In 1879, the Dual Alliance between Austria and Germany was formed which was definitely a success for Bismarck. The two powers agreed that if either one of them was attacked by Russia, the other will provide military support. They also decided that if either was attacked by any other European country, then the other will provide generous neutrality. Although the treaty itself was made public, the terms were kept secret. This treaty was renewed every five years until 1914. The main reason why this alliance was a success for Bismarck was because he managed to maintain a permanent ally in case of war.
Once the Dual Alliance was complete, Bismarck formed several other alliances to successfully keep Germany protected. First of all, the Dreikaiserbund was renewed in 1881. A re-insurance treaty was introduced which meant that Russia and Germany would be neutral unless Russia attacked Austria Hungary or Germany attacked France. Another triple alliance was formed between Germany, Austria and Italy. This alliance does not have the same security and the Dreikaiserbund seeing as Italy is only considered “half” a European power. The terms of this treaty included the supplying of troops by the signatories if and of the countries were attacked by any two great powers. Also, if Germany or Italy were attacked by France, the other would have to give military assistance. Austria- Hungary would provide benevolent neutrality. Italy specified in the treaty that it could not be called upon to go into war with Britain. These were successes in the short term as Bismarck achieved his goals of allying with two other great powers and also kept them happy. However, peace did not mean security, and so the re-insurance treaty cannot be considered as a long-term success.
Bismarck did not include colonial powers in his foreign policies; however he then successfully used the idea to achieve his goals. In 1885 he began obtaining oversees colonies. He also encouraged France to get involved as it could create conflict for France and it meant that French troops and arms would be focused on colonies rather than European issues. In 1884-5, Germany worked very closely with France. There seemed to be an anti- British alliance between them because Britain was very powerful. Following the crisis in Africa (especially in Congo) a congress was called in Berlin in 1885 to settle these various disputes. The territories that the Germans obtained were German- Southwest Africa and Togo. This was actually settled before the congress because the terms had to be agreed on by Britain.
A large indication on how successful Bismarck's foreign policies were would be the fact that once Bismarck resigned, Germany's foreign relations immediately began to fall apart. Bismarck successfully guarded Germany. In 1890, Bismarck wanted to renew the Re-Insurance Treaty; Russia was also keen on doing so. The Kaiser was against renewing the Re-Insurance Treaty because he believed he could rely on his own personal relations (him and the Tsar were cousins). Bismarck offered his resignation (after he got frustrated) and the Kaiser accepted it, but prevented him from publishing his reasons for dismissal. In 1891 there was an informal agreement between the Russians the French and French ministers visited Russia and in 1893 they formed a complete military alliance. A dangerous move against Germany.
A success in one of Bismarck's domestic policies would be the expansion and development of Germany's economy. Germany's military power greatly increased, and became huge compared to France's. The German population increased far greater than France’s and German industry became the power house of Europe (coal, iron, steel, etc…).
An aspect of vital importance in Bismarck's domestic policies would be the Kulturkampf. A policy first perceived as a failure but which Bismarck intellectually twisted to satisfy his own benefits. Kulturkampf means a struggle of the cultures. The unification of Germany meant many different cultures and religions were merged. Most of North Germany, including Prussia was Protestant, but the Southern German states (Bavaria and Baden and Alsace Loraine) were Catholic. There existed in Germany a party called the Center Party which existed to represent the Catholic. Center Party had 57 seats in the Reichstag in the elections of 1871. Their leader was Ludwig Windthorst. It was expected that the Catholics would be loyal to the Pope rather than to the New German State. From 1872- 5, a number of anti- Catholic laws and policies were introduced. First, the Kulturkampf, which is the legislation in the Prussian parliament and in the Reichstag. Second, the Falk Laws, so called after Falk, the Prussian Minister of Public worship and education. These measures passed by the Prussian parliament placed various restriction on the Catholic church and especially reduced the power of church over the appointment of bishops and education. The reason why these policies may be considered as failures would be the fact that the support for the Central Party actually grew. Bismarck's intellectual twist came when he allied with the Catholics against the Socialists.
Another successful domestic policy would be the conversion from free trade to protectionism. It meant the absence of tariffs. This conversion was a very important move as Germany was going through a stock market crash in which landowners and farmers demanded protective tariffs. That was provided at 10-15% for industrial goods and at 5-7% for food and agriculture produce. The government gained additional revenue from the tariffs. The Junkers, aristocrats and landowners benefitted from protection as did the industrialists (people who owned factories and so on). With the introduction of protective tariffs, Bismarck generally lost the support of the National Liberals in the Reichstag. This happened at the same time as the end of the Kulturkampf. Generally the Center Party was ready to give Bismarck political support after 1879. With the support of the Center Party and the other conservative and nationalist parties, Bismarck could continue to command a majority of seats for his policies in the Reichstag. The National Liberals declined as a force in German politics after this as the Socialists became far more important.
Bismarck further showed his competence through his organization of the Army Budget. Although one may see disadvantages to his solution, it seemed the best possible to satisfy all parties. He faced a lot of pressure the Emperor and von Moltke for there to be a high army estimate. A satisfying conclusion came to existence in the Reichstag between 1878 and 1879. Firstly, the budget approved was slightly less than the Emperor had wanted but secondly, the army budget was to be voted only every 7 years. This meant that the army budget was safe from interference from the Reichstag in the seven years but there was likely to be a political and constitutional crisis every time they had to discuss it. It was claimed that Bismarck often created dangers in foreign policy or claimed there was a threat to Germany simply in order to get the Reichstag's support for the army budget.
Bismarck was determined, yet not successful, in eliminating all nuisances in his point of view, such as the Socialist party. To Bismarck, socialists were thieves, robbers and murderers. The Social Democratic Party in Germany became the greatest Socialist Party in Europe and the one with the most prestige. Bismarck’s first policy to deal with the Socialists was to introduce anti-socialist legislatives. The Socialist Party itself was not banned; they could still contest elections and people could still vote for them. However, Meetings, newspapers and processions promoting socialist ideas were banned and the police had powers to stop fundraising activities for socialist parties. This was not a success because the number of votes and seats the Socialist gained at Reichstag elections increased.
Bismarck tried another approach which did not quite achieve his aim, yet benefitted the Germans. He introduced State Socialism which aimed at killing socialism with kindness by giving workers a lot of benefits from the state so that socialism is no longer attractive. In 1883 the state provided 3 million workers and their families with sickness insurance. In 1884 the state provided employers with accident insurance. In 1886 the state provided accident and sickness insurance for 16 million agricultural workers. In 1889 the state provided old age pensions for people over 70. Even so, in the long term, support for the socialists and for the Social Democratic Party continued to grow. The problem for Bismarck is that “the workers wanted power, not lollipops".
In conclusion, it seems that Bismarck was more successful with his foreign policies than his domestic ones during the period between 1871 and 1890. It seemed that his goal in achieving the weakening of France and isolating it was well achieved in his time. Even when it seems that his plans are failing, he finds a way around that; for example the re-insurance treaty. However, a lot of his domestic policies had drawbacks. He would either lose the support of one party, or simply not achieve his goals.
Many would argue that if one was to look at things in the long term, Bismarck was in fact not successful in his foreign policies but was rather more effective and lasting with his domestic policies. That might be true for the alliances collapsed once he left office and he managed to increase Germany's economy for a long time. However, that was all in the period following 1890 in which Bismarck had nothing to do with. So as far as he is concerned, his foreign policies had more successes then his domestic policies.
