Otto von Bismarck - I: The Wildman Bismarck - Extra History

Hmmm... We've been trying to present him as an arrogant wastrel and a womanizer, but I think it's a pretty big stretch to say Bismarck was like Hitler. He was an anti-polish racist and you can 100% say he didn't do enough to check German antisemitism but I mean he did literally say: "I decidedly disapprove of this agitation against the Jews, be it on religious or on racial grounds." "I shall never consent to any attempt at curtailing the constitutional rights of the Jews." As far as being the author of the two world wars, I have to disagree. I think that what you really have to ask is why World War 1 didn't happen sooner. The creation of Germany almost ensured it (after all you placed a power that was potentially economically and militarily more powerful in the middle of all the great powers. Efforts to contain that power were assured.) If you take the creation of Germany as inevitable rather than say it was an act entirely of Bismarck's doing (which I do) then you have to see Bismarck's great project as creating a diplomatic situation in which Germany wouldn't be attacked before it was too strong for anyone to think of attacking it... and he almost succeeded. If he hadn't been booted and his diplomatic efforts not just ignored but reversed you might not have had a WW1. You can argue that if Bismarck hadn't come along Germany might have been unified under some other German faction and not Prussia, leading to a less militaristic society, which might also have radically altered the course of history. This I think is more valid and I think there's lots to explore there. As far as him being a reactionary, 100% yes. But weirdly I think he's closer to what a conservative should be than a lot of the modern examples. I may disagree with his policies but he realized that the best way to keep the status quo and to keep those in power in power was to make the average person's life bearable. He passed a form of universal health care and created a welfare system. He probably didn't do this for altruistic reasons but because he realized that he needed the average person to be comfortable and to attribute that comfort to the king and his government, rather than joining the socialists and demanding reform. Whether or not we agree on this, I hope that at least helps shed some light on the perspective I wrote this from. JP P.S. I just realized one thing! If you happened to have stumbled upon any of those "quotes" where Bismarck says things about "jewish bankers" my understanding is that all of those were made up by the internet relatively recently.

Extra History

I learnt about him in school (Germany). I was fifteen or sixteen, maybe early seventeen at the time. We didn't focus much on his person (we hardly do that in history classes) and more on his actions. And to summarize we learnt about how Germany was unified mainly through him and generally the German politics from about 1860 to world war one. His politics and how he essentially outshone Willhelm the first just fascinated me. So I did some research of my own and my fascination of how he managed germany with "Zuckerbrot und Peitsche" (Sugarbread and whip) are astonishing to me. Also look at the guys mustache. I mean how can he not impress you?

Huskarr

James, I guess that partially depends on whether or not the letctures contained romance-able women. Mine never did. Man, if someone warned me appropriately about the miserable gender ratio of computer science, I might have changed majors. I digress.

Paul Grodt

Huskarr, coming from a place of ignorance, I'm fascinated and very curious about what you learned about Bismarck, where you learned about him, and how old you were when you learned about him. In my US public-school education, we learned almost nothing about him, and what little we did learn about him only starts his story on the lead-up to WWI, basically entirely skipping over a massive chunk of his life and his rise to power. I'd very much love to hear about your experiences learning about the guy and how he came to be one of your favorite historical figures.

Paul Grodt

I totally agree lain; I'd never even considered the notion that there would be anything interesting about a young Bismarck. I love being wrong in ways like this. I had no idea he lead such a fascinating life.

Paul Grodt

I am not sure I agree with the prologue where Bismarck is contrasted against Kaiser Wilhelm II. I hope the video takes a more critical view of Bismarck, the man who Max Weber branded as the man who throttled German democracy and left people without any political education. Bismarck may have warned about the Balkan crisis but he was also someone deeply responsible for how World War I broke out because of his system of governance and the imperialist expansionist nature of its founding. He kept trying to ally with Russia and isolating France, but he also slow-dragged loans to help Russia because he knew that if Russia started industrialism it would outpace Germany, and that was the real reason why World War I broke out as Fritz Fischer, Hans Ulrich-Wehler and other eminent German historians have shown clearly. Bismarck was also a first-class liar, and as Jonathan Steinberg in his recent biography shows, he is the source for all interactions between him and Kaiser Wilhelm II. The reason why Bismarck was fired by Kaiser Wilhelm II was that the former wanted to stage a provocation against socialists while the Kaiser wanted to avoid bloodshed and controversy in his early reign (for PR reasons). It wasn't that they were invisible to the great Bismarck's ideas. Bismarck was also an anti-semite and reactionary, and that should be mentioned. He wasn't Hitler yes, but to say that there's no similarities or connections or that Hitler was somehow mistaken for admiring Bismarck is utterly untrue.

