The establishment of an empire
The foundation of the empire is a partly documentary German feature film by Bernd Fischerauer from 2012. “It is set in Germany in the second half of the 19th century after the democratic revolution of 1848 failed and unification of the country is not in sight. There is only a loose connection between the numerous kingdoms and principalities. Prussia and Austria are fighting for supremacy. "
The role of Otto von Bismarck , whose political rise is shown in this television play in the first film, is occupied by Torsten Münchow . Bibiana Beglau plays Bismarck's wife, Michael Mendl Wilhelm I , first German Emperor from 1871.
The second film, The Nervous Great Power, addresses Bismarck's further development and his dismissal when he fell out with Kaiser Wilhelm II . Both films form the chronological beginning of a ten-part documentary game series by BR-alpha under the title Vom Reich zur Republik , which is dedicated to the key dates of recent German history.
content
Junker Otto von Bismarck met Countess Orlowa on the beach in Biarritz in 1862 , with whom he was having an affair. A short time later he was ordered to Berlin by King Wilhelm I. Before Bismarck follows the king's call, he makes a detour to Gut Schönhausen, where his family lives. The reception there is cool.
Since Bismarck assures Wilhelm I that he will show solidarity with his wishes, which include an army reform, the king appoints him the next day as Prussian Prime Minister. In the House of Representatives, Bismarck held his blood and iron speech, which generated fierce opposition from a large part of the MPs. Prof. Dr. Virchow from the Progressive Party came to the lectern and was outraged that such a speech would be unprecedented and an attack on the House. That was not a peace offer, but a declaration of war.
While the social democrat Wilhelm Liebknecht and his wife and child are looking to rent a modest room from a sullen landlady, Lothar Bucher introduces Ferdinand Lassalle to members of the craft association in Berlin- Oranienburg , who wants to introduce them to his worker's program. Lasalle points to the injustices that prevail within the various social classes, be it through the three-class suffrage , which unduly favors the upper classes, or through the system of indirect taxes , which leads to the people being squeezed down to the blood in favor of the nobility will. In Prussia the ruling opinion is always the opinion of the rulers, so the workers must finally become aware of their number and strength and unite. He is enthusiastically applauded.
Bismarck's blood-and-iron speech has stirred up dust and is causing unrest in the country. In the Landtag, Dr. Virchow's life continues to be difficult. In addition to the family of Wilhelm I, the majority of the nobility are hostile to the Prime Minister, and in these circles they are even punished with contempt. Augusta von Prussia is of the opinion that Bismarck will tear the House of Hohenzollern into the abyss, something he almost succeeded in doing during the revolution in 1848 .
Ferdinand Lassalle's words: "We want to convince the whole of Germany without rule from above", he is elected chairman of the ADAV . Since Bucher can no longer identify with Lassalle's approach, he serves himself to Bismarck. But Lassalle is also talking to the Prime Minister. Shortly afterwards, the Frankfurt Princely Day, to which the Austrian Emperor Wilhelm I personally invited. Bismarck does not believe in this invitation, with his reform proposals the Emperor wanted to damage Prussia and weaken its power decisively. He even threatens to resign if the king obeyed Franz Joseph I's call .
Wilhelm Liebknecht joins the ADAV. Lassalle introduces him to his right hand, Johann Baptist von Schweitzer . At the same time, Bismarck spoke to the king that a war was being sought to bring the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein home into the German Confederation and to free them from Denmark's clutches . Emperor Franz Joseph has promised his support. Field Marshal von Moltke is to work out the corresponding plans. The battle for the Düppeler Schanzen takes place . In 1864, in the Peace of Vienna , the Danish king renounced the duchies of Lauenburg , Schleswig and Holstein. Bismarck is already planning to take possession of Holstein, which has gone to Austria.
When Bucher tells Bismarck that Lassalle fell victim to a pistol duel , he just laughs and says that the way is now free for him. Lassalle has appointed Bucher as his executor. Liebknecht no longer agrees with the approach taken by von Schweitzer, who has now moved up, and terminates his collaboration. Meanwhile, Theodor Fontane recites from his work in the highest circles of the nobility, Liebknecht loses his editorial position because he dared to disagree with von Schweitzer, which drives his family even deeper into poverty. But not only that, he was expelled from the ADAV at Schweitzer's instigation, and then also expelled from Prussia.
