London,
Constable
and company, ltd.
Robertson - Bismarck
Bismarck, by C.
Grant Robertson .
.
.
Robertson, Charles Grant, Sir, 1869-1948. London, Constable and company, ltd. , 1919.
http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497
Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
We have determined this work to be in the public domain in the United States of America. It may not be in the public domain in other countries. Copies are provided as a preservation service. Particularly outside of the United States, persons receiving copies should make appropriate efforts to determine the copyright status of the work in their country and use the work accordingly. It is possible that current copyright holders, heirs or the estate of the authors of individual portions of the work, such as illustrations or photographs, assert copyrights over these portions. Depending on the nature of subsequent use that is made, additional rights may need to be obtained independently of anything we can address. The digital images and OCR of this work were produced by Google, Inc. (indicated by a watermark on each page in the PageTurner). Google requests that the images and OCR not be re-hosted, redistributed or used commercially. The images are provided for educational, scholarly, non-commercial purposes.
? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? BISMARCK
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? MAKERS OF THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY
Edited by Basil Williams
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
By Lord Charnwood
HERBERT SPENCER
By Hugh Elliot
PORFIRIO DIAZ
By David Hannay
BISMARCK
By C. Grant Robertson
CECIL RHODES
By Basil Williams
VICTOR HUGO
By Madame Duclaux
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? MAKERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
Edited by Basil Williams
BISMARCK
BY
C. GRANT ROBERTSON, M. A. , C. V. O.
FELLOW OF ALL SOULS COLLEGE, OXFORD
Sy-zwr. 'v*;>i. k inc.
-- fth >>vr . y< l'<< s N v
LONDON
CONSTABLE 'AND COMPANY LTD.
U. OF M. FLINT CCt! 1 r:? LIBRARY
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? LONDON
PUBLISHED BY
Constable end Company Ltd. 9092
IO-I2 ORANGE STREET, W. C. 2
INDIA
Longmans, Green and Company Ltd.
BOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS
CANADA
Longmans, Green and Company Ltd.
TORONTO
First Published 1918
Reprinted . . 1919
Reprinted . . 19*9
Reprinted . . f936
Reprinted . . 1947
Printed in Great Britain by
Lowe and Brydone Printers Limited, London, N. W. io
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? GENERAL EDITOR'S PREFACE
No task is harder for the historian of to-day than to write
in a manner worthy of his great calling on any subject
even remotely connected with the war. It is close to us
at every moment of our lives, our interests are so bound
up with it and our affections are so involved in it, that
the temptation to interpret every recent event solely
according to its supposed influence on the war becomes
nearly irresistible. And real disservice may come to the
cause which we have at heart from yielding to this temp-
tation; for it leads to the selection of facts to accord with
a theory, as opposed to the true historical method of
building up the theory on an accumulation of facts. The
pamphlet or book with a polemical purpose which results
from the former method, however truthful and just, is
never wholly convincing except to the man who requires
no persuasion, and at best succeeds only in heartening
the converted; whereas the true history gradually moulds
the opinion of the world.
No subject would be found more adapted for an easy
polemic at this time than a life of Bismarck. But this
volume is not of that kind. Mr. Grant Robertson justly
claims that it is not a mere product of the war, but that
it is based on exhaustive study and ideas already formed
in the period of calm before this storm burst upon the
nations. Here is a book that calls up Bismarck as a living
human being, extenuating, it is true, none of his gross-
ness or his arrogance, but nevertheless deeply appreciative
B. a 2
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? GENERAL EDITOR'S PREFACE
of all that was great in him, and all that was tender and
sincere. Based on such a foundation of insight and
sympathy, it can pronounce a judgment on the value of
his life to Germany and the world, which can no more be
ignored by a German than by an Englishman. Nay more,
history written in this spirit and on such a subject is, in
fact, most illuminating in our attempts to form a sound
judgment on these critical times and the causes of this war.
For the upheaval of the last three years cannot be traced
back simply to the events of a few weeks in July and
August 1914, but to influences extending back for decades.
Of these influences, the most powerful both on German
character and statecraft, and on the conception of German
policy held in other countries, is without question that
of Bismarck.
BASIL WILLIAMS.
