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103-535: Germany has the world's oldest national social health insurance system, with origins dating back to Otto von Bismarck 's Sickness Insurance Law of 1883. In Britain, the National Insurance Act 1911 included national social health insurance for primary care (not specialist or hospital care), initially for about one-third of the population—employed working class wage earners, but not their dependents. This system of health insurance continued in force until

206-601: A diplomat , he started his practical training as a lawyer in Aachen and Potsdam , and soon resigned, having first placed his career in jeopardy by taking unauthorized leave to pursue two English girls: first Laura Russell, niece of the Duke of Cleveland , and then Isabella Loraine-Smith, daughter of a wealthy clergyman. In 1838, Bismarck began a shortened compulsory military service in the Prussian Army ; actively serving as

309-482: A one-year volunteer before becoming an officer in the Landwehr (reserve). Afterwards he returned to run the family estates at Schönhausen on his mother's death in his mid-twenties. Around age 30, Bismarck formed an intense friendship with Marie von Thadden-Trieglaff, newly married to one of his friends, Moritz von Blanckenburg. A month after her death, Bismarck wrote to ask for the hand in marriage of Marie's cousin,

412-418: A "rattling of sabres in their scabbards" from Prussian officers when they learned that the king would not suppress the revolution by force. He offered numerous concessions to the liberals: he wore the black-red-gold revolutionary colours (as seen on the flag of today's Germany), promised to promulgate a constitution, agreed that Prussia and other German states should merge into a single nation-state, and appointed

515-705: A Danish duke. Prussian public opinion strongly favoured Augustenburg's claim, as the populations of Holstein and southern Schleswig were primarily German-speaking. Bismarck took an unpopular step by insisting that the territories legally belonged to the Danish monarch under the London Protocol signed a decade earlier. Nonetheless, Bismarck denounced Christian's decision to completely annex Schleswig to Denmark. With support from Austria, he issued an ultimatum for Christian IX to return Schleswig to its former status. When Denmark refused, Austria and Prussia invaded, sparking

618-469: A complete transformation of the European international order. He had told those who would listen what he intended to do, how he intended to do it, and he did it. He achieved this incredible feat without commanding an army, and without the ability to give an order to the humblest common soldier, without control of a large party, without public support, indeed, in the face of almost universal hostility, without

721-435: A decreased salary, with Bismarck having never obtained any significant wealth before die Einigung , given the lack of such received from his father. Bismarck had two siblings: his older brother Bernhard (1810–1893) and his younger sister Malwine (1827–1908). Others saw Bismarck as a typical backwoods Prussian Junker, an image that he encouraged by wearing military uniforms. However, he was well educated and cosmopolitan with

824-530: A dispute over the Electorate of Hesse (the Hesse Crisis of 1850 ), Prussia was humiliated and forced to back down by Austria (supported by Russia) in the so-called Punctation of Olmütz ; a plan for the unification of Germany under Prussian leadership, proposed by Prussia's Foreign Minister Joseph von Radowitz , was also abandoned. In 1851, Frederick William IV appointed Bismarck as Prussia's envoy to

927-524: A famous letter to Leopold von Gerlach, Bismarck wrote that it was foolish to play chess having first put 16 of the 64 squares out of bounds. This observation became ironic, as after 1871, France indeed became Germany's permanent enemy , and eventually allied with Russia against Germany in the 1890s. Bismarck was alarmed by Prussia's isolation during the Crimean War of the mid-1850s, in which Austria sided with Britain and France against Russia; Prussia

1030-753: A gift for conversation. Bismarck also knew English , French , Italian , Polish , and Russian . Bismarck was educated at Johann Ernst Plamann 's elementary school, and the Friedrich-Wilhelm and Graues Kloster secondary schools. From 1832 to 1833, he studied law at the University of Göttingen , where he was a member of the Corps Hannovera , and then enrolled at the University of Berlin (1833–1835). In 1838, while stationed as an army reservist in Greifswald , he studied agriculture at

1133-888: A growing middle and working class. The Junkers held a virtual monopoly on all agriculture in the part of the German Reich lying east of the River Elbe. Since the Junker estates were necessarily inherited by the eldest son alone, younger sons, all well-educated and with a sense of noble ancestry, turned to the civil and military services, and dominated all higher civil offices, as well as the officer corps. Around 1900 they modernised their farming operations to increase productivity. They sold off less productive land, invested more heavily in new breeds of cattle and pigs , used new fertilisers , increased grain production, and improved productivity per worker. Their political influence achieved

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1236-559: A healthy state life. The great questions of the time will not be resolved by speeches and majority decisions – that was the great mistake of 1848 and 1849 – but by iron and blood. Prior to the 1860s, Germany consisted of a multitude of principalities loosely bound together as members of the German Confederation . Bismarck used both diplomacy and the Prussian military to achieve unification, excluding Austria from

