Emperor appointed for his services to the founding of the German Empire William I Otto von Bismarck on March 21, 1871 he became Chancellor and at the same time raised him to the hereditary rank of prince. He retained his offices as Prussian prime minister and foreign minister (since 1862) and as minister for Lauenburg (since 1865). In addition, the monarch, in his position as Duke of Lauenburg, gave him the Schwarzenbek domain east of Hamburg with the Sachsenwald on June 24th.

As Imperial Chancellor, Bismarck directed all matters within the Emperor's power to govern, and as minister-president he determined the guidelines of Prussian policy. Contemporary criticism from both liberal and conservative quarters that Bismarck ruled like a "dictator" was inaccurate. Although he dominated the political stage through the fullness of his office and thanks to his special position of trust with the Emperor, he was not an omnipotent statesman. For example, Bismarck needed the approval of parliament (Reichstag) and the representation of the federal states (Bundesrat) to carry out legislative projects. In addition, the population in general had become politicised and took an active part in the formation of political will through the parties. The empire was thus not a purely authoritarian state, but the further development of the political system towards a parliamentary monarchy was blocked by Bismarck. Prussia's primacy as the largest federal state remained untouched, as did the strong position of the monarch and his government vis-à-vis the Reichstag and the parties.

With the active support of liberal and moderate conservative forces, Bismarck succeeded in advancing the internal expansion of the empire through economic, social and political reforms and the standardisation of legal provisions. This laid the foundations for an economic upswing as well as the modern legal and administrative state. At the end of the 1870s, the era of close cooperation between the Imperial Chancellor and the Liberalscame to an end, and Bismarck once again turned increasingly to the Conservatives.

While the majority of Germans welcomed the founding of the Reich, socialists, Catholics and the national minorities (Danes, Alsatians, Lorraine, Poles) were sceptical about the new Reich. Instead of integrating these groups into the nation state, Bismarck regarded them as a threat and therefore fought them with legal as well as police measures.

For both domestic and foreign policy motives, he fought from 1871 onwards - supported by the liberals - with laws and decrees against an alleged claim to power by the Pope, an alleged encirclement alliance of Catholic powers and the Catholic Centre Party. At the heart of the matter was the assertion of the state's claim to power over the Catholic Church, whose influence in state and society was to be pushed back. One painful consequence of this "Kulturkampf" for Bismarck, which he gradually ended in 1878 with a change of policy, was the assassination attempt on him by Eduard Kullmann in Kissingen on July 13th, 1874. Bismarck was slightly injured.

At the end of the 1870s, Bismarck focused his fight against suspected internal enemies on the Social Democracy, which was held responsible for two assassination attempts on William I as a supposed "subversive party". In 1878, the Imperial Chancellor used this as a pretext for introducing the "Anti-Socialist Law", which temporarily banned all social democratic organisations as well as the party press. In 1890, the renewed extension and tightening of the law desired by Bismarck failed in the Reichstag.

The Imperial Chancellor also regarded the national minorities as a possible threat. Instead of granting them a certain cultural autonomy, a policy of Germanisation, especially in the Prussian eastern provinces, was to strengthen their sense of belonging to the German nation.

This policy of confrontation at home met with fierce but non-violent resistance from the affected population and ultimately proved to be a failure. The supposed "enemies of the Reich" emerged stronger from the confrontation and maintained their distrust of the Prussian-Protestant-dominated nation-state, which prevented an overcoming of the political and social antagonisms in the long term.

 Emperor Wilhelm I appoints Otto von Bismarck to the Prussian House of Lords on 1 July 1876 with hereditary right to seat and vote (© Otto-von-Bismarck-Stiftung)

To mitigate the economic, social and political consequences of Germany's transition from an agrarian to a modern industrial state, the government introduced comprehensive social reforms in the 1880s. This was intended to win over the working class to the monarchical nation state and weaken social democracy. In addition to the transition from a free trade to a protective tariff policy initiated by Bismarck in 1878/79, this was another motive for taking over the leadership of the Prussian Ministry of Trade and Commerce in September 1880.

With the "Imperial Message" of November 17th, 1881, he presented the Reichstag with a comprehensive programme that included three different social insurance schemes. The health, accident and invalidity insurances introduced between 1883 and 1889 were compulsory for the mass of industrial and agricultural workers and were financed by different contribution systems.

These socio-political measures did contribute to improving the social situation of the working class and acted as a model for other Western countries. But the demands for political and social equality of the workers were not met. Therefore, the government did not succeed in alienating the working class from social democracy.

