This paper reviews Fritz Stern's Gold and Iron: Bismarck, Bleichröder, and the Building of the German Empire, a comprehensive dual biography tracing the thirty-five-year relationship between Prussian statesman Otto von Bismarck and his Jewish banker-confidant Gerson von Bleichröder. The review evaluates Stern's argument that German unification was as much an economic achievement as a political one, and that Bleichröder's erasure from mainstream historiography reflects the pervasive anti-Semitism of nineteenth-century Germany. The paper walks through each of the book's three major sections, assessing Stern's use of archival documents, his analytical style, and the strengths and minor weaknesses of the work.
Columbia historian Fritz Stern gathered thousands of previously unpublished documents, letters, and correspondences between the two foremost shapers of German unification: Otto von Bismarck and Gerson von Bleichröder. Most readers will be familiar with the former: Bismarck, new Germany's first leader and molder of political realities in nineteenth-century Europe. Fewer, however, will recognize the latter. Gerson von Bleichröder — Jewish banker and unofficial confidant of Bismarck — remains neglected in German historiography. Stern seeks to correct this glaring omission by weaving the biographies of these two influential men into a comprehensive history of German unification.
The result is a six-hundred-plus page tome titled Gold and Iron: Bismarck, Bleichröder, and the Building of the German Empire. Well-written, well-organized, and thoroughly researched, Gold and Iron examines the personal and public lives of both men and illustrates how they shaped German social, political, and economic policies. Stern's writing style engages readers, and his audience could just as well be casual consumers as erudite scholars.
Divided into three main topical sections, Gold and Iron contains no photographs, graphs, maps, or illustrations. While graphs would be of no particular use in this case, photos and maps would embellish the book and enhance its impact; their absence is one of the only weaknesses of an otherwise thoughtfully compiled tome. Stern includes a helpful Guide to Abbreviations following the Table of Contents, prior to the nine-page Introduction. The Epilogue precedes separate sections for chapter endnotes, acknowledgements, bibliography, and an incredibly detailed topical index.
In the Introduction, Stern states: "This is a book about Germans and Jews, about power and money" (xv). Gold and Iron examines the thirty-five-year relationship between Bleichröder and Bismarck — both known to their contemporaries, but only one of whom has survived in the history books. The author explains one of his chief motives for writing Gold and Iron as the presentation of Bleichröder as a key figure in German history, as important as Bismarck but overshadowed by him. Bleichröder "is everything that has been left out of German history," according to Stern (xix).
Stern posits that one of the main reasons — if not the only reason — why Bleichröder does not receive the credit he deserves for helping his nation rise to political and economic power is that he was a Jew. Although the liberal Prussian monarchy afforded Jews some level of protection, and although Bleichröder came from a fairly prominent, almost respectable Jewish family, antisemitism was a social and political reality in nineteenth-century Germany. Jews were primarily viewed as money-hungry vendors or bankers, and Stern notes that the myth of a great international Jewish conspiracy began in the 1870s.
In the Introduction, Stern sets the stage for the main points of his book: German unification was grounded as much in economics as in politics; the rise of the Empire coincided with a short-lived rise in the status of Germany's Jews; the overt political and diplomatic accomplishments of Bismarck have erroneously overshadowed the economic prowess of Bleichröder, whose financing was fundamental to Bismarck's success; and both men exemplified the hubris and hypocrisy that characterized the social and political realities of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Of these main points, the last is the most difficult to prove scholastically, but based on the facts he presents, Stern is accurate in making psychological judgments and assumptions. Moreover, such judgments show how history is shaped not by abstract forces but by individual, multifaceted, fallible human beings.
Part One of Gold and Iron, entitled "The Hazardous Rise, 1859–1871" and divided into seven chapters, documents the rise to power of both men. Chapter One, "First Encounter: Junker and Jew," offers biographical background on the two men, lending insight into their family histories and personalities. Bleichröder inherited his father's banking business and his connections with the Rothschild economic dynasty. As a Jew, Bleichröder enjoyed unusual social and political recognition and was awarded the Red Eagle and given the title Kommerzienrat from the Prussian government (18). His business and personal connections with the Rothschilds earned him his reputation as a banker, which drew Bismarck to him around 1860. The two men engaged in a mutually beneficial relationship that approximated friendship. Stern notes on page 18 that Bleichröder's dealings with the Rothschild dynasty prepared him for the "effusive but never quite spineless subservience and loyalty that came to characterize his relationships with Bismarck."
Chapter Two, "Bismarck's Struggle for Survival," shows how the two men met "at a critical time in the fortunes of their country" (20). New nationalism and liberalism competed with an old-world feudal order; on one side stood the Prussian monarchy and on the other, Austria. Both Bismarck and Bleichröder sought to accomplish their goals within the existing social, political, and economic framework of the Prussian monarchy, which was for the most part sympathetic and amenable to their needs. Bismarck was aware that "material prosperity enhanced the power of the state," and likewise, Bleichröder knew that social status and political power could bolster one's financial position (25).
Chapter Three, "Between the Throne and the Gallows," documents the early years of Bismarck's rule in the aftermath of the war against Denmark, fought concurrently by the Austrians and the Prussians. Stern portrays Bismarck as a genius political leader who "elevated the perfectly human reluctance to make choices into a supreme political virtue" and who "was both magnificently daring and scrupulously prudent" (48–49). However deftly Bismarck managed to play political games with his neighbors, Prussia and Austria soon stood at the brink of war, largely over the duchies ceded by Denmark to the two rivals. Bismarck cleverly shrouded Prussia's internal weaknesses and began to rely more heavily on the financial wisdom of his economic advisor and political confidant, Gerson Bleichröder.
The dual, symbiotic victories of Bismarck and Bleichröder are delineated in Chapter Four, "A Banker's Share in Bismarck's Triumph." Stern points out that "The union of such vast economic and military power under an authoritarian and anachronistic government in the heart of Europe was to have fatal consequences for the history of the world" (81). Specifically, Bismarck's rise to power signified the ascent of a militaristic nation "that would idolize power even when that power was unrestrained by intellect or moral realism" (94). True to his intent of weaving personal biography with analytical history, Stern notes that to secure Prussia's political prominence, Bismarck "tempered recklessness with prudence, brutality with moderation" (81). Bismarck secured his reputation as a triumphant leader with his banker-adviser at his side; Bleichröder was a "preeminent figure" in that victory.
Chapter Five, "Bismarck's Purse and Bleichröder's Place," further explicates the mutually beneficial relationship between the two men: both hungered for power and wealth and used each other toward those ends. Chapter Six places Bismarck's political victory in Prussia within an international framework, outlining the causes and implications of the Franco-Prussian War and demonstrating how the war deepened the personal ties between Bismarck and Bleichröder, who became increasingly privy to Bismarck's personal feelings and intentions. The final chapter in Part One, "Hubris in Versailles," shows how "a new Reich had been forged in the fires of war" (145). The German Empire was finally realized and solidified, and both Bismarck and Bleichröder enjoyed a lofty perch.
"Politics, economics, and empire in unified Germany"
"Bleichröder's erasure and rise of antisemitism"
Gold and Iron is well-documented and contains thorough bibliographic notations. Each chapter is prefaced with a few pertinent quotes, many drawn from literature. The author admits that his bibliography is abridged due to the extensive list of archival documents he consulted. Bleichröder as capitalist par excellence and Bismarck as charismatic chancellor were emblematic of their times — products of revolutionary politics and economics, and harbingers of new world orders. Gold and Iron offers historians more than a dual biography; it presents an ambitious yet finely crafted piece of scholarship that restores a neglected figure to his rightful place in the history of modern Germany.
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