dec 9, 1849 - Otto von Bismarck

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Short version (for your timeline)
Bismarck opposed the 1848 Revolution, mocked the Frankfurt Parliament, and supported Frederick William IV’s refusal of the imperial crown. The failure of 1848 convinced him that Germany could only be unified by Prussian power, not liberal debate — a lesson that shaped his later “blood and iron” unification of Germany.

1. In 1848, Bismarck was a young, ultra‑conservative Prussian politician
He was not a liberal, not a nationalist, and definitely not a supporter of the Frankfurt Parliament.
He believed in:
• the divine right of kings
• the power of the Prussian monarchy
• the authority of the Junker aristocracy
• crushing revolutions, not negotiating with them
During the Berlin uprisings of March 1848, he even offered to raise a militia of landowners to shoot the revolutionaries.
So he is on the opposite side of the reformers.
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⭐ 2. He opposed the Frankfurt Parliament and mocked its goals
When the Frankfurt Parliament tried to create a constitutional German nation‑state, Bismarck saw it as:
• naïve
• weak
• dangerous to Prussian interests
He believed Germany should be unified from above, by Prussian power — not by professors and lawyers debating in a church.
He famously said the Frankfurt liberals were trying to “unify Germany with speeches,” which he thought was ridiculous.
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3. He supported Frederick William IV’s refusal of the imperial crown (1849)
When the Frankfurt Parliament offered the German imperial crown to Frederick William IV, Bismarck strongly supported the king’s refusal.
Why?
Because accepting a crown from revolutionaries would:
• legitimize the revolution
• weaken the monarchy
• place Prussia under a constitution written by liberals
• make Prussia answer to a parliament instead of ruling Germany itself
Bismarck wanted Prussia to dominate Germany, not be bound by a liberal constitution.
So he backed the king’s rejection of the “dog‑collar crown.”
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4. After the revolution collapsed, Bismarck rose in power
The failure of 1848 proved to conservatives that:
• liberal nationalism was weak
• only Prussian military and diplomatic power could unify Germany
This opened the door for Bismarck’s rise.
By the 1850s, he became:
• Prussian ambassador to Frankfurt
• then ambassador to Russia
• then ambassador to France
• and finally Prime Minister of Prussia in 1862
From this position, he would unify Germany his way.
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5. Bismarck’s lesson from 1848: Germany will be unified by “blood and iron”
1848 convinced him that:

This is the origin of his famous 1862 line:

He learned that from watching the Frankfurt Parliament fail.

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