Bismarck And The German Empire

Dr. Erich Eyck

• Publisher: Normanby Press
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9781786258298
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: British History
• Index: History

FOR MOST people Bismarck is the man of "blood and iron"; he coined the phrase himself and he lived up to it. But he was much more; he had an intellectual ascendancy over all the politicians of his day, and his superiority was acknowledged not only by his own people, but by all European statesmen.The unification of Germany, the defeat of Austria, the fall of the Second Empire, the defeat of France, the alliance of the German Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy, the dismemberment of Denmark—these are his most obvious achievements; no less important was the transformation in the national consciousness of the German people, for which Bismarck was also responsible. Dr. Eyck has analyzed not only the personality but also the accomplishments of a statesman whose influence on Europe in the latter half of the nineteenth century was more far-reaching than that of any other man in his time.-Print ed."Authoritative, illuminating and easy to read....Dr. Eyck, in his excellent book, has exposed the many fallacies of which Bismarck legend is compounded. His analysis is tragic and austere."?The Observer

CHAPTER I—THE YEARS OF PREPARATION

1. Parents and Youth

BISMARCK’S father was a Prussian Junker. There is no English translation of the term “Junker”, because there is no English equivalent of this social and political category. A Junker was a nobleman, and as a rule a great landowner. His status as a nobleman was expressed by the preposition “von” before his name. The Junkers were a kind of aristocracy. But they could not be compared to the English aristocracy. They were aristocrats of a less important type both in material wealth and in political influence. Hardly any of the Prussian Junkers of the 18th or 19th century would have been able to live in the style of an English lord. Many of them belonged to the small nobility and depended on their salary as officers or civil servants. The line of division between the Junker and the commoner was more rigorous than in England, because all descendants of the nobility preserved the adherence to it, which was outwardly visible in the preposition “von”. In England, on the other hand, only the eldest son of a baron succeeds to the title, while the younger sons become commoners. Winston Churchill, the grandson of a duke, is simply Mr. Churchill because his father was the younger son. Bismarck too was a younger son, but he was Otto von Bismarck. So the name separated all the members of the nobility from the commoner, the simple citizen, the “bourgeois”, the “Bürgerlichen”. These usages were not only of social but of legal importance, especially from the reign of Frederick the Great onwards. King Frederick’s declared policy was to keep the landed estates, significantly called Rittergüter (estates of Knights), in the hands of the Junkers, and to recruit army officers exclusively from their ranks “because”, as he wrote, “the sons of the nobility defend the country and their race is so good, that they should be preserved in every way”. By the time of Bismarck’s birth these privileges had been abolished in law, but not in practice. In point of fact, no commissions in the Prussian army, especially in the crack regiments of the guards or the cavalry, went to any other man than a nobleman. The legal position of the noble landowner had undergone a very important change owing to the reforms of the Freiherr von Stein and Graf Hardenberg after Prussia’s defeat by Napoleon at Jena in 1806. Till then the peasants were hereditary serfs (Erbuntertan) of the noble landowner. Stein emancipated them and made them free peasants. But that was only in the year 1807, not more than eight years before Bismarck’s birth. Legal reforms of this kind do not, of course, change social and mental habits in a few years. Besides, the nobleman continued to be the administrative head of the municipal rural community and exercised the jurisdiction over its inhabitants. Thus the young Bismarck grew up at his father’s country estate among people who were accustomed to accept the rule, even the dictatorship, of the nobleman, and who regarded every member of his family as a born master.

But the most important difference between the Junkers and the British aristocracy was that there was never among the former a Whig party. There were, of course, some liberally minded men among the Prussian Junkers (the Reichs-Freiherr von Stein, the great reformer, does not belong to them; he was not a born Prussian but a son of Western Germany). For instance, the parliamentary leader of the radical Progressive Party during the ‘sixties was a nobleman from Eastern Prussia, Freiherr von Hoverbeck. But as a class the Junkers were politically always of one mind. They were strictly conservative, fervent enemies of reforms, strict upholders of their own legal, material, or social privileges. They had opposed ruthlessly, and unfortunately with considerable success, the reforms of Stein and Hardenberg, and they had stopped them altogether after Prussia’s hours of danger had passed with the downfall of Napoleon. One of their leaders accused the reformers of wanting to turn “good old Prussia into a new-fangled Jewish state”, and another cried: “Our country places will become hell to us, if free peasants are our neighbours”. The Junkers were ardent Royalists, but on the understanding that the King would maintain their old privileges and prerogatives, especially the preferential promotion in the army and the administration.

