French representations of Prince Otto von Bismarck (1914-1939) ; Les représentations françaises du Prince Otto von Bismarck (1914-1939)

Abstract

At the dawn of the First World War and until the beginning of the Second one, the shadow of the former German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck hovers over the European Leaders. Yet, the Prince, deceased in 1898, did not see the tensions increasing between the European countries. His previous political actions during his chancellery however have still a strong impact on the future generations. Hence, on the German side, a Bismarckian cult was established during the Great War in order to remember the victories of the Chancellor, and on the French side, as a way to take revenge on the Franco-Prussian war of 1870 and take back Alsace-Lorraine. During the inter-war period, while Germany desperately sought for a successor to the German "Junker", France watches with suspicion the suitors who proclaim themselves as Bismarck's heir : Stresemann, Hindenburg, Papen, Hitler. Subsequently, the accession of Hitler brought a mystification of the cult of the "great Germans", like the Iron Chancellor but Frederick the Great also. The French then established a comparison between Bismarck and Hitler. All of these steps will be analysed using a "corpus" notably composed with books, daily and monthly press and textbooks, in order to highlight the French representation. Thus, these sources will help us to fully account for global French thought towards the German Statesman. ; À l'aube de la Première Guerre mondiale et jusqu'à l'orée de la Seconde, l'ombre de l'ancien Chancelier allemand Otto von Bismarck plane au-dessus des dirigeants européens. Pourtant, le Prince, mort en 1898, n'a pas vu l'accroissement des tensions entre les pays européens. Ses actions politiques durant sa chancellerie ont néanmoins toujours un impact fort sur les générations futures. De ce fait, du côté allemand, un culte bismarckien se met en place durant la Grande Guerre pour se remémorer les victoires du Chancelier, et du côté français, pour se venger de la guerre franco-prussienne de 1870 et reprendre l'Alsace-Lorraine. Durant l'entre-deux-guerres, pendant que ...