Otto Von Bismarck Documentary - Biography of the life of Otto Von Bismarck

Oh [Music] the man known to history as Otto von Bismarck was born the 1st of April 1815 in the saxon town of Sharm Heusen in northeastern Germany his family were Yonkers which were a class of the Prussian nobility who owned estates and land and who were expected to serve as officers in the Prussian military Otto's father karl was once a chunker and served as an officer in the Prussian Armed Forces whilst his mother Wilhelm II was a daughter of a government bureaucrat in Berlin young Bismarck's improved himself to be an intelligent young man and became fluent in English French Italian polish and German and was also encouraged from an early age to have an interest in the military Bismarck was then further educated under Johann Ernst plan man there was a noted teacher of young children and then Otto went on to attend to secondary schools and free universities including göttingen Berlin and grief fouled studying law and agriculture he had wanted initially to become a diplomat but gave up his training in law and then served in the lands via ore reserves as an officer before returning to his family house at Sharm Heusen after his mother died in 1839 around this time Bismarck became a lutheran which was a branch of Protestantism which had originated within Germany under Martin Luther in the 1500s on the 28th of July 1847 otto married a noble woman johanna von puts cama who was by all accounts a shy and pious lady and the couple went on to have a happy marriage parenting free children together Marie Herbert and Wilhelm between 1847 and 1852 in 1947 bismarck was appointed to become a representative in the newly formed Prussian legislature and soon gained a reputation for being a pro monarchist often arguing for the Prussian monarchies divine right to rule which was a stance who would maintain for the whole of his life the monarchy was a topic of hot debate within Prussia at the time as a wave of unrest was spreading across Europe culminating the revolutions of 1848 which saw the middle and working classes across the continent rise up in effect to gain more rights these revolutions spread to nearly 50 countries throughout the continent with the middle classes arguing for greater democratic governance and the working class is arguing for better pay and working conditions in pressure itself in March 1848 large crowds gathered in central Berlin and demanded that the King Frederick Wilhelm the fourth grant them free elections a constitution and freedom of the press which the king subsequently agreed to then on the first half of March a confrontation errupted between the police the military and protesters in tier Garten which was a park in central berlin this resulted in hundreds being killed and the king on the 21st of march led the funeral procession through the streets of berlin to commemorate the tragedy King Frederick Wilhelm even wore the revolutionary tricolour of red black and gold which is the origin of the modern German flag Bismarck as a monarchist try to aid the government against the protesters by travelling to Berlin but was told instead to gather food supplies for the army on his estates the revolution eventually petered out however as divisions arose between the middle and working classes meaning that they were no longer powerful enough to force their will on the government and conservative Pro monarchists soon regained full control of Berlin by the end of the year in 1949 Bismarck was elected to the Landtag which was the lower house of the Prussian legislature and argued against the growing calls for unification of the various German states as he feared that Prussia would lose his independence there have been calls for a unification between the various German states such as Prussia Saxony and Hanover to name but a few during the revolution but as the general population particularly the middle classes wanted any unified German nation to have democratic governance there was naturally strong resistance from the conservative monarchists throughout the German states who feared that they would lose power and influence in any such system Bismarck as one such monarchists was then appointed in 1949 to the earth vert Parliament which was a body composed of delegates from the various German states in order to discuss the plans for German unification also joined and went to the parliaments as one of Prussia's representatives largely so he could disrupt and stop negotiations but plans for unification soon failed largely down to prussia and austria failing to support the union as both wanted supremacy over the various German states pressured men vying with Austria for domination of the various german-speaking peoples since the reign of Frederick the Great and Beaufort now seeking to regain control over the reformed German Confederation which had been abandoned after the Revolution of 1848 the German Confederation in essence was an assembly through which the German states could meet and discuss and solve problems within the german-speaking lands and agree foreign policies in 1851 Bismarck was appointed by King Frederick Wilhelm the fourth as Prussia's envoy to the German Confederation in Frankfurt where he spent eight years and was also elected to the Prussian House of Lords whilst in Frankfurt Bismarck often quarreled with Austrian delegates over petty matters such as smoking during meetings which on one occasion ended in a jewel during his time in frankfurt bismarck began to form more coherent views on how prussia could gain more influence and power within germany