The 48 Laws Of Power

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54 LAW 11

around

him,

hedecidedthatthesideto

ally

himselfwithwasnot

the

par

liament’sliberalsor

conservatives,

not

anyparticular

minister,

andcer-

tainly

notthe

people.

Itwas

withthe

king,

FrederickWilliamIV.Thiswas

anoddchoiceto

say

the

least,

forFrederick

wasata

low

point

of

his

power.

A

weak,

indecisive

man,

he

consistentlygave

in

totheliberalsin

pa1:lia~

merit;

infacthewas

spineless,

andstoodformuchthatBismarck

disliked,

personally

and

politically.

YetBismarckcourtedFrederick

night

and

day.

When

other

deputies

attackedthe

king

forhis

manyinept

moves,

only

Bis-

marckstood

by

him.

Finally,

itall

paid

off:In 1851 Bismarckwasmadeaministerinthe

king’s

cabinet.Nowhewenttowork.Timeand

again

heforcedthe

king’s

hand,

getting

himtobuild

up

the

military,

tostand

up

tothe

liberals,

todo

exactly

as

Bismarckwished.He

worked

on

Frederick’s

insecurity

abouthis

manliness,

challenging

him

to

befirm andtorulewith

pride.

Andhe

slowly

restoredthe

king’spowers

untilthe

monarchy

wasonce

again

the

most

powerful

forceinPrussia.

When Frederick

died,

in

1861,

his brother William assumed the

throne.WilliamdislikedBismarck

intensely

andhadnointentionof

keep

ing

himaround.

Buthealso

inheritedthesamesituationhis

brotherhad:

enemies

galore,

whowantedtonibblehis

poweraway.

He

actually

consid-

ered

abdicating,feeling

helackedthe

strength

todealwiththis

dangerous

and

precariousposition.

ButBismarckinsinuatedhimselfonce

again.

He

stood

by

the

new

king,gave

him

strength,

and

urged

himintofirmandde

cisive

action.

The

kinggrewdependent

onBismarck’s

strong-arm

tacticsto

keep

hisenemiesat

bay,

and

despite

his

antipathy

towardthe

man,

hesoon

made himhis

prime

minister. Thetwo

quarreled

oftenover

policy———

Bismarckwasmuchmoreconservative——butthe

king

understoodhisown

dependency.

Wheneverthe

prime

ministerthreatenedto

resign,

the

king

gave

in

to

him,

time

after

time.

ItwasinfactBismarckwhosetstate

policy.

Years

later,

Bismarck’s

actionsasPn1ssia’s

prime

minister

ledthevari

ousGermanstatestobeunitedintoone

country.

NowBismarck

finagled

the

king

into

letting

himselfbecrowned

emperor

of

Germany.

Yetitwas

really

Bismarckwhohadreachedthe

heights

of

power.

As

rigl1t—hand

man

tothe

emperor,

andas

imperial

chancellor

zmd

knightedprince,

he

pulled

allthelevers.

lnterpretalion

Most

young

andambitious

politicianslooking

outonthe

politicallandscape

of 18405

Germany

would

havetried

tobuilda

power

base

among

those

withthemost

power.

Bismarcksawdifferent.

Joining

forceswiththe

pow-

erfulcanbefoolish:

They

willswallow

you

up,just

asthe

(loge

ofVenice

swallowed

up

theCountof

Carmagnola.

Noonewillcometo

depend

on

you

if

they

are

alreadystrong.

If

you

are

ambitious,

itismuchwisertoseek

outweak

rulersormasters

with

whom

you

cancreatea

relationship

of do

pendency.

Youbecometheir

strength,

their

intelligence,

their

spine.

What

poweryou

hold!If

theygot

ridof

you

thewholeedificewould

collapse.