Otto von Bismarck as a statesman. Biography of Otto von Bismarck

The "Iron Chancellor" was born in the family estate of Schönhausen on April 1, 1815 in a family of Prussian landowners. Representatives of this family from the middle of the 17th century served the rulers of the province of Brandenburg. The ancestors of the Bismarcks - conquering knights settled in these places during the reign. At the urging of his mother, Otto and his brother were sent to Berlin for education. For 10 years of study, he changed 3 gymnasiums, but did not find much interest in knowledge. He was attracted only by the history of politics, both modern and past. After graduating from high school, Otto entered the university. Law became his specialty.

As a student, Bismarck did not distinguish himself by any talents. He led a wild life, played cards and drank heavily. However, he completed his studies and received a position at the Berlin Municipal Court. For three years, Bismarck held the post of tax official in Aachen and Potsdam. There he joined the Jaeger Regiment. In 1838, Bismarck moved to Greifswald, where he continued to carry out military service and at the same time study animal breeding. After the death of his mother, Otto von Bismarck returns to his Pomeranian estates and begins to lead the life of an ordinary landowner. His character in those years was so explosive and uncontrollable that the neighbors considered him mad.

Deciding to marry, he was refused. The girl's mother did not want to give her daughter to such a groom. To calm down, he goes to travel. Having visited England and France, Bismarck became more restrained and made many friends. After the death of his father, he became the sole owner of the Pomeranian estates, during this period he married. Among his friends were the von Gerlach brothers, who had influence at court. Soon the "mad deputy" Bismarck began to play a prominent role in the Berlin Landtag. Since 1851, Otto von Bismarck has represented Prussia in the Allied Diet, which met in Frankfurt am Main. He continues to study diplomacy and successfully apply the acquired knowledge in practice.

In 1859, Bismarck was envoy to St. Petersburg. Three years later he was sent to France. Upon his return, he heads the Prussian government. Then he becomes Minister-President and Minister of Foreign Affairs. The policy pursued by him during these years was aimed at the unification of Germany and the rise of Prussia over all German lands. For the same purpose, he tried to provoke France to start a war. The cunning politician managed to get his way. On July 19, 1870, war was declared in Paris with the North German Confederation.

A month later, the fleeting was completed with the victory of Germany. After another 4 months, on behalf of Emperor Wilhelm I, Otto von Bismarck became the chancellor of the empire, which he himself created. Until 1890, the "Iron Chancellor" ruled the country. During this time, peace was signed with France, which was very humiliating for Paris, a struggle was waged against the dominance of the Catholic Church, and the persecution of socialists began. After the accession to the throne of Emperor Wilhelm II, Bismarck lost his influence and resigned, which was accepted on March 18, 1890. However, he did not retire completely. He continued to give his opinion on current politicians, and was a member of the Reichstag. Otto von Bismarck died in 1898 and is buried in his own estate. The inscription on the tombstone said that a devoted servant of the German Kaiser Wilhelm I was buried here.

Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck is the most important German statesman and politician of the 19th century. His service had an important impact on the course of European history. He is considered the founder of the German Empire. For nearly three decades he shaped Germany: from 1862 to 1873 as Prime Minister of Prussia, and from 1871 to 1890 as the first Chancellor of Germany.

Bismarck family

Otto was born on April 1, 1815 at the Schönhausen estate, on the outskirts of Brandenburg, north of Magdeburg, which was in the Prussian province of Saxony. His family, starting from the 14th century, belonged to the nobility, and many ancestors held high government posts in the kingdom of Prussia. Otto always remembered his father with love, considering him a modest person. In his youth, Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand served in the army and was demobilized with the rank of captain of the cavalry (captain). His mother, Louise Wilhelmina von Bismarck, née Mencken, was middle-class, strongly influenced by her father, rational and strong of character. Louise focused on raising her sons, but Bismarck, in his memoirs of childhood, did not describe the special tenderness that traditionally comes from mothers.