Bismarck considered himself as a member of this class; in 1848 he said to a Liberal member of parliament with whom he was on friendly terms: “I am a Junker and want to profit from it”. But he belonged to the nobility only on his paternal side. His mother was not of noble descent, but came from middle-class stock. She was simply Wilhelmine Mencken, the daughter of a high official, trusted by King Frederick William III. No doubt the mother was by far the more intelligent, and mentally the more important, of Bismarck’s parents. His father lacked any qualities which might have raised him above mediocrity. The mother had a well-defined outlook on many questions such as the purpose of human existence, the moral obligations it involved and on education to this end. But Bismarck never had a good word for his mother, because she lacked unselfish motherly love and because she interfered too much with his wishes. Nevertheless, he inherited from his mother not only his very sensitive nerves, but his vitality and superior intelligence.

As a younger son of a noble family Bismarck had the choice of two careers, that of an officer in the army or that of an official in the higher grades of administration or in the diplomatic service. He had no liking for military service and its strict discipline. To obtain a post in the Prussian administration it was first necessary to study Law and then to pass some years as an unpaid Referendar or Auskultator in the judicial and administrative service. Bismarck began his studies outside Prussia at Gottingen in Hanover, at a date when its King was at the same time King of Great Britain. He did not take his studies very seriously and very seldom attended any lectures. He lived the irresponsible life of a “corps-student”, drank very much, had not less than twenty-five duels, and contracted considerable debts. Similarly, he avoided contact with the university and its eminent professors in Berlin, where he spent his later terms. Nevertheless, he passed his examinations without difficulty, and became an Auskultator in Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle), in the Rhein province, near the Belgian frontier. Aachen was then a famous international health resort, and Bismarck mixed much with the international society. Here he met a beautiful English girl, with whom he fell in love. It seems that the object of his love was a Miss Russell, a niece of the Duke of Cleveland. He became engaged to her, and followed her and her family to other places, deserting his official duties. He even wrote to a friend about his prospective wedding, which was going to take place in March 1838, at Scarsdale in Leicestershire. We do not know what exactly happened. In a letter to a friend at a later date there is a reference to a fifty-year-old colonel with one arm and five thousand a year income who “captured the ship”. Defeated Bismarck returned to his duties, only to send in his resignation some months later. In a very remarkable letter some years later Bismarck gave his reasons for this decision. One sentence in it contains the essence of his personality: “The Prussian official is like a member of an orchestra, but I want to play only the music which I myself like, or no music at all”. This was the authentic Bismarck. Even as a young man he wanted to be the leader, the first wherever he might be, never the member of an orchestra who has to play what another leader prefers.

He now turned to agriculture and managed some of the paternal estates. But again it was a disappointment. He felt extremely bored. He tried many methods to overcome boredom. His extravagances in those days earned him the nickname Der tolle Bismarck (the wild Bismarck). He visited Britain, which he liked, although he detested the British Sunday. In later days he used to relate that, when one Sunday he whistled while walking in the street in Leith, someone told him bluntly, “Don’t whistle, sir”. Fortunately he read much, some philosophy, poems like those of Heine and Lenau, and a good deal of history. Nevertheless, when he was approaching the thirties his life seemed to be a failure.

The turning-point of his life was his friendship with a woman, Marie von Thadden. She was the daughter of a Pomeranian nobleman, Adolf von Thadden in Trieglaff. This Herr von Thadden was the centre of a strange circle of very pious gentlemen of very definite and somewhat peculiar Christian beliefs. They were Pietists, and firmly believed in the inspired character of every word of the Bible. A deep gulf separated Bismarck from this outlook. He was then a free-thinker, an agnostic who looked to Spinoza and the radical followers of Hegel for guidance. He met Marie von Thadden, who was engaged to a friend of his, Moritz von Blanckenburg. Marie and Bismarck had many religious conversations. They felt a strong mutual attraction, but Marie married Blanckenburg. Then came the tragic end. Marie died in the first year of her married life. When she was seriously ill Bismarck, in his deep anxiety for her, prayed to God for the first time for sixteen years. He felt that a phase of his life was over.

