Bis-MARCK Your Calendars: IT'S PRUSSIA TIME!

Uh oh, AP Euro. It looks like instead of being in the pages, we're about to have a book thrown at us.

When you realize that your friendship with Yarn is just as tumultuous as Troy and Gabriella's relationship in HSM2.

So here is the question that will ever haunt me... IS BISMARCK A CONSERVATIVE?
Bismarck was the ultimate "the ends justifies the means" type of leader since he was willing to do whatever it took to reach his ultimate goals, as expressed in the following quote:

"The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood."

Visual representation of how I answered this question in class.

Now, after today's class, I understand how there was a slight misinterpretation regarding Bismarck's political policies, however, I further researched Bismarck's political tendencies and my conclusion remains the same: he leaned toward conservatism, even though many policies he enacted, such as universal male suffrage, were based on liberalism in order to strengthen his grip on Germany (click here for more information on this topic). It seems that unlike Metternich, Bismarck was open to figuring out different avenues to take in order to reach his end goal.

When Mr. Yarnall proved I was wrong in thinking Bismarck was a conservative...

Bismarck was kind of a political ladies' man, he said what he needed to to get the parties and people in bed with him (so to speak). While Bismarck didn't allow for any one country to become larger than Prussia, he did allow for some concessions. Bismarck allowed the Germans to label themselves as such in order to get their subordination (you keep your name and national identity, so you won't feel as oppressed by Prussia). 

"Germany is the little brother to big brother Prussia." - Mr. Yarnall

Except in this scenario, Charlie (aka Germany) is getting bitten by his big bro Prussia.

What is the first step to German unification? ECONOMICS. Friedrich List, the father of the European unity theory, supported the Zollverein, which "stimulated trade and increased the revenues of member states." It was the first step of the European union and allowed for free-trade. Of course, economic nationalism was good for the Germanic lands.

How did Bismarck unite Germany? WAR.

According to Bismarck, Edwin Starr's song is a lie, because for him war was super helpful in spreading his political ideas and insuring nationalism in his state.

• Austro-Prussian War Against Denmark (1864-1866): The Danish king favored the Shleswig-Holstein lands in order to make a more centralized Danish state. (This is a major reason why the Frankfurt Assembly gets al messed up.) Germans lived in the provinces in Denmark, but they did not want to become Danish - according to Bismarck. In a Hitler-esque move, Bismarck "liberates" the Schleswig-Holstein lands from the Danish people, but in actuality he is just insuring that his people remain loyal to the father country, Prussia. Austria and Prussia tag-team the Danes, until Austria becomes useless to Bismarck...
• Austro-Prussian War of 1866: Bismarck no longer needs to keep ties with Austria. He is pragmatic and a major reason why he doesn't like the Austrians is because they are Catholic. It is important to remember than during these wars, Bismarck is saying that he is "fighting for the German-states." This is a fallacy; he is fighting for Prussia. The number of wars Bismarck engages in relates back to the famous "blood and iron" quote. Germany was united through bloodshed on the battle fields and the industrialization of Prussia/Germany.

Bismarck to Catholic Austria

Speaking of the Industrial Revolution, Prussia was thoroughly united by the construction of the massive railroad system. This aided Prussian victory over Austria.

As the M.V.P. of manipulation, Bismarck was scary good at backstabbing. He was a leader that had no regard for the people around him. Bismarck could have cared less about Parliament and he did the absolute minimal to appease Parliamentary orders. His relationship with Parliament was uneven, to say the least.

Parliament to Bismarck...ouch

Bismarck instituted universal male suffrage in order to get the people on his side. He thought that the people would naturally side with him, so that he could undermine the power of the upper house of Parliament. Although Bismarck does not support Parliament, he does do what it takes to get the things he wants done, done. Bismarck is kind of like Mr. Yarnall actually. He won't reign things in in order to protect Parliament (and his students from all-nighters hehe - you all laughed).

This will be me trying to get into my car tomorrow morning...

Bismarck is like: "The kaiser put me in charge, not you, I'll do what I want, when I want." I mean go him honestly. I wish I had that much confidence in myself.

He had more confidence than Honey-Boo-Boo.

Caroline's Words-of-the-Day:

Bundestag (noun) - the Lower House of Parliament

Bundesrat (noun) - the Upper House of Parliament

Just don't get too comfortable kids, because you never know when Mr. Yarnall's shoe is going to drop. You know you love me. XOXO, Gossip Girl

Struts fearlessly off the blog...