Sudarshan Ramani

YES YES YES. Bismark is one of my favorite historic figure and one of the few German leaders I can be proud off. The way he played Europe in a way astonishes me :D.

Huskarr

Outstanding video on one of my favorite historical figures! Super excited for the rest of the series!

Corey Englerth

It definitely does seem like the only rational explanation. Maybe I can be Old Bismarck when I grow up :D

Iain Docherty

Don't worry guys. It was Walpole!

Byron Becker

Maybe you should check whether someone on your staff has responded to the call of Cthulhu.

barefoot James

I agree that he was brash and arrogant; however, I don't consider him irresponsible. He increased the value of his family's estates when others were losing the farm. He focused on whatever was important to him and ignored the input of authority figures when he disagreed with them. For example, why should he spend years attending lectures (instead of romancing women) when he could achieve the same results with a few weeks of cramming?

barefoot James

Will Karl Marx be mentioned in this Series? I'd be thrilled if he ever gets his own Series. For some reason I get more hyped about Topics I have already Studied [such as Bismarck] than the more obscure Ones.

Martin Verran

Error on YouTube. It's fixed now. Thanks for the heads up; I wouldn't have caught it right away if you hadn't said anything!

Extra History

WAIT how did the Necronomicon get there? I'm sure we didn't put it there! Oh dear...

Extra History

! Maybe a time traveling wizard from the future came and took over young Bismarck's body, and that's why he suddenly went from being an irresponsible youth to a canny old man!

Extra History

Ich bin ein berliner!

Extra History

We're not really gonna get that far in this series. This baby's gonna cover the first part of Bismarck's life, and if you folks are enjoying it, we'll put the second part of his life up for a separate vote later on.

Extra History

How could we not love someone named Motley?

Extra History

He was definitely smart, just, you know... brash, arrogant, and irresponsible!

Extra History

Early Bismarck was a bit of a jerk. Come to think of it, older Bismarck was still a jerk but one who also got stuff done. :P

Extra History

YES I AGREE! ...might be a little biased.

Extra History

And it's been far too long since we said we were gonna do Bismarck!

Extra History

Unless the video is supposed to be up early for everyone, we have a slight problem. The video is not unlisted. Just got the notification and there are already comments.

Elijah Irons

My funny bone was tickled to see the Necronomicon grimoire among the books he read while at university. Are you implying a magical influence for some of his later achievements? On a different note, wasn't Johanna's cousin, Marie von Thadden, responsible for Otto becoming a Pietist Lutheran?

barefoot James

Not going to lie, I always picture Bismarck as an old guy so it feels weird to see him as a young prettyboy :D Like seeing photos of grandparents as preteens. With all the things Bismarck ended up being right about I can only assume he was literally magic

Iain Docherty

Extra Bismarck: Breakfast with Otto at last!

Julia Augusta

So, would you guys cover WHY Bismarck got fired (rumored attempt on engineering a socialist revolution that would be crushed by the military (and that NEVER goes well) and his apparent mental decline)? I mean it's usually done without context in history books anymore and having the actual events that lead to Bismark getting sacked by the equally eccentric Wilhelm the Second (once you get past the British, French, and Republic propaganda, you'll find someone that is rather flawed that wanted Germany to thrive).

Aaron Neumann

I guess this means Motley is our new best friend.

Michael Jebbett

Wow! Soil chemistry would've still been BLEEDING-edge stuff at that point.

Paul Grodt

ugh i had one of these cram hirers loaded kids in high school. hated that guy.

Michael Waisfeld

YES! This is gonna be awesome!

Ja! Es ist viel zu lange her seit der letzten deutschen Extra History Serie! Translation: Yes! It has been far too long since the last German Extra History Series!

Martin Verran