

He lost that battle as the Catholics responded by forming the powerful German Centre Party and using universal male suffrage to gain a bloc of seats. In the 1870s, he allied himself with the low-tariff, anti- Catholic Liberals and fought the Catholic Church in what was called the Kulturkampf ("culture struggle").
#Robert g splitt bismarck series
Juggling a very complex interlocking series of conferences, negotiations and alliances, he used his diplomatic skills to maintain Germany's position.Ī master of complex politics at home, Bismarck created the first welfare state in the modern world, with the goal of gaining working class support that might otherwise go to his Socialist opponents.

He disliked colonialism but reluctantly built an overseas empire when it was demanded by both elite and mass opinion. German unification and its rapid economic growth was the foundation to his foreign policy. Bismarck's diplomacy of Realpolitik and powerful rule at home gained him the nickname the Iron Chancellor. However, his annexation of Alsace–Lorraine gave new fuel to French revanchism and Germanophobia. To historian Eric Hobsbawm, Bismarck "remained undisputed world champion at the game of multilateral diplomatic chess for almost twenty years after 1871, devoted himself exclusively, and successfully, to maintaining peace between the powers". With Prussian dominance accomplished by 1871, Bismarck skillfully used balance of power diplomacy to maintain Germany's position in a peaceful Europe. Receiving the support of the independent South German states in the Confederation's defeat of France, he formed the German Empire – which also excluded Austria – and united Germany. Following the victory against Austria, he abolished the supranational German Confederation and instead formed the North German Confederation as the first German national state, aligning the smaller North German states behind Prussia, and excluding Austria. Bismarck provoked three short, decisive wars against Denmark, Austria, and France. The King granted Bismarck the titles of Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen in 1865 and Prince of Bismarck in 1871. He cooperated with King Wilhelm I of Prussia to unify the various German states, a partnership that would last for the rest of Wilhelm's life. Before his rise to the executive power, Bismarck was the Prussian ambassador to Russia and France and served in both houses of the Prussian Parliament. He had served as the chancellor of the North German Confederation from 1867 to 1871 and alongside the office of chancellor of Germany, he was Prussia's minister president and the foreign minister from 1862 to 1890. He masterminded the unification of Germany in 1871 and served as its first chancellor until 1890, in which capacity he dominated European affairs for two decades. From his base in the upper class of Junker landowners, Bismarck rose rapidly in Prussian politics. Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg ( German: Otto Fürst von Bismarck, Graf von Bismarck-Schönhausen, Herzog zu Lauenburg, pronounced ( listen) 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat.
