What were the main features of Bismarck's conservative ideology? Prince Otto von
Bismarck was the key architect of German unity in the nineteenth century and one of
the foremost diplomats and theorists of conservatism in the century.  Conservatism first
arose as a loosely organized political movement during and after the French Revolution
in opposition to the changes brought about by that Revolution to the Old Regime or
existing society.  There was a whole series of key conservative ideologues early in the
century, such as Edmund Burke or Prince Metternich, but it was Bismarck who later in
the century used conservatism most successfully as a political ideology.  One of the
most interesting facets of Bismarck's political life was his willingness to borrow the
political programs of his opponents and implement them as part of his conservative
agenda, for example his path-breaking legislation establishing a social security
program in Germany in the 1880s.  The short excerpt that you are reading from
Bismarck's memoirs will give you a very clear indication of the main components of
Bismarck's conservatism and what it meant to be a conservative in the Western world
in the late nineteenth century.