如果奥托・冯・俾斯麦复活，他会如何看待现代德国？

Marc Kerkmann, lives in Germany (1993-present)
Ricardo van der Helm, Masters History, Leiden Universita, Netherlands (2006)

马克·克曼，现居德国（1993年至今）
里卡多·范德赫尔姆，荷兰莱顿大学历史学硕士（2006年）

“What…where am I?”
“You are in Berlin, Herr Bismarck. Welcome to the 21st century.”
“How strange…tell me, what is the latest situation in Europe?”
“The men of Russia and Ukraine are at war, mein herr. Tens of thousands have fallen on both sides.”
“The Slavs, butchering each other like the beasts they are? As should be expected, I suppose. What are the French up to?”
“France has lost all its colonies. There are nation-wide protests and riots, and its government has been effectively paralysed.”
“So, Germany’s greatest foe no longer poses a threat. What of Germany itself?”

“……我这是在哪儿？”
“您在柏林，俾斯麦先生。欢迎来到21世纪。”
“真是奇怪……告诉我，欧洲现在是什么情况？”
“俄罗斯和乌克兰正在交战，先生。双方已有数万人丧生。”
“斯拉夫人像野兽一样自相残杀？想来也在意料之中。法国人在忙些什么？”
“法国已经失去了所有殖民地，全国范围内爆发了抗议和骚乱，政府实际上已经陷入瘫痪。”
“这么说，德国最大的敌人已经不再构成威胁了。那德国本国情况如何？”

“The German economy has surpassed that of Britain and France. We are the envy of all the nations of Europe. Our factories sell products to markets all over the world.”
“Even in America?”
“Ja, mein herr. The United States has been held hostage by the Jews, the nation is quickly declining and on the edge of another civil war. Their last few presidents were all dotards.”

“德国经济已经超过了英国和法国，我们是全欧洲各国羡慕的对象，我们的工厂产品销往全球市场。”
“连美国也有我们的市场？”
“是的，先生。美国被犹太人控制了，国家正在迅速衰落，濒临再次内战的边缘，他们最近的几任总统都是老糊涂。”

“This…this is like a dream come true. Tell me about the Austrians, mein freund.”
“Austria? You mean that tiny nation to the south of Bavaria no one really pays attention to?”
“…tiny?”
"Jawohl, the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed a long time ago. Austria no longer plays any significant role in world affairs."
“Wunderbar! And the godforsaken English? Do they still stand in the way of Grossdeutschland?”
"Decades ago, there was a huge war between Germany and the British Empire. Britain lost all its colonies after the war, including Hong Kong, which was returned to China. An Indian man at one point became their Prime Minister. They no longer have a decent navy, and their economy teeters on the brink of bankruptcy.”

“这……这简直是梦想成真了。跟我说说奥地利的情况吧，我的朋友。”
“奥地利？您是指巴伐利亚南部那个没人真正关注的小国吗？”
“……小国？”
“是的，奥匈帝国早就解体了，奥地利在国际事务中已经不再发挥任何重要作用。”
“太棒了！那那些该死的英国人呢？他们还在阻碍大德意志的发展吗？”
“几十年前，德国和大英帝国之间爆发了一场大战，战后英国失去了所有殖民地，包括归还中国的香港（特区），还有一个印度人曾担任他们的首相，他们不再拥有像样的海军，经济濒临破产边缘。”

“[wipes tears] All is well then, it seems. God has truly blessed the German people.”
“Indeed, mein herr, God is good. Alhamdulillah.”
“Wait, what?”

“[拭去泪水] 看来一切都好，上帝真的眷顾德国人民。”
“确实如此，先生，神是仁慈的。赞美真主。”
“等等，你说什么？”

Namru Casterly History and international politics aficionado
南姆鲁・卡斯特利 历史与国际政治爱好者

He would have very mixed feelings.
On one hand, he would be horrorized seeing that some aspects of the current Federal Republic of Germany. His reactions would be something like:
Where is my Empire?!?

他会百感交集。
一方面，看到如今德意志联邦共和国的某些现状，他定会惊骇不已，大概会发出这样的质问：
我的帝国哪儿去了？！

Germany lost many territories after losing both World Wars. Some of them, like Pomerania and Silesia involved a discreet ethnic cleansing of Germans and the resettling of Poles to these lands. Bismarck would be disgusted not only seeing that the Empire he worked so hard to build up was divided, but seeing that the “Proud German nation” has been replaced in their native Prussian homeland by Polish people. And this takes us to our next point.
Where the hell is Prussia??!!

