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''Blood and Iron'' ( German: ''Blut und Eisen'') is the name given to a speech made by
Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of ...
given on 30 September 1862, at the time when he was
Minister President of Prussia The office of Minister-President (german: Ministerpräsident), or Prime Minister, of Prussia existed from 1848, when it was formed by King Frederick William IV during the 1848–49 Revolution, until the abolition of Prussia in 1947 by the Allie ...
, about the unification of the German territories. It is also a transposed phrase that Bismarck uttered near the end of the speech that has become one of his most widely known quotations. In September 1862, when the
Prussian House of Representatives The Prussian House of Representatives (german: Preußisches Abgeordnetenhaus) was the lower chamber of the Landtag of Prussia (german: Preußischer Landtag), the parliament of Prussia from 1850 to 1918. Together with the upper house, the House o ...
were refusing to approve an increase in military spending desired by King
Wilhelm I William I or Wilhelm I (german: Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 2 January 1861 and German Emperor from 18 January 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the f ...
, the monarch appointed Bismarck Minister President and
Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...
. A few days later, Bismarck appeared before the House's Budget Committee and stressed the need for military preparedness to solve the
German Question The "German question" was a debate in the 19th century, especially during the Revolutions of 1848, over the best way to achieve a unification of all or most lands inhabited by Germans. From 1815 to 1866, about 37 independent German-speaking sta ...
. He concluded his speech with the following statement:German History in Documents and Images: Excerpt from Bismarck's "Blood and Iron" Speech (1862)
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“The position of Prussia in Germany will not be determined by its liberalism but by its power ..Prussia must concentrate its strength and hold it for the favourable moment, which has already come and gone several times. Since the treaties of Vienna, our frontiers have been ill-designed for a healthy body politic. Not through speeches and majority decisions will the great questions of the day be decided—that was the great mistake of 1848 and 1849—but by iron and blood (''Eisen und Blut'').”
This phrase, relying on a patriotic poem written by
Max von Schenkendorf Gottlob Ferdinand Maximilian Gottfried von Schenkendorf (11 December 1783 in Tilsit in East Prussia – 11 December 1817 in Koblenz) was a German poet, born in Tilsit and educated at Königsberg. During the War of Liberation, in which he to ...
during the
Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
, was popularized as the more euphonious ''Blut und Eisen'' ("Blood and Iron"), and became symbolic of Bismarckian ''
Machtpolitik Power politics is a theory in international relations which contends that distributions of power and national interests, or changes to those distributions, are fundamental causes of war and of system stability. The concept of power politics pro ...
'' ("Power politics"). Although Bismarck was an outstanding diplomat, the phrase "blood and iron" has become a popular description of his foreign policy partly because he did on occasion resort to war to further the
unification of Germany The unification of Germany (, ) was the process of building the modern German nation state with federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without multinational Austria), which commenced on 18 August 1866 with adoption of ...
and the expansion of its continental power. Therefore, he became known as "the iron chancellor."


In film

The speech is recreated in the 1940 German film '' Bismarck''. The propaganda film does much to connect
Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of ...
with
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and then ...
.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blood And Iron (Murder) 1862 in international relations Politics of Prussia 1862 in Germany Otto von Bismarck 1862 speeches September 1862 events