by a lying itself of the smaller German States against the Austrians this made him change his views regarding unification of Germany and he began to argue with his fellow conservatives but Prussia should take a leading role in any unification which could have long-term beneficial consequences for Prussia as well as weakening the influence of its rival Austria indeed bismarck changing his mind regarding the unification of germany in many ways was the most important decision of his life as the remainder of his political career would largely involve him bringing about the unification of germany and the preservation of it good relations were also fostered between prussia and its neighboring powers to the west and east namely France and Russia which would prove to be ultimately fruitless as the two countries would come to oppose German unification over the coming years bismarck was sent to both Russia and France as ambassador by Prussia's new regent wilhelm who would later become Wilhelm the first after his brother Frederick Wilhelm the fourth had suffered at the abilities stroke in 1859 and died two years later the new king faced growing problems however as he wanted to reorganize and increase Prussia's army but faced resistance from liberals within the country's legislature Wilhelm the first then threatened to vacate the throne if his new military budget was not approved meaning that bismarck was recalled to the country as he was seen as one of the few politicians capable of solving the crisis Wilhelm then appointed Bismarck as Minister president and foreign minister in September 1862 effectively making him head of government under the king as a monarchist Bismarck fought the Kings Korner against those in Prussia resisting military expansion despite liberals holding nearly two-thirds of the seats in the legislature but as Bismarck him self was a product of the aristocracy he obviously was far more interested in the maintenance of power for his class than allowing the lower classes greater suffrage at least for the time being the earlier revolutions of 1848 had sparked an idea of a common German Brotherhood amongst the smaller states which comprised the German Confederation and Bismarck would come to use this growing nationalistic feeling to promote both his and Prussia's own interests and eventually unify the German states under Prussian control in November 1863 the king of denmark Frederick the 7th died making his son Christian the 9th king of the country Christian then laid claim to the Duchess as felsic and Holstein which were both semi independent areas of northern Germany and southern denmark which were divided between German and Danish speaking peoples although the Danish monarchy still had over lordship over them even though Holstein was still a member of the German Confederation the results in tension over time led to Prussia and Denmark going to war over the Duchess in which Denmark was victorious and subsequently meant that both Holstein and Slovak remained under Danish control but they were still Duchess in their own rights meaning that they were more of a protectorate than being a part of Denmark itself Christian the 9th on becoming King then claimed Holstein and spells Vick for Denmark and sought to integrate Holstein under the Danish flag by enacting the November Constitution which was the process by which Denmark would assimilate the territories the German Confederation largely led by Prussia then acted to preserve the status of the two Dutchess and Confederation forces including Prussian and Austrian troops occupied spells Vic in February 1864 and after the Danes were defeated by Prussian troops in the Battle of daibul in April of the same year Denmark was forced to surrender the territories to the German Confederation which were then placed under the effective control of both in Austria as the dominant powers of the Confederation with Prussia control in spells big an Austria Holstein Bismarck new however but for Prussia to dominate the german-speaking states in Europe there was one remaining problem Austria it was the only German power capable of challenging Prussia and holding her in check and thusly he resolved to remove Austria from the German equation Austria then went back on its agreement between itself and Prussia over spells Vic Holstein after disputes continued between its and Prussia over the administration of the two duchies Austria then asked the federal Convention of the German Confederation to meet and resolve the question as spells Vic Holstein which in precious eyes broke their agreement with Austria which vastly gave Bismarck the excuse for war he had wanted and he subsequently ordered Prussian troops to cross the border into Austrian controlled Holstein on the 14th of June 1866 the resulting conflict effectively split the German Confederation down the middle with many of the smaller German states joining Eva Prussia or Austria in the war Bismarck also agreed an alliance with Italy against Austria which forced them to divide their forces to defend their southern border which was one of the major factors in the wars outcome after a series of small engagements the Prussian and Austrian armies then met in Bohemia in the Battle of königgrätz on the 3rd of July 1866 which consisted of nearly half a million troops between the two sides after the Austrians initially fared well on the battlefield the Prussians rallied and forced him to retreat resulting in a victory for Bismarck's forces the defeat at congratz was a great blow for the Austrians and peace talks then began after little under two months