The Man who Invented Germany | The Life & Times of Otto von Bismarck

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Germany’s kind of a big deal, right? Sort of the unofficial point person of the EU, biggest economy in Europe by a substantial margin, I didn’t even realize how much of a heavyweight they were until I started fact checking for this video, not to mention it was at the center of two world wars. The weird thing is, unlike England and France which have been around for what, a thousand years? Germany is younger than the United States; for most of history, Germany didn’t exist. There were Germans, but no Germany. The closest thing was the Holy Roman Empire, until Napoleon broke it apart and no one cared enough to put it back together. The man who invented Germany, Frederick the Great's spiritual successor of sorts, wasn’t an ambitious king who made up his mind to conquer everything, or a forward-thinking revolutionary who found a way to make everybody get along… he was a conservative politician who originally wanted nothing to do with it.
Music (in order of appearance):
Victoria 2 OST - Europe Anno 1850
Kevin Macleod - Hidden Past

[@JackRackam]

Download Kingdom Maker on iOS & Android and start ruling today: pixly.go2cloud.org/SH3Il

[@berukenn]

Maybe

[@jakobe8090]

Could you do Andreas Hofer, the Farmer who beat Napoleons Armys.

[@redhotweezer]

I have a small suggestion for future videos: when you introduce someone new maybe put their name on the screen especially when they have a foreign name. Amazing video as always tho!

[@AaronOfMpls]

@@redhotweezer It's in the closed-captioning if you turn it on.

[@arnijulian6241]

Wilhelm the 2nd was a moron compared to Bismarck! & the Austrian painter that was a fan boy of Napoleon was a moron Compared to Wilhelm the 2nd! i Will give props (Jack Rackham) for fitting this much in 12 & 1/2 minutes as a summary!

[@OHBGEEK4HIRE1998]

I still think it’s wild that Bismarck who is like the historical definition of earning your position through merit was such a diehard monarchist and then not even a couple of years after he was gone WWI happened because the monarchy dice rolls came up snake-eyes.

[@nathanseper8738]

He was able to keep Europe at peace, and when he was gone, Europe gradually marched toward war.

[@hungryepicboys8895]

Conservatism has its roots in pro-monarchal philosophy that was developed after the English civil war, so it’s not the biggest stretch. Plus he was a decently wealthy landowner, not exactly a man of the people

[@kongou1912]

he was a nobleman, he had an personal interest in keeping the monarchy intact

[@j4genius961]

Not exactly, as people already pointed out he was a nobleman, not a peasant, of course he wanted to keep the system intact

[@maxis2k]

As with everything, there's probably more nuance than we know. He might have been "pro" monarchy not so much because he really believed in it but because that was his only path to power. Or he had connections to the monarchy (as this video implies). Or the cool kids in the anti monarchy movement were his enemies separate from the actual monarchy debate. And so on. This stuff happened all through history. Like a lot of the "pro" royalist people in the English Civil war who flipped sides multiple times.

[@nobodysman143]

Mind you, Bismarck had to basically drag Wilhelm I *kicking and screaming* into leading the German Empire because Wilhelm I wanted nothing to do in leading a united Germany. So yes, Germany's first Kaiser was forced to lead a united Germany by Bismarck's sheer force of will aka: threatening to self-defenestrate from a tall building to get Wilhelm I on board with the idea of leading a united German state.

[@beargrylls235]

And they fought big time over the title being "Emperor of Germany" or " German Emperor"

[@cpt.mystic_stirling]

Wasn’t the reason Wilhelm hesitated had to do with Austria? Or was there more?

[@Whatsuppbuddies]

@@beargrylls235 that's the most European thing I've ever heard

[@JackRackam]

Lol, that last line got me "You WILL be emperor!" "And what if I refuse? What will you do, kill me?" "No... I'll kill ME!"

[@karpi470]

@@cpt.mystic_stirling There also was a technicality about the title itself. If at all, Wilhelm wanted to be "Kaiser von Deutschland" (Emperor of Germany). However, the monarchs of the other German states didn't want to be placed directly under him like that, and so they demanded he'd only be made a "Deutscher Kaiser" (German Emperor).

[@jeremygilbert7989]

I'm amazed you didn't mention the time he was almost assassinated by the anti-monarchist Ferdinand Cohen-Blind(The name gets hilariously fitting and ironic in a second). Blind waited for Bismarck as he was walking home and shot him twice from behind. Otto then turned and grabbed his would-be assassin who managed to fire 3 more shots before being subdued and taken into custody. He then walked all the way home before letting the King's physician examine him only to find that all 5 shots had hit him but 3 just grazed him and 2 bounced off his ribs and did no real damage. Iron fucking Chancellor!

[@alejandronieto4212]

The definition of chad here.

[@seanmcloughlin5983]

After this he presumably said to the man “Iron Chancellor,” and turned away putting on shades while explosions happened in the background.

[@jeremygilbert7989]

@@seanmcloughlin5983 I'm guessing you're also an Extra History fan. Que the obligatory "I see you are also a man of culture." Meme lol

[@seanmcloughlin5983]

@@jeremygilbert7989 I literally have a “Always have a Plan,” t-shirt in my closet.