1339-506: A hero to German nationalists , who built monuments honouring him. While praised as a visionary who kept the peace in Europe through adroit diplomacy, he is criticized for his persecution of Poles and Catholics as well as the immense power centralized within his office as Chancellor. He is also criticized by opponents of German nationalism, as it became engrained in German culture, galvanizing

1442-577: A liberal, Gottfried Ludolf Camphausen , as Minister President . Bismarck had at first tried to rouse the peasants of his estate into an army to march on Berlin in the king's name. He travelled to Berlin in disguise to offer his services but was instead told to make himself useful by arranging food supplies for the Army from his estates in case they were needed. The king's brother, Prince Wilhelm , had fled to England; Bismarck tried to get Wilhelm's wife Augusta to place their teenage son Frederick William on

1545-742: A majority in parliament, without control of his cabinet, and without a loyal following in the bureaucracy. He no longer had the support of the powerful conservative interest groups who had helped him achieve power. The most senior diplomats in the foreign service ... were sworn enemies and he knew it. The Queen and the Royal Family hated him and the King, emotional and unreliable, would soon have his 70th birthday. ... With perfect justice, in August 1866, he punched his fist on his desk and cried "I have beaten them all! All!" Prussia's victory over Austria increased

1648-401: A minimum standard of coverage and are not allowed to discriminate between patients by charging different rates according to age, occupation, or previous health status ( pre-existing medical conditions ). To protect the interest of both patients and insurance companies, the government establishes an equalization pool to spread risks between the various funds. The government may also contribute to

1751-554: A minor role in causing the war. Bismarck wrote in his Memoirs that he "had no doubt that a Franco-German war must take place before the construction of a united Germany could be realised". Yet he felt confident that the French Army was not prepared to give battle to Germany's numerically larger forces: "If the French fight us alone they are lost". He was also convinced that the French would not be able to find allies since "France,

1854-610: A moderate ruler, whose friendship with liberal Britain was symbolised by the recent marriage of his son Frederick William to Queen Victoria 's eldest daughter . As part of his " New Era ", Wilhelm brought in new ministers, moderate conservatives known as the Wochenblatt after their newspaper. The Regent soon replaced Bismarck as envoy in Frankfurt and made him Prussia's ambassador to the Russian Empire. In theory, this

1957-683: A monopoly on grain by storing it to drive up the price. As more money was profited, they were able to control political offices. Junkers were able to force people to continue paying more money for their product, while keeping who they wanted in office. Through the controlling of politics behind a veil, Junkers were able to influence politicians to create a law that prohibited collecting of debts from agrarians, thus pocketing even more money and strengthening their power. Defunct Defunct Supporting monarchism and military traditions, Junkers were seen as reactionary , anti-democratic , and protectionist by liberals and Socialists , as they had sided with

2060-559: A representative to the newly created Prussian legislature, the Vereinigter Landtag . There, he gained a reputation as a royalist and reactionary politician with a gift for stinging rhetoric; he openly advocated the idea that the monarch had a divine right to rule . His selection was arranged by the Gerlach brothers, fellow Pietist Lutherans whose ultra-conservative faction was known as the "Kreuzzeitung" after their newspaper,

2163-440: A seemingly powerful army that was allied with most of the north German and all of the south German states. Nevertheless, Prussia won the decisive Battle of Königgrätz . The king and his generals wanted to push onward, conquer Bohemia and march to Vienna, but Bismarck, worried that Prussian military luck might change or that France might intervene on Austria's side, enlisted the help of Crown Prince Frederick Wilhelm, who had opposed

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2266-519: A senior government official in Berlin whose family produced many civil servants along with academics. In 1816, the family moved to its Pomeranian estate, Kniephof (now Konarzewo , Poland), northeast of Stettin (now Szczecin ), in the then-Prussian province of Farther Pomerania . There, Bismarck spent his childhood in a bucolic setting. Despite the assets they held, their financial affairs were average; Ferdinand's below adequate agricultural skills led to

2369-613: A time when relations among the Great Powers (Great Britain, France, Austria and Russia) had been shattered by the Crimean War and the First Italian War of Independence . In the midst of this disarray, the European balance of power was restructured with the creation of the German Empire as the dominant power in continental Europe apart from Russia. This was achieved by Bismarck's diplomacy, Roon's reorganization of

2472-536: A unified Germany. This made Prussia the most powerful and dominant component of the new Germany, but also ensured that it remained an authoritarian state and not a liberal parliamentary democracy. Bismarck faced a diplomatic crisis when King Frederick VII of Denmark died in November 1863. The succession to the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein was disputed; they were claimed by Christian IX , Frederick VII's heir as king, and also by Frederick von Augustenburg ,

2575-697: Is greatest to meet costs incurred at times when earning capacity is low or non-existent). This differs from the private insurance schemes with contribution rates that vary year by year, according to health risks such as age, family history, previous illnesses, and height/weight ratios. Consequently, some people tend to have to pay more for their health insurance when they are sick or are least able to afford it. These problems do not exist in national health insurance schemes. Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg ( / ˈ b ɪ z m ɑːr k / ; born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898)

