Everybody with an interest in the history of Germany should see "Bebel und Bismarck". Although is was produced as a television series, due to its limited duration of only four hours in total I would classify it as a film. To set the stage: the story covers the period between approximately 1870 and 1890 (so relatively brief). It is molded into the shape of a docu-drama. At the time Otto Bismarck was the chancellor of Prussia, and played a leading role in the unification of all those snug and small German principalities. In 1866 Prussia had defeated Austria, this other German power, who had been the leading nation among the southern states (hey, I recognize this!). The film truly starts with the desperate invasion of France into Germany. The French army was easily beaten, and their king had to abdicate. During the following months France was ruled by the illustrious Commune of Paris. Remember that the world did not yet know any true democracies, and was pervaded by a revolutionary spirit. The social democrats (not to be confused with the American Democrats) were the dominating representative of the revolutionary force, Bismarck believed that his main mission was to keep in check this spirit. Therefore he sought to integrate them into the state system. In addition he recognized that many of their demands were reasonable. Here August Bebel enters the picture, being the leading person in the German movement of social democrats, together with Wilhelm Liebknecht. After two attempts of radicals to assassinate the German emperor, in 1878 Bismarck forbade by law the party of social democrats. There is nothing new under the sun. The party leaders became the subject of persecution and intimidation. Finally in 1890 the law was revoked. Now Bismarck, who was in his seventies, had to leave office. I hope that this sketch makes clear what you can expect: an incidental revolutionary song or military brass band, and lots of political dialogs and discussions. An additional remark is in place, which will not surprise those who have taken note of my other contributions. The amazing film was produced in the German Democratic Republic, at the time still under the rule of the Bolshevists. Although its makers do not distort the facts (I tend to believe that many of the speeches are authentic), they do have tinted glasses. Bismarck is depicted as forever concerned about his capital stock. Most of the time he is accompanied by his Jewish banker, a blind guy. And although I am not really familiar with the personal character of Bebel, I find his film version peculiar. In fact he looks almost like Lenin (Uljanow): filled with hate, extremely dogmatic, a condescending and sometimes dictatorial attitude, and lacking any sens of humor. I would not call this amazing view Bolshevist propaganda. But I do believe that both the honorable intentions of Bismarck and the pragmatic attitude of Bebel are under-exposed. Subtitles are absent, so American film fans, start learning German! Yes you can!
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