[@mr.bluesky8554]

*YEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!*

[@GarlicPudding]

"One does not improvise the deployment of millions!" "Your father would have given me a different answer." "Bismarck would have known better than to ask." -- Exchange between Kaiser Wilhelm and Moltke the Younger

[@dndboy13]

oh man, i never knew of Moltke's retort back

[@Mr33500]

Wilhelm 2 was right there though. He wanted to change the war plans and focus on Russia first after he found out Britain would join the war if they invaded Belgium.

[@gamingforever9121]

Source ?

[@Why_UMadBruh]

Man Moltke the younger was like Moltke lite. Half the calories, half the skills.

[@GarlicPudding]

@@Why_UMadBruh He had some decent burns, though. That comeback to the Kaiser is fire.

[@hentaioverwhelming]

Bismarck has a plan. Bismarck always has a plan. You can see just how far his plans went when he predicted how the First World War would unfold and how it would end with the German Empire's defeat, almost down to the month.

[@TheRennDawg]

Are you trying to earn.... Extra Credit?

[@germaniatv1870]

Which basically means the French,British, the USA and the Communists instigated world war 1. So yes, Bismarck was right: England will conquer Mesopotamia & Jerusalem and try to expand its Empire and also seek to totally defeat Germany. - Oh boy he was so right 🙂

[@JeroenDoes]

And yet he did not manage to prevent it. Not saying that he could. It is just only half a succes when you can predict something but not do anything about it.

[@wildfire9280]

@@JeroenDoes He was dismissed from office? His power relied entirely on continuing monarchial support. Without the kings of Prussia, he’d never have gotten his position to begin with and would never have orchestrated anything more than the administration of his family estates.

[@isaac6077]

@@JeroenDoesman could predict it. But did anyone believe him before it came true

[@olivierrrr]

I cannot believe that you did not mention Bismarck´s student times: He was literally a fratboy (in the Corps Hannovera) who partied so hard that the University had him imprisoned. He also had more than 20 duels and later as a member of parliament challenged other parliamentarians to duel him.

[@sonokawaray]

And the story I was told is that he won nearly all of those duels, with the only time he lost being because the other guy's sword broke, flew up and hit him in the face. Apparently he was rather proud of the resulting scar --- only thing that could defeat him was insane RNG.

[@olivierrrr]

@kawadec You are correct. However, he was injured several times, but this did not always mean the end of the duel. You also have to keep in mind that at that time in Germany, there was no official Winner or Looser in a duel, but both duelists were honored for their bravery (of course, you could clearly see from the result who was the winner in most cases). If you are interested, the german Wikipedia article lists all of his recorded duels and how they ended: de.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_von_Bismarck_als_Student I talked with some historians about this and apparently there are about 5 more unrecorded duels he fought. Even for those times, that was a huge number and he was certainly an excellent duelist.

[@1996Horst]

@@olivierrrr in Bad Kösen, a small German town at the river Saale stands the Rudelsburg. Which is partially owned by the successor organisation of the old Corps. On your way to the top you pass a ww I memorial, a destroyed obelisk (the nazis took it down to get the gold) and a Bismarck monument. And this is probably the most unique monument to bismarck. He is depicted in his early 20ties accompanied by his dog and wielding his Korpschläger (a common weapon for duels at the time and basically a modified sabre)

[@Attaxalotl]

This man is the fucking protagonist of Germany

[@BlueflameKing1]

And the best part, he told kaiser Wilhelm II on a visit to him, that the emperor would lose everything with the government and cabinet he had, 20 years after his death. Bismark died in 1898 in i think april, kaiser Wilhelm abdicated the throne in November 1918 after losing WWI. This man was a God amoung politicians, too bad he couldn't see a world without him to run things.

[@nathanseper8738]

He even predicted the next European war would happen because of some event in the Balkans.

[@herocommand]

@@nathanseper8738 to be fair that balkans thing wasn't hard to predict the ottoman empire was dying and russia and austria were ready to carve it up

[@apossiblyhereticalalphaleg3595]

@@herocommand Yeah any half-decent politician could see the balkans was a powder keg that would lead to some war of renown

[@theDENIMMAN]

“Your Majesty, so long as you have this present officer corps, you can do as you please. But when this is no longer the case, it will be very different for you” He was right...as he so often was

[@Garbeaux.]

Yep. He absolutely predicted it all.

[@mrscoldarrow]

I like how Bismarck’s foreign policy is the equivalent of poking someone with a stick until they get pissed off and then acting like they’re the aggressor and shooting them in the face

[@Oxtocoatl13]

It's the classic middle school strategy: taunt and bully someone until they lose their shit and attack you, and then everyone will blame them for starting the fight.

