Otto von Bismarck

Prince Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck-Schönhausen Duke of Lauenburg (1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was an aristocrat and statesman of the 19th century in Europe. As Prime Minister of Prussia from 1862 to 1890, he was mainly responsible for unifying the many independent German countries and founding the German Empire in 1871. He became the first chancellor of the new Empire.

Otto von Bismarck
Chancellor of the German Empire
In office 21 March 1871 – 20 March 1890
Monarch	Wilhelm I Friedrich III Wilhelm II
Deputy	Otto Graf zu Stolberg-Wernigerode Karl Heinrich von Boetticher
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Leo von Caprivi
Minister President of Prussia
In office 9 November 1873 – 20 March 1890
Monarch	Wilhelm I Friedrich III Wilhelm II
Preceded by	Albrecht von Roon
Succeeded by	Leo von Caprivi
In office 23 September 1862 – 1 January 1873
Monarch	Wilhelm I
Preceded by	Adolf zu Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen
Succeeded by	Albrecht von Roon
Chancellor of the North German Confederation
In office 1 July 1867 – 21 March 1871
President	Wilhelm I
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Position abolished
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office 23 November 1862 – 20 March 1890
Prime Minister	Himself Albrecht von Roon
Preceded by	Albrecht von Bernstorff
Succeeded by	Leo von Caprivi
Personal details
Born	Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck-Schönhausen 1 April 1815 Schönhausen, Kreis Jerichow II, Province of Saxony, Prussia (now Saxony-Anhalt, Germany)
Died	30 July 1898 (aged 83) Friedrichsruh, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
Political party	Independent
Spouse(s)	Johanna von Puttkamer (1847–1894; her death)
Children	Marie Herbert Wilhelm
Parents	Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand von Bismarck (1771–1845) Wilhelmine Luise Mencken (1789–1839)
Alma mater	University of Göttingen University of Berlin University of Greifswald
Profession	Lawyer
Net worth	ℳ12 million (1887) (equivalent to million 2009 €)
Signature

Bismarck-Monument, Hamburg

He was Graf von Bismarck-Schönhausen (Count Bismarck-Schönhausen) in 1865, then since 1871 Fürst von Bismarck (Prince Bismarck) and since 1890 the Herzog von Lauenburg (Duke of Lauenburg). At first he did not want the duke title, but accepted it later.

Unification of Germany

In the 1860s he engineered a series of wars that unified the German states, but deliberately not Austria, into a powerful German Empire under Prussian leadership. He got that by 1871. Bismarck "remained undisputed world champion at the game of multilateral diplomatic chess for almost twenty years after 1871, [and] devoted himself exclusively, and successfully, to maintaining peace between the powers".

Bismarck conducted wars against Denmark (1864), Austria (1866) and France (1871). All were to get more land for the German Empire. The war against France was very significant in the long run. France lost Alsace–Lorraine. The German victory, under the brilliant von Moltke, made Germany the most important country in central Europe.

After the death of the Emperor and his son (Frederick III) in 1888, a new era began, without Bismarck and the elder von Moltke, and with Kaiser Wilhelm II on the throne.

Policy at home

Bismarck was very conservative and he was strongly connected to the monarchy. He was not a big supporter of democracy. His most important goal was to make Prussia stronger and he achieved that through the unification of Germany. Bismarck tried to stop the socialist movement and to reduce the power of the Catholic Church.

One way to stop socialism was to make the working class happy. He did that by introducing many social reforms like public health and accident insurance, as well as pensions for old people. Bismarck's pension scheme was the fore-runner of the modern welfare state.