Otto von Bismarck

Otto von Bismarck was a Prussian statesman who led the unification of Germany and served as the German Empire’s first chancellor from 1871 to 1890.

German unification: The nineteenth-century process that brought most German states together in a nation-state in 1871. Bismarck directed the wars and diplomacy that made unification possible.
German Empire: The federal German nation-state established in 1871 and ruled by the Hohenzollern dynasty until 1918. Bismarck helped found the empire and governed it as its first chancellor.
William I, German Emperor: King of Prussia from 1861 and German Emperor from 1871 until his death in 1888. His partnership with Bismarck enabled Prussian-led unification and imperial rule.
German Progress Party: A liberal political party founded in Prussia in 1861 that opposed government efforts to expand the army without parliamentary approval. Its conflict with Bismarck over army funding triggered the Prussian constitutional crisis.
Prussia: A German kingdom and European great power that led the creation of the German Empire in 1871. Bismarck’s political career and unification project were rooted in Prussian state power.
Austro-Prussian War: The 1866 conflict in which Prussia defeated Austria and reshaped political power among German states. Bismarck’s victory excluded Austria from the emerging German nation-state.
German federalism: A system dividing authority between Germany’s national government and its constituent states. The empire Bismarck created preserved powerful states, especially Prussia.
Frederick III, German Emperor: German Emperor and King of Prussia who ruled for about three months in 1888. His brief reign interrupted Bismarck’s close relationship with the Prussian monarchy.
Social Democratic Party of Germany: A German political party rooted in the nineteenth-century socialist movement and founded in its modern form in 1875. Bismarck tried to suppress its organizations while courting workers through social insurance.
Prussian constitutional crisis: A dispute from 1862 to 1866 over the Prussian army budget and the limits of parliamentary authority. Bismarck became minister-president amid the crisis and governed without an approved budget.

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