[@abdirahmanidris290]

@@Oxtocoatl13 except Bismarcks wars were justifed. France and Austria would not allow German unification

[@germaniatv1870]

​@@abdirahmanidris290 France and Britain. As if the French was never aggressor to Germany. In reality, the French are the arch-enemy's of the Germans. The five countries most frequently involved in violent conflict are France, the UK, Russia, the US and India. In Central Europe its France,Britain,Spain and eastern-block Nations. - In both lists the Germans are at the bottom of the list. - Germany in contrary places top rank in Nation which defended itself from invasion and occupation, in both lists, International and European. - This makes the Germans (also includes Germany before 1870) one of the least aggressive states in Europe and also on a International level. It is on paper the least aggressive but also one of the strongest if pushed to far. - It needed English,French Colonialism,USA ad Soviet Communism to crush Germany. I dont remember which Nation had to be crushed with such a Military force the Allied & Communists mobilized against Germany. Truly a once in a mankinds lifetime war against a single nation. - So the most aggressive and warmongering Nations have also crushed Germany. Why the Germans are deemed to be the most warmongering just because they know how to defend themselves is a very interesting question.

[@germaniatv1870]

@ProstyProtos71 Germany did not start world war 1 neither world war 2. The 30 year war 1645 is a war fought by Britain,France,Spain ect on German ground. World War is the 2nd 30 year war (1914-1945). - There was no slavery neither segregation in Germany. Reputation of Militarism? England? France? Spain? Italy? Soviet-Union? USA? ... - So basically, in your worldview, the Germans are the aggressors in the 30 year world war? Explain...

[@abdirahmanidris290]

@ProstyProtos71 True but if France were willing to go to war to stop German unification, then Prussia had the right to engineer a war in order to achieve unification

[@mitchellgeorge6031]

Disappointed you didn’t mention how terrified Bismarck and the Conservatives were of Friedrich III who wanted to democratise Germany and model its government and society after Britain as well as jointly rule with his British wife, Victoria, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria.

[@Garbeaux.]

It’s why he turned Wilhelm II against his parents.

[@tylerbozinovski427]

I think you meant "liberalise".

[@lukaswilhelm9290]

​@@Garbeaux.bite him evantually, by teaching that a monarch must rule not by democratic compromised he will see that little Willy would got him out of government, turn autocratic and didnt care about backing Austria in Balkan shitshow that will turn into great war and destroy imperial germany.

[@wildfire9280]

Germany modeled after Britain… I shudder just at the thought.

[@chasemcnab7610]

It always confounds me that Bismarck was such a staunch monarchist when it was his actions that built Germany and the monarchy had only proved to be unwilling or incapable of balancing German unification and the cutthroat politics of Europe. He succeeded because he was not just lucky, but was a man of real merit and skill for statescraft, and he surrounded himself with capable men, meanwhile the emperors of Germany just proved time and again the only thing exceptional about them was the title they inherited

[@sorcierenoire8651]

Having Moltke exist in his time truly was a miracle. The most successful politician and the greatest general of his time both working together to accomplish the plan that is, Fucking up the french.

[@micronisia8295]

He was an aristocrat thats why he was a monarchist.

[@Cecilia-ky3uw]

@@micronisia8295 Except he was a minor aristocrat with few benefits, he was a loyalist for its own sake

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

@@Cecilia-ky3uw That actually makes more sense. He's at the bottom rung. He is very much what the Nazi Volksgemeinschaft said about the lower rung: those who are its strongest supporters tend to be the ones who barely passed being in a privileged group...

[@ShinSheel]

In a way it’s a good side of monarchy, the person in charge is just a well prepared well educated one with incentives to care about country. It’s very opposite to democratic politicians who get cut-throat selection on fighting for power in expense of everything else. You also can’t imagine democratic politician appointing advisors above their league, since very likely they would grab the power themselves

[@Artur_M.]

The attempts to Germanise the non-Germans mentioned in the video, referred chiefly to the Poles. There is a lovely quote from Bismarck's private letter, summarizing his attitude towards my people: „Hit the Poles so hard that they despair of their life; I have full sympathy with their condition, but if we want to survive, we can only exterminate them; the wolf, too, cannot help having been created by God as he is, but people shoot him for it if they can.“

[@JulianSki]

The German empire tried their best to eradicate us of our culture but we prevailed. Niech żyje polska

[@herocommand]

@@JulianSki except they didn't and you didn't prevail anything as there wasn't anythign to prevail over. You poles realy need to drop the ''eradicate us and our culture'' narative that you add everytime you talk about germany or it's predecessor kingdoms as so far only one itteration of that nation actually tried and that was the Nazis( unless you count the weimar republic shooting polish revolutionaries that weren#t happy with the saxony refferendum). Bismarcks germanisation plans ( wich didn't work not because of valiant efforts of the polish, wich is a rare thing to say cus usually it is the case, but because it was simply to expensive) was using money from the state buying up the land polish people own and kicking you over the border to the congress of poland under russia and while that's still a dick move that's neither trying to eradicate you nor is it destroying your culture .it's quite literally trying to force a minority that didn't want to assimilate to move wich as i allready said isn't good but it also isn't on the level of extermination of a people and culture. Now the nazis however absolutely did try to eradicate you and your culture.

