Excerpt from Prince Bismarck: An Historical BiographyIt is given to many a man, of whom history takes no note, to advance in some degree the greatness and prosperity of his country. It is given to a few men in each century so to guide the forward movement of their people, that the progress made seems mainly due to their initiative, and becomes indissolubly linked with their names. Among these few there is sometimes one who has the chance to deal with a question vital to his land and ready for solution, and who brings the intelligence and energy necessary to solve it; who leads his nation through a crisis in its destiny to the goal of centuries of desire and effort; whose achievements make all that has been done before seem tentative and preparatory - a series of episodes to which his success gives dramatic roundness and conclusion. This has been the happy fortune of Prince Bismarck. He is the unifier of Germany; and, in the light of this result, the complicated and often perplexing course of German history seems after all to have a distinct central motive; viz., the struggle for a satisfactory national organization - for unity.All the German tribes were brought beneath one sceptre, that of Charles the Great, at the beginning of the ninth century. But the Frankish conquests did not create a German nation, for the various German tribes were only parts of a universal European empire. With the final division of this empire in 887, it seemed that the basis was laid for a great German state.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com