The kingdom of Hanover, an ally to Austria was also approached and Bismarck benefited a lot from the treaty as he got 50% of crown assets from the kingdom and set up the “reptiles’ fund” which he used in corrupt deals and personal gains. He made treaties with other territories and kingdoms so that they could join the larger Prussia. This huge military success made him regain his political support and supremacy in his career. Bismarck also led to the defeat of Denmark and Hungary in the 1860’s. He declared that the states surrounding the Prussian empire must be won through “iron and blood”. He mainly dealt with the importance of Prussia to maintain its power and supremacy which was at stake. The unification was an objective of the revolutions that had occurred earlier though it was long to be achieved with the measures of a new constitution and the fear of other territories by the then king Friedrich Wilheim IV.īismarck’s speech of 1862 to the budget committee of the Prussian chambers of deputies made him a famous and brave leader to achieve the German unification. However, he was later to contribute actively to the unification of Germany. Through all this time he became an infamous politician throughout the German empire due to his policies and dictatorship. With a revision of the constitution in 1867, he transformed to be the chancellor of Prussia. Moreover, his experience with the French, Austrians, and Russians came in handy in his reign. When Prussia was running internal development in September, 1862, King William I recalled him back to reign as the Prime Minister (Whitfield, & Whitfield 26). However, it was not until 1859 that he became the Prussian ambassador to Russia although he was to later on be moved to the French capital in the same capacity. In 1854, he actively opposed the Prussian cooperation with Australia since it was trying to dominate the Prussian states. His loyalty to the state of Prussia paid off in 1851 when he was appointed as the Prussian representative to the federal diet in Frankfurt, a position that was highly important at the time. He pushed for nationalism regarding to be called a Prussian and not German. He started his career in the political arena in 1849 in the Prussian chambers of deputies as an elected member. He was known for his conservativeness, loyalty, and patriotism to the state of Prussia. Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck (1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a chief figure in the German history, having an active role in the unification of the Prussian Empire. He had two major achievements, alliance with various countries and worldwide social reforms of insurance social insurance laws, Health Insurance Act, Accident insurance and Old age pension. He led three wars and contributed a lot to the unity of Germany. He transformed the German empire to a powerful military and economic power in the whole of Europe. While starting his political career in 1862, German was weak and unstable as opposed to 1890 when he left office. For more than two decades he had been the prime minister of Prussia and for 19 years he had served as the imperial chancellor of the German Empire in addition to being the minister of foreign affairs and doing some presidential duties thus he contributed too much change in the Prussian empire (Kent 38). At this time he had been the longest serving member in politics. Otto von Bismarck retired from politics in 1890. However, without understanding him one can fail to understand German history during his time. The rise of the German empire was one of the major events in the age and Bismarck took active role in it. The maps were reorganized politically and this period saw development of nationalism and patriotism, though they ended with the First World War. The 19 th century experienced dramatic changes in terms of social, political, and economic aspects, which were mainly influenced by the industrial revolution, French revolution and Napoleon wars. Bismarck can not go unmentioned in this subject for he was the main character in shaping the entire place during his time. The history of Europe especially Prussian Empire developed amidst many aspects of unity and kingship but Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck took an outstanding role in the peak and fall of the empire. Learn More Figure.1: Showing the boundaries of Prussia in the period 1860/1867 Figure.2: Showing the extended boundaries of Prussia in the period 1871 Introduction
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