[@JulianSki]

@@herocommand It wasn't just Nazis most German leaders absolutely despised slavs, especially Poles eg. Bismark - "Within Bismarck's Kulturkampf policy, the Poles were purposefully presented as "foes of the empire" (German: Reichsfeinde).[8] Bismarck himself privately believed that the only solution to Polish Question was extermination of Poles" Frederick the great - "The Prussian authorities started the policy of settling German speaking ethnic groups in these areas. Frederick the Great settled around 300,000 colonists in the eastern provinces of Prussia and aimed at a removal of the Polish nobility, which he treated with contempt and described Poles as 'slovenly Polish trash'[1] in newly reconquered West Prussia, similar to the Iroquois.[2] From the beginnings of Prussian rule Poles were subject to a series of measures aimed against them and their culture; Polish was replaced by German as the official language,[3] and most administration was made German as well; the Prussian ruler Frederick the Great despised Poles and hoped to replace them with Germans. Poles were portrayed as 'backward Slavs' by Prussian officials who wanted to spread German language and culture" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanisation_of_Poles_during_the_Partitions Teutonic knights - "Falkenberg also argued, in Liber de doctrina, that "the Emperor has the right to slay even peaceful infidels simply because they are pagans (...). The Poles deserve death for defending infidels, and should be exterminated even more than the infidels; they should be deprived of their sovereignty and reduced to slavery." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_of_Falkenberg What the Nazis did can be seen as a continuation of hundreds of years of German policies

[@herocommand]

@@JulianSki Yeah no dude it isn't continuation of hundreds of years of german policy if it was polish culture wouldn't exist after all when they actually tried they did irreversable damage in just 4 years during ww2. Seriously think about it if germans tried to eradicate polish culture for that long how come it's still around ? The soviets and nazis fucked up your population and culture far harder in a much shorter time and guess what it's because they actually tried doing it. What you're doing is putting examples of personal distain for a people some rulers harboured ( wich was common even to their own lower classes) and the very normal removal of nobility after conquest on the same level with literal genocide and culture eradication . I'm not saying poland didn't have a hard time far from it but the policy of trying to force people to move by buying up their land or kicking out nobel houses you don't like / are still loyal to the former ruler after a conquest( wich is normal and not something people only did to the poles), and just Kings and rulers shittalking poles or slavs or anyone else they consider not equal (wich is something everyone did even the good old polish lithuanian commonwealth) is far from rounding you up, killing you ,burning everything that would suggest your existence and then colonise empty cities. Like i said you guys had a hard time but you need to stop running around attributing the most recent missdeed carried out on your nation to all the predecessor states of the nation that did it becauseit factually just isn't the case. Afterall we don't attribude roman missdeeds to the states that preceeded them.

[@ProjectEkerTest33]

Guess Hitler was taking notes

[@tripplebarrelfinn4380]

"Bismarck had a plan, he always had a plan."

[@giladpellaeon1691]

Yeah but Walpole probably had a hand in it. 😁 Watched some Extra History myself too.

[@javaks]

Whatever happened to that voice-over guy at Extra History?

[@tripplebarrelfinn4380]

@@giladpellaeon1691 Freaking Walpole! 😆

[@AaronOfMpls]

@@javaks He moved on to other things. I'll link his last video/series if I find it later.

[@edisonlima4647]

@@javaks Yeah, his substitute is nice but I reeeally miss how emotional the original guy was capable to be and make us.

[@bigloopsie]

Ladies and gents, this is the moment we‘ve been waiting for!

[@alemdarmustafapasa7877]

İndeed

[@HMSAtomicDreadnought]

Yes

[@Pikkabuu]

Didn't Bismarck lose his job by pulling the good old "Either we do it my way or I quit." argument of which the kaiser, who didn't like Bismarck, gladly accepted the resignation?

[@OHBGEEK4HIRE1998]

Honestly one of the more intriguing things I find about Bismarck is his really paradoxical relationship with merit and monarchy. Because the guy built a political machine that could only be maintained by high-level politicians yet he fully believed in backing a system where whoever is behind the wheel is entirely up to chance. Yet at every time something comes up (particularly his later years) he seems confused as to why all of the “new guys” aren’t up to snuff. It’s just so weird to to me that a guy as smart as Bismarck couldn’t see the obvious incompatibility flaws between the system he built with the government in place when they were staring him dead in the face.

[@herocommand]

@@OHBGEEK4HIRE1998 they werent staring him in the eyes though. While he disliked wilhelms first son on a personal level he found him to be a capable politician (and he would've been judging by his short rule ) and ''Trained'' him as such. he couldn't however guess that the one that was raised and trained for sucession would keel over and die of cancer 2 months into his rule. Plus he flat out told wilhelm the second that he'll ruin everything he worked years to create and he was right. So i'd say it's less that he didn't see the flaws its more that something happened that was out of anyones controll and then everything was allready past the point of no return

[@nathanseper8738]

"One day the great European War will come out of some damned foolish thing in the Balkans.” Otto von Bismarck, 1888. Bismarck was a seriously flawed person, but you have to respect a man who correctly predicted that the next major European war would erupt over the Balkans.

[@birgaripadam7112]

İf you lived at the time it would be quite obvious to you that's what gonna happen in future (of course assuming you have a working brain and little bit knowledge about both history and that days international politics) Balkans was a ticking bomb and nobody want to stop it but infact want that bomb to explode, only thing Otto von Bismarck realized this war was going to effect all of Europe which when you look at the who allied who you would realized it Also need to mention Bismarck pretty much delayed first world war at least 30 or so year in Congress of Berlin (if I am not mistaking)

[@nathanseper8738]

@@birgaripadam7112 Him managing to put off a world war by decades is a testament to Bismarck's skill as a statesman.