The marriage produced six children, three of his siblings died in childhood. They lived a relatively long life: an older brother, born in 1810, Otto himself, who was born fourth, and a sister born in 1827. A year after the birth, the family moved to the Prussian province of Pomerania, the town of Konarzewo, where the first years of the childhood of the future chancellor passed. Beloved sister Malvina and brother Bernard were born here. Otto's father inherited the Pomeranian estates from his cousin in 1816 and moved to Konarzewo. At that time, the manor was a modest building with a brick foundation and wooden walls. Information about the house has been preserved thanks to the drawings of the elder brother, from which one can clearly see a simple two-story building with two short one-story wings on either side of the main entrance.

Childhood and youth

At the age of 7, Otto was sent to an elite private boarding school in , then he continued his education at the Graue Kloster gymnasium. At the age of seventeen, on May 10, 1832, he entered the law faculty of the University of Göttingen, where he spent just over a year. He took a leading place in the public life of students. From November 1833 he continued his studies at the University of Berlin. Education allowed him to engage in diplomacy, but at first he devoted several months to purely administrative work, after which he was transferred to the judicial field in the court of appeal. The young man did not work long in the public service, since it seemed unthinkable and routine for him to observe strict discipline. He worked in 1836 as a government clerk in Aachen, and the following year in Potsdam. This is followed by a year of service as a volunteer in the Greifswald Rifle Battalion Guards. In 1839, together with his brother, he took over the management of the family estates in Pomerania after the death of his mother.

He returned to Konarzevo at the age of 24. In 1846, he first leased the estate, and then sold the property inherited from his father to his nephew Philip in 1868. The property remained with the von Bismarck family until 1945. The last owners were the brothers Klaus and Philipp, sons of Gottfried von Bismarck.

In 1844, after his sister's marriage, he went to live with his father in Schönhausen. As a passionate hunter and duelist, he gains a reputation as a "savage".

Carier start

After the death of his father, Otto and his brother take an active part in the life of the district. In 1846, he began working in an office in charge of the work of the dikes, which served as protection against flooding of the regions located on the Elbe. During these years he traveled extensively in England, France and Switzerland. The views inherited from his mother, his own broad outlook and a critical attitude towards everything, disposed him to free views with an extreme right bias. He quite original and actively defended the rights of the king and the Christian monarchy in the fight against liberalism. After the start of the revolution, Otto offered to bring peasants from Schönhausen to Berlin to protect the king from the revolutionary movement. He did not take part in the meetings, but was actively involved in the formation of the Conservative Party alliance and was one of the founders of the Kreuz-Zeitung, which has since become the newspaper of the monarchist party in Prussia. In the parliament elected at the beginning of 1849, he became one of the sharpest speakers from among the representatives of the young nobility. He figured prominently in discussions about the new Prussian constitution, always defending the power of the king. His speeches were distinguished by a unique manner of debating, combined with originality. Otto understood that party disputes were only power struggles between revolutionary forces and that no compromise was possible between these principles. A clear position on the foreign policy of the Prussian government was also known, in which he actively opposed plans to create an alliance that forced them to obey a single parliament. In 1850, he held a seat in the Erfurt parliament, where he vehemently opposed the constitution created by the parliament, foreseeing that such a policy of the government would lead to a struggle against Austria, in which Prussia would be the loser. This position of Bismarck prompted the king in 1851 to appoint him first as the chief Prussian representative, and then as a minister in the Bundestag in Frankfurt am Main. This was a rather bold appointment, since Bismarck had no experience in diplomatic work.

Here he is trying to achieve equal rights for Prussia with Austria, lobbying for the recognition of the Bundestag and is a supporter of small German associations, without Austrian participation. During the eight years he spent in Frankfurt, he became an excellent understanding of politics, thanks to which he became an indispensable diplomat. However, the period he spent in Frankfurt was accompanied by important changes in political views. In June 1863, Bismarck published regulations governing freedom of the press and the crown prince publicly repudiated his father's ministerial policies.