While Bismarck was raised to the rank of count by the king in 1865, Liebknecht tried to gain a foothold in the Kingdom of Saxony . There he meets the young August Bebel . Meanwhile, Bismarck allies himself with the Kingdom of Italy to keep Austria in check. He survives an assassination attempt on himself unharmed. Not everyone is happy about it. More and more people turn against him, including Johann Jacoby , a doctor of Jewish origin from Königsberg . In the salon of the couple “Mimi” and Alexander von Schleinitz , the opinion is that Bismarck is finally going to the collar, more unpopular than him, nobody could be. Slowly he really had all the parties against him, not only in Prussia, but also in Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Dresden and Konigsberg, not even talking about Bavaria.
Even if the German War is rejected as a civil war, it confirms Prussia's leading power in Germany with the decisive battle at Königgrätz . As a result, Bismarck was confirmed in the Prussian elections. Von Schleinitz lists what the war cost Prussia: 2,000 dead, 300 missing, 7,000 wounded and 970 horses. Bismarck did not say how Prussia would feed its 22,000 Austrian prisoners. The king, on the other hand, is full of praise for "his best man".
Despite massive opposition from various directions, the constitution of the North German Confederation in 1867 was adopted by the “Federal Parliament”. While Liebknecht's wife succumbs to consumption , Bismarck shows his wife their new home, a castle-like property. Only a little later, Bismarck was appointed Chancellor of the North German Confederation. Liebknecht and Bebel continue their fight against him undeterred. Liebknecht married a second time in 1868.
After a dispute between France and Prussia regarding the candidacy for the throne of a Hohenzollern prince, Bismarck wanted France to declare war on Prussia by having the Emser Depesche published in a provocatively shortened form. When the declaration of war comes in, he is downright euphoric. At the beginning of September 1870 there was the decisive battle of Sedan , in which Napoléon III. is captured. The North German Confederation and its allies emerge victorious from the war. Bismarck's son is also among the wounded soldiers. When he asks his father what happened to the others, Bismarck replies that they died a heroic death. One after the other, Jacoby, Liebknecht and Bebel are arrested for high treason . In January 1871 Bismarck was proclaimed prince and King Wilhelm I was proclaimed the first German emperor.
Production, background, publication
The film The Founding of the Empire is a production by Tellux-Film on behalf of BR-alpha , 2012. The exterior shots were mainly made in Thuringia , and the shooting was also at Altenburg Castle . The working title of the film was Bismarck .
Fischerauer said in an interview that the most important condition for making the two films about Bismarck was that the politician be played by Torsten Münchow.
The end credits of the film read: “The establishment of the German Reich created a new great power, economically and militarily. An empire with 41 million inhabitants and more than one and a half times the size of Germany today. Business and science are developing dynamically and occupy top positions worldwide. But politics and the military remain rigid and backward-looking. With a new self-confidence, Germany is striving for more international recognition. "
Was Erstausgestrahlt The Empire on 24 November 2012 at the program of ARD-alpha . The film was released on February 14, 2013 on DVD, published by Telepool and distributed by KNM Home Entertainment.
criticism
Moviepilot praised the film about the founding of the German Empire and summarized it as follows: “Under the direction of Bernd Fischerauer, the time before, during and after the German Empire was founded comes back to life with great attention to detail. With top-class cast down to the smallest supporting roles, the elaborate and dramatic documentary play makes it its task to convey the historical facts as well as an insight into the worries and needs of the very different social classes of the time. History on television couldn't be more gripping. "
Thomas Gehringer summarized his criticism for Tittelbach.tv for the films The Founding of the Empire and The Nervous Great Power as follows: “180 minutes of history lesson covering the years 1862 to 1890, about the 'Iron Chancellor' Otto von Bismarck and the development of the labor movement in Germany. The two-part documentary game takes only a few fictional freedoms and, in its chronological protocol style, works like the antithesis of historical event television. Lots of details, names, dates, rustling beards and sumptuous costumes. History is largely staged like school theater, stiff, overloaded and without an in-depth look at the background and context. "
For TV Spielfilm , the film was “more of a story from above than from below”. It “puts one big name after another in short scenes. That pleases the history fan, less the film fan ”.
Deviations from reality
- Bismarck gives his blood and iron speech in the film to the plenary session of the Prussian House of Representatives, which actually took place in front of the budget commission.
