Otto von Bismarck - IV: The Iron Chancellor - Extra History

The Schleswig-Holstein question is so complicated that as a history student in the country it relates to the most, I can't even understand it enough to understand why it is so complicated and has to just take it as an article of faith. :P

Christina Maria Jessen

Christina and Christian are common first names in Denmark, Jensen is like the second most common last name. Jessen is the outlier here, being a fairly rare name. From Schleswig.

Christina Maria Jessen

Yeah, and someone for a future video! I mean he was simply a cavalry officer that would later become an observer during the American Civil War and was fascinated by the watch balloons (and took a ride on them once)... which cased the gears in his mind to turn...

Aaron Neumann

That's a shame...I was kind of hoping for a First forray by EH into the History of Communism, and the Paris Commune seems to be as good a Place to start as any.

Martin Verran

"Bismarck always has a plan" would be great on a T-Shirt

Marc Paris

Haha, I laughed out loud at that one.

Extra History

::finger-guns::

Extra History

Not in this series, but perhaps in the sequel!

Extra History

Cool as Coolidge.

Extra History

Oh nooooo, Bismarck the iron Chancellor and his sick ride

Bumble

Good! That's part of what we really hoped to do with this series.

Extra History

David's good at sneaking little jokes in. Half the time I don't even catch them until the video's already published and I'm just randomly flame-fripping when WHAM, something gets me. ;D

Extra History

Bismarck is your sort of fellow, then. ;)

Extra History

I think auto-correct pulled a trick on you and you meant to say "mustache" but now I'm envisioning an alternate history of Bismarck the Wild West mustang tamer...

Extra History

He doesn't come up in these videos, but he is there in the historical background of this story! And definitely an interesting fellow.

Extra History

And this is why I love having folks like you two in the comments to untangle some of the complex stuff that we only have time to gloss over. Although I will admit, the similarity between your names and the fact that you were talking to each other did throw me for a loop there briefly. ;)

Extra History

We're not going to get quite that far into his timeline in this series - we had so much to say about Bismarck that we're splitting his life into two parts, with the second one hopefully coming in the future if it wins a Patreon vote. But we are about to reach the Franco-Prussian war!

Extra History

That would be David, and I'll make sure to let him know! He's working on Extra Sci Fi now but we were happy we got to do Bismarck with him before he switched shows.

Extra History

We won't get into the Paris Commune (might be better as its own series in the future), but the Franco-Prussian War will basically be where this series ends!

Extra History

Quote from Lord Palmerston "The Schleswig-Holstein question is so complicated, only three men in Europe have ever understood it. One was Prince Albert, who is dead. The second was a German professor who became mad. I am the third and I have forgotten all about it."

Marc Paris

I laughed way too hard at the “Iron Chancellor” part 😂

A lot of historians actually doubt if Bismarck was "the man who unified Germany"...in actual fact, the German State he founded lost territory at the end of World War I, and even more after World War II, where it was partitioned into two states, and needed a second unification at the start of the '90s. And the biggest loser in all that was Prussia...So not a lot of what Bismarck did actually lasted.

Sudarshan Ramani

Nobody is going to be insane enough to try to untangle the entire Schleswig-Holstein question in a single video. It's one of the most complex questions in all of European history, to the degree that one of my professors sincerely stated that nobody in the world actually understands it. And, yes, the Second Schleswig War is one of the biggest moments in shaping Danish culture and how Denmark relates with the world to this day.

Christina Maria Jessen

I'm wondering if you'll cover the Kulturkampf, Bismark lost that particular conflict but it also showed why he was the man who unified Germany

Jack the Rat

I recall reading about von Moltke. There's a funny little joke about him; it is said he only ever smiled twice in his life - once when told a fortress was impregnable and the other when his mother in law died. Something to that effect anyway.

Darren Loo

I can't help but see the basis for The Great War as we go along.

Michael Jebbett

6:02 I dieded. Came totally out of left field for me. Totally hilarious!

Marcus Berg

Nothing like good old ruthlessness in foreign policy. Backstabbing, annexations, framing others, and little care for what someone else would think. I loved these things in Eve, and boy do I love them here.

Pavel Yakushevich

Please do an episode on the history of Bismarck's mustang

Bumble

Oh, so we're going to have Fredrick graff Zeppelin running around! Even if he is only referenced in the coming videos, this is a guy that is made up of perseverance and awesome. The man that would start the world's first Aerospace corporation, the first airline, and giving the world the splendor of the world's first airships...

Aaron Neumann

As Christina Maria Jessen so excellently writes, the Sleswig-Holstein Question is somewhat more complicated than this video lays it outs, but no one in the their right mind are going to blame you for not explaining the whole sordid thing in a video series on Bismarck. One thing that might be worth mentioning, maybe in Lies, is just what a momentous moment of loss this war was for Denmark. Sleswig-Holstein contained a significant part of the countrys population and economic activity. The war sunk deep into the national consciousness and made fighting in wars a non-issue in Danish politics for over a hundred years. Such are the ripples of Bismarcks diplomatic games spreading far beyond their time or place

Christian Jensen

It wasn't really a succession struggle in Denmark. The 1849 constitution didn't give the king particularly far-reaching powers, certainly not compared to the 1866 constitution, and the country was ruled not by the royal family or the royal court, but by parliament. Now this parliament heavily favored the nobility in its composition, but it had still ended up dominated by the liberal wing centered in Copenhagen who had opposed absolutism. They were, however, hardcore nationalists. Unlike the king who had historically wanted his territory to be maintained with as much authority in his hands, the National Liberals wanted a truly Danish state. They also didn't want to give up any land. So obviously the people of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg had to stop the whole being German thing. As well as to accept the constitution of the Kingdom of Denmark and set aside their historical laws and lose any autonomy. So they made the king sign a constitution fully incorporating Schleswig into the state right at his succession to the throne. The National Liberals were also complete and utter idiots. When the German Confederacy gives you ultimatums, you don't just tell them to buzz off. You also don't order the army to use an unmaintained iron age earthwork as its fortification in the mid-19th century. The National Liberals did both. They just consistently made stupid calls at every move, including just not surrendering quickly and dragging the war out for months after it was clear that no great powers were coming to help and no battles could be won. It got bad enough that the newly chosen king tried to save his ass by offering to join the German Confederation as long as he could at least keep his title. Bismarck said no, because as German as Danish culture is, the Danish population clearly didn't see itself as German and it would just be a source of instability. Also, Russia and Great Britain almost certainly couldn't accept a Germany controlling the narrow straights around Denmark leading into the Baltic.

Christina Maria Jessen

Great episode once more - I'm intrigued to see what the Franco-Prussian war will look like. By the way: Will you dip into Bismarck's foray into (among other things medical) insurance for the masses as a defence against the socialists?

Cifer

Thank you for the amazing work, as always. I can't get enough of those drawings. Say thank you to the person responsible please:P

Martin Ockovsky

This is Kind of Early...good thing I get Alerts whenever you Upload new Content! ;-) Will the Franco-Prussian War and the Paris Commune be discussed in this Series or will that be left until the Sequel?

Martin Verran