德国在两次世界大战战败后丧失了大片领土，其中波美拉尼亚和西里西亚等地还发生了针对德国人的隐性种族清洗，波兰人被重新安置到这些土地上。俾斯麦不仅会因自己呕心沥血建立的帝国分崩离析而震怒，更会对“骄傲的日耳曼民族”在普鲁士故土被波兰人取代而深感厌恶，这就引出了下一个问题。
普鲁士到底去哪儿了？？！！

Prussia was to Germany what Castille was to Spain or Île-de-France was to France: The heartland from where not only the proper state appeared, but also provided the basis for the new culture. After 1871, Prussia occupied pretty much 2/3 of the total German territory. During Weimar, this Prussian dominance, although by now very symbolic, prevailed. But after the Allies occupied Germany, Prussia ceased to exist*.

普鲁士之于德国，就像卡斯蒂利亚之于西班牙、法兰西岛之于法兰西——它不仅是国家诞生的核心腹地，更是新文化的根基所在。1871年之后，普鲁士几乎占据了德国领土总面积的三分之二。魏玛共和国时期，普鲁士的主导地位尽管已颇具象征意义，但依然存在。然而在盟军占领德国后，普鲁士便不复存在了*。

When the Western Allies united their occupation zones creating the Federal Republic of Germany (back then, West Germany) they decided to not revive Prussia and instead created new regional divisions, sometimes mixing the former Prussian territories with other provinces. An example would be North Rhine-Westphalia, which was formed by merging the northern half of the Prussian province of Rhine and the Prussian province of Hannover.

西方盟国将各自的占领区合并成立德意志联邦共和国（当时的西德）时，决定不再恢复普鲁士，而是重新划分行政区，有时会将原普鲁士领土与其他省份合并。北莱茵-威斯特法伦州就是一个例子，它由普鲁士莱茵省的北半部与普鲁士汉诺威省合并而成。

The Soviets did the same thing when creating East Germany and formed new provinces from their Prussian territories. An ironic example would be Brandenburg, because it was from the Margraviate of Brandenburg that the Hohenzollern Kingdom of Prussia rose up as a regional power.
Some people say that the decision stripped Germany away from her “soul”, some others say it was a return to the descentralized times of the Holy Roman Empire. The truth is that Prussia was dissolved because they saw it as “a bearer of militarism and reaction in Germany” according to the Control Council Law No.46, which leds us to the next point…

苏联在建立东德时也采取了同样的做法，将其控制的普鲁士领土划分为新的省份。颇具讽刺意味的是勃兰登堡州，正是从勃兰登堡边区起，霍亨索伦家族的普鲁士王国才崛起成为地区强国。
有人认为这一决策剥离了德国的“灵魂”，也有人认为这是回归神圣罗马帝国时期的分权状态。事实上，根据盟国管制委员会第46号法令，普鲁士之所以被解散，是因为它被视为“德国军国主义和反动势力的载体”，这就引出了下一个问题……

Where is the militaristic and aristocratic Germany?!?!
The German Empire was very nationalistic; after all, it was founded on the idea that all the Germans should be united under one state. Current Germany is way different from that. The two World Wars, the Holocaust and Nazi tyranny showed Germans where the extremes of chauvinism could led them to and made them weary of nationalism. Germany instead tries to promote an image of a tolerant, multicultural and diverse nation where immigrants from Europe and beyond are welcome to live, work (specially work!) and prosper.

那个军国主义盛行、贵族当道的德国去哪儿了？？！！
德意志帝国曾是极端民族主义的代表，毕竟它建立的初衷就是让所有日耳曼人统一在一个国家之下。如今的德国早已截然不同，两次世界大战、大屠杀和纳粹暴政让德国人看到了极端沙文主义的恶果，也让他们对民族主义心生厌倦。取而代之的是，德国努力塑造一个包容、多元文化的国家形象，欢迎来自欧洲及世界各地的移民在此生活、工作（尤其是工作！）并实现发展。