Bismarck in the Russian Empire

During the Crimean War, he advocated an alliance with Russia. Bismarck was appointed Prussian ambassador to St. Petersburg, where he stayed from 1859 to 1862. Here he studied the experience of Russian diplomacy. By his own admission, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Gorchakov, is a great connoisseur of the art of diplomacy. During his time in Russia, Bismarck not only learned the language, but also developed a relationship with Alexander II and with the Empress Dowager, a Prussian princess.

During the first two years he had little influence on the Prussian government: the liberal ministers did not trust his opinion, and the regent was mortified by Bismarck's willingness to form an alliance with the Italians. The rift between King Wilhelm and the Liberal Party opened the way for Otto to power. Albrecht von Roon, who was appointed Minister of War in 1861, was an old friend of his, and thanks to him Bismarck was able to follow the state of affairs in Berlin. When a crisis arose in 1862 due to the refusal of parliament to vote on the allocation of funds necessary for the reorganization of the army, he was called to Berlin. The king still could not decide to increase the role of Bismarck, but he clearly understood that Otto was the only person who had the courage and ability to fight the Parliament.

After the death of Friedrich Wilhelm IV, his place on the throne was taken by regent Wilhelm I Friedrich Ludwig. When Bismarck left his post in the Russian Empire in 1862, the tsar offered him a position in the Russian service, but Bismarck refused.

In June 1862 he was appointed ambassador to Paris under Napoleon III. He studies in detail the school of French Bonapartism. In September, the king, on the advice of Roon, summoned Bismarck to Berlin and appointed him prime minister and foreign minister.

new field

Bismarck's main duty as minister was to support the king in the reorganization of the army. The dissatisfaction caused by his appointment was serious. His reputation as a peremptory ultra-conservative, reinforced by his first speech about the belief that the German question could not be settled only by speeches and parliamentary decisions, but only by blood and iron, increased the fears of the opposition. There can be no doubt about his determination to bring to an end the long struggle for the supremacy of the House of Hohenzollern Elector dynasty over the Habsburgs. However, two unforeseen events completely changed the situation in Europe and forced the confrontation to be postponed for three years. The first was an outbreak of rebellion in Poland. Bismarck, heir to the old Prussian traditions, mindful of the contribution of the Poles to the greatness of Prussia, offered his help to the tsar. By this he placed himself in opposition to Western Europe. As a political dividend, there was the gratitude of the tsar and the support of Russia. Even more serious were the difficulties that arose in Denmark. Bismarck was again forced to confront national sentiment.

German unification

Through the efforts of Bismarck's political will, the North German Confederation was founded by 1867.

The North German Confederation included:

• Kingdom of Prussia,
• Kingdom of Saxony,
• Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin,
• Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz,
• Grand Duchy of Oldenburg
• Grand Duchy of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach,
• Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg,
• Duchy of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha,
• Duchy of Saxe-Meiningen,
• Duchy of Brunswick,
• Duchy of Anhalt,
• Principality of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen,
• Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt,
• Principality of Reiss-Greutz,
• Principality of Reiss-Gera,
• Principality of Lippe,
• Principality of Schaumburg-Lippe,
• Principality of Waldeck,
• Cities: , and .

Bismarck founded the union, introduced the direct suffrage of the Reichstag and the exclusive responsibility of the federal chancellor. He himself assumed the office of chancellor on July 14, 1867. As chancellor, he controlled the foreign policy of the country and was responsible for all the internal politics of the empire, and his influence was traced in every state department.

Fighting the Roman Catholic Church

After the unification of the country, the government faced the question of the unification of faith more than ever. The core of the country, being purely Protestant, faced religious opposition from adherents of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1873, Bismarck was not only heavily criticized, but also wounded by an aggressive believer. This was not the first attempt. In 1866, shortly before the start of the war, he was attacked by Cohen, a native of Württemberg, who thus wanted to save Germany from fratricidal war.

