Bismarck, i.e. Machiavelli (762-767)

Throughout this whole week, we've been talking about nationalism and when I read this section I found it quite ironic that the man that was able to unify Germany, was in reality, "not a nationalist" (763). Otto von Bismarck was named minister-president of Prussia in 1862 by King Frederick William. Bismarck was a pragmatic, conservative, Prussian man who didn't try to bring other German states under Prussian domination "in pursuit of a grand German design but because he believed that union in some form was inevitable and that Prussia had to seize the initiative" (763). The main thought that I had while reading about Bismarck, was just how much he reminded me of Machiavelli. Bismarck was a lion in the sense that he lead the Prussians to war against Austria in the Seven Weeks War, which ended in Prussian victory since the German Confederation gained Schleswig and Holstein. However, Bismarck was also a sly fox who defied parliamentary opposition, understood that he needed support from the masses, had massive foreign policy skill since he "played the national card to preempt his liberal opponents at home and to make German nation building an accomplishment- and an extension- of Prussian authority" (764), and in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 he facilitated a Franco-German misunderstanding by editing a "telegraph from the kaiser and releasing portions of it to the press so as to make it appear that King William had rebuffed ambassador" (765). After this war, on January 18, 1871, the German Empire was proclaimed after the French imperial government collapsed when they lost the war. Bismarck also showed his 'foxy' side by understanding that appearances are key: "the constitution of the North German Confederation gave the appearance of a more liberal political body, with a bicameral legislature, freedom of the press, and universal male suffrage in the lower house. Its structure, however, gave Prussia and the conservative emperor a decisive advantage in the North German Confederation- and in the soon to be expanded empire" (765). Bismarck was not a nationalist, but instead an opportunist. He took advantage of all his assets to build up the Prussia state and in the process unify Germany with "iron and blood" (Bismarck's speech).