The intention of the Allies by dissolving Prussia was precisely to eradicate the militaristic German spirit…and they seemed to be correct about it.
Do you imagine how Bismarck would feel? “What is this?? Catholic Spaniards and Italians in Deutscheland?? Even Turks? no, wait, I like Turks and their charismathic leader that reminds me of the Sultan Ich was going to build a railroad with”
Now, I don’t think its image would overall be totally negative. I think Bismarck would be able to sit down and see the positive side of things, like:

盟国解散普鲁士的目的，正是为了根除德国的军国主义精神……而他们似乎成功做到了这一点。
你能想象俾斯麦会作何感想吗？“这是什么情况？德意志境内居然有天主教的西班牙人和意大利人？甚至还有土耳其人？等等，不对，我挺喜欢土耳其人的，他们那位富有魅力的领袖让我想起了当年打算和我共建铁路的苏丹。”
不过，我认为他对如今德国的看法不会完全是负面的，他应该也会冷静下来看到积极的一面，比如：

The lowest unemployment rate in all of Europe with a 4.1% and a 7.1% youth unemployment rate.
The welfare state he built at first to appease socialists expanded and preserved. Germany has universal healthcare, education, unemployment benefits and so on.
Germany is currently the third exporter in the world, just behind the United States and China. They even surpassed Germany’s old historical rivals, the United Kingdom (10th) and France (6th)
Germany has the 4th highest GDP nominal in the world and the 5th highest GDP (ppp)
Germany last year had the highest trade surplus in the world
Germany last year achieved a high budget surplus and the Fitch Group gave a AAA to their currency bonds

德国拥有全欧洲最低的失业率，整体失业率仅4.1%，青年失业率为7.1%；他当初为安抚社会主义者而建立的福利国家体系得到了延续和扩展，如今德国拥有全民医疗、全民教育和失业救济等完善的福利制度；德国目前是全球第三大出口国，仅次于美国和中国，甚至超过了历史上的老对手英国（第十位）和法国（第六位）；德国的名义GDP位居全球第四，购买力平价GDP位居全球第五；去年德国还创下了全球最高的贸易顺差，实现了高额预算盈余，惠誉集团也给予其国债AAA的最高信用评级。

Overall, I don’t really know how he would see Angela Merkel. Maybe he would praise her pragmatism and measures that not only saved Germany from the recession but also put her a the top of the European market. And that’s another thing, Germany right now is the strongest economy in the European unx, this gives Germany decision powers in the EU. Europe dominated by Germany? Geez, that has been the dream of pretty much every German Emperor from Otto I to Wilhelm II.

总的来说，我不确定他会如何看待安格拉·默克尔，但他或许会赞赏她的务实作风，以及那些不仅让德国摆脱衰退、还使其跃居欧洲市场顶端的政策。此外，德国如今是欧盟内经济实力最强的国家，这让它在欧盟拥有了话语权。由德国主导欧洲？天啊，这几乎是从奥托一世到威廉二世以来，每一位德意志皇帝的梦想。

As said before, he would have a mixed feeling about the Federal Republic of Germany. He would be angry, and even sad, that modern Germany is so different from the Germany he helped to build. But he would also admire the achievements of Germany in a globalized world.
*Actually, it was Hitler who dissolved Prussia as they saw it as a “regionalism” that divided the Reich, the Allies just gave the coup-de-grâce

正如之前所说，他对德意志联邦共和国的感情会是复杂的，他会因现代德国与他一手缔造的国家截然不同而愤怒、甚至悲伤，但同时也会赞赏德国在全球化时代取得的成就。
*事实上，最早解散普鲁士的是希特勒，因为他认为普鲁士是分裂帝国的“地方主义”势力，盟国不过是给了它最后一击。

Jan Meyer Lived in Germany most of my life

扬・迈耶 我大半生都住在德国

It depends on whether he would take a moment to assess history or not.
If he did not, he’d probably throw his weight behind the AfD and try to reintroduce the Prussian class state, maybe scrounge up a Hohenzollern or two to crown and would probably be not above using the army… though he would probably be couped by the Bundeswehr after ordering them into action against left-wing demonstrations, with following trials for high crimes and the restoration of the democracy.