- The film Bismarck blasphemed Jews and Freemasons in the presence of King Wilhelm, whereupon he is reminded by the King that the King himself is a Freemason.
- Bismarck and Wilhelm laugh at the idea of the emancipation of the Jews . In historical reality, the North German Confederation finally codified the equality of denominations in 1869.
- Even before the war against Denmark , Crown Prince Friedrich (who later became Emperor Friedrich III ) suggested to the Austrians that Schleswig should be against Prussia and Holstein against Austria. His Austrian negotiating partner happily accepts the offer. The film crown prince also announces the intention to assert to the foreign powers that they do not want more than Austria and Prussia are legally entitled to. In fact, Austria and Prussia went to war with the declared intention of occupying Schleswig as pledge. In addition, Schleswig and Holstein were only divided up in the Gastein Treaty of 1865, and only with regard to the administration, not to the joint rule in the Schleswig-Holstein condominium . Austria itself was not interested in Holstein and eventually even tended towards the "Augustenburg solution".
- In May 1866, Bismarck was assassinated. At that time, according to his own statement, Bismarck fended off the attack and grabbed the assassin by the collar, whereupon a stranger helped him to hold him down until more helpers came. In the film, however, Bismarck stretches the assassin to the ground with a punch in the face.
- In the film, Bismarck absolutely wants to march into Vienna in 1866 and must be prevented by the refusing Moltke from jumping out of the window in protest. In fact, Bismarck had vehemently persuaded the king to end the war quickly, with the consent of the military.
- In the film, Bismarck planned to become Federal Chancellor even before the North German Federal Constitution was presented . In fact, this office was initially intended as a purely executive activity. Only after the " Lex Bennigsen " did Bismarck decide to become Federal Chancellor himself.
- The film speaks of a new National Assembly and a Federal Parliament, the correct expression Constituent Reichstag does not appear. The film Bismarck sometimes calls the North German Confederation “Reich” and the telegram from Bad Ems “imperial dispatch”. Film-Bismarck had already incorrectly referred to the German Bundestag as the “Bundesrat”.
- The film invents a solemn ceremony in which Bismarck is appointed Chancellor and Delbrück is appointed President of the Chancellery .
- In the film, King Wilhelm is a warmonger who also seems to want the war against France in 1870.
- In the film, King Ludwig II of Bavaria has his troops mobilized against France, but demands money in return, which amounts to bribery. This is confirmed by Prince Otto, who complains about the Bavarian war dead at the Versailles headquarters. In fact, Ludwig had secretly received money from Bismarck, but for the fact that he accepted the imperial title for Wilhelm.
- Wilhelm wanted the title "Emperor of Germany". Bismarck explains to him in the film that this expression could be misunderstood abroad, as the title would reveal Prussia's policy of annexation. In reality, Bismarck was against this expression because he would have made the other princes appear as subjects of the Prussian king, and because the constitutional title was already "German Emperor". The next day, the film Bismarck exclaims in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles: “Live up to the German Emperor!” The Crown Prince shouts afterwards: “Hi Kaiser Wilhelm!” Wilhelm leaves the stage in consternation and silence, and Bismarck grins. In fact, however, Bismarck had deliberately avoided the expression "German Emperor" in his address at Versailles. Thereupon Grand Duke Friedrich von Baden shouted cheers to “Kaiser Wilhelm”, as had already been agreed on the morning of the same day.
Web links
- The Empire in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The establishment of an empire at br.de
- The founding of an empire at tvspielfilm (13 pictures of the film)
- The foundation of the empire trailer in the ARD media library
Individual evidence
- ↑ The foundation of an empire and the nervous great power Making of Bismarck
- ↑ From the Empire to the Republic DVDs
- ^ The establishment of an empire at moviepilot.de. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
- ↑ Thomas Gehringer: Multi-part "The foundation of the empire" / "The nervous great power" - Münchow, Mendl. Fischerauer, Bismarck & the very old school documentary game on tittelbach.tv
- ^ The foundation of an empire / The nervous great power at tvspielfilm.de. Retrieved September 1, 2016.
- ^ Ernst Rudolf Huber: German constitutional history since 1789. Volume III: Bismarck and the realm. 3rd edition, W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1988, pp. 753/754.