Otto von Bismarck, in full Otto Eduard Leopold, Frst (prince) von
Bismarck, Graf (count) von Bismarck-Schnhausen, Herzog (duke)
von Lauenburg (born April 1, 1815, Schnhausen, Altmark,
Prussia [Germany]died July 30, 1898, Friedrichsruh, near
Hamburg), prime minister of Prussia (186273, 187390) and
founder and first chancellor (187190) of the German Empire.
Once the empire was established, he actively and skillfully
pursued pacific policies in foreign affairs, succeeding in preserving
the peace in Europe for about two decades. But in domestic
policies his patrimony was less benign, for he failed to rise above
the authoritarian proclivities of the landed squirearchy to which
he was born.
(Kaiserliche Marine), and Bismarck, North Dakota, were named in his honor, as was the Bismarck
Archipelago outside the former German colony of New Guinea, and several streets and schools in