Blood and Iron

"Not by speeches and decisions of majorities will the greatest problems of the time be decided - that was the mistake of 1848-49 - but by blood and iron."

-Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, 20 August 1865

This quote came from the mouth of Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck , a German prime minister that was nicknamed "The Iron Chancellor". Bismarck was born in Schönhausen, Prussia, April 1st 1815. He lived in the same area most of his life and could speak and write in four different launguaes. Bismarck was never really an intellectual man, he barely got into university, but after getting in, he devoted his life to politics and was eventually elected as the German prime minister. Bismarck served from 1862–1890. Thoughout his years as prime minister, he developed a reputation that showed him as a warlord, solving most of his problems with war and blood instead of democracy and compromise. Two examples of his iron fist rule would be the – defeat of Denmark in 20 August 1865, and- the defeat of Austria-Hungary – 1866 1867 . Probably the best example of his Iron fist rule was on September 30, 1862, Bismarck made a speech to the Budget Committee of the Prussian Chamber of Deputies, which included Bismarck's emphasis on using "iron and blood". The whole point of his speech was to emphasize military over religion.

The entire point of this speech was to pump up the German people, and encourage them to starting, or participating in war. It was trying to say that Germany should be a nation that never backs down from a challenge, a nation that solves its problems though blood and iron, not tea and crumpets, a nation that takes authority, and leaves weaker nations in the dust. Bismarck is trying to show his utter contempt for democracy. With this speech, he was also trying to unite the states of Germany thorugh war against other countries. He would bring everyone together, and conquer a nation. If a German state did not agree with his leading styles, he would conquer them with blood and iron, then much like Alexanger the Great, he would grant them generous peace terms, so that they would join his nation, and truly unify Germany. In the end, I believe this speech truly did unify Germany, not right away, but in time, it brought them together with a similar view on the world. That view was one of blood and iron.

The people of Germany were almost hesitant to side with Bismarck on this issue. There was no real change with German nationalim in the first seven or eight years after his speech, but in 1870, Prussia, which is currennt day Germany, began its seige on France. The battle raged for around a year, and in the end, Prussia was granted the French territory of Alsace-Lorraine. This territory allowed Prussia to take up alot more space on the map, and truly be recognized as a major threat. Prussia was now known as Germany. Alsace-Lorraine was one of the main reasons why the French were so against the Germans, and they spent many years trying to get it back. Because France was so against Germany, Bismarck devoted much of his life to making sure that other countries loathed France as much as he did. In the end, this was one of the major issues that fed the fire that was WW1, and it was all brought on by blood and iron.

I truly believe that this quote was the reason why WW1 took place. Other reasons ouviously helped the war escalate into a world war. This quote was the fuel for the flame that was the Germany empire. In my eyes, the Germans were the ones to start the war. They waited until somone declared war on Austria, their bait. Then they pounced, immediatly declaring war on any and every country they could. It was the attitude that Bismarck inspired with his quote that pushed the Germans forward into battle. This quote would also hold great significance in the near future when Germany would again, start the second world war. Running in there with the same attitude, trying to achieve whatever they could for their nation. This was the attitude that expanded their empire until it spanned across almost all or Europe. It just goes to show, if you fight with blood and iron, anything is possible.

In conclusion, if we look at the speech from Bismarck, and we take into account Germanys actions for the next 100 years, we can really see that his words did have meaning, they sparked the Germans into a new era of living. His choice words of "blood and iron" also tie in alot with the industrial revolution. The blood, because the new weapons are being developed, and the iron, due to all of the new technologies that we're being fueled by iron, in the sense that they were being created by iron. The Blood and Iron speech made the German people bond together and work only on what was best for them, while disregarding other countires. If it wasn't for this speech, WW1 would have never happened and I would no be doing this project right now. Bottem line, after the speech, Germany truly solve their problems with blood and iron.