1705041958

1705041959 convulsed, shook violently （literally and figuratively）.

1705041960

1705041961 gloss over, cover up; explain away; say as little as possible.

1705041962

1705041963 after a thousand years of dissent . Charlemagne was able to bring most of the present Germany into the bounds of his empire by his energetic conquest of the Saxons, but the unity of his empire was ephemeral. The breakdown of the state was signalized in the Treaty of Verdun （843） when the three sons of Louis I, the Pious, divided the territories, the eastern portion going to Louis the German. The eastern territories never achieved a real unity; five great duchies, Saxony, Franconia, Lorraine, Bavaria, and Swabia, developed, and were dominant. From that time down to Bismarck’s day, these and many other divisions that later sprang up kept Germany from becoming a united nation.

1705041964

1705041965 rent, torn apart; dissociated.

1705041966

1705041967 coping, meeting with; dealing with.

1705041968

1705041969 oscillation, changing repeatedly back and forth; fluctuation.

1705041970

1705041971 white heat, great heat; under great compulsion; at a great speed.

1705041972

1705041973 forged, built up; shaped; made.

1705041974

1705041975 this realm of music, German musicians and composers, such as Beethoven （1770-1827）, Mendelssohn （1809-1847）, Schumann （1810-1856）, Wagner （1813-1883）, and Brahms （1833-1897）, and the Austrian Schubert （1797-1828）, are well known in the field of music.

1705041976

1705041977 wariness, state of being cautious; cautiousness.

1705041978

1705041979 monomaniac, one whose mind is deranged upon a single subject only.

1705041980

1705041981 primum mobile （first moved）, with Aristotle, the highest physical sphere, or heaven of the fixed stars, which is in immediate contact with God, and derives its circular motion, the most perfect of all motions, directly from him; hence, any deep-seated impulse or urge.

1705041982

1705041983 Napoleon the parvenu . A parvenu is a person of obscure origin who has gained wealth or a high position; an upstart, in other words. Napoleon came from an obscure family, while Bismarck came from a family that had a long history back of it; therefore Napoleon is called the parvenu, while Bismarck is entitled the noble.

1705041984

1705041985 misanthropy, hatred of mankind.

1705041986

1705041987 ideologist or artist, idle theorizer or artist （musician, painter and such）; philosopher or artist.

1705041988

1705041989 homo politicus, political man; political being; the practical administrator.

1705041990

1705041991 pedants of the Frankfort variety . Frankfort refers to the town Frankfort am Main in Germany where the Frankfort National Assembly was held in 1848-1849. A preliminary parliament （the Vorparlament） met in March, 1848, in response to popular demand and called an assembly, the parliament which convened May 13, 1848. Its president was Heinrich von Gagern （1799-1880）. Delegates from all the German states gathered for the purpose of discussing plans for the unification of Germany. The delegates were of all political complexions from radical democrats to conservative royalists. There was much conflict among them and it was only after much travail that a constitution for a united Germany was drawn up. The rivalry of Austria and Prussia further complicated the problem, and the whole scheme ended in failure when Frederick William IV of Prussia, partially from fear of Austria, partially because he did not wish to have a crown given him by commoners, refused the headship of the proposed empire. Though it failed, the Parliament’s proposals were valuable to Bismarck later in the formation of the empire.

1705041992

1705041993 Pomeranian back-country, the uncultivated regions of Pomerania, North Prussia. Bismarck came from an old Brandenburg family.

1705041994

1705041995 political primitive, one unlearned in politics; one who entered the field of politics without any previous experience in it.

1705041996

1705041997 heavy cargo of courage, much courage.

1705041998

1705041999 the ballast, is any heavy substance put into the hold of a ship or the car of a balloon to steady it. Ludwig states that a proud self-consciousness kept Bismarck’s head clear and steady, even in spite of his other handicaps.

1705042000

1705042001 antinomies, opposition of one to another.

1705042002

1705042003 mishap, misfortune; accident.

1705042004

1705042005 March ‘48, March ‘90 . Bismarck was present at Potsdam on that March evening, 1848, when Frederick William IV announced to the assembled officers the order for the withdrawal of the troops—a capitulation to the Revolution. Bismarck went home and at once wrote a letter to the king in which he rebuked him for conceding so readily to the mob. On March 14, 1890. Windthorst consulted Bismarck about the forthcoming session of the Reichstag. The next day the Emperor in person demanded an explanation of what had passed, and Bismarck was dragged from bed to wait upon the unexpected visitor. Both men lost their temper. Repeatedly pressed, Bismarck at last submitted his resignation. On March 20, the official Gazette announced the acceptance of the resignation by the Kaiser.

1705042006

1705042007 Windhorst, leader of the Center Party, formed of Catholics and Clericals, in the Reichstag. Richter , leader of the South German Popular Party in the Reichstag.

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