Prussian politics and diplomacy
Born at Schönhausen in 1815, Bismarck studied law, briefly worked in government and managed family estates. He entered the United Prussian Diet in 1847 as an opponent of liberalism. Diplomatic service at Frankfurt, St Petersburg and Paris widened his experience of European power politics.
Wilhelm I appointed him to lead the Prussian government during the military-budget conflict of 1862. Bismarck governed without parliamentary budget approval until an indemnity measure in 1866 retrospectively approved expenditure. His “iron and blood” speech belonged to this constitutional confrontation.
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War, diplomatic messages and unification
Wars against Denmark in 1864 and Austria in 1866 advanced Prussian predominance and excluded Austria from the emerging national state. Bismarck became North German Confederation chancellor in 1867 and imperial chancellor in 1871, retaining Prussian offices.
The Spanish succession dispute brought a diplomatic crisis in July 1870. Abeken’s Ems telegram reported the king’s rejection of a permanent guarantee against future Hohenzollern candidatures and left publication to Bismarck. His shortened public version sharpened the apparent rebuff, escalating the confrontation before France declared war.
Social policy, repression and colonies
After unification, Bismarck fought Catholic political influence through the Kulturkampf and socialist organization through the 1878 Anti-Socialist Law. Sickness insurance in 1883, accident insurance in 1884, and invalidity and old-age insurance in 1889 developed alongside political repression.
In a June 1884 speech, he advocated colonial enterprise by merchants and chartered companies under imperial protection, limiting direct state expenditure. Reservations about administrative costs did not amount to rejection of colonial expansion. Conflict with Wilhelm II led to dismissal in 1890. Bismarck died at Friedrichsruh in 1898.