2678-586: Is known as single-payer health care . The provision of services may be through either publicly or privately owned health care providers. In France , a similar system of compulsory contributions is made, but the collection is administered by non-profit organisations set up for the purpose. An alternative funding approach is where countries implement national health insurance by legislation requiring compulsory contributions to competing insurance funds. These funds (which may be run by public bodies, private for-profit companies, or private non-profit companies), must provide

2781-553: The Neue Preußische Zeitung , which was so nicknamed because it featured an Iron Cross on its cover. In March 1848, Prussia faced a revolution (one of the revolutions of 1848 across Europe), which completely overwhelmed King Frederick William IV . The monarch, though initially inclined to use armed forces to suppress the rebellion, ultimately declined to leave Berlin for the safety of military headquarters at Potsdam. Bismarck later recorded that there had been

2884-527: The Bundesrat , which met to discuss policy presented by the Chancellor, whom the emperor appointed. In the end, France had to cede Alsace and part of Lorraine , as Moltke and his generals wanted it as a buffer. Historians debate whether Bismarck wanted this annexation or was forced into it by a wave of German public and elite opinion. France was also required to pay an indemnity ; the indemnity figure

2987-765: The Diet of the German Confederation in Frankfurt . Bismarck gave up his elected seat in the Landtag but was appointed to the Prussian House of Lords a few years later. In Frankfurt he engaged in a battle of wills with the Austrian representative Count Friedrich von Thun und Hohenstein . He insisted on being treated as an equal by petty tactics such as imitating Thun when Thun claimed the privileges of smoking and removing his jacket in meetings. This episode

3090-598: The Federal Administrative Court decided that the prince had no right to compensation for the disseized estates of the House of Hanover around Blankenburg Castle in Saxony-Anhalt . Other families, however, have quietly purchased or leased back their ancestral homes from the current owners (often the German federal government in its role as trustee). A petition for official rehabilitation of

3193-556: The Frankfurt Parliament offered the title of Emperor to King Frederick William IV. Fearing the opposition of the other German princes and the military intervention of Austria and Russia, the king renounced this popular mandate, citing his concerns over the legitimacy of the parliament to offer him the crown without the consent of the various German rulers. Thus, the Frankfurt Parliament ended in failure for

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3296-511: The Hall of Mirrors in the Château de Versailles . The new German Empire was a federation: each of its 25 constituent states (kingdoms, grand duchies, duchies, principalities, and free cities) retained some autonomy. The King of Prussia, as German Emperor, was not sovereign over the entirety of Germany; he was only primus inter pares , or first among equals. However, he held the presidency of

3399-650: The House of Hohenzollern , assure that no Hohenzollern would ever seek the Spanish crown again. To provoke France into declaring war with Prussia, Bismarck published the Ems Dispatch , a carefully edited version of a conversation between King Wilhelm and the French ambassador to Prussia, Count Benedetti . This conversation had been edited so that each nation felt that its ambassador had been slighted and ridiculed, thus inflaming popular sentiment on both sides in favor of war. Langer, however, argues that this episode played

3502-509: The Imperial Reichstag was elected by universal male suffrage but did not control government policy. A staunch monarchist, Bismarck inherently distrusted democracy and ruled through a strong, well-trained bureaucracy with power concentrated in the hands of the Junker elite. After being dismissed from office by Wilhelm II , he retired to write his memoirs. Otto von Bismarck is most famous for his role in German unification. He became

3605-632: The Prussian parliament . From 1862 to 1890, he held office as the minister president and foreign minister of Prussia . Under Bismarck's leadership, Prussia provoked three short, decisive wars against Denmark , Austria , and France . After Austria 's defeat in 1866, he replaced the German Confederation with the North German Confederation , which aligned the smaller North German states with Prussia while excluding Austria . In 1870, Bismarck secured France's defeat with support from

3708-525: The Second Schleswig War . Denmark was ultimately forced to renounce its claim on both duchies. At first this seemed like a victory for Augustenburg, but Bismarck soon removed him from power by making a series of unworkable demands, namely that Prussia should have control over the army and navy of the duchies. Originally, it had been proposed that the Diet of the German Confederation, in which all

3811-481: The Soviet Union after World War II . Junkers fled or were expelled alongside other German-speaking populations by the incoming Polish and Soviet administrations, and their lands were confiscated. In western and southern Germany, the land was often owned by small independent farmers or a mixture of small farmers and estate owners, and this system was often contrasted with the dominance of the large estate owners of

3914-696: The Soviet Union . However, Helmuth James Graf von Moltke formed the Kreisau Circle as part of the resistance to Nazi rule, and as World War II turned against Nazi Germany, several senior Junkers in the Wehrmacht participated in Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg 's assassination attempt of 20 July 1944. Fifty-eight of them either were executed when the plot failed, among them Erwin von Witzleben and Heinrich Graf von Lehndorff-Steinort , or committed suicide like Henning von Tresckow . During