[@mariodangelo9768]

I mean the next major war was the Italo Turkish War depending on your definition of major

[@HoangNguyen-rw6wf]

@@nathanseper8738 He base his claim on experience too. Especially with Bulgaria =))

[@nathanseper8738]

@@HoangNguyen-rw6wf The Balkans have always been a tumultuous place.

[@yazanraouf9604]

For the record, it was called the "German Empire" rather than the "Empire of Germany", and the title was "German Emperor" rather than "Emperor of Germany/the Germans", it was specifically named that way so there are no implications that the German speaking lands of the Austrian Empire are included

[@J_Gamer_Mapping]

Also the German Emperor was technically the first among equals, i.e. the representative among the German kings inside the Empire. If there had been an "Emperor of Germany/the Germans" the other Kings might have not joined the Empire willingly. Oh, and also the Bavarian King Ludwig II. was basically bribed to join.

[@kalterverwalter4516]

Not only that but the Title Emperor of Germany would have meant That the Other Kings would Had become subjects of the Emperor, which they die Not want. And yes the Name was German Empire (Deutsches Reich) Not Germany (Deutschland). So IT doesnt really make Sense than call yourself Emperor of Deutschland (Germany) If Deutschland did Not exist.

[@ravanpee1325]

​@@kalterverwalter4516Also there was no German citizenship, but you still were citizen of Bavaria, Prussia etc which all had their own military

[@cgt3704]

Another thing about Bismarck is that he told the king of Romania, Carol i, that he would recognize his nation's indepedence from the ottomans if he changed the article 7 of the Romanian Constitution, which prohibited citizenship to non-romanians, including jews. He wanted this change cause Otto had a jewish business friend

[@Yora21]

I think there's also very considerable German settlements in the region. Not sure if those would have been in the borders of that state at that time.

[@cgt3704]

@@Yora21 they are known as Transylvanian Saxons/Swabians. As the name implies that they were born only in Transylvania (which was part of Austria-Hungary) and they settled in the area around the 13th century CE.

[@1996Horst]

@@cgt3704 I swear to god the saxons literally just got drunk all the time and went off in search for more booze They then failed to find their way back and just settled at the first point where they could find any resource that could get them more booze.

[@cgt3704]

@@1996Horst well they are descedants of german mercenaries hired by the kingdom of hungary in order to guard the carpathian pass from turco-mongic raiders.

[@alexandarvoncarsteinzarovi3723]

Nearly a dozen of the Red Barons wingmen were Jews, all of them were awarded the Iron Cross, second class but only 1 was awarded the 1st class

[@InquisitorXarius]

Ah, Otto Van Bismarck, one of my favorite historical figures of all time. Thank you for making this video about Bismarck, Jack. I hope you have a good day, my man, cheers!

[@nowhereman6019]

Bismarck is one of those historical figures who I have both an incredible amount of hate and respect for. On one hand he was a manipulative warmonger who's realpolitik brought about the needles deaths of millions and the subjugation of the entire continent of Africa. On the other hand, he was a true genius in the realm of politics and managed to create the most powerful nation in Europe within his lifetime through intelligent strategy and negotiate.

[@wulle8509]

I don't think someone has ever put my feelings about him into words so perfectly.

[@fuadlabib703]

I mean the first part is right but you don't gotta put it like that

[@dariobarboni9276]

To be the hero of someone you need to be the villain of someone else

[@horsthorst3448]

While Bismarck definitely was a warmonger, millions of deaths is a bit much. Each of the three wars he started ended relativly quick, so the casuliutes of the 3 wars are quite below a million.

[@epiphysiscerebri9386]

Oh boo hoo poor Africa

[@santiagogarza8121]

6:05 "Legally dubious but extremely clever" could basically describe Bismarck's whole political carier

[@seanwieland9763]

“I’m French! Why do you think I have this OUTRAGEOUS accent, you silly king!”

[@samrevlej9331]

5:04 The "liberaler" and "conservativer" kings are the same. Frederick-William IV (r. 1840-1861) was succeeded by his brother Wilhelm I. They were both conservatives. Bismarck was sidelined by Wilhelm at first because the king just plain didn't like him. He called him back because he needed his help with the budget.

[@brandoflores1997]

Tbh I thought he was just referring to Frederick III when he mentioned the more liberal king and just confused the chronological order events.

[@samrevlej9331]

@@brandoflores1997 Good point.

[@wildfire9280]

Bismarck got sidelined at first but next thing you know he became the Kaiser’s emotionally abusive boyfriend.

[@franzkissel1369]

Thanks for catching this one.

[@Zepherus]

Still laughing at 10:03 - didn't know southern Germany was ruled by wacky inflatable arm-flailing tubemen.

