Bernhard von Bülow

Prince Bernhard Heinrich Karl Martin von Bülow (May 3, 1849–October 28, 1929) was a German statesman who served as Chancellor of the German Empire from 1900 to 1909.

Chancellor

His first conspicuous act as chancellor was a masterly defence in the Reichstag of German imperialism in China. Bülow often spent his time defending German foreign policy before the parliament; to say nothing of covering for the many gaffes of Wilhelm II. On June 6 1905 Count Bülow was raised to the rank of prince (Fürst), on the occasion of the marriage of the crown prince. The coincidence of this date with the fall of Theophile Delcassé, the French minister for foreign affairs, a triumph for Germany and a humiliation for France, was much commented on at the time; and the elevation of Bismarck to the rank of prince in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles was recalled. Whatever element of truth there may have been in this, however, the significance of the incident was much exaggerated.

Related Topics:
Reichstag - China - Wilhelm II - June 6 - 1905 - Theophile Delcassé - Bismarck - Versailles

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On April 5 1906, while attending a debate in the Reichstag, Prince Bülow was seized with illness, the result of overwork and an attack of influenza, and was carried unconscious from the hall. At first it was thought that the attack would be fatal, and Lord Fitzmaurice in the House of Lords compared the incident with that of the death of Chatham, a compliment much appreciated in Germany. The illness, however, quickly took a favorable turn, and after a months rest the chancellor was able to resume his duties. In 1907, during the Harden-Moltke scandals, Adolf Brand, the founder of the first homosexual periodical, Der Eigene, printed a pamphlet which described how Bernhard Prince von Bülow, imperial chancellor, had been blackmailed for his sexuality and had kissed and embraced Scheefer at male gatherings hosted by Eulenburg, and thus was, being gay, morally obliged to publicly oppose Paragraph 175, which persecuted gay people; in the ensuing libel suit, Bülow was victorious, and Brand received 18 months in prison.

Related Topics:
April 5 - 1906 - House of Lords - 1907 - Harden-Moltke - Adolf Brand - Paragraph 175

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The parliamentary skill of Prince Bülow in holding together the heterogeneous elements of which the government majority in the Reichstag was composed, no less than the diplomatic tact with which he from time to time interpreted the imperial indiscretions to the world, was put to a rude test by the famous interview with the German emperor, published in the London Daily Telegraph of October 28, 1908, which aroused universal reprobation in Germany. Prince Bülow assumed the official responsibility, and tendered his resignation to the emperor, which was not accepted; but the chancellors explanation in the Reichstag on November 10 showed how keenly he felt his position. He declared his conviction that the disastrous results of the interview would induce the emperor in future to observe that strict reserve, even in private conversations, which is equally indispensable in the interest of a uniform policy and for the authority of the crown, adding that, in the contrary case, neither he nor any successor of his could assume the responsibility. It was not the imperial indiscretions, but the effect of his budget proposals in breaking up the Liberal-Conservative bloc, on whose support he depended in the Reichstag, that eventually drove Prince Bülow from office (see German Empire). At the emperors request he remained to pilot the mutilated budget through the House; but on July 14, 1909 the acceptance of his resignation was announced. He was succeeded by Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg.

Related Topics:
October 28 - 1908 - November 10 - German Empire - July 14 - 1909 - Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg

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