4017-580: The University of Greifswald . At Göttingen, Bismarck befriended the American student John Lothrop Motley . Motley, who later became an eminent historian and diplomat while remaining close to Bismarck, wrote a novel in 1839, Morton's Hope, or the Memoirs of a Provincial , about life in a German university. In it he described Bismarck as a reckless and dashing eccentric, but also as an extremely gifted and charming young man. Although Bismarck hoped to become

4120-621: The conservative monarchist forces during the Revolution of 1848 . Their political interests were served by the German Conservative Party in the Reichstag and the extraparliamentary Agriculturists' League ( Bund der Landwirte ). This political class held tremendous power over industrial classes and government alike, especially through the Prussian three-class franchise . When German chancellor Leo von Caprivi in

4223-592: The " camarilla " around him urging the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor of Germany , personified by men like Hindenburg's son Oskar and his West Prussian "neighbour" Elard von Oldenburg-Januschau , who played a vital role in the Osthilfe scandal of 1932/33. Many World War II field marshals were also members of the Junkers, most notably Gerd von Rundstedt , Fedor von Bock , and Erich von Manstein . Many Junkers used forced labourers from Poland and

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4326-474: The 1890s reduced the protective duties on imports of grain, these landed magnates demanded and obtained his dismissal; and in 1902 , they brought about a restoration of such duties on foodstuffs as would keep the prices of their own products at a high level. "Junker" acquired its current and often pejorative sense during the 19th-century disputes over the domestic policies of the German Empire. The term

4429-401: The German Empire that: the first phase of [his] great career had been concluded. The genius-statesmen had transformed European politics and had unified Germany in eight and a half years. And he had done so by sheer force of personality, by his brilliance, ruthlessness, and flexibility of principle. ... [It] marked the high point of [his] career. He had achieved the impossible, and his genius and

4532-556: The German army, controlled by Chief of Staff Moltke, won victory after victory. The major battles were all fought in one month (7 August to 1 September), and both French armies were captured at Sedan and Metz , the latter after a siege of some weeks. Napoleon III was taken prisoner at Sedan and kept in Germany for a time in case Bismarck had need of him to head the French regime; he later died in exile in England in 1873. The remainder of

4635-776: The German courts have upheld the land reforms and rebuffed claims to full compensation, confirming the legal validity of the terms within the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (Two Plus Four Agreement) (and incorporated into the Basic Law of the Federal Republic ), by which expropriations of land under Soviet occupation were irreversible. The last decisive case was the unsuccessful lawsuit of Prince Ernst August of Hanover in September 2006, when

4738-598: The German liberals. On 30 September 1862, Bismarck made a famous speech to the Budget Committee of the Prussian Chamber of Deputies in which he expounded on the use of " iron and blood " to achieve Prussia's goals: Prussia must concentrate and maintain its power for the favorable moment which has already slipped by several times. Prussia's boundaries according to the Vienna treaties are not favorable to

4841-498: The Junkers owned most of the arable land in Prussia. Being the bulwark of the ruling House of Hohenzollern , the Junkers controlled the Prussian Army , leading in political influence and social status , and owning immense estates worked by tenants. These were located especially in the north-eastern half of Germany (i.e. the Prussian provinces of Brandenburg , Pomerania , Silesia , West Prussia , East Prussia , and Posen ). This

4944-610: The King of Prussia. To achieve this, he kept Napoleon III involved in various intrigues, whereby France might gain territory from Luxembourg or Belgium. France never achieved any such gain, but it was made to look greedy and untrustworthy. A suitable pretext for war arose in 1870, when the German Prince Leopold of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen was offered the Spanish throne, vacant since a revolution in 1868 . France pressured Leopold into withdrawing his candidacy. Not content with this, Paris demanded that Wilhelm, as head of

5047-934: The Nazi regime by the Soviet Military Administration and the SED, with many of them being arrested, brutally beaten and interned in NKVD special camps ( Speziallager ), while their property was plundered and the manor houses demolished. Some were executed. Many women were raped . From 1952 these individual farms were pressured by a variety of means to join together as collectives and incorporated into Landwirtschaftliche Produktionsgenossenschaften ("agricultural production comradeships", LPG) or nationalised as Volkseigene Güter ("publicly owned estates", VEG). After German reunification , some Junkers tried to regain their former estates through civil lawsuits, but

5150-467: The Prussian Army, and Albrecht von Roon as Minister of War with the job of reorganizing the army. Over the next twelve years, Bismarck, Moltke and Roon transformed Prussia. Despite his lengthy stay abroad, Bismarck was not entirely detached from German domestic affairs. He remained well-informed due to Roon, with whom Bismarck formed a lasting friendship and political alliance. In May 1862, he

5253-501: The Prussian throne in Frederick William IV's place. Augusta would have none of it, and detested Bismarck thereafter, despite the fact that he later helped restore a working relationship between Wilhelm and his brother the king. Bismarck was not yet a member of the House of Representatives , the lower house of the new Prussian legislature . The liberal movement perished by the end of 1848 amid internal fighting. Meanwhile,