[@JackRackam]

Truly the 19th century was an unusual period in German history

[@Jogo-62]

Funnily enough, I just finished a book which covered this time period extensively. "Dreadnought" by Robert K. Massie details the history of both Great Britain and Germany from the 1850s to 1914. The first quarter of the book or so is devoted to Bismarck's "Eisen und Blud" policy of forming the Kaiserreich during the 1860s and 70s. A truly fascinating read

[@vsprodctions]

I did a massive project on Bismarck back in high school and if I remember correctly the whole reason he did the Berlin Conference and got into the colonial game was because he was basically forced because many politicians and the Kaiser saw colonial power as the only to be seen as a world power

[@Oxtocoatl13]

That's my recollection, too. Bismarck had earlier been right in asserting that colonies were mostly a wast of money with no purpose beyond clout and Germany didn't need them.

[@goranpersson7726]

ye i vividly remember reading that he basically never saw a colony as useful. that he did the whole conference basically as a way to gain more power and prestige for germany and then got pressured into taking a few colonies for germany aswell

[@wildfire9280]

Bismarck compared the British and French empires to Germany and said “Look at what they need to mimic a fraction of our power!”

[@Xalerdane]

A lot of what Bismarck did could be summed up as “Ugh, _fine,_ but if we’re going to be doing this, we’re going to be doing it _my way!”_

[@wetwillyis_1881]

Kaiser: How can I ever repay you? Bismarck: I’m in control now. Kaiser: No, no, no, Bismarck… Bismarck, that was rhetorical.. BISMARCK!

[@HoangNguyen-rw6wf]

Bismarck: THEN I MIGHT WELL AS BE GO BACK AND BE FARMER

[@ironheart5830]

Bismarck prophecy was "One day a Great European war will broke out because of some foolish mistake in Balkan" and that prophecy really come true WW1.

[@gavinsmith9871]

Bismarck has a plan. Bismarck *always* has a plan...

[@paulangelopineda2534]

found the extra history comment!

[@nathanseper8738]

@@paulangelopineda2534 The extra history series is one of the my favorite things on KZbin.

[@zawwin1846]

Legends say it was not actually blood and iron that created Germany, but the sheer will of his mustache.

[@philippschmitt4142]

Bavaria saying "wow youre so cool prussia, please rule us" also had something to do with some... liberal donations that bismarck granted to Louis II, i think

[@HoangNguyen-rw6wf]

well Bavarian was in debt at the time thank to the king just keeping bulding caslte. Even though it was very beautiful castle that is.

[@J_Gamer_Mapping]

Finally, the video about Bismarck! Once again an amazing video that summerizes most of Bismarcks life quite well. Sadly it is kept short, as always, to not make things overly complicated. Bismarck is one of the people that left an impressive mark on history and there is still so much to talk about him and his times.

[@beneckendorff9256]

Wilhelm ii and Bismarck disagreed on many things. But what really brought a gap between the two was when the emperor proposed and idea to end a large strike that was taking place in Westphalia. He proposed better wages and conditions, while Bismarck advocated to send the military out to crush them and use lethal force if necessary. After this, they got into many more disputes about internal affairs and eventually Bismarck lost much of his previously untouchable popularity within the empire. He had lost much support in the Reichstag due to consolidating power to the chancellorship, he refused to allow Wilhelm ii to participate in politics and he even reduced the power in the Military. Soon he even tried to stage a strike of Prussian ministers (which failed). Soon he lost so much support that Wilhelm ii was actually pressured by the rest of the government, military, and the rest of the royal family to force Bismarck to resign. Even though Bismarck, now in retirement, knew the young Emperor since he was a baby, greatly disliked the emperor and found him to be a badly brought up boy, and most likely disliked him because he was the one man he couldn’t manipulate. Despite his hatred towards the new emperor, Wilhelm ii still greatly admired Bismarck for his accomplishments and even saw him as an extended grandfather of some sorts. During his childhood he had dinner with his grandfather and Bismarck discussing politics. He had sat on his knee and was told stories from the Iron Chancellor. And not to mention how when Wilhelm ii was still a prince, he even stated that he wished Bismarck to carry on the rest of his life as his chancellor, guiding Germany to greatness. (But that obviously didn’t happen)

[@Mr33500]

People often overlook how overbearing Bismarck was as well. He even took it upon himself to try to choose Wilhelm 2's mistress for him.

[@beneckendorff9256]

@@Mr33500 Not to mention how much stress he would've put on the emperor when he was a boy. During his childhood,(after his mother finished torturing him) he was taught by his mother and father to be liberal minded and understand more progressive views, yet his tutor, Grandfather, and Bismarck all held conservative views. In turn creating a lot of stress for a prince who was already trying to prepare to be the emperor of the newly formed German Empire. He saw him as his successor and wanted to manipulate the young prince Wilhelm into someone who believed in everything Bismarck did. But obviously, that didn't happen.

[@WowUrFcknHxC]

I'm impressed with how well you were able to tell this story in 12 minutes.

[@josephlau5209]

I love your work, thanks for making history really fun and engaging!

[@martinh8784]

Bismarck also famously said about involvement in the Balkans, "Not worth the healthy bones of a single Pomeranian grenadier."