London,
February 1918.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? AUTHOR'S PREFACE
This book does not profess to be a history of Germany
from 1815 to 1890, nor is it specifically a biography. It
is a study, approximately in biographical form, of Bis-
marck's statecraft and of Bismarck himself as one of the
Makers of Modern Europe and of the German nation and
Empire.
It is in no sense a product of the war. My study of,
and interest in, Bismarck began many years before there
was a thought of war, and the conclusions and judgments
expressed in the following pages were formed before
August 4, 1914. The war indeed has retarded the
completion of my task by the imposition of much work
in no way connected with the historical research and
literary labour required for a prolonged examination of
the available material.
The origin of the book goes back to the lectures of
Albert Sorel and E. Lavisse that I attended, after I took my
degree, in the Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques at Paris
and to various courses in the University of Berlin. Since
then, repeated visits to Germany enabled me to pursue
my investigations, to discuss with many--soldiers and
politicians--who knew Bismarck well, and to study at
first hand, and not merely in Germany, the Bismarckian
system.
For no political figure, ancient or modern, does there
exist original material more embarrassingly rich than for
Bismarck. While in no way wishing to underrate the
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? viii
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
help obtainable from the leading secondary authorities,
I have endeavoured throughout to base my conclusions on
an independent study at first hand of the original sources.
As the scope of the Series in which this volume appears
does not admit of elaborate references, I must refer the
reader to the Bibliography in an appendix for information
as to the character, value, and extent of those sources;
but that bibliography by no means exhausts the evidence
it has been necessary to examine. I have been obliged
also to exclude much matter and to be very sparing of the
critical discussions on which many of my conclusions are
based. Judgments which take a few lines to express have
frequently involved many months of sifting and reflection.
Nor can the problems with which Bismarck was concerned
be fully grasped if attention is confined to State papers,
letters, memoirs, and diplomatic documents.
I much regret that the second volume of Sir A. Ward's
History of Germany did not appear until my MS. was in
the printer's hands, and most of it already in type. I have
therefore only been able to refer to it in the Bibliography.
The Master of Peterhouse will permit me the pleasure
of saying that no living British scholar has a wider or
deeper knowledge of German history (and not merely
in the nineteenth century), and of expressing the
hope that before long his third volume, covering the
last twenty years of Bismarck's Chancellorship, will shortly
be published.
It only remains gratefully to acknowledge the help of
two friends. To Captain Basil Williams, author of the
standard Life of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, and
General Editor of the Series in which this book is included,
1 am indebted for valuable criticisms and suggestions.
London, Constable and company, ltd. , 1919.
http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497
Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
We have determined this work to be in the public domain in the United States of America. It may not be in the public domain in other countries. Copies are provided as a preservation service. Particularly outside of the United States, persons receiving copies should make appropriate efforts to determine the copyright status of the work in their country and use the work accordingly. It is possible that current copyright holders, heirs or the estate of the authors of individual portions of the work, such as illustrations or photographs, assert copyrights over these portions. Depending on the nature of subsequent use that is made, additional rights may need to be obtained independently of anything we can address. The digital images and OCR of this work were produced by Google, Inc. (indicated by a watermark on each page in the PageTurner). Google requests that the images and OCR not be re-hosted, redistributed or used commercially. The images are provided for educational, scholarly, non-commercial purposes.
? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? BISMARCK
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? MAKERS OF THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY
Edited by Basil Williams
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
By Lord Charnwood
HERBERT SPENCER
By Hugh Elliot
PORFIRIO DIAZ
By David Hannay
BISMARCK
By C. Grant Robertson
CECIL RHODES
By Basil Williams
VICTOR HUGO
By Madame Duclaux
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? MAKERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
Edited by Basil Williams
BISMARCK
BY
C. GRANT ROBERTSON, M. A. , C. V. O.
FELLOW OF ALL SOULS COLLEGE, OXFORD
Sy-zwr. 'v*;>i. k inc.
-- fth >>vr . y< l'<< s N v
LONDON
CONSTABLE 'AND COMPANY LTD.
U. OF M. FLINT CCt! 1 r:? LIBRARY
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? LONDON
PUBLISHED BY
Constable end Company Ltd. 9092
IO-I2 ORANGE STREET, W. C. 2
INDIA
Longmans, Green and Company Ltd.
BOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS
CANADA
Longmans, Green and Company Ltd.
