Bismarck

Summary

Dominique Pagani mentions Bismarck mainly as the architect of German unity achieved around Prussia1. He often returns to this late unification and links it to musical and cultural questions, for instance Wagner's tense relations with his Germany2, the Grail quest3 or the question of "too late"4. In connection with Michel Clouscard, he presents him as the author of the first social laws of a capitalist state5; he also cites his social security system when discussing Nietzsche. In the same session, he uses the Kulturkampf waged against Catholics to explain Nietzsche's charge that Wagner took the "road to Rome"6. He mentions the recently formed Prussian state crushing the French armies7, the phrase "Our future lies on the water", which marks Germany's turn toward the fleet, and a comparison with Cavour. Finally, he attributes to him the remark that to get rid of Russia, one must hold it through Ukraine8.

1. 1#7 Harnessed to confinitude5 May 2020 · 15:10
2. 2#10 The two Klemperers and Bruno Walter in Wagner18 Jan 2021 · 7:33
3. 3The quest for the Grail, sanctimony or sacrilege?1 Apr 2024 · 1:13:48
4. 4Too late?14 Aug 2024 · 2:15:07
5. 5Everything is allowed but nothing is possible: Michel Clouscard (2)29 Jan 2012 · 28:11
6. 6#12 Nietzsche (right up) against Wagner28 Jan 2021 · 1:46:16
7. 7#10.6 War and peace: “The death drives advance in silence…” (Freud)8 Dec 2021 · 44:24
8. 8“Speech is the best and the worst of things” (Aesop)19 Oct 2022 · 43:41

Summary produced automatically from 13 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.