[@ardagorkemaktas7475]

Well thats ironic to be honest

[@xavierlecaros1623]

If there’s one thing I do hold against him it’s the fact that he failed to really establish an effective political regime that would survive without him. He had to dominate the political system of the Second Empire so much that he stifled the emergence of a genuine, parliamentary and constitutional system. Perhaps he was too authoritarian for his own good; he made parties like the National Liberals, the Catholic Center and the Conservatives too reliant upon him, to say nothing of the Kulturkampf or the Anti Socialist Laws. Nobody could keep the system running after he was fired and nobody could keep the Emperor in bounds. Maybe if he had done a better job of ensuring the whole thing hadn’t fallen apart; Germany might have avoided the trouble it ran into later on.

[@croisaor2308]

Such is always the case with great leaders in authoritarian states. They are so successful in centralising power and eliminating opposition that the institutions are usually hollowed out and the next successor good or bad inherits complete control, which often leads to disaster and the disintegration of any good the previous leader did.

[@wildfire9280]

@@croisaor2308 Ironically, this is where feudalism would actually do good to counterbalance absolutism.

[@wulle8509]

I have been waiting for this.

[@zurumaster6985]

I love how Bismarck said, "20 years after I'm gone, the powder keg that is Europe will erupt into the largest war this world has ever seen." He was off by 2 months, but he called the First World War.

[@OverTheTop85]

Love the Channel. You create videos and I will watch. Thanks for all your hard work and humorous tellings of history.

[@PacificFrontUntold]

This was an underrated series of yours. Glad to see it get some more passion

[@Doorhandlr_]

In all honesty, Bismarck is one of my favorite historical figures. So much that I have named my dog after him and my cat after his wife. He was such an interesting man, from youth to death.

[@Vsirin]

YESSSSSS been waiting for Otto for so long

[@unusualhistorian1336]

Finally, it is here, Great video!

[@MrMighty147]

The greatest history content on this platform.

[@budabnett2382]

I hit the like button as soon as i saw the title, so happy this finally got made.

[@gaebitch3200]

great vid, u put a lot of effort in with the little “animations” and it adds like a whole layer of character ig to the story

[@zacharyharpley3754]

Been waiting for this one!

[@powersettingsm7172]

A long time coming!

[@AnthonyTurcios]

I love the delivery & production of this video, I just became a new subscriber off this video alone, good stuff!

[@crispygamer2756]

Amazing video always! Also great music choice, Civilization 6 is always a good pick

[@davidayos6702]

this is the most epic unification of germany video with a bunch of humor. love these vids.

[@ShivamR34440]

Amazing video,Very entertaining.

[@KarmaTheNarrator23]

What a gift for my birthday!

[@JackRackam]

Happy birthday!

[@KarmaTheNarrator23]

@@JackRackam thanks man

[@thomassime6114]

I'm seeing some huge improvement in your videos, Jack. I don't know what it exactly is, but I feel like the videos are getting better. Keep it up dude

[@JackRackam]

Thanks!

[@nomisbman1826]

Maybe a video about michiel de Ruyter, he is a dutch admiral who did a lot of interesting things. Id love to see him in a video.

[@thelittleagustus.2292]

Bismark's interpretation of that conversation between Wilhelm and a diplomat animated is the best thing ever

[@hughGrant748]

Totally Epic Video

[@jcwwwheeler]

Thank you for citing music, I knew i heard the first song before

[@Bozothcow]

I actually watched your ad, not many KZbinrs who can get me to do that!

[@bryansylvestrew5024]

The wild thing about Wilhelm the first and Bismarck was that Wilhelm originally thought Bismarck was some sort of wild man and thus during 1848 when Bismarck and a group of other politicians tried to replace the king with Wilhelm the first he wanted nothing to do with it.

[@HikmaHistory]

The man, the myth, the legend.

[@Vienic2]

bismarck ALWAYS has a plan!

[@easytech_enjoyer8920]

Finally we get the video on der eiserne Kanzler. And also try to make a video on the man who reunited Germany as we know today Helmut Kohl. Oh and loving der videos keep it up

[@renzoberzabatneyradelacruz9733]

La música de Victoria II le un toque preciso y nostálgico. Gran vídeo!

[@catriamflockentanz]

1:21 What people always ignore: Denmark and England (due to Hannover being ruled by english noblemen who, in most cases, didn't even want to be there in the first place) had a substantial influence in the Holy Roman Empire (Seriously compare Rome to this. Why is it even called that?) too. But just like the Habsburgs and the Hohenzollern, most of their possessions were outside of the Empire too so we have a coalition that nobody with actual power part of it even cared about.

[@bloodstoneore4630]

It's called that because early on it had a shred of promise and they spent the rest of their history pretending they still had any potential

[@catriamflockentanz]

@@bloodstoneore4630 When did we start talking about the Byzantine Empire?

[@Bismark1815]

Damn you was spot on

[@Mycroft93]

World: The German states will never unify! Bismarck: Hold mein pickelhaube.

[@birgaripadam7112]

The guy who delayed great war at least a 30 years in Congress of Berlin and warn the world where it gonna happen and how much it will effect but nobody realized what he done and what he warned

[@edisonlima4647]

I know people like a "small guy proven right", but to be honest, he was a nobleman and most people agreed he was right about the Balkans.

[@HoangNguyen-rw6wf]

@@edisonlima4647 Well the Balkan have been going on at that time especially Bulgaria.