TORONTO
First Published 1918
Reprinted . . 1919
Reprinted . . 19*9
Reprinted . . f936
Reprinted . . 1947
Printed in Great Britain by
Lowe and Brydone Printers Limited, London, N. W. io
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? GENERAL EDITOR'S PREFACE
No task is harder for the historian of to-day than to write
in a manner worthy of his great calling on any subject
even remotely connected with the war. It is close to us
at every moment of our lives, our interests are so bound
up with it and our affections are so involved in it, that
the temptation to interpret every recent event solely
according to its supposed influence on the war becomes
nearly irresistible. And real disservice may come to the
cause which we have at heart from yielding to this temp-
tation; for it leads to the selection of facts to accord with
a theory, as opposed to the true historical method of
building up the theory on an accumulation of facts. The
pamphlet or book with a polemical purpose which results
from the former method, however truthful and just, is
never wholly convincing except to the man who requires
no persuasion, and at best succeeds only in heartening
the converted; whereas the true history gradually moulds
the opinion of the world.
No subject would be found more adapted for an easy
polemic at this time than a life of Bismarck. But this
volume is not of that kind. Mr. Grant Robertson justly
claims that it is not a mere product of the war, but that
it is based on exhaustive study and ideas already formed
in the period of calm before this storm burst upon the
nations. Here is a book that calls up Bismarck as a living
human being, extenuating, it is true, none of his gross-
ness or his arrogance, but nevertheless deeply appreciative
B. a 2
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? GENERAL EDITOR'S PREFACE
of all that was great in him, and all that was tender and
sincere. Based on such a foundation of insight and
sympathy, it can pronounce a judgment on the value of
his life to Germany and the world, which can no more be
ignored by a German than by an Englishman. Nay more,
history written in this spirit and on such a subject is, in
fact, most illuminating in our attempts to form a sound
judgment on these critical times and the causes of this war.
For the upheaval of the last three years cannot be traced
back simply to the events of a few weeks in July and
August 1914, but to influences extending back for decades.
Of these influences, the most powerful both on German
character and statecraft, and on the conception of German
policy held in other countries, is without question that
of Bismarck.
BASIL WILLIAMS.
London,
February 1918.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? AUTHOR'S PREFACE
This book does not profess to be a history of Germany
from 1815 to 1890, nor is it specifically a biography. It
is a study, approximately in biographical form, of Bis-
marck's statecraft and of Bismarck himself as one of the
Makers of Modern Europe and of the German nation and
Empire.
It is in no sense a product of the war. My study of,
and interest in, Bismarck began many years before there
was a thought of war, and the conclusions and judgments
expressed in the following pages were formed before
August 4, 1914. The war indeed has retarded the
completion of my task by the imposition of much work
in no way connected with the historical research and
literary labour required for a prolonged examination of
the available material.
The origin of the book goes back to the lectures of
Albert Sorel and E. Lavisse that I attended, after I took my
degree, in the Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques at Paris
and to various courses in the University of Berlin. Since
then, repeated visits to Germany enabled me to pursue
my investigations, to discuss with many--soldiers and
politicians--who knew Bismarck well, and to study at
first hand, and not merely in Germany, the Bismarckian
system.
For no political figure, ancient or modern, does there
exist original material more embarrassingly rich than for
Bismarck. While in no way wishing to underrate the
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? viii
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
help obtainable from the leading secondary authorities,
I have endeavoured throughout to base my conclusions on
an independent study at first hand of the original sources.
As the scope of the Series in which this volume appears
does not admit of elaborate references, I must refer the
reader to the Bibliography in an appendix for information
as to the character, value, and extent of those sources;
but that bibliography by no means exhausts the evidence
it has been necessary to examine. I have been obliged
also to exclude much matter and to be very sparing of the
critical discussions on which many of my conclusions are
based. Judgments which take a few lines to express have
frequently involved many months of sifting and reflection.
Nor can the problems with which Bismarck was concerned
be fully grasped if attention is confined to State papers,
letters, memoirs, and diplomatic documents.
I much regret that the second volume of Sir A. Ward's
History of Germany did not appear until my MS. was in
the printer's hands, and most of it already in type. I have
therefore only been able to refer to it in the Bibliography.
The Master of Peterhouse will permit me the pleasure
of saying that no living British scholar has a wider or
deeper knowledge of German history (and not merely
in the nineteenth century), and of expressing the
hope that before long his third volume, covering the
last twenty years of Bismarck's Chancellorship, will shortly
be published.
