Wilhelm Bismarck (Wilhelm Bismarck 1.08.1852 - 30.05.1901) is the youngest son of Otto von Bismarck, the first chancellor of Germany. Life initially set a high bar, since most of the Bismarck family held high positions and achieved great success in their political careers. Who was Wilhelm …
Biography
Count Wilhelm Otto Albrecht von Bismarck-Schönhausen was born on August 1, 1852 in a German noble family of the Bismarck family, in the German city of Frankfurt am Main.
Bismarck (German Bismark, Bismarck) - Brandenburg noble family, leading its name from the city of Bismarck Stendal district. Originally this genus was called Bischofsmark, Biskopesmark. Herbard (Herbrot) Bismarck - the first, about which the news was preserved, was in 1270 the foreman of the merchant guild in Stendal. Through his two sons, he became the ancestor of the existing two main lines: Schönhausen in Magdeburg and Krevez in Altmark (Bismarck-Schönhausen and Bismarck-Kreve). Many members of these both lines have advanced in government and military service. Some of them: Bismarck, Georg von (1891-1942) - Lieutenant General of the Wehrmacht. Bismarck, Herbert von (1849-1904) - the eldest son of Otto von Bismarck, diplomat. Bismarck, Gottfried von - Otto von Bismarck's grandson, Nazi deputy of the Reichstag, implicated in the July 20 conspiracy. Bismarck, Ludolph August von (1683-1750) - Russian general, governor of Riga. Bismarck, Otto von (German Bismarck) - German statesman, the first Reich Chancellor of the German Empire. Bismarck, Friedrich Wilhelm von (1783-1860) - Württemberg general and diplomat, as well as a military writer.
A family
Father - Count (1865), Prince (1871) Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke zu Lauenburg (German Otto Eduard Leopold Fürst von Bismarck-Schönhausen, Herzog zu Lauenburg). April 01, 1815 - July 30, 1898 The first Chancellor of the German Empire, who implemented the plan for the unification of Germany along the Lesser German path Upon retirement, he received the non-inherited title of Duke of Lauenburg and the rank of Prussian Colonel General with the rank of Field Marshal.
Mother - Johanna Friederike Charlotte Dorothea Eleonore von Puttkamer, married Johann von Bismarck. April 11, 1824. - November 27, 1894, from an aristocratic family. Wilhelm also had a sister, Maria (1848-1926), married to zu Rantzau, and an older brother, Herbert (1849-1904).
Wilhelm's personal life went well: in 1885 he married his cousin Sybil von Arnim, with whom he had four children.
Life and Career are closely intertwined
By inheritance, the elder brother Herbert was considered the next in line to become “Prince of Bismarck” and head the princely House of Bismarcks, but Wilhelm von Bismarck was the more popular of the two brothers. He was a famous athlete, like his father, participated in fights (the so-called duels which were found to be illegal). And in one of these fights he almost lost his life, after which he was not expected to live more than a month. Wilhelm was very much like his father: "the same arrogant behavior, the same head shape and even the same gestures." This similarity could be seen in all the portraits and photographs preserved from those years.
At the beginning of their political activities, Wilhelm and his brother Herbert, fought in the Franco-Prussian War (July 19, 1870 to January 28, 1871), each of whom was a lieutenant as officers of the headquarters of the 1st Dragoon Regiment and received the Iron Cross for gallantry. During the war of 1870, Wilhelm made the Death Ride of the Dragoons of the Guards to Mars-la-Tour.
After the war, Wilhelm in 1879 was appointed secretary to General Edwin Freiherr von Manteuffel, military governor of the recently ceded provinces of Alsace and Lorraine. Bismarck briefly joined his brother and famous father in German politics, becoming a member of the Reichstag, at the same time 1878-81 Wilhelm becomes a member of Parliament from the Free Conservative Party, but was defeated after re-election in 1881.
Wilhelm's career began to grow rapidly: in 1882-85 he became a member of the Prussian House of Representatives, where he held a position on special issues of economic and social policy. In 1884 he held the post of lecturer at the Prussian State Ministry. In the winter of 1884-85. V. B. was appointed one of the secretaries of the International Conference of the Congo in Berlin.
He then embarked on a legal career and became a government advisor the following year. Four years later, in 1889, he was president of the Regency of Hanover and held this position until the following year, when he and Herbert left their appointments in protest against the fact that their father was forced to resign as chancellor of Kaiser Wilhelm II. And quite unexpectedly in 1894 he was appointed governor of East Prussia.
In the morning. The funeral took place a week later
Of the newspapers that broadcast death obituaries, according to the New York Times, they wrote about Wilhelm's habits: "Few of them are welcoming, and most note that the son possessed all the weaknesses of his famous father without his greatness."
On the same day, Wilhelm II planned to unveil a statue of Otto von Bismarck in front of the Reichstag building.
Since relations between Wilhelm and the Bismarck family were somewhat tense and the Kaiser's refusal to postpone the ceremony, given that the preparations had already been completed and the presence of thousands of people from Germany and other European countries was expected, participation in the opening of the monument became impossible.
This is how the death of Wilhelm and the glory of his father were intertwined …