这取决于他是否会花时间审视历史。
如果他不审视历史，很可能会全力支持德国选择党，试图恢复普鲁士的阶级制度，或许还会寻找一两位霍亨索伦家族成员拥立为王，甚至不惜动用军队……不过，在他下令军队镇压左翼示威活动后，大概率会被德国联邦国防军发动政变推翻，随后以重罪受审，民主制度得以恢复。

If he did assess history we would probably see a strong backing of the EU while at the same time expanding German power within that structure. Re-Approachment to Russia while balancing Russia, China and the US against each other. In internal politics he would probably built a coalition out of the more conservative parts of the CDU, SPD, FDP and the Greens forcing various (overdue) reforms through.
It would be interesting to see what he would do about the slow end of labour.

如果他审视历史，很可能会大力支持欧盟，同时在欧盟框架内扩大德国的影响力；他会与俄罗斯重新建立友好关系，同时在俄、中、美三国之间搞平衡；在国内政治方面，他或许会联合基民盟、社民党、自民党和绿党内较为保守的派系组成执政联盟，推动各项（早该进行的）改革落地。
而他会如何应对劳动力市场的逐渐萎缩，将会是个有趣的看点。

Paul IrvingLives in Reading, England

保罗・欧文 居住在英国雷丁

Where did his estate go? And all of Silesia, Pomerania, & East Prussia?

他的庄园哪儿去了？还有西里西亚、波美拉尼亚和东普鲁士，都到哪儿去了？

He’d be scandalised by the incompetence his successors had shown, getting involved in a completely unnecessary, expensive & provocative naval rivalry with the UK, then an equally unnecessary & ruinous Great War, & then letting themselves be manipulated into helping a jumped-up Austrian corporal into power. He’d find their sheer stupidity shocking.

他会为继任者们的无能感到震怒：先是卷入与英国毫无必要、耗资巨大且极具挑衅性的海军军备竞赛，接着又发动了同样毫无必要、毁灭性的世界大战，最后还受人操纵，扶持一个狂妄自大的奥地利下士掌权。他们的愚蠢程度会让他震惊不已。

He’d probably have some respect for how the better post-WW2 leaders (e.g. Adenauer) played their weak hands.

不过，他可能会对二战后更优秀的领导人（比如阿登纳）如何在逆境中运筹帷幄表示些许敬意。

Assistant Bot
匿名

Otto von Bismarck returned to life would experience Germany as a country transformed in nearly every dimension he knew, and his reaction would be a complex mix of approval, puzzlement, and alarm. Below are the main axes of likely judgment, with brief examples and the historical lens he would apply.

复活的奥托·冯·俾斯麦会发现，德国在他熟悉的几乎所有层面都已彻底改变，他的反应将是认可、困惑与警觉的复杂交织。以下是他可能做出评判的几个主要维度，附带简要例子和他会采用的历史视角。

Statecraft and power
- Approval: Strong central institutions. The Federal Republic’s stable constitutional frxwork, professional civil service, and efficient bureaucracy would resonate with Bismarck’s belief in state authority and realpolitik.

治国之道与权力
- 认可：强大的中央机构。德意志联邦共和国稳定的宪法框架、专业的公务员体系和高效的官僚机构，与俾斯麦对国家权威和现实政治的信念相契合。

- Puzzlement: Federalism and party pluralism. Bismarck, who engineered strong Prussian dominance within a German Empire, would find postwar federal balance (Bundesrat/Bundestag interplay, Länder autonomy) and coalition bargaining unfamiliar and often inefficient by his standards.
- Alarm: Loss of great-power autonomy. Modern Germany’s embeddedness in the EU, NATO, and multilateral constraints would appear as a limitation on unilateral state action; his concept of “power” prioritized independent diplomatic leverage over pooled sovereignty.

- 困惑：联邦制与政党多元化。俾斯麦曾一手打造普鲁士在德意志帝国内的绝对主导地位，他会觉得战后的联邦平衡（联邦参议院与联邦议院的互动、各州自治）和联盟谈判既陌生，以他的标准来看又常常缺乏效率。
- 警觉：大国自主性的丧失。现代德国深度融入欧盟、北约及各种多边约束机制，在他看来这限制了国家的单边行动能力，而他的“权力”概念更看重独立的外交影响力，而非共享主权。

Foreign policy and security
- Approval: European stability. A Germany that anchors European order through diplomacy rather than conquest would be seen as an effective, long-term strategy for peace—Bismarck prized stability over war when it secured state interests.
- Puzzlement/critique: Reliance on alliances and institutions. The depth of commitment to transatlantic ties and supranational law would seem to dilute his toolbox of secret diplomacy, alliance manipulation, and balance-of-power maneuvering.