Marie had introduced him to a young friend, Johanna von Puttkamer, a member of the same pious circle. He knew it was Marie’s wish that he should marry Johanna. He learned to love her and proposed to her. She loved him too, but made it clear that she would marry only a believer in Christianity and that he had to get the approval of her pious father. The letter which Bismarck wrote to her father in December 1846 is one of the most important documents of his inner life. It is a wonderful letter, open-hearted, virile, and extremely clever. He tells, in a fascinating way, the story of his religious development, and makes his first prayer for Marie its centre and turning-point. He was successful, and a few weeks later he became engaged to Johanna.

The important question arises whether this famous letter is the genuine expression of his real religious convictions, or whether it is only a diplomatic expedient to gain his end—the hand of Johanna. It is probably both. There was a genuine conversion from agnosticism to Christianity, but, nevertheless, the letter contained a strong element of diplomatic adroitness. Bismarck was a past-master in the art of understanding men and of dealing with them. He knew how to bring to the front always those arguments and sentiments which were best calculated to win over the other man. This quality is constantly manifested in his letters. He had something irresistible. He may in this respect be compared with Disraeli, who manifested the same skill in his letters to Queen Victoria.

As a matter of fact he called himself a Christian from this day on. His letters to his wife are for some years full of expressions of religious feeling. He attended Divine Service, at any rate for some years. But whoever thinks that the real test is the application of religious precepts to practical life will wish to enquire whether Bismarck was at any time of his life influenced in his private or political actions by Christian teaching or, indeed, by any religious principles. In the opinion of this writer no proof of that can be found. That is small matter for surprise if one recalls some of the words with which Bismarck applied his religious belief to questions of warfare during the French campaign of 1870. Comparing the martial virtues of German and French soldiers he said: “The Frenchman lacks the sense of duty of the German, who rigidly stands alone in the darkness at his post, in peril of his life. That comes from what is left of religious belief in our people; they know there is somebody who sees when the Lieutenant does not see.” This attitude is illustrated by the sarcastic remark of another diplomatist, who said: “If Bismarck believes in his God, God himself must be a Prussian”. There is a still more striking example. After the Battle of Sedan he told the English diplomatist Edward Malet that he had decided to hang all persons who were found with arms without wearing uniform; that is to say, all francs-tireurs. attach little value to human life because I believe in another world. When Queen Victoria read this report, she exclaimed: “This conversation gives a most horrid idea of Bismarck’s character”. Indeed, a Roman Catholic Grand Inquisitor would have used the same argument for burning heretics.

Politically his conversion was of great value for Bismarck. It brought him into harmony of outlook with the Junkers who were to be his political comrades in the struggle of the next years. It was particularly important that some persons of great influence with the King Frederick William IV belonged to this circle of decidedly Christian noblemen. The two outstanding men among them were the brothers von Gerlach—General Leopold von Gerlach, the General Adjutant, i.e. personal aide-de-camp to the King, and Ludwig von Gerlach, President of a High Court of Appeal. These brothers were the leaders of the High Tories in Berlin and in court society. It was to them that Bismarck looked for advice and information when he came to Berlin in spring 1847, as a member of the first Prussian parliament, the “United Diet” (Vereinigter Landtag).

2. The United Diet of 1847

What was this United Diet, what was its origin, and why did it bear this particular name? In 1847 Prussia was still an absolute monarchy. The King had exclusive control not only of the executive but also of the legislative power. The word of the King made and unmade laws. No representation of the people existed in any form whatsoever. But in the days of his greatest danger, in the days of Napoleon’s triumph, King Frederick William III had promised to give his people “a representation of the nation for the provinces, as well as for the whole state”. This promise was repeated in 1815, when Napoleon returned from Elba. But this the King almost forgot when the danger was over and the war of liberation had been won with the help of a patriotic and loyal nation. All that remained was a royal order of January 1820, declaring that the King would in future raise a public loan only with the consent of the Estates of the Realm (Reichs-Stände).

