"Bismarck had never been liberal in thought, though sometimes in action. For him the state, not the individual, was the mainspring of political action; and he did not accept the "night-watchman" theory of the state which was common to all liberals. He held that the state could lead in economic affairs, just as he had tried to take the initiative in foreign policy and not wait upon events."
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Military leaders from GermanyPrussiansChancellors of GermanyGerman foreign ministersMinisters of Germany
Original Language: English
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Sources
A. J. P. Taylor, Bismarck: The Man and the Statesman (1955), p. 156
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Otto_von_Bismarck
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