外交政策与安全
- 认可：欧洲的稳定。德国通过外交而非征服来维系欧洲秩序，这会被视为一种有效且长远的和平战略——在能保障国家利益的前提下，俾斯麦向来重视稳定甚于战争。
- 困惑/批判：对联盟和国际机制的依赖。德国对跨大西洋关系和超国家法律的深度承诺，似乎会削弱他惯用的秘密外交、联盟操控和均势外交等手段。

- Strategic concern: Reduced military autonomy. A heavily integrated defense posture (NATO interoperability, procurement decisions influenced by partners) would strike him as a potential weakness in projecting independent influence.
Domestic social policy and state-society relations

- 战略担忧：军事自主性的降低。高度一体化的国防态势（北约内部的互操作性、受伙伴国影响的采购决策），在他看来会成为德国投射独立影响力的潜在短板。
国内社会政策与国家-社会关系

- Approval: Social insurance and welfare state. Bismarck created the first modern welfare laws; he would take pride that social insurance became central to German governance and social peace.
- Puzzlement: Pluralist civil society. The prominence of NGOs, social movements, and public opinion shaping policy would contrast with his top-down, managed political style.

- 认可：社会保险与福利国家。俾斯麦制定了首部现代福利法，看到社会保险成为德国治理和社会稳定的核心支柱，他定会倍感自豪。
- 困惑：多元化的公民社会。非政府组织、社会运动和公众舆论在政策制定中的显著作用，与他自上而下、高度管控的政治风格形成鲜明对比。

- Cultural alarm: Secularization and identity shifts. The decline of Church authority, the multicultural makeup of contemporary Germany, and stronger liberal individual rights would shift social foundations he assumed were stable.
Economy and industrial strength
- Approval: Economic dynamism. Continued industrial base, high-tech manufacturing, and export strength confirm his preference for a powerful, wealth-producing state.

- 文化警觉：世俗化与身份认同的转变。教会权威的衰落、当代德国的多元文化构成以及更加强调的自由主义个人权利，都会动摇他曾认为稳固的社会根基。
经济与工业实力
- 认可：经济活力。德国坚实的工业基础、高科技制造业和强劲的出口能力，契合他对强大且能创造财富的国家的偏好。

- Puzzlement: Globalization and supply-chain interdependence. The dependence on international trade, just-in-time logistics, and foreign investment would seem to reduce strategic autonomy compared with national industrial policy he favored.
- Strategic note: He would likely advocate sextive industrial policy to protect key sectors and ensure geopolitical resilience.
National identity and legitimacy

- 困惑：全球化与供应链相互依存。与他推崇的国家产业政策相比，德国对国际贸易、即时物流和外国投资的依赖，似乎会削弱国家的战略自主性。
- 战略建议：他可能会主张实施选择性产业政策，保护关键产业，确保地缘政治层面的抗风险能力。
国家认同与合法性

- Deep discomfort: Nationalism transformed. Bismarck’s method built legitimacy through conservative nationalism and Prussian dominance; modern Germany’s repudiation of aggressive nationalism, strong Holocaust memory culture, and multicultural civic identity would be morally and politically jarring to him.
- Political consequence: He would see the current constitutional taboo on revisionist national ambitions as both a restraint on power politics and a potential source of internal weakness if it hobbled effective state action abroad.
Political parties and parliamentarism

- 深切不适：民族主义的转变。俾斯麦曾通过保守民族主义和普鲁士主导地位构建国家合法性，而现代德国摒弃侵略性民族主义、强调大屠杀记忆文化以及多元文化公民身份的做法，在他看来无论在道德还是政治层面都令人难以接受。
- 政治后果：他会认为，当前宪法对修正主义国家野心的禁忌，既是对强权政治的约束，也可能因阻碍国家在海外采取有效行动而成为内部弱点的源头。
政党与议会制度

- Puzzlement: Multiparty coalitions. Bismarck engineered party systems and used social legislation to neutralize opponents; contemporary party fragmentation and coalition compromise would appear as erosion of decisive governance.
- Tactical interest: He would study how modern parties build broad coalitions and use media to shape public opinion, seeking ways to adapt clientelism and statecraft to a media-saturated democracy.
Technology, surveillance, and administration

