Herbert von Bismarck on Election "Overseers" in Danzig and Bismarck's Strategy against Left Liberalism (October 1881) In the 1880s Bismarck took great pains to mobilize pro-government conservative forces and undermine support for liberal candidates to the Reichstag. These excerpts from letters written by his son Herbert (1849-1904) to the chancellor's son-in-law show how such dirty tricks were implemented during the campaign preceding the Reichstag elections of October 27, 1881. When Socialist and Progressive candidates faced each other in the run-off elections, Bismarck deemed the Socialist to be the lesser evil, though he did not dare express such a view in public.
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page 1 of 3 I. Herbert von Bismarck to Count Kuno zu Rantzau* Varzin, October 21, 1881 Dear Kuno, [ . . . ] Yesterday a senior civil servant from Danzig came by to give a report on the election prospects there. His name is Paschke and he is head of the local conservative election office. He said the outlook was still good, but a lot probably depends on how the civil servants vote: there are 1,000 of them (military and garrison administrations, tax office, government, railroads, post and telegraph offices), that is, besides the shipyard workers and pilots, who he thinks number around 1,600. He believes them to be a sure thing, because Livonius, who is standing in for Stosch, has apparently sent instructions to the naval station to vote for Puttkamer. Really rotten, however, are the tax office and the railroads, whose heads – Naumann and Honth-Weber – are said to be thoroughly liberal. Consequently, Papa has written to Schlieckmann and asked him to work on Maybach and Bitter personally so that they straighten out their civil servants. Apparently, the tax officials are the worst, but at the railroad they are almost as bad. Papa asks that you call on Maybach and perhaps also on Bitter, asking them privately on his behalf to do something about Rickert. Do talk to Schlieckmann first about which one of you goes there first; I would definitely consider it better if you let Schlieckmann go ahead and then followed discreetly. Please ask Schlieckmann, too, whether you should go call on Bitter or rather only on Maybach. Please tell Maybach then that you have written to us about your recent conversation with him; that Papa was very pleased about it and extended congratulations on the brilliant results in his department. Please mention the name of Government Counselor Paschke only to Schlieckmann in confidence; keep quiet about him with the other one. * Rantzau was Otto von Bismarck's son-in-law. Other individuals mentioned in these letters include Albrecht von Schlieckmann, District Governor in Gumbinnen; Albert von Maybach, Prussian Minister of Public Works; Robert von Puttkammer, Prussian Minister of the Interior; Karl Hermann Bitter, Prussian Minister of Finance; Albrecht von Stosch, Chief of the Admiralty; retired army major Baron Leo von Seckendorff, secretary-treasurer of the German Conservative Party; Friedrich Luckhardt, chief editor of the conservative Deutsches Tageblatt; Heinrich Rickert, leading left-liberal Reichstag deputy; and Rudolf Lindau, Privy Counselor in the Foreign Office – ed.
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