It only remains gratefully to acknowledge the help of
two friends. To Captain Basil Williams, author of the
standard Life of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, and
General Editor of the Series in which this book is included,
1 am indebted for valuable criticisms and suggestions. Mr.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp.
Robertson, Charles Grant, Sir, 1869-1948. London, Constable and company, ltd. , 1919.
http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497
Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
We have determined this work to be in the public domain in the United States of America. It may not be in the public domain in other countries. Copies are provided as a preservation service. Particularly outside of the United States, persons receiving copies should make appropriate efforts to determine the copyright status of the work in their country and use the work accordingly. It is possible that current copyright holders, heirs or the estate of the authors of individual portions of the work, such as illustrations or photographs, assert copyrights over these portions. Depending on the nature of subsequent use that is made, additional rights may need to be obtained independently of anything we can address. The digital images and OCR of this work were produced by Google, Inc. (indicated by a watermark on each page in the PageTurner). Google requests that the images and OCR not be re-hosted, redistributed or used commercially. The images are provided for educational, scholarly, non-commercial purposes.
? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? BISMARCK
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? MAKERS OF THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY
Edited by Basil Williams
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
By Lord Charnwood
HERBERT SPENCER
By Hugh Elliot
PORFIRIO DIAZ
By David Hannay
BISMARCK
By C. Grant Robertson
CECIL RHODES
By Basil Williams
VICTOR HUGO
By Madame Duclaux
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? MAKERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
Edited by Basil Williams
BISMARCK
BY
C. GRANT ROBERTSON, M. A. , C. V. O.
FELLOW OF ALL SOULS COLLEGE, OXFORD
Sy-zwr. 'v*;>i. k inc.
-- fth >>vr . y< l'<< s N v
LONDON
CONSTABLE 'AND COMPANY LTD.
U. OF M. FLINT CCt! 1 r:? LIBRARY
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? LONDON
PUBLISHED BY
Constable end Company Ltd. 9092
IO-I2 ORANGE STREET, W. C. 2
INDIA
Longmans, Green and Company Ltd.
BOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS
CANADA
Longmans, Green and Company Ltd.
TORONTO
First Published 1918
Reprinted . . 1919
Reprinted . . 19*9
Reprinted . . f936
Reprinted . . 1947
Printed in Great Britain by
Lowe and Brydone Printers Limited, London, N. W. io
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? GENERAL EDITOR'S PREFACE
No task is harder for the historian of to-day than to write
in a manner worthy of his great calling on any subject
even remotely connected with the war. It is close to us
at every moment of our lives, our interests are so bound
up with it and our affections are so involved in it, that
the temptation to interpret every recent event solely
according to its supposed influence on the war becomes
nearly irresistible. And real disservice may come to the
cause which we have at heart from yielding to this temp-
tation; for it leads to the selection of facts to accord with
a theory, as opposed to the true historical method of
building up the theory on an accumulation of facts. The
pamphlet or book with a polemical purpose which results
from the former method, however truthful and just, is
never wholly convincing except to the man who requires
no persuasion, and at best succeeds only in heartening
the converted; whereas the true history gradually moulds
the opinion of the world.
No subject would be found more adapted for an easy
polemic at this time than a life of Bismarck. But this
volume is not of that kind. Mr. Grant Robertson justly
claims that it is not a mere product of the war, but that
it is based on exhaustive study and ideas already formed
in the period of calm before this storm burst upon the
nations. Here is a book that calls up Bismarck as a living
human being, extenuating, it is true, none of his gross-
ness or his arrogance, but nevertheless deeply appreciative
B. a 2
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? GENERAL EDITOR'S PREFACE
of all that was great in him, and all that was tender and
sincere. Based on such a foundation of insight and
sympathy, it can pronounce a judgment on the value of
his life to Germany and the world, which can no more be
ignored by a German than by an Englishman. Nay more,
history written in this spirit and on such a subject is, in
fact, most illuminating in our attempts to form a sound
judgment on these critical times and the causes of this war.
For the upheaval of the last three years cannot be traced
back simply to the events of a few weeks in July and
August 1914, but to influences extending back for decades.
Of these influences, the most powerful both on German
character and statecraft, and on the conception of German
policy held in other countries, is without question that
of Bismarck.
