Users of social networks often attribute to the “Iron Chancellor” a figurative phrase about the danger of Russia. We have verified the correctness of this attribution.
A quote from Otto von Bismarck is actively shared by users in "VKontakte", Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. It began to be published especially often from the end of February 2022 in public pages dedicated to supporting the Russian army and the country’s political leadership. However, this phrase was attributed to Bismarck before - for example, in 2016 it posted singer Oleg Gazmanov on his blog.
We could not find any mention of this phrase in any authoritative collections of quotations such as Oxford Essential Quotations, nor on thematic resources dedicated to the “Iron Chancellor”. For example, the Otto von Bismarck Foundation knows nothing about the quote about the Russian bear, although on the website of this organization, which studies the politician’s legacy, collected a collection of his sayings. Judging by the Google search results, the phrase we are interested in is practically not used in English and German; it can only be found in isolated posts and comments on blogs.
Bismarck’s quote gained real popularity in the Russian-language segment of social networks eight years ago. The earliest mention on Facebook that we were able to find dates back to March 12, 2014 - a phrase with a portrait of the Chancellor posted group “Russian Army - Russian Army”. This is the first time a similar post has been posted on Twitter. appeared a little earlier, March 10. The day before, an entry with a quote shared on VKontakte. Note that in this social network it is only available once published and earlier - July 28, 2013, but the post did not become popular.
Phrases similar to the one we are interested in, apparently, appeared on the Russian-language Internet in the second half of the 2000s. So, in 2009, a user with the nickname Paketbot published tweet “Bismarck “You can make a bear come out of its den. But I don’t know how to drive it back!” It is noteworthy that this version does not mention the word “Russian”. Considering that the German Chancellor is seriously got carried away hunting, in theory he could literally be talking about a bear, but find confirmation - at least in three volumes memoirs politics - failed.
In LiveJournal, the Bismarck quote can be traced even further in different formulations. The earliest publication containing this phrase is dated March 9, 2006, the author of that post is blogger semivaloff. However, even then a number of users set doubtful connection between the words about the “Russian bear” and Bismarck.
It can also be assumed that the phrase that became popular in 2014 is a kind of creative reworking of the words “Germany is invincible only as long as it does not touch the Russian bear in its den.” It really belongs to Bismarck, but not the real one, but the literary one - these are the words invested into the mouth of his hero, Soviet writer Valentin Pikul, author of the historical novel “The Battle of the Iron Chancellors.” As a real Bismarck quote, Internet users often represent and another excerpt from this text dedicated to “drone officials”.
Thus, we were unable to find confirmation in authoritative sources that the author of the phrase about the “Russian bear” was the German politician Otto von Bismarck. The quote is practically unknown outside the Russian-speaking segment of the Internet and is mentioned mainly in blogs and social networks, and not in academic texts. Most likely, the statement appeared in the mid-2000s on LiveJournal, and in 2014 it became popular on other social networks.
Incorrect quote attribution
- Did Bismarck say: “They never lie so much as during the war, after the hunt and before the elections”?
- Did Bismarck say that wars are won not by generals, but by school teachers?
- Did Bismarck say: “If you want to fool the world, tell it the truth”?
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