Why bismarck loved lincoln

Less than 50 years later the defeated Germans were back in Versailles to accept an unjust, dictated peace in , itself overthrown with a vengeance by Hitler in Thank goodness the good Germans, the Germans of Beethoven and Schiller, have been back in charge since , the kind of high-minded moderate people who were sidelined in the Bismarck era after the failed bourgeois revolution of Why does Bismarck escape blame as the chief architect of 20th-century Germany — and thus the man who created a militarised political machine that only he could handle?

We can follow that line of argument. Much criticism can be made of both of them over long careers, but neither was a militarist or would-be autocrat, bent on destroying accountable government.

Churchill was quite soppy about parliament. The appointment of Bayard Taylor, the well-known translator of German literature, to the legation at Berlin was perhaps chiefly a compliment to the great scholar and the German scientific world. Bismarck treated him with the highest respect.

He told him that he had read one of his books during his last illness. I was astonished at the freedom with which he spoke, but I shall honor his confidence and say nothing for years to come. He was twice Minister to Germany, from to and from to He was a most sincere friend of Germany, very interested in German higher education, and a great admirer of Bismarck. In one of their early talks they spoke of the location of the American Federal capital. This is the way White described it:.

I told him certainly not, that New York was for a very short period at the beginning of our national history a pro tempore capital, but that there was a deep-seated idea that the capital should not be a great metropolitan city, and that unquestionably the placing of it in Washington was decided not merely by the central position of the town, but by the fact that it was an artificial city and never could become a great metropolitan town.

He answered that he thought this showed great wisdom; in his opinion, the French were making a great mistake in bringing the capital back to Paris, that the construction of the human body furnished a good hint for the arrangement in the body politic; that, as the human brain is held in a strong enclosure and at a distance from the parts of the body which are most physically active, so, he thought, the brains of the nation should be protected with the greatest care, and should not be placed in the midst of great, active, energetic metropolitan cities.

Sargent, who was appointed in the beginning of the eighties. Like other European powers, the German Government prohibited the importation of American pork for fear of trichinosis and other diseases.

Of American politicians, Carl Schurz had the best opportunity to come into personal touch with Bismarck. Carl Schurz had fought against the government forces in the German revolution of and had fled to the United States after having aided his friend Gottfried Kinkel to escape from prison.

Owing to his strong will and great capacity he soon became the leader of the German-Americans, and he also won the personal confidence of President Lincoln. At the beginning of the Civil War he was appointed as Minister to Madrid.

However, he soon resigned in order to participate in the battles of the Civil War as a general in the Federal Army. In the autumn of the year he made a trip to Europe and, longing to see his old home, asked the Prussian Government if he would be allowed to visit his friends.

Bismarck sent the Chief of Police to the station at Mannheim to invite him in the most cordial manner to come to Berlin. In January, , Schurz was introduced to the Chancellor by a friend.

Bismarck received him in a gracious manner, believing he had seen him before. Schurz told him that that was impossible and asked him laughingly if he would not have arrested him as a malefactor. You mean on account of this Kinkel affair. There is also something to be said about the relations of some American generals with Bismarck. Grant, as President, did not come into personal contact with the Chancellor. In , on a visit to Europe, Grant made a short trip to Berlin. Bismarck called upon him immediately and had a long and interesting conversation with him.

Grant told Bismarck that he was not really a soldier at heart and that he left the army with pleasure:. What always seemed sad to me about your last great war, was that you were fighting your own people. That is always so terrible in wars, so very, hard. We felt that it was a stain upon the Union that men could be bought and sold like cattle. Grant carried away with him a very favorable impression of Bismarck.

On one occasion Bismarck took Grant to a military parade. The latter was not feeling well that day and had to sit in a closed carriage. He looked downcast and told the prince that it worried him to think that he was to meet the Prussian soldiers sitting coddled up in a carriage as any ordinary civilian.

The latter was given an important and interesting mission in besieged Paris, where, in the name of Bismarck, he proposed an armistice of forty-eight hours, to enable the French Government to make the necessary elections for the National Convention. Inner fence line of double fence at Ft. Internees arriving at Ft.

Others did the laundry. Some preferred this task because the laundry room was warm. German internees had an active theatre group. Guenther Greis Collection. Still others studied, hoping one day to become US citizens. Street inside Ft. Lincoln Ursula Vogt Potter Collection. Hours moved slowly for the internees. Here they play cards in the sleeping quarters. Severe winter weather down to degrees and howling winds greeted internees at Ft.

Lincoln, a shock to many from southern climates, like Latin America. Lincoln Barracks — Note double fence. Internees were expected to perform many of the day to day duties at the camp. Here men prepare to feed the other internees. Ursula Vogt Potter Collection. Others engaged in more nefarious pursuits, including tunneling under the fence that ringed the camp. This escape attempt failed when the tunnel collapsed because a truck drove over it.

Guards at Ft. Lincoln with dogs John Christgau Collection. Internees still celebrated holidays. This image is original postcard from Ft. Suzy Lechner Kvammen Collection. Explore multimedia from the series and navigate through past posts, as well as photos and articles from the Times archive.

And so the old order gave way to a new, contested one on both sides of the Atlantic; unification would come in both places by force. Probably so; civil wars by definition happen largely for internal reasons. But without the conflict in Europe, the American war would not have been the nationalist achievement of world-historical import, as Lincoln, Bismarck and later generations understood it.

In other words, the Civil War — as significant as it is for American history — is even more important when viewed through a comparative, transatlantic lens. The fight for internal unification rather than expansion meant that never again would the United States seek to conquer and annex its neighbors. Follow Disunion at twitter. Kenneth Weisbrode is a writer and historian. See next articles.