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5356-676: The Rhineland to deter further French advances into Venetia . Bismarck stayed in St Petersburg for four years, during which he almost lost his leg to botched medical treatment and once again met his future adversary, the Russian Prince Alexander Gorchakov , who had been the Russian representative in Frankfurt in the early 1850s. The Regent also appointed Helmuth von Moltke as the new Chief of Staff of

5459-751: The advance of the Red Army in the closing months of the war and subsequently, most Junkers had to flee from the eastern territories that were turned over to the re-established Republic of Poland with the implementation of the Oder–Neisse line according to the Potsdam Agreement . After World War II, during the communist Bodenreform (land reform) of September 1945 in the Soviet Occupation Zone , later East Germany , all private property exceeding an area of 100 hectares (250 acres)

5562-402: The advantage that the pool or pools of contributors tend to be vast and reflective of the national population. Health care costs tend to be high at the extremes of age and other specific events in life, such as during pregnancy and childbirth. In a national healthcare scheme, these costs are covered by contributions made to the pool over an individual's lifetime (i.e., higher when earning capacity

5665-570: The advice of his wife, Empress Augusta , and son, Crown Prince Frederick . As the architect of Germany's domestic policies, Bismarck created the first modern welfare state , which also had the effect of undermining his socialist opponents . In the 1870s, he allied himself with the anti- tariff , anti- Catholic Liberals while repressing the Catholic Church in the Kulturkampf ("culture struggle"). Additionally, under his governance,

5768-416: The agreement and demanded that the Diet determine the Schleswig–Holstein issue. Bismarck used this as an excuse to start a war with Austria by accusing them of violating the Gastein Convention. Bismarck sent Prussian troops to occupy Holstein. Provoked, Austria called for the aid of other German states, who quickly became involved in the Austro-Prussian War . Thanks to Roon's reorganization, the Prussian Army

5871-447: The already existing tensions with France. The Emperor of France, Napoleon III , had tried to gain territory for France (in Belgium and on the left bank of the Rhine ) as a compensation for not joining the war against Prussia and was disappointed by the surprisingly quick outcome of the war. Accordingly, opposition politician Adolphe Thiers claimed that it was France, not Austria, who had really been defeated at Königgrätz. Bismarck, at

5974-418: The army and Moltke's military strategy. Despite the initial distrust of the king and crown prince and the loathing of Queen Augusta, Bismarck soon acquired a powerful hold over the king by force of personality and powers of persuasion. Bismarck was intent on maintaining royal supremacy by ending the budget deadlock in the king's favour, even if he had to use extra-legal means to do so. Under the constitution ,

6077-507: The benefit of their members. These systems are characterized by a mixture of three sources of funds in varying degrees: private, employer-employee contributions, and national/subnational taxes. In addition to direct medical costs, some national insurance plans also provide compensation for loss of work due to ill-health, or may be part of wider social insurance plans covering things such as pensions, unemployment, occupational retraining, and financial support for students. National schemes have

6180-445: The budget could be passed only after the king and legislature agreed on its terms. Bismarck contended that since the constitution did not provide for cases in which legislators failed to approve a budget, there was a "legal loophole " in the constitution and so he could apply the previous year's budget to keep the government running. Thus, on the basis of the 1861 budget, tax collection continued for four years. Bismarck's conflict with

6283-449: The conservatives regrouped, formed an inner group of advisers—including the Gerlach brothers, known as the " Camarilla "—around the king, and retook control of Berlin. Although a constitution was granted, its provisions fell far short of the demands of the revolutionaries. In 1849, Bismarck was elected to the Landtag . At this stage in his career, he opposed the unification of Germany , arguing that Prussia would lose its independence in

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6386-416: The country to aggressively pursue nationalistic policies in both World Wars. Bismarck was born in 1815 at Schönhausen , a noble family estate west of Berlin in Prussian Saxony . His father, Karl Wilhelm Ferdinand von Bismarck (1771–1845), was a Swabian -descendant Junker estate owner and a former Prussian military officer; his mother, Wilhelmine Luise Mencken (1789–1839), was the well-educated daughter of

6489-450: The countryside outside of major cities or towns. They were an important factor in Prussian and, after 1871, German military, political and diplomatic leadership. The most famous Junker was Chancellor Otto von Bismarck . Bismarck held power in Germany from 1871 to 1890 as Chancellor of the German Empire . He was removed from power by Kaiser Wilhelm II . Many Junkers lived in the eastern provinces that were annexed by either Poland or

6592-406: The court of territorial princes . These families were mostly part of the German medieval Uradel and had carried on the colonisation and Christianisation of the northeastern European territories during the Ostsiedlung . Over the centuries, they had become influential commanders and landowners, especially in the lands east of the Elbe River in the Kingdom of Prussia. As landed aristocrats,

