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About The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 12, 1898)
Story of the Life Work of the Late Prince Bismarck Ranks First Among the Statesmen of Modern Times. Prince Bismarck Is dead , and all Germany Is In mourning. Germans in every land are sorrowful because ho that was the founder of the great em pire is no more , and people of every civilized race lament the death of the master hand that changed the map of Europe from what it wae in 18C3 to what it is in 1898. Even in France Bismarck is not hated. He was a worthy foe , and the French love a hero. Bismarck's life would read like a ro mance were he not a Prussian. His inarch to fame was steady , and never for a moment retrogaded. LIFE OF PRINCE BISMARCK. Sketch of the Career of the "Iron Chancellor" of Germany. Karl Otto Eduard Leopold von Bis marck Cchoenhausen , diplomatist and statesman , prince of the German em pire and field marshal-general , came of a Brandenburg family which traces its records back to the fourteenth century. The family came originally from Sten- dal , a district about sixty miles from Berlin. Bismarck himself was born April 1 , 1S15 , at Schoenhausen , which for a long time was his favorite seat , and the name of which he added to nis own to distinguish himself from the many other branches of his family. The family quitted Burgstall , near the town of Stendal , toward the begin ning cf the seventeenth century in consequence of troubles v/ith the elec tor John George , and took up its resi dence in Schoenhausen. There have been fifteen Bismarcks in direct line from the prince who has just died back to the first whose name has been pre served , who lived nearly 600 years ago. It is a stock of powerful virility , shot through and through in all its branches with energy. Cool diplomacy , eccen tricity that is full of method , intoler ance of opposition , with a touch of the true Mephislopheliau humor those have been characteristics of the Bis marcks as far back as their genius has been matter for study and record. Prlnco Ulsrnarck's Youth. Prince Bismarck in youth showed no trace , according to the best of his German biographers , of 'the qualities that later won him the title of "the man of blood and iron. " In his sixth 3'ear he was sent from the family resi dence on the Kniephcf estate in Pc- merania to an educational institute in PRINCE BISMARCK. Berlin , where , it is said , "the extreme severity of the treatment wounded tne boy's soft nature. He had found his "brother Bernhard there , but still he suffered greatly from homesickness , and could not watch the plowman plowing the fields without giving way to tears. The two boys passed from one Berlin school to another , according to their progress and ages , and later the direction of their studies was confided 'to private tutors. " During this time Otto was a pupil of the great theolo gian , Schleiermacher , who also con firmed him in the Lutheran commun ion. The tutor who at this time had liim in charge says he was a lad of singularly quick apprehension and of excellent memory. From the private instructor he passed to the university of Goettingen in 1832. It was intend ed that he should study jurisprudence , Tmt he disappointed his parents and justified the observation of his early tutor in showing no especial liking or ven aptitude for any study but that nf history. The history of his own coun try was a passion with him. As ? o : the rest of student life , young Bismarck was ready for It all. His "soft nature" .had now become so thoroughly subju gated that it Is recorded that In three semesters at the university he fought no less than twenty-seven duels , in every one of wich ho was victorious. la Prussian I ancltifj , In the early part of the year of his marriage Bismarck was elected a mem ber of the newly constituted Prussian landtag. It was a time of popular ferment. Radicalism was on the in crease. The common people were showing a disposition to question the righteousness of every time-honored prerogative , and not a ruler but felt his throne a-tremble with the premon itions of the storm that was to break in the coming year. Bismarck was now 32 years old. The day of his birth had dawned but a few years after his country had begun its feeble and seem ingly hopeless struggle against dis memberment at the hands of Napoleon I. In ISO ? Bismarck's discouraged countrymen had seen 150,000 French troops encamped upon soil that nour ished but 4,000,000 Prussians , who had to pay Napoleon a war indemnity that amounted to $75 for every man , wo man and child. Baron von Stein , For eign Minister von Hardenberg anil War Minister Scharnhorst were labor ing to kindle Prussian patriotism and solidify the remnant of the state. Three months before the banishment to St. Helena of the author of this ruin was born Bismarck , who should re trieve the wreck. Opposes Constitutional Reform. The young member of the house of burgesses was unmoved by the mutterings - terings of democracy. He scorned the movement of the people , believing sculfully in the ability of the aristoc racy to maintain wliat he believed to be its divine prerogative that of gov erning. The broken pledges of King Frederick William III. to give his people ple a written constitution had receiv ed new sanction from Frederick Wil liam IV. , who was no more willing than his predecessor had been to ful fill his promises. In the speech from the throne he declared