In many sources you can find a statement by the German chancellor, in which he connects military success with a decent education. We checked whether Bismarck said this.
The quote attributed to Bismarck is mentioned in media such as "Novaya Gazeta", "Moskovsky Komsomolets", "Tsargrad", "Regnum", "Snob", "Regions of Russia", "Business Week", "Tomorrow", on sites Ryazan State University, Synodal Department of Religious Education and Catechesis of the Russian Orthodox Church, as well as in many printed publications. In some cases, the aphorism contains a continuation - “and parish priests.” Resource "Chalk" He even cites a specific source for the statement - Bismarck’s book “Memories and Thoughts”. Another popular option is one that mentions a specific war—the Franco-Prussian war. In particular, it is cited by the writer Alexander Prokhanov on the pages "Izvestia".
In 1870–1871 the Franco-Prussian War, during which the troops of the coalition of German states reached Paris, and the unification of historical lands ended with the creation of the German Empire in January 1871, which included Polish and French territories. The Prussian figure played a key role in these successes Otto von Bismarck, whose authority and leadership talent allowed its owner to be the flagship of the policy of the Second Reich for almost two decades. His three-volume work "Memories and Thoughts" is not so much a memoir as a political testament of the “Iron Chancellor”. However, if we look at this publication, we will not find any statements about German or Prussian teachers. They are not in other books of the politician, in authorized biographies, as well as in reputable websites, dedicated to the life and work of Bismarck.
Moreover, it is easy to discover that this quote occurs in German-language publications and several years before the start of the Franco-Prussian War. More precisely, this is not exactly the same phrase, but it appeared in print shortly after it took place Battle of Sadovo - a battle that not only decided the outcome of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, but also predetermined the events of the First World War. On July 3, largely due to skillful tactics, Prussian troops won a crushing victory over the Austrians, and one of the commanders of that army was Otto von Bismarck.
However, not he, but a professor of geography from Leipzig, Oscar Peschel, two weeks later, on July 17, 1866, in the journal Auslandes (“Foreign”), which he edited, in an article entitled “Lessons of Recent Military History” will write: “We just said that public education itself decides the outcome of wars. Now we want to show that when the Prussians defeated the Austrians, it was a victory of Prussian teachers over Austrian teachers."
The statement almost immediately gained popularity and several years later was included in the collection "Winged words. A Treasury of Quotes from the German People". In those years there was no tendency yet to attribute it to Bismarck, but over time this completely natural displacement was partially took place. Who will remember a little-known teacher when so many events and statements of that time are connected with the personality of the “creator of the German nation”? By the way, it was the Battle of Sadovo, and not the Franco-Prussian War, that the advisor to the Russian Defense Minister mentioned in an allegedly Bismarckian statement in 2015 Andrey Ilnitsky.
It should be noted that Peschel had every reason to speak out this way. The fact is that already in the middle of the 19th century the glory of the advanced German and especially Prussian school system thundered across the planet. School reformers from all over the world came here for professional development and for inspiration. In his research work, American historian Karl Schleines showed the connection between the introduction of mass schooling and the social and political development of Germany. Nevertheless, the author of this perhaps fair, but somewhat distorted thought was not Chancellor Otto von Bismarck.
Incorrect quote attribution
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