6695-443: The creation of the National Health Service in 1948 which created a universal service, funded out of general taxation rather than on an insurance basis, and providing health services to all legal residents. National healthcare insurance programs differ both in how the contributions are collected, and in how the services are provided. In countries such as Canada , payment is made by the government directly from tax revenue and this

6798-411: The cult of genius had no limits. ... When he returned to Berlin in March 1871, he had become immortal ... Defunct Defunct In 1871, Bismarck was raised to the rank of Fürst (Prince). He was also appointed as the first Imperial Chancellor ( Reichskanzler ) of the German Empire, but retained his Prussian offices, including those of Minister-President and Foreign Minister. He was also promoted to

6901-542: The east. Before World War II, the dividing line was often drawn at the river Elbe which was also roughly the western boundary of Slavic settlement by the Wends in the so-called Germania Slavica prior to Ostsiedlung . The term for the junker dominated East was thus Ostelbien or East Elbia. They played a prominent role in repressing the liberal movement in Germany. Junker is derived from Middle High German Juncherre , meaning "young nobleman" or otherwise "young lord" (derivation of jung and Herr ), and originally

7004-415: The equalization pool as a form of health care subsidy. This is the model used in the Netherlands . Other countries are largely funded by contributions by employers and employees to sickness funds. With these programs, funds come from neither the government nor direct private payments. This system operates in countries such as Germany and Belgium. These funds are usually non-profit institutions run solely for

7107-446: The freedom of the press, an edict that even gained the public opposition of the crown prince. Despite (or perhaps because of) his attempts to silence critics, Bismarck remained a largely unpopular politician. His supporters fared poorly in the elections of October 1863, in which a liberal coalition, whose primary member was the Progress Party , won over two-thirds of the seats. The House made repeated calls for Bismarck to be dismissed, but

7210-418: The imposition of high tariffs that reduced competition from U.S. grain and meat. During World War I , Irish nationalist MP Tom Kettle compared the Anglo-Irish landlord class to the Prussian Junkers, saying, "England goes to fight for liberty in Europe and for junkerdom in Ireland." Their political influence extended from the German Empire of 1871–1918 through the Weimar Republic of 1919–1933. It

7313-412: The increasingly liberal Prussian Landtag. A crisis arose in 1862, when the Landtag refused to authorize funding for a proposed re-organization of the army. The King's ministers could not convince legislators to pass the budget, and the king was unwilling to make concessions. Wilhelm threatened to abdicate in favour of his son Crown Prince Frederick William , who opposed his doing so, believing that Bismarck

7416-647: The independent South German states before overseeing the creation of a unified German Empire under Prussian rule. Following Germany's unification, he was given the aristocratic title, Prince of Bismarck ( German : Fürst von Bismarck ). From 1871 onwards, his balance-of-power approach to diplomacy helped maintain Germany's position in a peaceful Europe. While averse to maritime colonialism , Bismarck ultimately acquiesced to elite and popular opinion by building an overseas empire . Throughout his career as Chancellor, Prince Bismarck remained loyal to German Emperor Wilhelm I who steadfastly supported his policies against

7519-407: The influence of his ultraconservative Prussian friends, Bismarck became less reactionary and more pragmatic. He became convinced that to countervail Austria's newly restored influence, Prussia would have to ally herself with other German states. As a result, he grew to be more accepting of the notion of a united German nation. He gradually came to believe that he and his fellow conservatives had to take

7622-468: The king supported him, fearing that if he did dismiss the Minister President, he would most likely be succeeded by a liberal. German unification had been a major objective of the revolutions of 1848, when representatives of the German states met in Frankfurt and drafted a constitution, creating a federal union with a national parliament to be elected by universal male suffrage. In April 1849,

7725-547: The lead in creating a unified nation to keep from being eclipsed. He also believed that the middle-class liberals wanted a unified Germany more than they wanted to break the grip of the traditional forces over society. Bismarck also worked to maintain the friendship of Russia and a working relationship with Napoleon III 's France, the latter being anathema to his conservative friends, the Gerlachs, but necessary both to threaten Austria and to prevent France allying with Russia. In

7828-597: The legislators intensified in the coming years. Following the Alvensleben Convention of 1863, the House of Representatives resolved that it could no longer come to terms with Bismarck; in response, the king dissolved the Landtag, accusing it of trying to obtain unconstitutional control over the ministry—which, under the constitution, was responsible solely to the king. Bismarck then issued an edict restricting

7931-600: The memory of mutual accomplishment in the Napoleonic Wars, particularly in the War of Liberation of 1813–1814. By establishing a Germany without Austria, the political and administrative unification in 1871 at least temporarily solved the problem of dualism. Historian Robert K. Massie has noted Bismarck's popular image was as "gruff" and "militaristic", while in reality "Bismarck's tool was aggressive, ruthless diplomacy." Jonathan Steinberg said of Bismarck's creation of