since the war starting bismarck had wanted to conclude a peace treaty with Austria quickly as prolonging the war would recover great powers such as France and Russia entering the conflict Austria's side he also did not want a week in Austria completely as he saw fairly cordial relations between Prussia and Austria as essential in a relatively hostile European Theatre in return for Prussia not pushing further into Austrian lands the country was forced to surrender any involvement in the German Confederation which was itself dissolved in favor of the Prussian controlled northern German Federation the peace treaty between Austria and Prussia or the Peace of Prague as it became known was then signed on the 23rd of August 1866 and hostilities officially came to an end Bismarck's gamble in going to war with Austria had paid off spectacularly Prussia was now the dominant power in German affairs and the path was now clear for the country to gain further control over the other german-speaking states in many ways Bismarck's greatest coup regarding the austrian conflict was bringing about peace so quickly and with such favourable terms for Prussia as Napoleon the thirds France was banking on the wall being much longer and itself was planning to gain concessions from Prussia for not joining the conflict in Austria's side tension to be growing between France and Prussia for years and now Bismarck control over Germany once again made Prussia a prime target for the major powers in Europe who saw the new rising state as a threat to their respective security the southern German states had largely backed Austria in the war against Prussia but Bismarck also intended for them to come under Prussian control over the course of time he saw war with France in many ways inevitable and also false versus if France was seen as the aggressor in any war with Prussia that the southern German states would be forced to ally with him largely due to their relative proximity with the French border Bismarck once again looked for an excuse to start a conflict with the French and found one in 1870 when a German Prince Leopold of Holland zahlen was offered the vacant Spanish throne and from the podium the third of France who was Napoleon Bonaparte's first nephew realized with the German and the Spanish friar would mean that France would potentially be surrounded by two enemies on their eastern and southern borders and argued bitterly against Leopold ascension to the Spanish friar Bismarck wanted a war with France as he fought the country would not stand a chance against Prussia superior battle-hardened troops and vastly agitated public opinion in both Germany and France by publishing edited correspondence of meetings between French officials and the Prussian King the French also greatly feared any further unification of the German states under Prussia and incorrectly fought for the war with Prussia would make unification less and not more likely Napoleon the third in the French parliament were not nearly as clever as Bismarck's Prussia however and subsequently fell for the bait by declaring war on the North German Federation on the 19th of July 1870 the French declaring war on Prussia first had exactly the effect on the southern German states that Bismarck wanted and they Julie formed an alliance with the northern German Federation against the French effectively meaning that Germany was now a unified power in all but name the franco-prussian war as it became known was another great success for Bismarck although it should be noted but as with his earlier victories over Austrian Denmark the Prussian army was led by Bismarck go-to man the Prussian chief of staff Helmut von Moltke the elder who was the uncle of helmet of al-mulk of the younger himself the German chief of staff during the early to middle stages of World War one four monk of the elder was a superb strategist and tactician and also had a great understanding of logistics and he oversaw their organization and preparations for the war against the French which he had been planning for some years as with the war against Austria for mulkear had used the grind German railway network to his advantage this was a new feature in warfare and the first been fully utilized by the Union armies during the American Civil War and now Prussia was at the forefront of the European powers in terms of modernizing both their Armed Forces and logistics and the catalyst for this change was von Malka indeed the destinies of Bismarck and Malt car are difficult to separate as without Malka it is highly doubtful Bismarck could have been able to win the walls he started and without bismarck von Moltke would have never had the chance to show his brilliance as a military commander the malkos plan was for the German forces to be split into free armies which were concentrated around the Manns region of southern central Germany the reason for this positioning being that Bismarck and Malka predictive at the French would not advance through Belgium or the Netherlands as it would disrespect those countries neutrality this would be seen in the very negative lights by the major neutral powers such as Russia and Britain Vermont Carr also correctly predicted with any French advance would come south of Luxembourg via Strasbourg and Metz and divided his forces into armies which were always close enough to support each other in any battle his plan was to meet and defeat the French armies one by one and come between them and Paris to cut off their supply lines the armies which now faced each other numbered in the millions but each science forces were