THE BLOOD & IRON POLICY OF BISMARCK

Before 1848, Germany was a confederation of 38 states ruled by princes or kings. Prussia was the largest and most powerful of these states.Prussia and Austria were the two most powerful states. In 1848 the states tried to create a unified Germany, but the attempt failed. 

Many Germans believed that unification could only be achieved under Prussian leadership. But the Prussian king did not want to take a crown from the hands of revolutionaries and liberals. Unification would have to be on his terms.  He appointed Otto von Bismarck to be his chief minister in 1862. Bismarck set forth a policy called “blood and iron”.

Bismarck intended to use war to achieve his aims of unifying Germany. Bismarck started three wars. The Prussians fought against the Danes, the Austrians, and the French. By 1871, Germany was united. The policy of “blood and iron” had worked.

Bismarck’s “Blood and Iron” Speech (1862) is one of the more famous political speeches in the history of Germany and of the world. This speech was made by Prussian Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck (1815-1898) to the Budget Commission of the Prussian Parliament in 1862 in an effort to convince the Parliament to approve an increased military budget on behalf of the king. 

In his effort to persuade the Parliament into increasing the military budget, Bismarck deliberately presented a dark view of European affairs and expressed his belief that only through a strong military could Prussia and Germany’s security and interest be secured. 

As per mentioned by Bismarck, in his words ““Prussia's borders according to the Vienna Treaties [of 1814-15] are not favorable for a healthy, vital state; it is not by speeches and majority resolutions that the great questions of the time are decided – that was the big mistake of 1848 and 1849 – but by iron and blood.” This statement conveyed the most essential and powerful idea from Bismarck, and thus named this speech after the phrase “Blood and Iron.” While the records of this speech suggest that Bismarck spoke of his idea as “Iron and Blood,”.

Till the end of the 19th century, it became habitual to accept authoritarian power structures as a part of contingency of abnormal circumstances. 

Prussian German empire grew by defeating the second french empire, led to legitimization of authoritarian govt, by popular support in order to find a political stability. The root of this problem dates back to 1860s when the Prussian empire was founded on the basis of militarism and a hegemonic foreign policy in Central Europe. 

Otto von Bismarck outlined the basic framework for this policy. He became the Minister-President of Prussia in 1863 & subsequently held the position of Imperial Chancellor after the unification of Germany state came in 1871. 

Prussian monarchy was in conflict with the liberal majority of parliament on the issue of military expansion. Liberals wanted to have parliamentary control over the army. Liberal majority was worried about militarization of society. 

Monarch Kaiser failed to ensure elections in govt’s favour so Kaiser had to abdicate the throne in the favour of his son who had inclination towards liberals. 

The choice was between a constitutional monarchy and a despotism based on plebiscitary approval. Conservative landlords projected Bismarck as a charismatic leader of German nation and supported the despotism based on plebiscitary approval.

After his appointment as a Prime Minister of Prussia, he ruled without making approval from parliament. He crushed the opposition & imposed an authoritarian regime to rescue the monarchy out of the crisis.

Bismarck succeeded in bringing the foreign policy in the alignment of his goal of unification of Germany. In 1866, Prussia victoriously emerged in the war against Austria at Sadowa. This way Bismarck fulfilled his dream of national integration. Bismarck became popular among liberals, they even sanctioned his budgetless regime of 1960s. The compromise between Bismarck & the liberals determined the character of German empire. 

 The constitution of 1871 created a national parliament (Reichstag) to be elected on the basis of universal manhood suffrage, but this democratically elected parliament was deprived of any effective control over government. 

The minister of the Emperor were not responsible to the parliament. Parliamentary assent was required for crucial legislation but it could not initiate any legislation. Powers & privileges of military aristocrats continued under new government. 

This way the pre-industrial elites continued in the era of industrialisation & emergence of middle class. The strategy of military aristocracy used the Bismarckian formula of accommodation with upper echelons of middle class society who were moderate towards monarchy & parliamentary government.

Pre-industrial landed aristocracy which continued to control appointments in the civil bureaucracy and the army. The conservative landlords turned into popular political figures in rural localities. They  were expected to create solid political combinations of agrarian classes by leading the peasantry in the economic struggle. 

Bismarck sponsored such political combinations from 1870s so in the elections of 1878 the liberal dominance in the parliament eroded & resulted into the rise of conservative party with agrarian combination. 

Bismarckian strategy to rally parliamentary support for conservative elements through electoral manipulations steams from his skills of influencing internal politics by the foreing affairs & international diplomacy. 

The constitutional crisis resolved through a successful foreign policy. Imperial expansion based on the concept of Bismarckian state, when Bismarck was busy in promoting an industrial - agrarian combination against the liberal opposition.  

According to German historians like Hans-Ulrich Wehler or Volker Berghahn, the imperialism was supported by conservatives in order to  legitimize the status quo. Different interest groups representing imperialism, wanted to maintain the status quo. 

This attempt of conservatives diverted the attention of the people from two important issues,1) movements for fundamental political reform unleashed by the liberal opposition & 2) the socialist workers' movement. Socialist worker movements gain power after 1880s. This was the strategy to protect the political structure from dangers posed by the middle classes and the workers.

Appeals of nationalism & national prestige could convert the critics into supporters. This strategy remained unchanged even after Bismarck's rule came to an end of 1890.

 The 'Welt politic' of Kaiser William-II was a continuation of the same instrument of expansionism in order to stabilise & legitimise the political domination of military aristocracy. 

This strategy resulted into an ultra nationalist popular mobilization on racial lines. The phenomenon of the charismatic leader which was an important feature of Bonapartism continued to inform Fascist mobilization in later times. 

In Nazi times  the Fuehrer (title used by Hitler) demanded complete obedience and surrender to the leader. Most of the racist ideologies, in the Nazi regime, were derived from the racial theories that the German ruling classes of earlier times. 

Social Darwinism was at the centre of the racist & nationalist mentality. The theory shaped up the imperial ambitions of the German state. These theories found association with popular organizations  like the Navy League, Colonial League and Pan German league. 

Navy league pleaded for building of a strong navy to create a large colonial empire by achieving panty with the dominant colonial powers. The Pan German league popularized the notion of Germanization of Europe, particularly the continent's eastern reaches inhabited by ' inferior Slavonir people'. 

Teutonic (Anglo-Saxon, Dutch, German & Scandinavian) race assumed it a great mission to civilize the slavic people.  Ideology of self-sacrifice by the Germans in the service of this noble mission was propagandized.  

Pseudo-scientific theories about race & ethnicity  set against the strength of character of the Teutonic race. The anti-Semitic ideology , which was substantially reinforced by the activities of the Pan German league since the 1890's leached a bloody climax in Nazi Germany. Jews whose dominant position in the business world evoked animosities from the German artisans and petty traders. 

The rise of Nazism which displayed the features of 19th century Bonapartism has been linked by historians to the existence of certain anti-democratic structures in the German polity.

There is some sense of coul-se in the argument that there are significant elements of continuity between the Bismarckian Reich (German state) and the Third Reich. Yet the intensity of repression the Nazis carried out made the authoritarianism of the earlier variety somewhat distinct from that would happen in the early 20th century.