The 48 Laws Of Power

Hewho

nSk.tfnrtun0~

Iellersme

future

unwittinglyfarfelfs

zm

inm1rinlin’u1ti0Il

of

coming

eventsthatisa

thousandtimesrnore

exactIhan

imyzhing

theymaysay

WAIJYERBENJAMIN.

l8‘}2--l 940

240 LAW 29

shortSevenWeeksWar.The

king

andthePmssian

generals

thenwanted

tomarchon

Vienna,

tak.i.ug

asmuchlandfromAustriaas

possible.

But

Bismarck

stopped

them--nowhe

presented

himselfas on

the

side

of

peace.

Theresultwasthathewasabletoconcludea

treaty

withAustria

that

granted

PrussiaandtheotherGermanstatestotal

autonomy.

Bis-

marckcouldnow

position

Prussia.asthedominant

power

in

Germany

and

the

headofa

newly

formedNorthGermanConfederation.

TheFrenchand

the

Englishbegan

to

compare

BismarcktoAttilathe

Hun,

andtofearthathehad

designs

onallof

Europe.

Oncehehadstarted

onthe

path

to

conquest,

therewasno

telling

wherehewould

stop.

And,

indeed,

three

years

laterBismarck

provoked

awarwithFrance.Firsthe

appeared

to

give

his

permission

toFrance’sannexationof

Belgium,

then

atthelastmomenthe

changed

hismind.

Playing

a

caband-mouse

game,

heinfuriatedtheFrench

emperor,Napoleon

Ill,

andstirred

up

hisown

kingagainst

the

French.Tonoone’s

surprise,

warbrokeoutin1870.The

newly

formed German federation

enthusiastically joined

in thewar

on

France,

andonce

again

thePrussian

military

machineanditsallies

destroyed

the

enemyarmy

inamatterofmonths.

Although

Bismarck

opposed

takingany

French

land,

the

generals

convinced

himthatAlsace-

Lorrainewouldbecome

part

ofthefederation.

Now allof

Europe

fearedthenextmoveofthePrussian

monster,

led

by

Bismarck,

the“IronChancellor.”Andinfacta

year

laterBismarck

founded the German

Empire,

with the Prussian

king

as the

newly

crowned

emperor

andBismarckhimself

a

prince.

Butthen

something

strangehappened:

Bismarck

instigated

nomorewars.Andwhiletheother

Europeanpowers

grabbed

up

landforcoloniesinother

continents,

hese-

verely

limited

Germany’s

colonial

acquisitions.

Hedidnotwantmore

landfor

Germany,

but

more

security.

Fortherestofhislife

he

struggled

to

maintain

peace

in

Europe

andto

prevent

further

wars.

Everybody

as-

sumedhehad

changed,mellowing

withthe

years.They

hadfailedtoun-

derstand:Thiswasthefinalmoveofhis

originalplan.

Interpretation

Thereisa

simple

reason

why

mostmennever

know

whentocomeoffthe

attack:

They

formnoconcreteideaoftheir

goal.

Once

they

achievevic-

torytheyonly

hunger

formore.To

stop-—to

aimfora

goal

andthen

keep

toit——seems

almost

inhuman,

in

fact;

yet

nothing

ismorecriticaltothe

maintenance

of

power.

The

person

who

goes

toofarinhis

triumphs

cre-

ates

a

reaction

that

inevitably

leadstoadecline.

The

only

solution

is

to

plan

forthe

long

run.Foreseethefuturewithasmuch

clarity

asthe

gods

onMount

Olympus,

wholook

through

thecloudsandseetheendsofall

things.

Fromthe

beginning

ofhiscareerin

polifics,

Bismarckhadone

goal:

toforman

independent

Germanstateled

by

Prussia.He

instigated

the

warwithDenmarknotto

conquer

territory

buttostir

up

Prussiannation-

alismandunitethe

country.

HeincitedthewarwithAustiia

only

to

gain