How Is Otto Von Bismarck Conservative

Klemens Von Metternich and Otto Von Bismarck Both conservative in their Foreign Policy’s made achievements that helped lead to a more modern Europe that we know of today. Even though they had different goals of what Europe should be, rather it having an equal balance of power, or Germany having the absolute rule, they had the same great overall goal of making Europe a better place. In the end, their foreign Policies, both different and alike in many ways, made a lasting impact on Europe.

The biggest similarity I believe that Metternich and Bismarck shared was their political views of being conservative, and not one bit radical. One of Metternich’s hopes was to convert the tsar, Alexander to a firm conservatism (91). He wanted to keep and maintain

The Fall of Metternich happened because of Louis Kossuth’s speech on liberty. Since the government put together by Metternich fell apart so easily it proved that it was weak (126). This thrilled people throughout the Austrian Empire especially in Germany. The Frankfurt Assembly was made possible by the collapse of the German governments during the March Days all because of Metternich’s weak government and how easy it was collapsed. The assembly ended up failing in unifying Germany because king of Prussia refused the offer to rule them. Even though it was a failure this was an experience that made the German people develop even more nationalism and want to unify that much more. In 1867, Bismarck suggested that the German confederation change to a more democratic system (163-164). He produced a new constitution called the North German confederation. He basically pretended to be democratic to weaken Austria’s chance of unifying with Germany. What he wrote was just to appease the German people so that they would like him. What he gave them was a false sense of a democracy, and the participation they would have in their government. He also eventually helped in the actual unification of the German States. He made peace between France and Germany in the treaty of Frankfurt and no sooner than 3 wars later he successfully united the German States

Metternich wanted a balance of power for all of the different countries. He didn't want any nation state stronger than the other. For example the point of the Congress of Vienna was to return peace and resize certain states so that they would not have more power than any other ones. He believed that balancing the power would produce a lasting peace that was establish (442). Bismarck wanted the complete opposite, he believed in having Germany as the main power and actually broke up a lot of what the Congress of Vienna had made. Bismarck edged on wars with other nations. In one instance he published an EMS telegram from the King of Prussia so he could provoke war between France and Prussia (166). Later on he became obsessed with gaining power and land through the Austrian Prussian war, since he dominated France, Italy, and Russia during this war. He wanted a united superpower and thats what he got by the year of 1871