Don't Play with Russians

The first chancellor of the German Empire, Otto von Bismarck, went down in history as the "Iron Chancellor".

Thousands of books have been written about him – the creator of the Second Reich – but none have managed to unveil all the secrets of this brightest and most extraordinary personality of the 19th century.

And no historian has been able to decipher the secrets of his political genius and foresight. Debates about him are endless. How did the "frenzied Junker" Bismarck transform into the "frenzied deputy" of the Berlin Landtag? Why did a descendant of knights solve the "great questions of the time" with iron and blood? Why did he unleash three consecutive wars – against Denmark, Austria, and France? Why did he support two Russian emperors – Alexander II and Nicholas II? What intrigues did he weave while serving as Prussian ambassador in Russia? How did Bismarck’s passionate love affair with the young Russian princess Catherine Orlova-Trubetskaya end? Which of Bismarck's warnings about future military conflicts have fully come true?

And which of his assessments of the future awaiting the world have not lost relevance even today?

You will find answers to these and other intriguing questions, shedding new light on the remarkable life of the German chancellor, in his memoirs.