The Catholic Center Party unites, attracting the nobility. However, the Chancellor signs the May Laws, taking advantage of the numerical superiority of the national Liberal Party. Another fanatic, apprentice Franz Kuhlmann, on July 13, 1874, makes another attack on the authorities. Long and hard work affects the health of a politician. Bismarck resigned several times. After his retirement, he lived in Friedrichsruh.

Chancellor's personal life

In 1844, in Konarzewo, Otto met the Prussian noblewoman Joanna von Puttkamer. On July 28, 1847, their wedding took place in a parish church near Reinfeld. Undemanding and deeply religious, Joanna was a loyal companion who provided significant support throughout her husband's career. Despite the heavy loss of his first lover and the intrigue with the wife of the Russian ambassador, Orlova, his marriage turned out to be happy. The couple had three children: Mary in 1848, Herbert in 1849 and William in 1852.

Joanna died on November 27, 1894 at the Bismarck estate at the age of 70. The husband built a chapel in which she was buried. Later, her remains were moved to the Bismarck Mausoleum in Friedrichsruh.

Last years

In 1871, the emperor gave him part of the possessions of the Duchy of Lauenburg. By his seventieth birthday, he was given a large amount of money, part of which went to buy out the estate of his ancestors in Schönhausen, part to buy an estate in Pomerania, which from now on he used as a country residence, and the rest of the funds were given to create a fund to help schoolchildren.

In retirement, the emperor granted him the title of Duke of Lauenburg, but he never used this title. Bismarck spent his last years not far from

Bismarck-Schoenhausen Otto Eduard Leopold von (1815-1898) - prince, German statesman, first chancellor of the German Empire (Second Reich), nicknamed the "Iron Chancellor". He had the honorary rank (peacetime) of the Prussian Colonel General with the rank of Field Marshal (March 20, 1890).

German statesman, Chancellor of the German Empire. Born April 1, 1815 in the family estate of Schönhausen in Brandenburg, the third son of Ferdinand von Bismarck-Schönhausen and Wilhelmina Mencken, at birth received the name Otto Eduard Leopold.

I was destined by nature to become a diplomat, I was born on the first of April.

Bismarck Otto von

At the age of 17, Bismarck entered the University of Göttingen, where he studied law. When he was a student, he gained a reputation as a reveler and a fighter, and excelled in duels. In 1835 he received a diploma and was soon enlisted to work at the Berlin Municipal Court. In 1837 he took the post of tax official in Aachen, a year later - the same position in Potsdam. There he joined the Guards Jaeger Regiment. In the autumn of 1838, Bismarck moved to Greifswald, where, in addition to performing his military duties, he studied animal breeding methods at the Elden Academy. His father's financial loss, together with an innate distaste for the way of life of a Prussian official, forced him in 1839 to leave the service and take over the management of the family estates in Pomerania. Bismarck continued his education, taking up the works of Hegel, Kant, Spinoza, D. Strauss and Feuerbach. In addition, he traveled throughout England and France. Later he joined the Pietists.

After the death of his father in 1845, the family property was divided and Bismarck received the estates of Schönhausen and Kniephof in Pomerania. In 1847 he married Johanna von Puttkamer. Among his new friends in Pomerania were Ernst Leopold von Gerlach and his brother, who not only were at the head of the Pomeranian pietists, but were also part of a group of court advisers. Bismarck, a pupil of the Gerlachs, became known for his conservative stance during the constitutional struggle in Prussia in 1848-1850. Opposing the liberals, Bismarck contributed to the creation of various political organizations and newspapers, including the "New Prussian newspaper" ("Neue Preussische Zeitung"). He was a member of the lower house of the Prussian parliament in 1849 and of the Erfurt parliament in 1850, when he spoke out against a federation of German states (with or without Austria), because he believed that this union would strengthen the revolutionary movement that was gaining strength. In his Olmutz speech, Bismarck spoke in defense of King Frederick William IV, who capitulated to Austria and Russia. The contented monarch wrote of Bismarck: "An ardent reactionary. To be used later."

