Blood and Iron / Origin of German Empire As Revealed by Character of Its Founder, Bismarck

Origin of German Empire As Revealed by Character of Its Founder, Bismarck
JOHN HUBERT GREUSEL
THE SHAKESPEARE PRESS 114-116 E. 28th St. New York 1915
Copyright, 1915, John Hubert Greusel
Dedicated to Stella My Wife
Hark, Hark! The giant’s ponderous hammer rings on the anvil of destiny. Enter, thou massive figure, Bismarck, and in deadly earnest take thy place before Time’s forge.
¶ It is, it must be, a large story—big with destiny! The details often bore with their monotony; they do not at all times march on; they drag, but they do indeed never halt permanently; ahead always is the great German glory.
¶ Forward march, under Prince Bismarck. He is our grim blacksmith, looming through the encircling dark, massive figure before Time’s forge.
The sparks fly, the air rings with the rain of blows: he is in deadly earnest, this half-naked, brawny Prussian giant; magnificent in his Olympian mien; his bellows cracking, his shop aglow with cheery-colored sparks as the heavy hammer falls on the unshapen ores on the big black anvil.
¶ Thus, toiling hour after hour in the heat and sweat, our Pomeranian smith with ponderous hammer beats and batters the stubborn German iron into a noble plan—for a great Nation!
¶ From a human point, we do not always see the ultimate glory.
For that is obscured by dark clouds of party strife, extending over years, the caprices of men and the interplay of ambitions both within and without the distracted German lands. Russia, Austria, Italy, Great Britain, France, Spain, have their spies engaged in all the under-play of political intrigue; there are a thousand enemies at home and abroad, in camp, court and peasant’s cottage.