The German Question, Part Forty-Seven

"Bismarck" Part One

Bismarck is such a historical figure that many, many books and articles have been written about him. I'll only scratch the surface here.

Fürst Otto von Bismarck (Fürst=Prince) should at least be a name known to many of you, even if you haven’t been particularly fond of history. Just a note before I go on: Bismarck was fluent in English and he was a staunch Lutheran.

Bismarck was born in what is the modern German state of "Sachsen-Anhalt," so he was a northern German, and descended from a line of "Junkers."* He became a member of the Prussian "Landtag" (the name of the Prussian parliament/legislature), known for his conservatism, if not his downright reactionary beliefs, as he was a devoted supporter of the Prussian monarchy. During the 1850s  Bismarck represented Prussia at the assembly of the German Confederation, which met in Frankfurt; where for a time, he was fearful that German unification would dilute Prussian power and independence. His views gradually softened, and he came to view German unification as a good thing, as long as it was led by Prussia and not Austria. He also learned the arts of politics and diplomacy to an incredible degree, finding that wheeling and dealing (along with ruthlessness) was more effective than pure, "in-your-face" ideology. Eventually, due to diplomatic appointments for Prussia, he met many foreign leaders and diplomats, as he was sent to Russia, France and England.

Liberal reforms in Prussia since the "Revolution of 1848" had given the elected legislative body the right of approval of budgetary items, including military spending. Wilhelm I, then King of Prussia, wanted a reorganization of the Prussian army, but the delegates initially balked at his proposed military budget, then out and out defeated it. The jilted king seriously considered abdication, but then decided to appoint Bismarck as both "Ministerpräsident" and Foreign Minister ("Aussenminister," in German)** in September 1862. With Prussian constitutional law still relatively new, Bismarck found ways around the representatives. First, his government position was not responsible to the elected delegates, but rather only to the king. Further, he chose to ignore the representatives and their defeat of the king's proposed budget, and he simply declared the previous year's budget in force. The representatives cried "foul," but to no avail. Over time there were many more confrontations, and the representatives repeatedly asked that the king dismiss Bismarck, but the king refused, as this would then have encouraged the delegates to challenge any appointments made by the king.

Bismarck is famous for his statement about Prussia's policies, made shortly after his appointment to office: "Speeches and majority decisions will not decide the great issues of the time...but blood and iron" ("Blut und Eisen").*** So you can see in this one statement Bismarck's contempt for the legislative body, as well as his willingness to use force. The use of force would come to pass.

To be continued.... (A Word History is below the notes)

* "Junker" is a contraction of the words "jung" (young, the "j" is pronounced as "y") and "Herr" (lord, or gentleman). The Junkers were a class, usually of lesser nobles, who had estates in Prussia, most often in the northeastern part of Prussia. They tended to be associated with the military, often, but not always, even hiring themselves out to various entities for military adventures in times long past; that is, they were mercenaries. Some trace back to the time of the Middle Ages, especially when German knights were off fighting numerous Slavic and Baltic peoples and colonizing areas in northeastern Europe, receiving land (what became their estates) for their meritorious military service or as "payment" for having served some landed noble who had hired their services (see: http://pontificating-randy.blogspot.com/2010/04/german-question-part-nine.html ). Other Junker families do not go back quite that far in time, and Bismarck's family seems to have achieved that status in the 1500s. Over the centuries, the Junker families became less associated with being military mercenaries; however, they often maintained their connections to the Prussian, then the overall German, military, with many holding key positions in the army. With the gradual easing of the mercenary image, they became highly respected in Prussian/German society as officers of the army. Others, while more loosely associated with the army (served and held rank, but were not active throughout their lives), were seen more as country squires, or gentlemen. Politically they were known for their conservatism.

** Foreign Minister is the American equivalent to "U.S. Secretary of State."

*** "Supposedly" Bismarck actually said these in reverse order, "Iron and Blood," but I wasn't there and I didn't see it on the "Six O'clock News," so hey, what can I say?

WORD HISTORY:
Iron-This word goes back to Indo European "isr" (long "i") and/or "eis," which seems to have meant "strong, powerful" and therefore, "holy." Iron was not in use when the Indo European dialects grew apart, so there was no general word for the metal. It is "assumed" that Old Germanic borrowed a form of the word from Celtic,^ that language having developed an offshoot from the Indo European word, as "isarnon." This then gave Old Germanic "isarnan," which then gave Old English "isaern," and later, when the "s" sound died out, "iren" and finally the modern version "iron." The meaning initially had to do with the metal, and then it was used in reference to weapons made of iron, then to shackles made of iron (used in the plural "irons"), the use for a vitamin in the diet seems to be from the latter part of the 1600s, and the use for a golf club came along in the mid 1800s. The use of a "heated flat, wedged piece of iron to smooth clothing" seems to date to the early 1800s with that specific name. The verb form was derived from the noun in the early 1400s, initially with the meaning "make from iron, cover with iron," then in the mid 1600s, "to put someone in chains or shackles (irons) to contain them," but ultimately the main modern meaning came to be, "to use a heated flattened piece of iron to smooth out clothing" (although the 'put in shackles' meaning is still used somewhat). German has "Eisen," Low German has "Iesen," Dutch has "ijzer," West Frisian has "izer," Swedish has "järn," Norwegian and Danish both have "jern," and Icelandic has "járn," all meaning "iron," the noun for the metal.

^ Celtic is a branch of the Indo European languages. It is represented in modern times, for example, by Welsh, Irish Gaelic, Scottish Gaelic, and Breton (from the Brittany region of France).