In May 1851, the king appointed Bismarck the representative of Prussia in the allied diet in Frankfurt am Main. There, Bismarck almost immediately concluded that Prussia's goal could not be a German confederation under Austrian dominance, and that war with Austria was inevitable if Prussia were to dominate a united Germany. As Bismarck improved in the study of diplomacy and the art of government, he increasingly moved away from the views of the king and his camarilla. For his part, the king began to lose confidence in Bismarck. In 1859, the king's brother Wilhelm, who was then regent, relieved Bismarck of his duties and sent him as an envoy to St. Petersburg. There, Bismarck became close to the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince A. M. Gorchakov, who assisted Bismarck in his efforts to diplomatically isolate first Austria and then France.

Minister-President of Prussia. In 1862 Bismarck was sent as an envoy to France at the court of Napoleon III. He was soon recalled by King William I to resolve the contradictions on the issue of military appropriations, which was vigorously discussed in the lower house of parliament. In September of the same year, he became the head of the government, and a little later - the minister-president and minister of foreign affairs of Prussia. A militant conservative, Bismarck announced to the liberal middle-class majority in parliament that the government would continue to collect taxes in accordance with the old budget, because parliament, due to internal contradictions, would not be able to pass the new budget. (This policy continued in 1863-1866, which allowed Bismarck to carry out military reform.) At a meeting of the parliamentary committee on September 29, Bismarck emphasized: "The great questions of the time will not be decided by speeches and majority resolutions - this was a blunder of 1848 × 1949 - but by iron and blood." Since the upper and lower houses of parliament were unable to develop a unified strategy on the issue of national defense, the government, according to Bismarck, should have taken the initiative and forced parliament to agree to its decisions. By limiting the activities of the press, Bismarck took serious measures to suppress the opposition.

For their part, the liberals sharply criticized Bismarck for offering to support the Russian Emperor Alexander II in suppressing the Polish uprising of 1863-1864 (the Alvensleben convention of 1863). Over the next decade, Bismarck's policy led to three wars, the result of which was the unification of the German states in the North German Confederation in 1867: the war with Denmark (the Danish war of 1864), Austria (the Austro-Prussian war of 1866) and France (the Franco-Prussian war of 1870). -1871). On April 9, 1866, the day after Bismarck signed a secret agreement on a military alliance with Italy in the event of an attack on Austria, he submitted to the Bundestag his draft of a German parliament and universal secret suffrage for the country's male population. After the decisive Battle of Kötiggrätz (Sadova), Bismarck managed to get the annexationist claims of Wilhelm I and the Prussian generals to be abandoned and offered an honorable peace to Austria (Prague Peace of 1866). In Berlin, Bismarck introduced a bill to Parliament exempting him from liability for unconstitutional acts, which was approved by the Liberals. In the next three years, Bismarck's secret diplomacy was directed against France. The publication in the press of the Ems Dispatch of 1870 (as edited by Bismarck) caused such indignation in France that on July 19, 1870, war was declared, which Bismarck actually won by diplomatic means even before it began.

Chancellor of the German Empire. In 1871, at Versailles, Wilhelm I inscribed on an envelope an address to the "Chancellor of the German Empire", thus confirming Bismarck's right to rule the empire that he created and which was proclaimed on January 18 in the hall of mirrors at Versailles. The "Iron Chancellor", representing the interests of the minority and absolute power, ruled this empire in 1871-1890, relying on the consent of the Reichstag, where from 1866 to 1878 he was supported by the National Liberal Party. Bismarck reformed German law, administration and finance. The education reforms he carried out in 1873 led to a conflict with the Roman Catholic Church, but the main cause of the conflict was the growing distrust of German Catholics (who accounted for about a third of the country's population) in Protestant Prussia. When these contradictions surfaced in the activities of the Catholic "Centre" party in the Reichstag in the early 1870s, Bismarck was forced to take action. The struggle against the dominance of the Catholic Church was called "kulturkampf" (Kulturkampf, struggle for culture). During it, many bishops and priests were arrested, hundreds of dioceses were left without leaders. Now church appointments had to be coordinated with the state; clerics could not be in the service of the state apparatus.

