Who Is A Founding Father?

What is the definition of a founding father? A founding father is someone who lays the foundation of something or somewhere. When speaking of founding fathers of modern Germany, who comes to mind? Some people would answer with Charlemagne or even Adolf Hitler. Well, the person who should really come to mind as the true fore father of modern-day Germany is a man known by Otto von Bismarck. Bismarck almost single-handedly unified Germany and brought it to one of its most prosperous points in history.
Some may say Bismarck was a diamond in the rough. After all, he came from a very unusual background but that did not stop him from achieving greatness even in his younger years. Otto von Bismarck was born the first of april in 1815 in the german
He then graduated and entered the University of Gottingen at 17 to study law and history. He then transferred to Berlin to complete his studies to become a doctor of law (“Otto Von Bismarck & German Unification”). He was a rebellious child who became a vocal atheist and had no real direction to his life (McNamara).He then became smitten by Johanna von Puttkamer who brought stability and religion back into his life (“Otto Von Bismark”). Bismarck began his career in Prussian legislature as a substitute member of Prussian parliament. He then served in different places such as Paris and St. Petersburg. He quickly became known as a fierce ultra-conservative royalist due to his sharp judgment on foreign leaders and his belief in divine right. As if his
One reason is all of the things he did to unite Germany and turn it into a world power. In 1862, Bismarck was appointed minister-president of Prussia. When awarded the title, he made his famous speech that said, “The great questions of the day will not be settled by speeches and majority decisions but by blood and iron.” Bismarck then knew that he wanted Prussian influence to be the leading power in northern and western Germany (“Otto von Bismark”). Bismarck begin his quest for german unification first by engineering a dispute over subsequent administration of Schleswig and Holstein and instigating a war against Denmark. Then, Bismarck provoked a war with Austria thus leading Austrian influence out of the German states which allowed Prussia in the end to gain control of Schleswig, Holstein, Hanover, and Nassau (“Otto Von Bismarck & German Unification”). After the Seven Weeks War, Bismarck provoked yet another war but this time with France. The “Elms Telegram” was a telegram from Wilhelm that was sent to Bismarck speaking about the vacant throne of Spain which was offered to a German prince. France was angered by this, and Bismarck edited the telegram to make it sound as though Prussia was ready for war. France saw this a threat and immediately declared war. Being that France declared war, German states saw France as the aggressor and sided with Prussia thus beginning the Franco-Prussian war. The war