8034-404: The noblewoman Johanna von Puttkamer (1824–1894); they were married at Alt-Kolziglow (modern Kołczygłowy ) on 28 July 1847. Their long and happy marriage produced three children: Marie (b. 1847), Herbert (b. 1849), and Wilhelm (b. 1852). Johanna was a shy, retiring and deeply religious woman, although famed for her sharp tongue in later life. In 1847, Bismarck, aged thirty-two, was chosen as

8137-488: The proceedings through alliances with the smaller states. This began what historians refer to as "The Misery of Austria" in which Austria served as a mere vassal to the superior Germany, a relationship that was to shape history until the end of the First World War. Jonathan Steinberg says of Bismarck's achievements to this point: The scale of Bismarck's triumph cannot be exaggerated. He alone had brought about

8240-471: The process. He accepted his appointment as one of Prussia's representatives at the Erfurt Parliament , an assembly of German states that met to discuss plans for union, but he only did so to oppose that body's proposals more effectively. The parliament failed to bring about unification, for it lacked the support of the two most important German states, Prussia and Austria . In September 1850, after

8343-494: The rank of lieutenant-general and bought a former hotel in Friedrichsruh near Hamburg, which became an estate. He also continued to serve as his own foreign minister. Because of both the imperial and the Prussian offices that he held, Bismarck had near complete control over domestic and foreign policy. The office of Minister President of Prussia was temporarily separated from that of Chancellor in 1873, when Albrecht von Roon

8446-453: The same time, did not avoid war with France, though he feared the French for a number of reasons. First, he feared that Austria, hungry for revenge, would ally with the French. Similarly, he feared that the Russian army would assist France to maintain a balance of power. Still, however, Bismarck believed that if the German states perceived France as the aggressor, they would then unite behind

8549-480: The states of Germany were represented, should determine the fate of the duchies; but before this scheme could be effected, Bismarck induced Austria to agree to the Gastein Convention . Under this agreement signed on 20 August 1865, Prussia received Schleswig, while Austria received Holstein. In that year Bismarck was given the title of Count ( Graf ) of Bismarck-Schönhausen. In 1866, Austria reneged on

8652-449: The strength of Bismarck's Realpolitik led a collection of early modern polities to reorganize political, economic, military, and diplomatic relationships in the 19th century. Reaction to Danish and French nationalism provided foci for expressions of German unity. Military successes—especially those of Prussia—in three regional wars generated enthusiasm and pride that politicians could harness to promote unification. This experience echoed

8755-424: The title is Jkr., most often placed before the given name and titles, for example: Jkr. Heinrich von Hohenberg. The female equivalent Junkfrau (Jkfr.) was used only sporadically. In some cases, the honorific Jkr. was also used for Freiherren (Barons) and Grafen (Counts). A good number of poorer Junkers took up careers as soldiers ( Fahnenjunker ), mercenaries, and officials ( Hofjunker , Kammerjunker ) at

8858-408: The victor, would be a danger to everybody – Prussia to nobody". He added, "That is our strong point". France mobilized and declared war on 19 July. The German states saw France as the aggressor, and—swept up by nationalism and patriotic zeal—they rallied to Prussia's side and provided troops. Both of Bismarck's sons served as officers in the Prussian cavalry. The war was a great success for Prussia as

8961-480: The war but had commanded one of the Prussian armies at Königgrätz, to dissuade his father after stormy arguments. Bismarck insisted on a "soft peace" with no annexations and no victory parades, so as to be able to quickly restore friendly relations with Austria. Prussia had only a plurality (17 out of 43 seats) in the Bundesrat despite being larger than the other 21 states combined, but Bismarck could easily control

9064-462: The war featured a Siege of Paris , the city was "ineffectually bombarded"; the new French republican regime then tried, without success, to relieve Paris with various hastily assembled armies and increasingly bitter partisan warfare. Bismarck quoted the first verse lyrics of " La Marseillaise ", amongst others, when being recorded on an Edison phonograph in 1889, the only known recording of his voice. A biographer stated that he did so, 19 years after

9167-421: The war, to mock the French. Bismarck acted immediately to secure the unification of Germany. He negotiated with representatives of the southern German states, offering special concessions if they agreed to unification. The negotiations succeeded; patriotic sentiment overwhelmed what opposition remained. While the war was in its final phase, Wilhelm I of Prussia was proclaimed German Emperor on 18 January 1871 in

9270-495: Was a Prussian statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany . Bismarck's Realpolitik and firm governance resulted in him being popularly known as the Iron Chancellor ( German : Eiserner Kanzler ). From Junker landowner origins, Otto von Bismarck rose rapidly in Prussian politics under King Wilhelm I of Prussia . He served as the Prussian ambassador to Russia and France and in both houses of

9373-525: Was a promotion, as Russia was one of Prussia's two most powerful neighbors. But Bismarck was sidelined from events in Germany and could only watch impotently as France drove Austria out of Lombardy during the Italian War of 1859 . Bismarck proposed that Prussia should exploit Austria's weakness to move her frontiers "as far south as Lake Constance " on the Swiss border; instead, Prussia mobilised troops in