Otto von Bismarck is a German statesman, Chancellor of the German Empire. Born April 1, 1815 in the family estate of Schönhausen in Brandenburg, the third son of Ferdinand von Bismarck-Schönhausen and Wilhelmina Mencken, at birth received the name Otto Eduard Leopold.

At the age of 17, Bismarck entered the University of Göttingen, where he studied law. When he was a student, he gained a reputation as a reveler and a fighter, and excelled in duels. In 1835 he received a diploma and was soon enlisted to work at the Berlin Municipal Court. In 1837 he took up the post of tax official in Aachen, a year later - the same position in Potsdam. There he joined the Guards Jaeger Regiment. In the autumn of 1838, Bismarck moved to Greifswald, where, in addition to performing his military duties, he studied animal breeding methods at the Elden Academy. His father's financial loss, together with an innate distaste for the way of life of a Prussian official, forced him in 1839 to leave the service and take over the management of the family estates in Pomerania. Bismarck continued his education, taking up the works of Hegel, Kant, Spinoza, D. Strauss and Feuerbach. In addition, he traveled throughout England and France. Later he joined the Pietists.

After the death of his father in 1845, the family property was divided and Bismarck received the estates of Schönhausen and Kniephof in Pomerania. In 1847 he married Johanna von Puttkamer. Among his new friends in Pomerania were Ernst Leopold von Gerlach and his brother, who not only were at the head of the Pomeranian pietists, but were also part of a group of court advisers. Bismarck, a pupil of the Gerlachs, became known for his conservative stance during the constitutional struggle in Prussia in 1848-1850. Opposing liberals, Bismarck promoted the creation of various political organizations and newspapers, including the "New Prussian newspaper" ("Neue Preussische Zeitung"). He was a member of the lower house of the Prussian parliament in 1849 and of the Erfurt parliament in 1850, when he spoke out against a federation of German states (with or without Austria), because he believed that this union would strengthen the revolutionary movement that was gaining strength. In his Olmutz speech, Bismarck spoke in defense of King Frederick William IV, who capitulated to Austria and Russia. The satisfied monarch wrote of Bismarck: “An ardent reactionary. Use later."

In May 1851, the king appointed Bismarck the representative of Prussia in the allied diet in Frankfurt am Main. There, Bismarck almost immediately concluded that Prussia's goal could not be a German confederation under Austrian dominance, and that war with Austria was inevitable if Prussia were to dominate a united Germany. As Bismarck improved in the study of diplomacy and the art of government, he increasingly moved away from the views of the king and his camarilla. For his part, the king began to lose confidence in Bismarck. In 1859, the king's brother Wilhelm, who was then regent, relieved Bismarck of his duties and sent him as an envoy to St. Petersburg. There, Bismarck became close to the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince A.M. Gorchakov, who assisted Bismarck in his efforts to diplomatically isolate first Austria and then France.

Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck was born on April 1, 1815 in a family of small estate nobles in the Schönhausen estate in Brandenburg. A native of the Pomeranian Junkers.

He studied law first at the University of Göttingen, then at the University of Berlin. In 1835 he received a diploma, in 1936 he underwent an internship at the Berlin Municipal Court.

In 1837-1838 he worked as an official in Aachen, then in Potsdam.

In 1838 he entered the military service.

In 1839, after the death of his mother, he retired from the service and managed the family estates in Pomerania.

After his father's death in 1845, the family property was divided and Bismarck received the estates of Schönhausen and Kniephof in Pomerania.

In 1847-1848, he was a deputy of the first and second United Landtags (parliament) of Prussia, during the revolution of 1848 he advocated armed suppression of unrest.

Bismarck became known for his conservative stance during the constitutional struggle in Prussia from 1848-1850.

