Blood and Iron (speech)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Blood and Iron" speech – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Blood and Iron (German: Blut und Eisen) is the name given to a speech made by Otto von Bismarck given on 30 September 1862, at the time when he was Minister President of Prussia, about the unification of the German territories. It is also a transposed phrase that Bismarck uttered near the end of the speech that has become one of his most widely known quotations.

In September 1862, when the

Although Bismarck was an outstanding diplomat, the phrase "blood and iron" has become a popular description of his foreign policy partly because he did on occasion resort to war to further the unification of Germany and the expansion of its continental power. Therefore, he became known as "the iron chancellor."

References