (3rd ed., Berlin, 1893). A selection of the political letters was also published under the title Politische Briefe aus den Jahren 1849-1899 (2nd ed., Berlin, 189o). Of far greater importance are the collections of despatches and state papers edited by Herr v. Poschinger. These include four volumes entitled Preussen See also:

im Bundestag, 1851-1859 (4 vols., See also:Leipzig, 1882-1885), which contain his despatches during the time he was at Frankfort. Next in importance are two See also:works, Bismarck als Volkswirih and Aktenstiicke zur Wirthschaftspolitik See also:des Fursten Bismarck, which are part of the collection of state papers, Akenstiicke zur Geschichte der Wirthschaftspolitik in Preussen. They contain full information on Bismarck's commercial policy, including. a number of important state papers. A useful general collection is that by See also:Ludwig See also:Hahn, Bismarck, sein politisches Leben, &c. (5 vols., Berlin, 1878-1891), which includes a selection from letters, speeches and newspaper articles. These collections have only been possible owing to the extreme generosity which Bismarck showed in permitting the publication of documents; he always professed to have no secrets. A full See also:account of the diplomatic history from 1863 to 1866 is given by See also:Sybel in See also:Die Begrundung des deutschen Reichs (See also:Munich, 1889-1894), written with the help of the Prussian archives. The "last two volumes, covering 1866-187o, are of less value, as he was not able to use the archives for this period.

Poschinger has also edited a See also:

series of works in which anecdotes, minutes of interviews and conversations are recorded; they are, however, of very unequal value. They are Bismarck and die Parlamentarier, Furst Bismarck and der Bundesrath, Die Ansprache des Fursten Bismarck, Neue Tischgesprache, and Bismarck and die Diplomaten. Selections from these have been published in See also:English by See also:Charles See also:Lowe, The Tabletalk of Prince Bismarck, and by See also:Sidney See also:Whitman, Conversations with Bismarck. By far the fullest See also:guide to Bismarck's life is Horst Kohl's Fiirst Bismarck, Regesten zu einer wissenschaftlichen Biographie (Leipzig, 1891-1892), which contains a See also:record of Bismarck's actions on each See also:day, with references to and extracts from his letters and speeches. For the works of See also:Moritz See also:Busch, which contain graphic pictures of his daily life, see the article Buscx. Further materials were published periodically in the Bismarck-Jahrbuch, edited by Horst Kohl (Berlin, 1894-1896; Stuttgart, 1897-1899). Herr v. Poschinger also brought out a Bismarck Portfeuille. Of German See also:biographies may be mentioned Hans See also:Blum, Bismarck and See also:seine Zeit (6 vols., Munich, 1894-1895), with a See also:volume of appendices, &c. (1898); Heyck, Bismarck (See also:Bielefeld, 1898) ; See also:Kreutzer, Otto von Bismarck (2 vols., Leipzig, 1900) ; See also:Klein-See also:Hattingen, Bismarck and seine Welt, 1815-1871, Bd. i. (Berlin, 1902) ; See also:Lenz, Geschichte Bismarcks (Leipzig, 1902) ; Penzler, Furst Bismarck nach seiner Entlassung (7 vols., ib. 1897-1898) ; Liman, one volume under the same title (ib.

1901). There are English biographies by Charles Lowe, Bismarck, a Political See also:

Biography (revised edition in 1 vol., 1895), by See also:James Headlam (1899), and by F. Stearns (See also:Philadelphia, 1900). A useful bibliography of all works on Bismarck up to 1895 is See also:Paul Schulze and Otto Koller's Bismarck-Literatur (Leipzig, 1896). (J. W.

End of Article: BISMARCK, OTTO EDUARD LEOPOLD VON, PRINCE

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