When Diplomacy Fails Podcast
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Age of Bismarck #2: Fighting Over Spoils
🕑 Added 2024-10-10 05:30:01 +0000 UTC[PATRONS]
Before Bismarck could make Austria's nightmare a reality, he would have to wait. The key problem for Prussia was one of money. The Landtag would not give it without concessions, and this would surely alert the Austrians, so Bismarck needed an alternative. He found it in his personal banker, Gerson Bleichröder, who leveraged the government's stocks in a lucrative railway company to raise the necessary cash.
At the same time, the entirely predictable thing occurred. Prussia annexed Schleswig, filling its administration with its own officials, and ending for good the possibility that the Duchies would become another middle German state. The outrage was great among German liberals and German nationalists, but also within Europe. Fortunately, Bismarck had a plan. He brought Austria into this illicit bargain with him.
Already, Europe was debating when the two robbers would fall out, but thanks to this act, Bismarck could be sure that when the axe did fall, few would cry for Vienna, and fewer still would wish to interfere in this fight over their ill-gotten gains. He had set the trap, and Austria now possessed Holstein, a duchy far from Austria itself, and holding few benefits for a beleaguered, bankrupt Austrian administration. Austria was miserable as 1865, but to Bismarck, this simply meant that everything was going according to plan...
Comments
Diana J Austin
The Rothschilds invested in German railways to help Bismarck pursue defeating Austria so as to unify Germany. Twenty years later, they also funded J..P. Morgan’s plan to takeover the U.S. railroads to industrialize the U.S. The Rothschilds knew where to put their money.
When Diplomacy Fails Podcast
Thanksss Ronald, delighted you enjoyed it! Much more Bismarck schemes to come!
Ronald Henry
Fantastic episode! I think I may have grasped a bit of B’s genius and the behind the scenes importance of his banker. This series is proving to be everything I hoped.
