A Bismarck Speech to the German Reichstag; God Will Be With Us; 1888
Great complications and all kinds of coalitions, which no one can foresee, are constantly possible,
and we must be prepared for them. We must be so strong, irrespective of momentary conditions, that
we can face any coalition with the assurance of a great nation which is strong enough under
circumstances to take her fate into her own hands. We must be able to face our fate placidly with
that self reliance and confidence in God which are ours when we are strong and our cause is just.
And the government will see to it that the German cause will be just always

We must, to put it briefly, be as strong in these times as we possibly can be, and we can be stronger
than any other nation of equal numbers in the world. I shall revert to this later—but it would be
criminal if we were not to make use of our opportunity. If we do not need our full armed strength,
we need not summon it. The only problem is the not very weighty one of money—not very weighty
I say in passing, because I have no wish to enter upon a discussion of the financial and military
figures, and of the fact that France has spent three milliards for the improvement of her armaments
these last years, while we have spent scarcely one and one half milliards, including what we are
asking of you at this time. But I leave the elucidation of this to the minister of war and the
representatives of the treasury department class=

When I say that it is our duty to endeavor to be ready at all times and for all emergencies, I imply
that we must make greater exertions than other people for the same purpose, because of our
geographical position. We are situated in the heart of Europe, and have at least three fronts open to
an attack. France has only her eastern, and Russia only her western frontier where they may be
attacked. We are also more exposed to the dangers of a coalition than any other nation, as is proved
by the whole development of history, by our geographical position, and the lesser degree of
cohesiveness, which until now has characterized the German nation in comparison with others. God
has placed us where we are prevented, thanks to our neighbors, from growing lazy and dull. He has
placed by our side the most warlike and restless of all nations, the French, and He has permitted
warlike inclinations to grow strong in Russia, where formerly they existed to a lesser degree. Thus we
are given the spur, so to speak, from both sides, and are compelled to exertions which we should
perhaps not be making otherwise. The pikes in the European carp-pond are keeping us from being
carps by making us feel their teeth on both sides. They also are forcing us to an exertion which
without them we might not make, and to a union among us Germans, which is abhorrent to us at
heart. By nature we are rather tending away, the one from the other. But the Franco-Russian press
within which we are squeezed compels us to hold together, and by pressure our cohesive force is
greatly increased. This will bring us to that state of being inseparable which all other nations possess,
while we do not yet enjoy it. But we must respond to the intentions of Providence by making
ourselves so strong that the pikes can do nothing but encourage us...

If we Germans wish to wage a war with the full effect of our national strength, it must be a war
which satisfies all who take part in it, all who sacrifice anything for it, in short the whole nation. It
must be a national war, a war carried on with the enthusiasm of 1870, when we were foully attacked.
I still remember the earsplitting, joyful shouts in the station at Köln. It was the same all the way from
Berlin to Köln, in Berlin itself. The waves of popular approval bore us into the war, whether or not
we wished it. That is the way it must be, if a popular force like ours is to show what it can do.... A
war into which we are not borne by the will of the people will be waged, to be sure, if it has been
declared by the constituted authorities who deemed it necessary; it will even be waged pluckily, and
possibly victoriously, after we have once smelled fire and tasted blood, but it will lack from the
beginning the nerve and enthusiasm of a war in which we are attacked. In such a one the whole of
Germany from Memel to the Alpine Lakes will flare up like a powder mine; it will be bristling with
guns, and no enemy will dare to engage this furor teutonicus which develops when we are attacked.
We cannot afford to lose this factor of preeminence even if many military men—not only ours but
others as well—believe that today we are superior to our future opponents. Our own officers believe
this to a man, naturally. Every soldier believes this. He would almost cease to be a useful soldier if he
did not wish for war, and did not believe that we would be victorious in it. If our opponents by any
chance are thinking that we are pacific because we are afraid of how the war may end, they are
mightily mistaken. We believe as firmly in our victory in a just cause as any foreign lieutenant in his
garrison, after his third glass of champagne, can believe in his, and we probably do so with greater
certainty. It is not fear, therefore, which makes us pacific, but the consciousness of our strength. We
are strong enough to protect ourselves, even if we should be attacked at a less favorable moment,
and we are in a position to let divine providence determine whether a war in the meanwhile may not
become unnecessary after all

I am, therefore, not in favor of any kind of an aggressive war, and if war could result only from our
attack—somebody must kindle a fire, we shall not kindle it. Neither the consciousness of our
strength, which I have described, nor our confidence in our treaties, will prevent us from continuing
our former endeavors to preserve peace. In this we do not permit ourselves to be influenced by
annoyances or dislikes. The threats and insults, and the challenges, which have been made have, no
doubt, excited also with us a feeling of irritation, which does not easily happen with Germans, for
they are less prone to national hatred than any other nation. We are, however, trying to calm our
countrymen, and we shall work for peace with our neighbors, especially with Russia, in the future as
in the past...

We are easily influenced—perhaps too easily—by love and kindness, but quite surely never by
threats! We Germans fear God, and naught else in the world! It is this fear of God which makes us
love and cherish peace. If in spite of this anybody breaks the peace, he will discover that ardent
patriotism.... has today become the common property of the whole German nation. Attack the
German nation anywhere, and you will find it armed to a man and every man with the firm belief in
his heart: God will be with us!