BASIL WILLIAMS.
London,
February 1918.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? AUTHOR'S PREFACE
This book does not profess to be a history of Germany
from 1815 to 1890, nor is it specifically a biography. It
is a study, approximately in biographical form, of Bis-
marck's statecraft and of Bismarck himself as one of the
Makers of Modern Europe and of the German nation and
Empire.
It is in no sense a product of the war. My study of,
and interest in, Bismarck began many years before there
was a thought of war, and the conclusions and judgments
expressed in the following pages were formed before
August 4, 1914. The war indeed has retarded the
completion of my task by the imposition of much work
in no way connected with the historical research and
literary labour required for a prolonged examination of
the available material.
The origin of the book goes back to the lectures of
Albert Sorel and E. Lavisse that I attended, after I took my
degree, in the Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques at Paris
and to various courses in the University of Berlin. Since
then, repeated visits to Germany enabled me to pursue
my investigations, to discuss with many--soldiers and
politicians--who knew Bismarck well, and to study at
first hand, and not merely in Germany, the Bismarckian
system.
For no political figure, ancient or modern, does there
exist original material more embarrassingly rich than for
Bismarck. While in no way wishing to underrate the
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? viii
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
help obtainable from the leading secondary authorities,
I have endeavoured throughout to base my conclusions on
an independent study at first hand of the original sources.
As the scope of the Series in which this volume appears
does not admit of elaborate references, I must refer the
reader to the Bibliography in an appendix for information
as to the character, value, and extent of those sources;
but that bibliography by no means exhausts the evidence
it has been necessary to examine. I have been obliged
also to exclude much matter and to be very sparing of the
critical discussions on which many of my conclusions are
based. Judgments which take a few lines to express have
frequently involved many months of sifting and reflection.
Nor can the problems with which Bismarck was concerned
be fully grasped if attention is confined to State papers,
letters, memoirs, and diplomatic documents.
I much regret that the second volume of Sir A. Ward's
History of Germany did not appear until my MS. was in
the printer's hands, and most of it already in type. I have
therefore only been able to refer to it in the Bibliography.
The Master of Peterhouse will permit me the pleasure
of saying that no living British scholar has a wider or
deeper knowledge of German history (and not merely
in the nineteenth century), and of expressing the
hope that before long his third volume, covering the
last twenty years of Bismarck's Chancellorship, will shortly
be published.
It only remains gratefully to acknowledge the help of
two friends. To Captain Basil Williams, author of the
standard Life of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, and
General Editor of the Series in which this book is included,
1 am indebted for valuable criticisms and suggestions.
London, Constable and company, ltd. , 1919.
http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497
Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
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? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? BISMARCK
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? MAKERS OF THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY
Edited by Basil Williams
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
By Lord Charnwood
HERBERT SPENCER
By Hugh Elliot
PORFIRIO DIAZ
By David Hannay
BISMARCK
By C. Grant Robertson
CECIL RHODES
By Basil Williams
VICTOR HUGO
By Madame Duclaux
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? ? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? MAKERS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY
Edited by Basil Williams
BISMARCK
BY
C. GRANT ROBERTSON, M. A. , C. V. O.
FELLOW OF ALL SOULS COLLEGE, OXFORD
Sy-zwr. 'v*;>i. k inc.
-- fth >>vr . y< l'<< s N v
LONDON
CONSTABLE 'AND COMPANY LTD.
U. OF M. FLINT CCt! 1 r:? LIBRARY
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? LONDON
PUBLISHED BY
Constable end Company Ltd. 9092
IO-I2 ORANGE STREET, W. C. 2
INDIA
Longmans, Green and Company Ltd.
BOMBAY CALCUTTA MADRAS
CANADA
Longmans, Green and Company Ltd.
TORONTO
First Published 1918
Reprinted . . 1919
Reprinted . . 19*9
Reprinted . . f936
Reprinted . . 1947
Printed in Great Britain by
Lowe and Brydone Printers Limited, London, N. W. io
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? GENERAL EDITOR'S PREFACE
No task is harder for the historian of to-day than to write
in a manner worthy of his great calling on any subject
even remotely connected with the war. It is close to us
at every moment of our lives, our interests are so bound
up with it and our affections are so involved in it, that
the temptation to interpret every recent event solely
according to its supposed influence on the war becomes
nearly irresistible. And real disservice may come to the
cause which we have at heart from yielding to this temp-
tation; for it leads to the selection of facts to accord with
a theory, as opposed to the true historical method of
building up the theory on an accumulation of facts. The
pamphlet or book with a polemical purpose which results
from the former method, however truthful and just, is
never wholly convincing except to the man who requires
no persuasion, and at best succeeds only in heartening
the converted; whereas the true history gradually moulds
the opinion of the world.