 The blessing of old-age and invalidity insurance, wood engraving, c. 1890 (© Otto-von-Bismarck-Stiftung / Reproduction: Jürgen Hollweg)

The founding of the German nation state changed the European state system. In the centre of the continent, a centre of power with 41 million inhabitants emerged, which was to play a leading role due to its population, military power and economic strength.

The German Empire was particularly at risk because of its geographical position in the centre of Europe. Among Bismarck's greatest fears were the formation of hostile alliances and Germany's involvement in a war on two fronts. To avert this danger, he exploited clashes of interest among the great powers both within and outside Europe in order to consolidate the security of the Reich as well as European peace. This involved the creation of a system of alliances that included a number of European states, but from which France, defeated in 1871, was excluded as the "main danger for the future", as Bismarck put it. The aim was to isolate France in the long term in order to forestall any revanchist policy.

The basis of Bismarck's alliance system was initially the Three Emperors' Agreement of October 22nd, 1873, with the conservative powers of Austria-Hungary and Russia. It served to secure European peace and to protect the monarchical principle from revolutionary movements. In the "war-in-sight" crisis provoked by Bismarck in 1875 as a reaction to French armament plans, Great Britain and Russia signalled to the Imperial Chancellor that they would not tolerate a renewed military defeat of France and a further expansion of Germany's power. In view of this foreign policy defeat, Bismarck confined himself in future to a diplomacy of balance of power.

In 1878, another war threatened to break out as a result of Russia's victory over the Ottoman Empire. At the Berlin Congress, however, Bismarck succeeded in preventing a European conflagration through his mediation between the great powers. Since Russia saw itself deprived of a large part of its spoils of victory, which Bismarck was blamed for, German-Russian relations deteriorated, to which Germany's protective tariff policy also contributed. Moreover, in view of the Balkan crisis, the Three Emperors' Agreement broke down because Austria-Hungary (like Great Britain) saw its interests in the "Orient" (Balkans) disregarded by the Russian government. The Habsburg Monarchy, which was vying with Russia for zones of influence in the Balkans, drew closer to the German Empire. On Bismarck's initiative, the two powers concluded the Dual Alliance in 1879, which was expanded in 1882 when Italy joined the Triple Alliance, with Romania also joining in 1883.

 Front page of the German Colonial Newspaper from November 1, 1884 (© Otto-von-Bismarck-Stiftung / Photographer: Jürgen Hollweg)

Two years earlier, however, the Imperial Chancellor had succeeded in drawing Russia into the Dual Alliance and in committing it to neutrality in the event of war in the Three Emperors' Alliance. Renewed in 1884, however, the alliance broke down because of Austro-Russian rivalry in the Balkans. Nevertheless, Germany and Russia signed the Treaty of Reinsurance in 1887, in which both powers assured each other of benevolent neutrality. Its non-renewal three years later finally led to Russia's already initiated turn towards France. The Oriental Triple Alliance concluded between Austria, Italy and Great Britain in 1887 with Bismarck's support was intended to stabilise the balance of power in the Mediterranean region, which resulted in France's further isolation and Great Britain's rapprochement with the Triple Alliance.

A bundle of foreign, trade and domestic policy motives led to Germany's brief overseas reach in the mid-1880s. During this period of calm in foreign policy, an opportunity arose for Bismarck, who basically had no sympathy for a German colonial policy , to bring about a relaxation of tensions in Europe by reaching an agreement with France on colonial policy issues. The cooperation with France reached its climax at the Berlin Africa Conference ("Congo Conference", 1884/85), but ended abruptly after a change of government in Paris (1885). In this short period of time, the foundations were laid for the German possessions (protectorates) in Africa as well as in the Pacific region.

Since 1871, Bismarck had succeeded in maintaining peace and ensuring Germany's security through foreign policy flexibility and restraint. However, his system of alliances proved increasingly fragile in the face of growing tensions between the great powers, especially also between Germany's allies.

The heavy workload, which Bismarck had already complained about in the 1860s, had just as damaging an effect on his health in the years that followed as his tobacco and alcohol consumption combined with the large number of meals he ate throughout the day. In 1879, the Imperial Chancellor weighed in at around 123 kilograms. As the pounds increased, so did Bismarck's complaints about his physical condition. At times, the Imperial Chancellor withdrew to his estates for months to recuperate. It was not until Ernst Schweninger , a Bavarian doctor who had been in his service since XNUMX, succeeded in significantly reducing the weight by changing his diet – occasional relapses occurred – and largely restoring the Imperial Chancellor's Health through medical measures. Thus, in 1885, he was able to celebrate his 70th birthday and his 50th anniversary in office in a stable condition.