Opposing liberals, he contributed to the creation of various political organizations and newspapers, including the "New Prussian newspaper" (Neue Preussische Zeitung, 1848). One of the organizers of the Prussian Conservative Party.

He was a member of the lower house of the Prussian Parliament in 1849 and of the Erfurt Parliament in 1850.

In 1851-1859 he was the representative of Prussia in the Allied Sejm in Frankfurt am Main.

From 1859 to 1862 Bismarck was the Prussian envoy to Russia.

In March - September 1962 - the Prussian envoy to France.

In September 1862, during a constitutional conflict between the Prussian royalty and the liberal majority of the Prussian Landtag, Bismarck was called by King Wilhelm I to the post of head of the Prussian government, and in October of the same year he became Minister-President and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Prussia. He stubbornly defended the rights of the crown and achieved a resolution of the conflict in her favor. In the 1860s, he carried out a military reform in the country and significantly strengthened the army.

Under the leadership of Bismarck, the unification of Germany was carried out by means of a "revolution from above" as a result of three victorious wars of Prussia: in 1864 together with Austria against Denmark, in 1866 against Austria, in 1870-1871 against France.

After the formation of the North German Confederation in 1867, Bismarck became Chancellor. In the German Empire proclaimed on January 18, 1871, he received the highest state post of imperial chancellor, becoming the first Reich Chancellor. Under the 1871 constitution, Bismarck was given virtually unlimited power. At the same time, he retained the post of Prussian Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Bismarck reformed German law, administration and finance. In the years 1872-1875, on the initiative and under pressure from Bismarck, laws were passed against the Catholic Church depriving the clergy of the right to supervise schools, prohibiting the Jesuit order in Germany, on compulsory civil marriage, on the abolition of articles of the constitution providing for the autonomy of the church, etc. These events severely limited the rights of the Catholic clergy. Attempts to disobey caused repression.

In 1878, Bismarck passed through the Reichstag an "exceptional law" against the socialists, which prohibited the activities of social democratic organizations. He ruthlessly persecuted any manifestation of political opposition, for which he was nicknamed the "Iron Chancellor".

In 1881-1889, Bismarck passed "social laws" (on insurance of workers in case of illness and injury, on pensions for old age and disability), which laid the foundations for the social insurance of workers. At the same time, he demanded a tougher anti-worker policy and during the 1880s successfully sought the extension of the "exclusive law".

Bismarck built his foreign policy on the basis of the situation that developed in 1871 after the defeat of France in the Franco-Prussian war and the seizure of Alsace and Lorraine by Germany, contributed to the diplomatic isolation of the French Republic and sought to prevent the formation of any coalition that threatened the hegemony of Germany. Fearing a conflict with Russia and wanting to avoid a war on two fronts, Bismarck supported the creation of the Russian-Austrian-German agreement (1873) "Union of the Three Emperors", and also concluded a "reinsurance agreement" with Russia in 1887. At the same time, in 1879, on his initiative, an alliance agreement was concluded with Austria-Hungary, and in 1882, the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy), directed against France and Russia and marked the beginning of the split of Europe into two hostile coalitions. The German Empire became one of the leaders in international politics. Russia's refusal to renew the "reinsurance pact" at the beginning of 1890 was a serious setback for the chancellor, as was the failure of his plan to turn the "exceptional law" against the socialists into a permanent one. In January 1890, the Reichstag refused to renew it.

In March 1890, Bismarck was dismissed from his post as Reich Chancellor and Prussian Prime Minister as a result of contradictions with the new Emperor Wilhelm II and with the military command on foreign and colonial policy and on the labor issue. He received the title of Duke of Lauenburg, but refused it.

Bismarck spent the last eight years of his life at his Friedrichsruhe estate. In 1891 he was elected to the Reichstag for Hanover, but never took his seat there, and two years later refused to run for re-election.

From 1847 Bismarck was married to Johanna von Puttkamer (died 1894). The couple had three children - daughter Marie (1848-1926) and two sons - Herbert (1849-1904) and Wilhelm (1852-1901).

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