Otto Von Bismarck - Life and Legacy
...l engagements, two of them in 1836-37 and another in 1842. He finally marries Johanna von Puttkamer (1824-94) in 1847 and it proves to be a happy union. Johanna is chosen perhaps because she is so different than Bimarck. She has no interest in politics and is not ambitious or world mindlly. She has to be incouraged to lear French and ride horses which are needed for the social life of a diplomat. She is plain spoken and not the least devious--which would have irritated Bismarck to no end. She was devoted to him and supportive, although her health as not good. Commenting on his wife and daughter, a lady friend says that it is a shame that they do not share some of his interests, Bismarck replies, "... this has its good side. I get into quite a different atmosphere at home." Bismarck had three children Marie, Herbert and Wilhelm. He apparently loved and indulged them, but he was often absent from home given the demands of his official duties, so he was unable to spend much time with them. Bismarck was the primary architect of the German nation, as it is known today. He forced control over the German speaking provinces in the 1860s, previously under unaligned monarchies, primed for exploitation by France and Austria and unites them, under the jurisdiction of Prussian authority figures like himself. He was well known as a man with powerful sense of nationalism. In 1865, at his command, the Prussian army captured much of Denmark's southern territory a large portion of Austrian territory fell under his jurisdiction in 1866, and the southern German states became national holdings during the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 and 1871. Bismarck had succeeded in arranging a German Empire by 1871, which was stretching from his Prussia in the east to the French-speaking provinces of Alsace and Lorraine in the west. Bismarck’s brilliant leadership helped the group of landowning, aristocratic Prussians called “Junkers” to gain substantial power over a large territory of German peoples. He became so popular with his power and authority, so he became known as the "Iron Chancellor." This title grew out of a militaristic upbringing and sensibility; in addition, his persona -- described by a contemporary as "irritable, imperious, yet thin-skinned and sensitive" contributed to his reputation, as did his rebellious speeches and rough temperament. Once he had secured Prussian bureaucratic hegemony, Bismarck focused his efforts on international relations, on strengthening Germany's position in Europe. Two decades of predominantly pacifistic international policy-making strengthened his and Germany's prestige and solidified his position as the greatest statesman of the century, according to a survey of Berliners in 1899. Bismarck’s reputation and political strength gained him favor in front of Kaiser Wilhelm I as an international player with great authority. His privileged relationship with the Kaiser earned him his seat as chancellor and gave a green light to his legislation. Bismarck became a junction between the German Reichstag and the Emperor. In doing so, he made himself indispensable to the proper functioning of the German state. With the support of the Reichstag and with his increasing popularity, Bismarck worked and struggle for the good of Germany, until his hard-line domestic policies enacted in the 1870s and 1880s, but largely unsuccessful slowly ate away at his popularity and his credibility. The main idea of his legislation was to ensure that "the whole nation achieve unity and individuality." His intentions were nationalistic, and he was in pursuit for a unified Germany at all costs. Bismarck was a protestant; he abandoned religion at about age of 16, which probably caused him one of his biggest political failures. In 1871, he led the Reichstag to vote for legislation, which was to remove Catholics from all civil services and to reduce the power of the bishops in their jurisdiction. He felt Catholic Germans could never be truly dedicated to their nation while their religion housed its governing bodies in the Vatican. Catholicism compromised the endless loyalty Bismarc...