Blood and Iron Origin of German Empire As Revealed by Character of Its Founder, Bismarck

¶ It is freely granted that ideas of "Liberty!" that many German patriots desired to see come to pass, in 1848, were not those of 1789; but elements of lawlessness, of mob-rule,...

He was irritable, melancholy and jaundiced; sat up all night half-buried in his mounds of state papers; dictating telegrams, quarreling with callers, denouncing, adjusting, sche...

¶ To a friend who called he told the news in a calm voice, a smile on his lips, congratulating himself on being able to resume his country life, of which he was so fond, of visi...

¶ First, let us quote from Bismarck, who looking backward after his amazing politico-military triumph at Koeniggraetz, (1866), tells a French interviewer for "Le Siecle" this ro...

¶ From the 18th Century, and indeed before that time, to say nothing of years to come as late as 1871, there was in fact no Germany. The term was a mere geographical "designatio...

¶ The French Revolution brought to Paris adventurers and patriots from every part of Europe. Among these was a young Corsican who, with his mother and sisters, had been driven o...

¶ Von Roon had the soldiers up at 4 o'clock in the morning, incessantly drilling for the oncoming War of the Brothers. The deadly needle-guns--von Roon's secret--were relied on...

¶ Volumes have been written to explain the origin of the Franco-Prussian war, and the intricate and inter-related facts are gone over again and again, now with emphasis here, ag...

¶ It is, it must be, a large story--big with destiny! The details often bore with their monotony; they do not at all times march on; they drag, but they do indeed never halt per...

¶ The use of Kaiser, as the title for the new monarch, had behind it a deep, almost religious purpose, in conformity with the sense of nationality and brotherhood to which throu...

¶ Along about 1857, our poor William IV lost his mind; for four years he continued a nervous wreck; his brother, William I, was the sick man's representative as Prussian king; a...

¶ The entrance of Emperor Francis Joseph, at this time, on the politico-military stage of Austria was followed by still another era of political reaction; the Liberal Austrian c...

¶ From this time on, the shelves are freighted with volume after volume of German political jargon, forming a bewildering diagonal of forces crossing and recrossing in thousands...

¶ It was from his mother that Prince Bismarck, the future ruler of Germany, received his endowment of dauntless audacity, his gift of trenchant argument, his bursts of ironical...

¶ We cannot hope to trace Bismarck to any complete legal basis--any more than we can defend the complete legitimacy of France, Belgium, or the United States, countries avowedly...

¶ Why is it that, in the American Republic, there is aversion to acknowledging the services of men sprung from aristocracy, like Bismarck? Are the facts unrecognized, or is the...

In his prime, Bismarck was of massive proportions in mind and body; but of his moral nature both friends and enemies had often been in doubt for many years. Now, even that was r...

¶ Otto Edward Leopold von Bismarck, the great central figure in our story, was the fourth of six children, three dying in infancy. He was born April 1, 1815, but a few months be...

16. The Lash and the Kiss 17. The Prussian Downfall 18. Prussia Becomes Germany 19. Kingcraft Comes Upon Evil Days 20. The Star of Hope 21. The King Keeps Reading His Bible 22....

63. Bismarck's Secret Discontent 64. "Who Made United Germany?" 65. The Irony of Fate 66. Last Illusion Dispelled 67. Binding Up the Old Man's Wounds 68. Awaiting the Call 69. R...