divided up into smaller armies numbering a few hundred thousand men in total which could support one another if needed the initial stages of the conflict resulted in the initiative being firmly claimed by the Prussians and leaving the French essentially fire fighting after consecutive defeats to Bismarck's forces across the whole front Napoleon the third had come under considerable pressure to take the offensive against Prussia but after advancing just a few miles into Germany the French were halted and forced onto the back foot battles such as vision Borg speech heron worth Mars Latour and gravlax resulted in heavy losses for both sides but in each case the Germans were victorious taking the field from their enemy who were pushed back further into France itself already it was clear that the German forces were better organized supplied and led than the French and really after the early victories in the war the outcome of the conflict was never in any doubt another consequence of the continued French losses was that a large portion of its forces were besieged after the Battle of gravlax in the city of Metz Napoleon the third then assembled a new army and led his forces himself in an effort to relieve the besieged city and march to aid his besieged forces but the mulkear anticipated this and left a portion of his forces to continue the siege of Metz he then pursued Napoleon the thirds armies catching up with them on the 30th of August 1870 near borman's which resulted in another French have draw towards sedan Napoleon the third was again out of control of events and was now isolated in at severe risk of being caught in the middle of converging Prussian forces his army subsequently took up defensive positions in the city of sedan and were then largely surrounded by the pursuing German armies which then started their attack on sedan on the 1st of September 1870 Napoleon the third had by this time delegated control of his army to his generals who compounded the already desperate situation by giving their troops conflicting orders to firstly break out of the city to the west and then stay and fight the result was further confusion and disorganization in the French army and the Emperor's forces attempted repeated counter-attacks but reached high and beaten back by the Prussian forces resulting in the Germans tightening their stranglehold over the town until eventually Emperor Napoleon ordered his army to surrender the French defeat at Sudan effectively ended the war as they lost nearly one hundred and twenty-two thousand troops either killed wounded or captured - the Germans and Bismarck himself received the French Emperor after the battle but despite Napoleon's capture the war was destined to continue after the French government was overthrown in a popular uprising leading to the creation of the third French Republic Bismarck's armies then laid siege to Paris itself from the 19th of September 1870 until the 28th of January 1871 resulting in armistice being signed as Paris was left in a state of starvation Bismarck then sent large amounts of German army rations into the French capital after the Armistice and a final peace treaty was negotiated in signed between the two countries in May of 1871 resulting in large portions of alsace-lorraine been ceded to Germany which the French would not soon forgive or forget after the franco-prussian war Bismarck moved quickly to capitalize on the newly found German patriotism his victories had secured and began negotiations to unite the rest of Germany which eventually succeeded leading to the creation of the German Empire and King Wilhelm the first of prussia was then subsequently proclaimed emperor of Germany although Germany was not a nation in its truest form still being a Federation of all the German states Prussian leadership was secured and there was now no going back Germany as we know it today had been born the remainder of Bismarck political life was one of consolidation of Germany's gains avoiding any unnecessary Wars and reacting to social changes in Germany which has increased industrialization had brought about during the late 1800s he started an anti-catholic campaign in the country having papal officials and bishops exiled and also oversaw the creation of one of the world's first successful welfare states this was intended to ease unrest amongst the working classes and thusly make them more loyal to the ruling elite these included sickness insurance accident insurance an old age and disability insurance long before the concept of state welfare had even been dreamt of in more liberal countries such as Britain indeed when one looks at Bismarck's life in its entirety the overwhelming impression one gets is of a man who above all cared and loved for the Prussian monarchy but also the idea of Germany itself he was incredibly pragmatic and how he achieved his goals and the fact that a right-wing conservative was prepared to countenance state welfare proves this in shorts Bismarck was prepared to consider any option even liberal or conservative in his political outlook if it brought about the preservation success of both the Prussian States and the German state indeed although Germany did seek to gain colonial possessions in the late 18-hundreds as with German New Guinea for example Bismarck tried as previously mentioned to keep Germany out of any future European walls in order to preserve everything he'd fought for over his career however although Bismarck was indeed Chancellor of the German Empire he was still a loyal servant of the Emperor or Kaiser and would have to do as he was told