[@KonigHoff]

I guess you could say, Bismarck left his mark

[@QuaestorL]

This guy was so based i'm physically unable to understand why there are people who dislike this guy, Otto was mega based.

[@harmdallmeyer6449]

Nah, His interior politics weren't that great.

[@closetglobe.IRGUN.NW0]

Plus partitioning africa is pretty evil

[@giladpellaeon1691]

I would love to see a life and times of Roger Williams video from Jack Rackham, or one on colonial Rhode Island. There is a good bit of fun material there.

[@MagraveOfGA]

So in undergrad my senior thesis was about German Unification, and this is definitely the most entertaining scholarship about the topic.

[@thinkofsomethinglater4066]

An absolute legend in history

[@WorgenGrrl]

Bismarck *always* had a Plan.

[@d.m.collins1501]

YAY! It's like the old days: a classic sudden end to a wonderful vid. Now how about using more collage images of the Townsends guy as a representative of, like, rich colonial types?

[@adrypopeyesbiscuit9300]

@Jack Rackam I love your vids and just subbed. You make history interesting my friend 😊

[@JackRackam]

Thank you kindly!

[@adrypopeyesbiscuit9300]

@@JackRackam Your very welcome

[@RanadielMarius]

This one felt weird because I was familiar with both the name and the main photo used for him in the video, but I apparently had no idea of who he was beyond his name and hat. Absolutely great video. Ended up thinking of Fullmetal Alchemist part way through though since a character in it borrowed the phrase "blood and iron." XD I know I've suggested it before, but I still think an episode on Nobunaga Oda would be great. I mean how many countries other than Japan can say they were (partially) ruled by a Demon King in their history?

[@CollinMcLean]

Brigadier General Basque Grand the Iron Blood Alchemist

[@aratasman77]

Hi Jack, thanks for all your videos, they are really fun to watch and informative as well. Just a question about the music in this video, at 12:26 what's your outro music? I don't think you listed that one. Thanks in advance

[@royddog7213]

Dude.. you could have done a Teddy R. Video two, bc Bismarck is the German Teddy, Just more war.

[@shador9560]

I love how you give Napoleon an Italian accent

[@Inoka01]

That Victoria 2 OST hits so different, the nostalgia I didn't know I had, damn...

[@achyuthansanal]

Hey, Jack, always great to see you uploading after a while, but I have a (very minor) correction/question: At 5:04; who is the 'liberal-er' King you are talking about here, who sidelined Bismarck before Wilhelm I? Because Friedrich Wilhelm IV was succeeded by Wilhelm I of Prussia with no other in-between. Perhaps you have mistaken Frederick III for him, who was a relative liberal who came *after* Wilhelm I died (as you have mentioned already), and ruled for a short while before he himself died and was replaced by Wilhelm II. Frederick was not a big fan of Bismarck and did sideline him for a while.

[@JackRackam]

I will simply say I am indeed a very large doofus. Upon double checking, I believe I read that Frederick had a stroke, after which Bismarck was appointed as ambassador, which in my mind was done by a new king. Then I read that the king died, then Wilhelm inherited the crown and started having fights with parliament. In reality Wilhelm was regent for a while before becoming king, so he was both the liberal-er "king" who didn't like Bismarck and the conservative-er king who needed Bismarck in order to win his fight with parliament

[@beepbop6542]

Technically, it was the Emperor who disbanded the HRE after suffering a massive defeat to Napoleon.

[@pelegsap]

If I'm not mistaken, the picture at 4:13 is actually of a very small house he had in the University city of Göttingen, itself very small. He was a student there and following the tradition of fraternity boys from that time spent a few nights in the University's prison (yes, this was a thing back then) for public disturbance.

[@christianbustnes9212]

The iron chancellor

[@bigloopsie]

Chancellor?

[@polarart7675]

I always put off learning about bismarck but I always wanted too

[@Buzterer]

Impressive thing how Otto here predicted WW1 more thatn 20 years before and only missed by 4 months

[@morganhall6459]

Hell, Germany is younger than Canada by FOUR YEARS!

[@johnbatsch7938]

nice tie :)

[@dusksentry5836]

Jack you are in no uncertain terms or flowery description: god damn hilarious

[@LouisiananTheocratPrudeJean]

Did you Judicator mentioned your video on Belisarius say they were honored to be mentioned by your video. They posted it on Facebook

[@TheADHDantiquarian]

Oh my Gods Amazing!!!

[@hendrik1769]

After watching your Roosevelt video again, I'm a bit disappointed you didn't mention the assassination attempt on BIsmarck.

[@Lorgar64]

If I remember correctly, the kaiser wanted to be "Emperor of Germany" and Bismarck had to convince him to take the title "German Emperor" because of diplomacy.

[@cmt3]

He’s my favorite historical figure

[@sasansamadzadeh]

Is that Victoria 2 music I hear in the background Jack? Was it an intentional choice since it applies to the Era?

[@nileshkumaraswamy2711]

Love that simplification of the mindlessly convulted schleswig-holstein dispute.

[@akramgimmini8165]

*Wunderbar* I was really hyped this as a German

[@NewGuy2534]

Ok, how many “Bismarck being Bismarck” and “Bismarck always had a plan” are there going to be?