to the united diet that he would suffer nothing to change the natural relation between sovereign and people ; no conventional , constitutional regime should intervene ; never would he consent that a written document should intrude between the Lord God in heaven and his country in place of the ancient faith. Such royal tenacity promised ill for consti tutional reforms. Bismarck wanted no constitutional reforms. He bluntly told the united diet it had no excuse for convening. Those who had sus pected the young man of "liberalism" saw their mistake. When an assault on the Ho'henzollerns woke him up it awoke the most ardent of royalists- one who saw no place in the human order for democracy ; one who saw even in constitutionalism only a tem porizing expedient for use in critical situations. Bismarck saw in the con test a struggle between the principles of order and the principles of dis order a contest which was not to be decided by debates and majorities. "Sooner or later the God of battles must cast the die. " Leader of the Conservatives. In the second session of the Prus sian landtag (1850-1) Bismarck was recognized as the leader of the con servatives. At its close he was ap pointed Prussian minister plenipoten tiary in the Frankfurt diet. Here he showed himself the firm opponent of Austrian pretensions. But a brief ex perience at Frankfurt convinced him that little was to be hoped for under the existing constitution. Already he had come to believe that the malady of the country could be healed only "by fire and sword. " The tedium of his pest at Frankfurt was interrupted by diplomatic missions to Vienna and Pesth (1862) , to some of the South German courts , and (1855) ( to the Ein- peror Napoleon at Paris. In January , 1859 , he was appointed ambassador at St. Petersburg. Hera he remained three years , and ingrati ated himself with many leading per sonages in Russian society. In May , 1852 , he went to Paris as ambassador , from which post he was recalled in September to become Prussian minis ter-president and chief adviser to the king. Both as regards domestic and foreign affairs his position at first was one of extreme difficulty. At home he found himself engaged in constant con flict with the liberal majority of the landtag en developing the constitu tional system and assuming control over the military budget , which Bis marck was determined to retain in the hands of the crown. Abroad he found himself menaced by Austria , which was striving to obtain the hegemony of Germany , and by Emperor Napoleon , whose eyes were fixed on Belgium and the Rhine provinces. The skillful diplomacy by which he averted the lat ter dangers was unknown to the pub lic , and his open defiance of the par liamentary majority made him ex tremely unpopular in Prussia. Schleswlg-IIol teln Question. The tide began to turn when he brought the Schleswig-Holstein ques tion (1S63-4) to a successful conclusion. By extraordinary firmness and adroit diplomacy he succeeded in excluding the interference cf neutral powers and in securing the duchies for Germany. After the Danes had been driven from these states he asserted that they must be annexed to Prussia , and refused to allow the creation of a new semi-inde- FRIEDRICHSRUH. BISMARCK'S LATE HOME. pendent principality on the northern frontier cf the kingdom. The dispute with Austria over this question became so violent that it was plain it must eventually end in war. Bismarck's greatest anxiety during this period waste to secure the neutrality of France without buying it by the cession of German territory. In this he was completely successful , chiefly owing to Napoleon's mistaken belief that the war would end In the defeat and hu miliation of Prussia. Attempt on IIU Life. On May 7 , IsSS , an attempt was made on Bismarck's life by a youth named Lionel Cohen , who hoped to avert the coming struggle in Germany by the assassination of the unpopular minis ter. Bismarck escaped with a trifling wound. On June It the federal coun cil , by a majority of nine votes to six , declared war against Prussia. Among the states which supported Austria were Hanover , Saxony and Hesse. Within the next few days the three states were overrun and disarmed by Prussia. Before the end of June tha Prussian armies had crossed into Bo hemia ; July 3 the Austrians were .le- feated in one of the decisive battles of the world that of Sadowa or Konig- gralz. Bismarck was by King Wil liam's side throughout the combat. At its close the resistance of Austria was over ; but all Bismarck's diplomatic skill was required to prevent the fruits of victory being snatched from his grasp by Emperor Napoleon. Treaty of Peace. After prolonged conferences at Ni- kolsburg , the definite treaty of peace was concluded at Prague , August , 18GS. By this treaty the German bund was dissolved , a North German confedera tion under the presidency of Prussia was erected , and Hanover , Schleswig- Holstein , Hesse and a large part of Saxony was annexted to Prussia. The supremacy of Austria in Germany was at an end , and that of Prussia estab lished. The war of 186G left Bismarck the most popular man next to the king in Prussia. But he still had his diffi culties with the parliament , for die liberals and the radicals continueu their efforts to establish a constitu tional regime on the English model , and Bismarck was equally determined not to weaken the position of the crown or to resign its control over the mili tary organization. He