if the monarch wanted things to be done certain way this was the greatest weakness of Bismarck and Germany itself a supreme power ultimately laid in the hands of the Emperor meaning that despite Germany being the most modern state in Europe his government was still in many ways a medieval star hereditary monarchy which of course Bismarck himself had no problem with this meant that the fate of Germany was ultimately decided by one person and that person mistakes would have massive ramifications for the country and for the continent as a whole but things were fine as long as the German emperor had the intelligence to listen to his Chancellor but in 1988 wilhelm ii ascended to the german front being possessed of average intelligence at best and having a highly unstable nature but being very certain and confident in his views will helmet have been brought up to believe that he had been appointed by God himself to lead Germany this along with his shriveled arm and his oar and jealousy of the power of the British Empire made Wilhelm an extremely impulsive and unpredictable man being polar opposites of each other Wilhelm and Bismarck had an ever-growing number of disagreements most notably over workers rights which eventually led to Wilhelm insisting on Bismarck's resignation which he Julie gave on the 18th of March 1890 Wilhelm then effectively took control over Germany after Bismarck departure and resolved to continue if it's a militaristic expansion both of its armed forces and colonies around the world but perhaps most importantly of its high seas fleet which would come in time to rival Britain's massive home fleet in the early nineteen hundreds and lead at least in parts to Britain France and Russia forming alliances against Germany in the build-up to the First World War Kaiser Wilhelm in ascending to the German Frome had essentially been gifted the most powerful a modern state in Europe if not the world when he became Emperor and over the next few decades did nothing but to jeopardize its future by continually seeking to antagonize his powerful neighbors as a result of his massive stupidity an overinflated ego Bismarck himself warned Wilhelm regularly about his decisions and also commented on the growing instability in Europe at the time at one point warming and I quote one day the great European war will come out of some damned foolish thing in the burglars the old man spent his final years writing his memoirs which shed light on his decisions we had made during his career but his health steadily deserted him until his death at around midnight on the 30th of July 1898 at the age of 83 Bismarck's body was then laid to rest in the Bismarck mousseline in friedrich lore northern germany and his tomb was inscribed with the epitaph a loyal German servant of Emperor Wilhelm the first there is no doubt but Otto von Bismarck Saxons in life in many ways shaped the next hundred years of European history and in unifying Germany under Prussian control he in effect brought into being a country whose outlook and ethos was one of organization and prowess in warfare although is perhaps true that nava Germans state from Prussia had the power and ability to unify Germany Prussia's military traditions would in the early 20th century mean but Germany had the most highly organized armies on earth along with the most highly modernised and efficient industrial base in Europe at least this combination of Prussia's proud aggressive military outlook and Germany's highly modernized economy would along with its continued association of Austria bring about and perpetuate the most destructive war in human history up until that time a war which in many ways was played out in two parts from 1914 to 1918 with the First World War and the Second World War from 1939 to 1945 in both cases the same Prussian military sztyc aggression and German industrial brilliance were planned Europe into slaughter and it was only with the total occupation destruction of Germany after world war ii the dis militaristic prussian outlook finally died Otto von Bismarck could not have foreseen the shears scanning events in which his actions in life would bring about he was one of the greatest and most capable statesmen in European history being manipulative highly intelligent and rufus and his goals in essence Bismarck was the perfect politician he was seldom out of control of events and achieved his aims in life more than the vast majority of leaders in European and world history I could not say that Bismarck was a good man or moral man but I can say that he was a brilliant man whose life and decisions directly shaped both European and world events for nearly 100 years after his death sadly the importance and effects of Otto von Bismarck on our lives today and the lives of our recent ancestors is largely ignored but I have no doubt that he was one of the most important figures in modern European and world history and his achievements in life deserved greater understanding recognition and respect when they currently enjoy in the modern day you

Channel: The People Profiles

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Keywords: Bismarck Documentary, Otto Von Bismarck Documentary, The life of Otto Von Bismarck, Otto Von Bismarck Biography, Bismarck biography, Otto Von Bismarck, Bismarck, Unification of Germany, Franco-Prussian war, Austro-Prussian War, History Documentary, Documentary, Bismarck Biography, Helmut Von Moltke, Historical Documentary, History, Battle of Sedan

Id: e5nxwXEbAUU

Length: 32min 15sec (1935 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 27 2018