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Bismarck- Opportunist or Architect?

Bismarck- Opportunist or Architect?. Historiography. The Debate.

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Bismarck- Opportunist or Architect?

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  1. Bismarck- Opportunist or Architect? Historiography

  2. The Debate Later in life, after Germany had been unified, Bismarck encouraged the belief that his actions to achieve unification had been part of a carefully-orchestrated plan. However, in terms of historiography, it is possible to find evidence to support both of the key approaches * That he had very broad goals and seized opportunities to further these goals as and when they arose, through his own efforts and/or through, for example, the mistakes of others. * That he did have clearly-defined goals and an approximate programme for unification

  3. Bismarck the Opportunist • “ A statesman is like a man wandering in the forest who knows his general direction but not the exact point at which he will emerge from the wood.”Bismarck • Bismarck’s task of unifying Germany was made easier by circumstances. If he played his hand with great skill, it was a good one in the first place.”G.L. Mosse

  4. Opportunist contd. • “His policies can at best be regarded as flexible” Aronson • “Bismarck did not fashion German unity alone. He exploited powerful forces which already existed – economic, liberalism and nationalism.” Williamson • “His diplomacy was much more subtle, flexible and many-sided than his utterances sometimes suggest.” William Carr • “He did not control events, but was influenced by them.” McKichan

  5. Bismarck as Architect. • “Prussia must gather and consolidate her strength for the favourable moment.” Bismarck • “It was he [Bismarck] who created the conditions which rendered possible the creation of Great Germany.” Hitler • “Only under the stimulation provided by Bismarck….did German nationalism begin to move the masses.” Pflanze

  6. Architect contd. • “The smith who forged the Reich.” Hitler • “There is absolutely no doubt that he [Bismarck] set his sights on Austria…..and worked to isolate her from the other European powers.” Cameron, Robertson and Henderson. • “I did not doubt that a Franco-German war must take place before the construction of a united Germany could be realised.” Bismarck

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