Who Is A Founding Father?

What is the definition of a founding father? A founding father is someone who lays the foundation of something or somewhere. When speaking of founding fathers of modern Germany, who comes to mind? Some people would answer with Charlemagne or even Adolf Hitler. Well, the person who should really come to mind as the true fore father of modern-day Germany is a man known by Otto von Bismarck. Bismarck almost single-handedly unified Germany and brought it to one of its most prosperous points in history.
Some may say Bismarck was a diamond in the rough. After all, he came from a very unusual background but that did not stop him from achieving greatness even in his younger years. Otto von Bismarck was born the first of april in 1815 in the german
nation of Prussia (McNamara). His father was a part time military officer in the Prussian army and his mother was a fairly intelligent woman of upper middle class background. He was then sent to a notable school in Berlin to better his education.
He then graduated and entered the University of Gottingen at 17 to study law and history. He then transferred to Berlin to complete his studies to become a doctor of law (“Otto Von Bismarck & German Unification”). He was a rebellious child who became a vocal atheist and had no real direction to his life (McNamara).He then became smitten by Johanna von Puttkamer who brought stability and religion back into his life (“Otto Von Bismark”). Bismarck began his career in Prussian legislature as a substitute member of Prussian parliament. He then served in different places such as Paris and St. Petersburg. He quickly became known as a fierce ultra-conservative royalist due to his sharp judgment on foreign leaders and his belief in divine right. As if his
career couldn’t be anymore successful, his quest for greatness took another leap forward. The Prussian king, Wilhelm, wanted to create larger armies to effectively enforce Prussia’s foreign policy. However, parliament was resistant to allocate the proper funds so he nation’s war minister convinced Wilhelm to entrust the government to Bismarck (McNamara). Although he had a rather usual path to power, Bismarck led Prussia, which would eventually become Germany, to become one of the world’s strongest nations. Bismarck is known as the forefather of modern Germany for many reasons.
One reason is all of the things he did to unite Germany and turn it into a world power. In 1862, Bismarck was appointed minister-president of Prussia. When awarded the title, he made his famous speech that said, “The great questions of the day will not be settled by speeches and majority decisions but by blood and iron.” Bismarck then knew that he wanted Prussian influence to be the leading power in northern and western Germany (“Otto von Bismark”). Bismarck begin his quest for german unification first by engineering a dispute over subsequent administration of Schleswig and Holstein and instigating a war against Denmark. Then, Bismarck provoked a war with Austria thus leading Austrian influence out of the German states which allowed Prussia in the end to gain control of Schleswig, Holstein, Hanover, and Nassau (“Otto Von Bismarck & German Unification”). After the Seven Weeks War, Bismarck provoked yet another war but this time with France. The “Elms Telegram” was a telegram from Wilhelm that was sent to Bismarck speaking about the vacant throne of Spain which was offered to a German prince. France was angered by this, and Bismarck edited the telegram to make it sound as though Prussia was ready for war. France saw this a threat and immediately declared war. Being that France declared war, German states saw France as the aggressor and sided with Prussia thus beginning the Franco-Prussian war. The war
went disastrous for France allowing Prussia to annex Alsace and Lorraine. Bismarck’s intentions were to make the southern German states form a unified Germany. The German states joined Prussia thus forming the Reich. Bismarck was crowned German chancellor and also granted the title of royal prince (McNamara). When Germany was unified, Bismarck adopted the first old-age social insurance program. Bismarck was motivated by the well-being of his workers. He wanted Germany to operate as maximum potential as well. Bismarck had always been an opponent of socialism, so he developed this system to discourage more radical-socialist alternatives. His plan provided retirement benefits, disability benefits, and set the first ever age for retirement at 70, which was later, in 1916, changed to 65 years of age. America even modeled its social security system after Germany’s (“Otto Von Bismark”)! What other German leader could say they developed a social security system still being used? Bismarck then made it his goal to form several alliances to keep Germany from war, and to make other countries rivals of each other (Otto Von Bismark”). Bismarck essentially ruled a unified Germany. It was not until Wilhelm died that Bismarck saw any type of fall from power. The young son of the deceased king, Wilhelm II, sought to have Bismarck brought down from power. Wilhelm II managed to maneuver Bismarck into a situation to where he publicly stated Bismarck was retiring for health reasons. Bismarck made no secret of his bitterness. He died in his estate in 1898. Throughout his career, Bismarck always had the benefit of Germany in his mind. He did not conquer for power; he just wanted to unify the culture of the people. He turned several struggling states into a mighty, industrialized empire. No other leader had ruled that efficiently for that long. He created an empire that should’ve lasted for ages if it were not for incompetent rulers with power and greed on their mind. Rulers such as Hitler led Germany to ruin. Charlemagne created a loose fitting confederation of several states that was not built to last. Bismarck created a lasting foundation for modern Germany for the whole world to see, therefore, giving him the name he so deeply deserves: the founding father of modern Germany.