November 14, 2010
Putting Otto von Back in Bismarck: The Iron Chancellor and the Great Plains
Why do we live in Bismarck and not Edwinton? The scholars will discuss the man that became a German Chancellor, remembered for unifying Germany and for prompting a town in North Dakota to change its name.
Born April 1, 1815, Otto Edward Leopold von Bismarck SchÖnhausen became the most important statesman of the mid to late nineteenth century. A Junker, the landed gentry of the Kingdom of Prussia, from an early age his mother ensured his education positioned him to follow in the footsteps of his maternal grandfather who had been a statesman and advisor to the King of Prussia. First elected to the Prussian Diet (Parliament) at age 32, within fifteen years Bismarck would rise to the position of Minister-President serving directly and answerable only to the King.
Bismarck’s challenge was to unify several hundred principalities making up Lesser Germany (that is, Germany without Austria) while maintaining Prussian King William I as the dominate force in the country. Bismarck adroitly used diplomacy, alliances, threat of military force, and limited war to bring less powerful princes into the orbit of William. Ultimately three wars (1864, 1866, and 1870) culminated in the coronation of William I as Emperor (Kaiser) of a newly unified German Empire. For this service, the Emperor made Bismarck a Prince. From 1871 until he left office in 1890, Bismarck held the office of Imperial Chancellor of Germany.
Following unification Prince Otto turned his attention, first, to the economic viability of Germany. He adopted protectionism (using tariffs to grow domestic markets), rejecting Adam Smith’s free trade. Then to vitiate the growing strength of socialists in Central Europe, Bismarck advanced and implemented the first social programs that addressed societal ills. Government health care insurance, old age pensions, and labor protection laws saw the first light of day in Bismarck’s Germany. Finally, at the Congress of Berlin in 1884 Bismarck secured the right of Germany to establish colonies in Africa and other locations around the world so as to remain competitive with the other great powers, such as Great Britain and France.
Bismarck served William I from 1857 until the Kaiser’s death in 1888. In 1890, having come into direct conflict with Kaiser William II, Bismarck resigned and retired to his estate at Friedrichsruh, where he died in 1898. The inscription on his tomb, dictated by Bismarck himself, captured the essence of his life: "A true German servant of the Emperor William I."
The subsequent world wars of the twentieth century and the evil and barbarism of Adolph Hitler have understandably overshadowed Bismarck’s accomplishments. But in his age, the public on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean considered him among the greatest statesmen. In recognition of that, and hoping to attract investors and German immigrants, in 1873 city fathers changed the name of Edwinton, Dakota Territory, to Bismarck.