Bismarck's Realpolitik and firm governance resulted in him being popularly known as the Iron Chancellor German : Eiserner Kanzler. He served as the Prussian ambassador to Russia and France and in both houses of the Prussian parliament.
From to , he held office as the minister president and foreign minister of Prussia. Under Bismarck's leadership, Prussia provoked three short, decisive wars against Denmark , Austria , and France. After Austria 's defeat in , he replaced the German Confederation with the North German Confederation , which aligned the smaller North German states with Prussia while excluding Austria.
In , Bismarck secured France's defeat with support from the independent South German states before overseeing the creation of a unified German Empire under Prussian rule. From onwards, his balance-of-power approach to diplomacy helped maintain Germany's position in a peaceful Europe. While averse to maritime colonialism , Bismarck ultimately acquiesced to elite and popular opinion by building an overseas empire.
As the architect of Germany's domestic policies, Bismarck created the first modern welfare state , which also had the effect of undermining his socialist opponents.
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In the s, he allied himself with the anti- tariff , anti- Catholic Liberals while repressing the Catholic Church in the Kulturkampf "culture struggle". Additionally, under his governance, the Imperial Reichstag was elected by universal male suffrage but did not control government policy. A staunch monarchist, Bismarck inherently distrusted democracy and ruled through a strong, well-trained bureaucracy with power concentrated in the hands of the Junker elite. After being dismissed from office by Wilhelm II , he retired to write his memoirs.