9476-653: Was almost not invited to the peace talks in Paris . In the Great Eastern Crisis of the 1870s, fear of a repetition of this turn of events would later be a factor in Bismarck's signing the Dual Alliance with Austria-Hungary in 1879. In October 1857, Frederick William IV suffered a paralysing stroke , and his brother Wilhelm took over the Prussian government as Regent. Wilhelm was initially seen as

9579-484: Was appointed to the former office. But by the end of the year, Roon resigned due to ill health, and Bismarck again became Minister-President. Junker (Prussia) The Junkers ( / ˈ j ʊ ŋ k ər / YUUNG -kər ; German: [ˈjʊŋkɐ] ) were members of the landed nobility in Prussia . They owned great estates that were maintained and worked by peasants with few rights. These estates often lay in

9682-469: Was calculated on the basis of population, as the precise equivalent of the indemnity that Napoleon I had imposed on Prussia in 1807. Historians debate whether Bismarck had a master plan to expand the North German Confederation of 1866 to include the remaining independent German states into a single entity or simply to expand the power of the Kingdom of Prussia. They conclude that factors in addition to

9785-659: Was expropriated, and then predominantly allocated to 'New Farmers' on condition that they continued farming them. As most of these large estates, especially in Brandenburg and Western Pomerania , had belonged to Junkers, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany promoted their plans with East German President Wilhelm Pieck 's slogan Junkerland in Bauernhand! ("Junker land into farmer's hand!"). The former owners were accused of war crimes and involvement in

9888-601: Was in contrast to the predominantly Catholic southern states such as the Kingdom of Bavaria or the Grand Duchy of Baden , where land was owned by small farms, or the mixed agriculture of the western states like the Grand Duchy of Hesse or even the Prussian Rhine and Westphalian provinces. Junkers formed a tightly knit elite. Their challenge was how to retain their dominance in an emerging modern state with

9991-724: Was nearly equal in numbers to the Austrian Army . With the strategic genius of Moltke, the Prussian army fought battles it was able to win. Bismarck had also made a secret alliance with Italy , who desired Austrian-controlled Veneto . Italy's entry into the war forced the Austrians to divide their forces. Meanwhile, as the war began, a German radical named Ferdinand Cohen-Blind attempted to assassinate Bismarck in Berlin, shooting him five times at close range. Bismarck had only minor injuries. Cohen-Blind later committed suicide while in custody. The war lasted seven weeks. Austria had

10094-527: Was said that "if Prussia ruled Germany, the Junkers ruled Prussia, and through it the Empire itself". A policy known as Osthilfe ("Help for the East") granted Junkers 500,000,000 marks in subsidies to help pay for certain debts and to improve equipment. Junkers continued to demand and receive more and more subsidies, which gave them more money in their pockets, thus resulting in political power. Junkers exploited

10197-624: Was sent to Paris to serve as ambassador to France, and also visited England that summer. These visits enabled him to meet and take the measure of several adversaries: Napoleon III in France, and in Britain, Prime Minister Palmerston , Foreign Secretary Earl Russell , and Conservative politician Benjamin Disraeli . Prince Wilhelm became King of Prussia upon his brother Frederick Wilhelm IV's death in 1861. The new monarch often came into conflict with

10300-417: Was the background for an altercation in the Frankfurt chamber with Georg von Vincke that led to a duel between Bismarck and Vincke with Carl von Bodelschwingh as an impartial party, which ended without injury. Bismarck's eight years in Frankfurt were marked by changes in his political opinions, detailed in the numerous lengthy memoranda, which he sent to his ministerial superiors in Berlin. No longer under

10403-577: Was the only politician capable of handling the crisis. However, Wilhelm was ambivalent about appointing a person who demanded unfettered control over foreign affairs. It was in September 1862, when the Abgeordnetenhaus (House of Representatives) overwhelmingly rejected the proposed budget, that Wilhelm was persuaded to recall Bismarck to Prussia on the advice of Roon. On 23 September 1862, Wilhelm appointed Bismarck Minister President and Foreign Minister . Bismarck, Roon and Moltke took charge at

10506-657: Was the title of members of the higher edelfrei ( immediate ) nobility without or before the accolade . It evolved to a general denotation of a young or lesser noble, often poor and politically insignificant, understood as "country squire " (cf. Martin Luther 's disguise as "Junker Jörg" at the Wartburg ; he would later mock King Henry VIII of England as "Juncker Heintz" ). As part of the nobility, many Junker families only had prepositions such as von or zu before their family names without further ranks. The abbreviation of

10609-634: Was used by sociologists such as Max Weber and was even adopted by members of the landed class themselves. Chancellor Otto von Bismarck was a noted Junker, though his family hailed from the Altmark region west of the Elbe. After World War I many Prussian agriculturists gathered in the national conservative German National People's Party (DNVP). The term was also applied to Reich President Paul von Hindenburg , lord of Neudeck in West Prussia, and to

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