No subject would be found more adapted for an easy
polemic at this time than a life of Bismarck. But this
volume is not of that kind. Mr. Grant Robertson justly
claims that it is not a mere product of the war, but that
it is based on exhaustive study and ideas already formed
in the period of calm before this storm burst upon the
nations. Here is a book that calls up Bismarck as a living
human being, extenuating, it is true, none of his gross-
ness or his arrogance, but nevertheless deeply appreciative
B. a 2
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? GENERAL EDITOR'S PREFACE
of all that was great in him, and all that was tender and
sincere. Based on such a foundation of insight and
sympathy, it can pronounce a judgment on the value of
his life to Germany and the world, which can no more be
ignored by a German than by an Englishman. Nay more,
history written in this spirit and on such a subject is, in
fact, most illuminating in our attempts to form a sound
judgment on these critical times and the causes of this war.
For the upheaval of the last three years cannot be traced
back simply to the events of a few weeks in July and
August 1914, but to influences extending back for decades.
Of these influences, the most powerful both on German
character and statecraft, and on the conception of German
policy held in other countries, is without question that
of Bismarck.
BASIL WILLIAMS.
London,
February 1918.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? AUTHOR'S PREFACE
This book does not profess to be a history of Germany
from 1815 to 1890, nor is it specifically a biography. It
is a study, approximately in biographical form, of Bis-
marck's statecraft and of Bismarck himself as one of the
Makers of Modern Europe and of the German nation and
Empire.
It is in no sense a product of the war. My study of,
and interest in, Bismarck began many years before there
was a thought of war, and the conclusions and judgments
expressed in the following pages were formed before
August 4, 1914. The war indeed has retarded the
completion of my task by the imposition of much work
in no way connected with the historical research and
literary labour required for a prolonged examination of
the available material.
The origin of the book goes back to the lectures of
Albert Sorel and E. Lavisse that I attended, after I took my
degree, in the Ecole Libre des Sciences Politiques at Paris
and to various courses in the University of Berlin. Since
then, repeated visits to Germany enabled me to pursue
my investigations, to discuss with many--soldiers and
politicians--who knew Bismarck well, and to study at
first hand, and not merely in Germany, the Bismarckian
system.
For no political figure, ancient or modern, does there
exist original material more embarrassingly rich than for
Bismarck. While in no way wishing to underrate the
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 49015000251497 Public Domain in the United States, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-us-google
? viii
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
help obtainable from the leading secondary authorities,
I have endeavoured throughout to base my conclusions on
an independent study at first hand of the original sources.
As the scope of the Series in which this volume appears
does not admit of elaborate references, I must refer the
reader to the Bibliography in an appendix for information
as to the character, value, and extent of those sources;
but that bibliography by no means exhausts the evidence
it has been necessary to examine. I have been obliged
also to exclude much matter and to be very sparing of the
critical discussions on which many of my conclusions are
based. Judgments which take a few lines to express have
frequently involved many months of sifting and reflection.
Nor can the problems with which Bismarck was concerned
be fully grasped if attention is confined to State papers,
letters, memoirs, and diplomatic documents.
I much regret that the second volume of Sir A. Ward's
History of Germany did not appear until my MS. was in
the printer's hands, and most of it already in type. I have
therefore only been able to refer to it in the Bibliography.
The Master of Peterhouse will permit me the pleasure
of saying that no living British scholar has a wider or
deeper knowledge of German history (and not merely
in the nineteenth century), and of expressing the
hope that before long his third volume, covering the
last twenty years of Bismarck's Chancellorship, will shortly
be published.
It only remains gratefully to acknowledge the help of
two friends. To Captain Basil Williams, author of the
standard Life of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, and
General Editor of the Series in which this book is included,
1 am indebted for valuable criticisms and suggestions. Mr.
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-11-14 09:46 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp.
