Otto von Bismarck is a prominent German statesman. He was born in 1815 in Schönhausen. Otto von Bismarck received a law degree. He was the most reactionary deputy of the united Prussian Landtags (1847-1848) and advocated the harsh suppression of any revolutionary uprisings.
In the period 1851-1859 Bismarck represented Prussia in the Bundestag (Frankfurt am Main). From 1859 to 1862 he was sent to Russia as an ambassador, and in 1862 to France. In the same year, King Wilhelm I, after a constitutional conflict between him and the Landtag, appoints Bismarck to the post of President-Minister. In this position, he defended the rights of roy alty and resolved the conflict in her favor.
In the 60s, contrary to the constitution and budgetary rights of the Landtag, Otto von Bismarck reformed the army, which seriously increased the Prussian military power. In 1863, he initiated an agreement with the Russian government on joint measures to suppress possible uprisings in Poland.
Relying on the Prussian war machine,he carries out the unification of Germany as a result of the Danish (1864), Austro-Prussian (1866) and Franco-Prussian (1870-1871) wars. In 1871, Bismarck received the post of Chancellor of the German Empire. In the same year, he actively assisted France in the suppression of the Paris Commune. Using his very broad rights, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in every possible way strengthened the position of the bourgeois Junker bloc in the state.
In the 70s, he spoke out against the Catholic Party and the claims of the clerical-particularist opposition, supported by Pope Pius IX (Kulturkampf). In 1878, the iron chancellor Otto von Bismarck applied the Exceptional Law (against dangerous and harmful intentions) against the socialists and their program. This norm forbade the activities of social democratic parties outside the Landtags and the Reichstag.
All during his tenure as Chancellor, Bismarck unsuccessfully tried to prevent the spinning of the flywheel of the workers' revolutionary movement. His government also actively suppressed the national movement in the Polish territories that were part of Germany. One of the countermeasures was the total Germanization of the population. The chancellor's government pursued a protectionist course in the interests of the big bourgeoisie and the Junkers.
Otto von Bismarck in foreign policy considered the main priority measures to prevent the revenge of France after its loss of the Franco-Prussian war. Therefore, he was preparing for a new conflict with this country even before it could restore its military power. French state in the previous warlost the economically important regions of Lorraine and Alsace.
Bismarck feared that an anti-German coalition would be created. Therefore, in 1873, he initiated the signing of the "Union of the Three Emperors" (between Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia). In 1979, Bismarck signed the Austro-German Treaty, and in 1882, the Triple Alliance (Italy, Germany, Austria-Hungary), which was directed against France. However, the chancellor was afraid of a war on two fronts. In 1887, he concluded a “reinsurance agreement” with Russia.
In the late 80s, Germany's militarist circles wanted to start a preventive war against the Russian Empire, but Bismarck considered this conflict extremely dangerous for the country. However, German penetration into the Balkan Peninsula and lobbying for Austro-Hungarian interests there, as well as measures against Russian exports, spoiled relations between the states, which led to a rapprochement between France and Russia.
The chancellor tried to get closer to Britain, but did not take into account the depth of existing contradictions with this country. The intersection of Anglo-German interests as a result of British colonial expansion led to a deterioration in relations between states. Recent failures in foreign policy and the ineffectiveness of counteracting the revolutionary movement led to the resignation of Bismarck in 1890. He died on his estate 8 years later.