Who were the Estates of the Realm? That remained to be seen when the order was to be put into practice.

This case did not arise during the reign of King Frederick William III. He died in 1840 and was succeeded by his eldest son. Frederick William IV was a man of many gifts. He had spirit, eloquence, wit, and a fine understanding of art and literature. But he was destitute of all those qualities which are necessary to a king and ruler, especially in troubled times. He completely lacked any fixed purpose, and had an invincible aversion from doing the simple and logical. His confidant and friend, General von Gerlach, wrote in his diary: “The King thinks his ministers are asses [Rindvieh, blockhead], because they have to discuss current state business with him”. He hated what was the best in the Prussia of that time, the bureaucracy, the civil service, which did its work loyally, incorruptibly, and without much prejudice. He found ringing words for his absurd ideas, but that only made it worse. Bismarck said about him in later years: “If you tried to come to grips with him, you would only find a slimy substance”.

The King’s hour of trial came when the question of the national representation could no longer be eluded. The era of railways had begun. The Prussian state was obliged to build railways. From the military point of view the most important of them was a line which was to connect Berlin, the capital, with the most remote part of the monarchy, the province of Eastern Prussia. It was a necessity also for economic reasons. But the state was unable to construct this railway without a public loan. Thus the moment for consulting the Estates of the Realm had arrived, and all the points had now to be settled about the exact form these Estates were to assume. What was to be their structure and composition? The Prussian people, or at least the educated middle class, had interpreted the term Estates of the Realm in the light of the former royal promises. They hoped for a national representation, for a Prussian constitution. But national representation and a constitution were liberal demands and the King hated liberalism which he identified with revolution. A national representation was in his eyes connected with the dreadful principle of popular sovereignty, and therefore incompatible with his Divine Right (Gottesgnadentum). On the other hand, he considered the separation of the people in different estates (Stände) as the “natural” and Christian order. Everyone remembered that the French États Généraux of 1789 began as three États, namely the nobility, the clergy, and the tiers état. The first revolutionary act was to destroy this division and to amalgamate them into a single assembly. Frederick William wanted to return to the pre-revolutionary position and to convoke an assembly of the estate of the nobility (Ritterschaft), the estate of the urban middle class (Bürgerschaft), and the estate of the peasants (Bauernschaft). Each of the Prussian provinces had a provincial diet (Provinzial-Landtag), constructed on these lines. Therefore, the King convoked, by order of 3rd February 1847, a united assembly of all these Provincial Diets as United Diet.

The royal order was received very badly by the public, which felt deceived, and with good reason. The United Diet was not the promised national representation, but the artificial invention of a faint-hearted and nervous romanticist. But with all its drawbacks it was an immense step forward to constitutionalism for one reason: the King allowed the verbatim reports of the debates of the Diet to be published by the newspapers, which had hitherto been forbidden by the censor to deal in any way with German or Prussian political affairs. Through the publication of these debates the newspaper readers in Berlin or Magdeburg, Königsberg or Cologne, were for the first time able to read something about their own affairs. For a country without a free press it was an immense advance. In this way the Prussian people became acquainted with the men who defended popular rights and liberties fearlessly in impressive speeches. These men at once became popular. On the other hand, the few men who opposed all liberal demands acquired an unpopularity bordering on hatred.

One man, however, was not only indifferent to the stigma of unpopularity, but apparently eager to court it. That was the deputy of the Saxon Knighthood (Sächsische Ritterschaft), Herr von Bismarck-Schönhausen. He not only had the most conservative and reactionary views, but expressed them in a most offensive manner. He was in close touch with the brothers von Gerlach, and at times brought to the tribune of the House the ideas and arguments he had discussed with them. But he expressed these arguments in a way which was entirely his own, with a concentration of force and sarcasm of which no other Junker was capable. Here already, as a young man, he showed his skill in interpreting the words of his adversaries in such a way that he could destroy them with their own weapons. His opinions and his provocative manner of expression could not fail to infuriate public opinion. It saw in Bismarck the very incarnation of the mediev...