well knew that a greater conflict than that of 18C6 lay before the country. * p * Mf M 5 * ' - * * ' lf. " * " % Sfe < ' f * THE MEETING OF BISMARCK AND NAPOLEON AFTER SEDAN. , Chancellor of the North German Con > federation. In 1S67 he became chancellor of the North German confederation. For three years he was engaged in prepar ing for the struggle with France , which as he foresaw , was Inevitable. Deeply mortified by the results of the Sadowa campaign and the Nikolsburg confer ence , and knowing that his position in France was becoming daily more un certain , Napoleon was only awaiting an opportunity to attack Prussia , rely ing on the assistance of Austria , or at least of the south German states. After ineffectual attempts to make an excuse for war out or the Luxemburg question , and even of that of the St. Gothard railway , Louis Napoleon found one in the candidature of Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern for the throne of Spain. In Berlin there was little reluctance toward a war , for which Prussia was infinitely better prepared than Franco , but Bismarck's astute diplomacy put Napoleon III completely in the wrong , and compelled him to force on hostil ities by a series cf insults to the Prus sian nation and its popular sovereign. Bismarck's Shrewd Stroke , The wanton and apparently unpro voked aggression of the French emper or roused the spirit of the whole Ger man people , and Bavaria and Wurtem- berg entered into the war with alac rity. A master stroke of Bismarck's policy diverted the sympathy of the neutral powers , and especially that of England , from the French. On July 25 he published in the Times a draft treaty drawn up by the French am bassador , Benedetti , according to which Prussia and France were to arrange for the annexation of Belgium by the latter power. Bismarck had received the draft in Benedetti's handwriting as far back as 18C7 , but had adroitly contrived to avoid committing himself to a decisive reply. The effect on Eu ropean and English public opinion was instantaneous. On July 19 Bismarck announced in the reichstag that France had declared war. On July 31 Bis marck left Berlin with the king and the headquarters staff of the German army. He was present in the earlier battles of the eventful campaign that followed. On the night of Sept. 2 he arranged with the Emperor Napoleon the preliminaries which led to the ca pitulation of Sedan. In October he moved with tUe king to Versailles and took up his quarters in a house in the Rue de Provence , whenct he directed the foreign policy of the federation and received and repulsed the attacks cf the French provisional government to make peace on easy terms , and the efforts of the neutral states at media tion. Work for the German Empire. At the same time that he was dic tating terms of peace which compelled France to restore to Germany the prov inces of Alsace and Lorraine , which Louis XIV. had taken , and to pay a war indemnity of nearly § 1,000,000,000 or three times the amount exacted from Prussia by Napoleon I. Bis marck was not losing sight of his am bitions for the house of Hohenzollern. He now concerned himself with the transformation of the North German bund into the German empire. The free town of Frankfort had received a Prussian garrison , in spite of Indig nant protests , immediately after the war with Austria ; Hanover was incor porated with the Germanic confedera tion , and at the close of 1866 Bismarck had concluded with Eavaria , Baden and Wurtemberg treaties of peace and al liances offensive and defensive , with a proviso that in the event of war Prus sia should have the chief military com mand. The North German confedera tion , organized in 18C7 , which compris ed twenty-two states , represented a population of 22,000,000. The king of Prussia was at the head of this power ful combination , and a federal council , composed of delegates of the different states , was established , together with a dieto or common parliament , the members of which were elected by uni versal suffrage. The great work of making all the states of this confed eration acknowledge the sovereignty 3f Prussia and the overlordship of the Hohenzollerns Bismarck's life work lie accomplished Jan. IS , 1871. At [ icon on that day the assembled Ger man princes , with the king of Ba varia at their head , acclaimed Kins William as "De-iitscher Kaiser , " and the chancellor read the solemn proc- : amaticn which the emperor addressed to the united peoples of Germany. Ten days later , after several conferences between Bismarck and the French for eign minister , Jules Favre , a truce was concluded , and the Parisian forts were [ landed over to the Prussians. On Feb. 21 the negotiations were resumed by M. Thiers on the part of France , and an the 26th the French statesman was forced to agree to the hard conditions laid down by the conquerors. These included the cession of Alsace and 3erman-Lorraine and the payment of i war indemnity of 5,000,000,000 francs. Dn the first day of the following month 25smarck accompanied the German de- : achment which marched into Paris. Dn the 21st he was created a fuerst of : he empire. This is an untranslatable : itle , rendered into English "prince , " ilthough the German word for prince" is "prinz. " His creation as icunt dates from 1S65. Chancellor of the Kmplrc. Prince Bismarck had already been icminated , Jan. 19 , 1871 , chancellor of .he reconstituted empire. May 10 he ligned the definite