Jonathan steinberg bismarck a life (v5 0)

BISMARCK A LIFE JONATHAN STEINBERG Oxford University Press, Inc., publishes works that further Oxford University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi New Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offices in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Thailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Copyright © 2011 by Jonathan Steinberg Published by Oxford University Press, Inc 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup.com Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University Press Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Steinberg, Jonathan Bismarck: a life / Jonathan Steinberg p cm Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 978-0-19-978252-9 (alk paper) Bismarck, Otto, Fürst von, 1815-1898 Statesmen—Germany—Biography Germany—Politics and government—1871–1888 I Title DD218.S795 2011 943.08′3092—dc22 [B] 2010045387 135798642 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper To my partner, Marion Kant Contents Preface Maps Introduction: Bismarck’s ‘Sovereign Self’ Bismarck: Born Prussian and What That Meant Bismarck: The ‘Mad Junker’ Bismarck Represents Himself, 1847–1851 Bismarck as Diplomat, 1851–1862 Power ‘I have beaten them all! All!’ The Unification of Germany, 1866–1870 The Decline Begins: Liberals and Catholics 10 ‘The Guest House of the Dead Jew’ 11 Three Kaisers and Bismarck’s Fall from Power 12 Conclusion: Bismarck’s Legacy: Blood and Irony Notes Bibliography Photographic Acknowledgements Index Preface In a preface authors thank those who helped them In the internet age he or she will certainly not know some of the most important of them: the anonymous librarians, archivists, scholars, researchers, and technicians who put precious resources on line, digitalize catalogues, contribute to online encyclopedia and great reference books such the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography or the Neue deutsche Biographie How can I thank personally the archivists at the New York Times who provided online the report in its original typeface of the wedding in Vienna on 21 June, 1892 of Herbert Bismarck and Countess Marguerite Hoyos? No Bismarck biographer before me has enjoyed such a wealth of unexpected, unusual and fascinating new material Whatever the weaknesses of this work, the author had access to more remote and essential material than any predecessor, no matter how diligent, could have exploited I know the names of others without whom I could not have written this biography Tony Morris, publisher and friend, asked me to write a life of Bismarck, and Andrew Wheatcroft, publisher, historian, and friend, saved the project when the first publisher abandoned it Through Andrew Wheatcroft I gained the help of the perfect literary agent, Andrew Kidd of Aitken Alexander, who guided it safely to Oxford University Press where Timothy Bent steered it through its rough early stage and encouraged me to cut it to a less unwieldy size His skill and editorial expertise helped me polish and polish again the slimmed down manuscript My friend and colleague, Chris Clark, author of Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947, read the first draft, all 800 pages, with a care and attention to errors and misinterpretations that only he could have given Karina Urbach, author of Bismarck’s Favourite Englishman: Lord Odo Russell’s Mission to Berlin, gave me the benefit of her great knowledge of the period and of German society Rabbi Herb Rosenblum of Philadelphia passed on to me the astonishing fact that in 1866 Bismarck had attended the dedication of the Oranienburg Street Synagogue in Berlin An author fortunate enough to be published by Oxford University Press gets two publishers for the price of one Timothy Bent and his colleagues at 198 Madison Avenue welcomed me with every kind of assistance and support Luciana O’Flaherty, Publisher, Trade Books, and her colleagues at Oxford University Press, Great Clarendon Street, Phil Henderson, Coleen Hatrick, and Matthew Cotton have been an author’s ‘dream team’ Deborah Protheroe found illustrations that I had missed and put up with my foibles about the pictures Edwin Pritchard copy-edited the text with skill and tolerance of the author’s irregular habits Claire Thompson, Senior Production Editor, guided me through the final stages of proof-reading and indexing Joy Mellor proof-read the text Nothing in my long professional career has been as much fun as the composition of this work I got to ‘know’ the most remarkable and complex political leader of the nineteenth century and had (and still have) the illusion that I understand him I met and read the letters and diaries of the greatest figures in Prussian society That ‘imagined society’ took me away from, and made me a nuisance to, my family, but all of them supported the enterprise in every way and gave me their love and good cheer, which kept my spirits up Without my partner, Marion Kant, I could never have written the book and I have dedicated it to her Philadelphia, PA October 2010 Map Map of Germany showing the political boundaries in 1786 Map Map ... Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Steinberg, Jonathan Bismarck: a life / Jonathan Steinberg p cm Includes bibliographical references and index ISBN 978-0-19-978252-9 (alk paper) Bismarck, Otto,... Baron Osten, the army had unified Germany not Bismarck The army had made Prussia and Kurt Anton, Baron von Osten, embodied that army and that state as a Junker landlord and retired officer as... the lasting impact that Napoleon had on Europe and on Bismarck s Prussia Napoleon had spread and imposed the laws and administration of the French Revolution That was the first part of Bismarck s