treaty with France it Frankfort. On June 1C , arrayed in he uniform of his regiment , the Mag- lebm-g cuirassiers , he rode in the ; rand procession which celebrated the eturn of the victorious troops to Berj j in. On cither side of him rode Count on Moltke and the war minister. Von loon , and close bohina them came the Smperor William. After the Franco-Prussian war , and ip to the time of his disagreement with Emperor William II. and retirement - ment , Prince Bismarck held a position almost unique among the European statesmen. He was the controlling force in international politics and the arbiter of peace and war. His chief aim was to avoid conflicts between which more than the great powers once threatened , and to preserve the peace of Europe. With this object ho exerted himself to prevent war be tween England and Russia , -which seemed likely to arise out of the events in the Balkan peninsula in 1877. It was chiefly through his efforts that the great congress of Berlin ( June , 1878) , for the settlement of the eastern ques tion was held and brought to a satis factory conclusion by the treaty which settled , for the time at least , the rela tions of the states of southeasern Eu rope to Turkey and each other. As chancellor of the empire Bis marck made it his task to consolidate it with authoritative and stable institu tions within , while forming alliances and political combinations which would secure it from attack from with out. Fearing the influence of the church of Rome as rivaling the power of the state with its doctrine of papal in fallibility , he was led many ob servers deem unfortunately into the long and bitter struggle with the Vat ican known as the Kulturkampf. Un der his lead laws of great severity , known as the Falk laws or May laws , were passed by parliament , beginning in 1873 , by which many hundred Jesu its were banished and several Roman Catholic bishops were imprisoned for refusal of obedience , and many schools and churches were closed. Ouarrel with TVllhelm II. It is no easy task for any man to govern in the nineteenth century on feudal principles , especially one whose nature is imperious , whose will is un bending and whose realm is not yet thoroughly welded together. Annoy ance at the balking of his plans at cer tain points joined v/ith herculean la bors and vast responsibilities and with the burden of advancing age to redjce his strength. The young emperor wished no instruction from any one , and he may well have seemed to the as tute but wearied Bismarck a problem the solution of which he would prefer to leave to time and to other investi gators rather than to hasten it actively in his own person. The aged states man found his young sovereign eager to assume the personal control of all matters relating to the empire , and when the empercr. restive under the restraint of tha veteran , announced his determination to assume absolute con trol of all public affairs and declared further that Bismarck was assuming rights as chancellor which were the prerogatives of the emperor , it was im possible fcr the prince to continue ia the service of the state. For a long time there was a breach between the independent old chancellor and his for mer master , but the German people were loyal to Bismarck , en whcra tney fancied the empercr had put numerous slights. In 1894 came an urgent invi tation to the ex-chancellor to visit his sovereign at Berlin. Bismarck accept ed the offer of reconciliation , and the ivhole city rose to meet him in an ex pression of intense popular regard. BISMARCK LEAVING EMPEROR'S PALACE AFTER RESIGNING. rhe emperor afterward returned this visit at Friedrichsruh. Bereavement Hastened the End. More than any other csu fthe Jeath of Prince Bismarck's wife hast ened his end. It is said the cx-chaa- seller was never the same after he Lur- ied the princess in Varsin in Novem ber , 1S94. The princess left thro * * r-hil- : lren Ccuntess Marie , torn in 8 311- liausen Aug. 21. 1S-13 , and now Count ess von Ratzau ; Herbert , born in Ber lin Dec. 2S , IS49. and married to Mar- jjuerite , Countess Ilcycs. and William , born in Frankfort-on-llie-Main Aug. 1 , 1S52 , and married to Sybille vcn Kroehlcndcrff. The marriage of Bis marck's daughter is childless ; Herbert is the father of three and William of 'our children. Herbert , the eldest sen , succeeds to his great father's estate. It wns therefore very much to Bis marck's chagrin that he did not inarry into the German nobility , but rho e wife of Huns-riar. " in Austrian - cxira"- .ian. This marriage w.s so much the siore painful to the ell man because it happened only two years after the 'orced resignation of the iron ohanrol- or. It was only very gradually that Bismarck becurne reconciled to this 'Austrian alliance , " as he was went tc : all the marriase. A Scarred Wtor.in. "Mi j. Dullick is making a great war ecord , isn't ha ? " "I'd like to know hew you make that nit. He's still here. " "I know , but he's making all the lag presentation speeches as the var- ous companies are being sent away o the front. " The right of cornea to vote at a school meeting for a director of a dis trict is held , in Harris Vs. Burr ( Or. ) 39 L. R. A. 768 , to be allowel by a con stitutional provisioa limiting to male citizens the right to vote "at all elec tions authorized by law , " where an other provision gives th legislature power to provide a system of common schools. 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