- 困惑：多党联盟。俾斯麦曾精心设计政党体系，利用社会立法削弱反对势力，如今政党林立、联盟妥协的局面，在他看来会削弱治理的决策力。
- 战术兴趣：他会研究现代政党如何构建广泛联盟、利用媒体引导公众舆论，探寻如何将庇护政治和治国之术适应媒体高度发达的民主社会。
技术、监控与行政管理

- Mixed reaction: Admiration for administrative modernization—statistics, communications, and transport would be tools he valued. But liberal privacy norms, judicial constraints, and NGO oversight would limit uses of state power he considered legitimate.
Concrete likely prescxtions he would advocate

- 复杂反应：既赞赏行政管理的现代化——统计、通信和交通等都是他重视的工具；但自由主义的隐私规范、司法约束和非政府组织的监督，又会限制他认为合法的国家权力行使方式。
他可能会提出的具体建议

Reassertive diplomacy: More bilateral leverage within the EU and cautious balancing of influences (France, Russia, U.S.) rather than unconditional multilateralism.
Targeted industrial policy: Protect “core” industries and secure strategic supply lines.

强势外交：在欧盟内部强化双边影响力，谨慎平衡各方势力（法国、俄罗斯、美国），而非推行无条件的多边主义。
定向产业政策：保护“核心”产业，保障战略供应链安全。

Social integration program: Expand welfare instruments to co-opt social movements and stabilize society—an upxed version of his social-insurance logic.
Stronger executive coordination: Push for institutional reforms that restore decisiveness—streamlined federal decision-making in crises, fortified foreign-policy prerogatives.

社会融合计划：扩大福利工具以吸纳社会运动、稳定社会——这是他社会保险理念的升级版。
强化行政协调：推动制度改革以恢复决策力——简化危机时期的联邦决策流程，强化外交政策特权。

Overall judgment in one line
Bismarck would admire Germany’s capacity, social-insurance legacy, and European stabilizing role, but he would be unsettled by constrained sovereignty, pluralist politics, and the moral-political reorientation away from the national power politics he treated as statecraft’s core. He would work to adapt his toolbox—welfare, elite bargaining, and diplomatic maneuvering—to operate within democratic, multilateral constraints rather than accept them as permanent limits.

汉斯・赖纳・库恩
前退休仪器制造师兼主管（1982–2015）
俾斯麦会赞赏德国的实力、社会保险传统以及在欧洲的稳定作用，但会对受限的主权、多元主义政治，以及偏离他视为治国核心的国家强权政治的道德-政治转向感到不安。他会努力调整自己的治国工具——福利政策、精英协商和外交斡旋——以适应民主和多边约束框架，而非将其视为永久限制。

Hans Rainer Kühn Former Retired Instrument Maker and Supervisor (1982–2015)
汉斯・赖纳・库恩 前退休仪器制造师兼主管（1982–2015）

He would have to think a long, long while, trying to digest all the changes and learning about Germany’s fate and errors during the first half 1900s. He’d be absolutely furious about the Kaiser, as well as Hitler, not to mention Austria; sad about the losses of lives, culture and territory in the east. He would have an extremely hard time, diving into the mind sets of today’s Germans, but he would probably nod in approval to most facts, save religion and overall popular culture, maybe. Last, after studying world politics for another long, long period, he would come up with a number of suggestions on how to maintain peace, prosperity and stability, reform and influence the EU, perhaps create new alliances, deal with the likes of China and Russia (probably traveling there and trying his best to have some serious talks with their leaders) and getting very upset, if some minion German politician or party dared to get in his way. And bite his lips into a bloody mess after learning that there’s no way around democratic elections these days…. then once and for all sigh and resign.

他必然要花很长很长时间来消化这一切变化，了解20世纪上半叶德国的命运与犯下的错误。他会对德皇和希特勒怒不可遏，更别提奥地利了；会为东部地区丧失的生命、文化和领土而痛心疾首。他很难理解当今德国人的思维模式，但或许会对大部分现状表示认可，宗教和大众文化领域可能除外。最后，在又花了很长时间研究世界政治后，他会提出一系列建议：如何维护和平、繁荣与稳定，如何改革并影响欧盟，或许还会提议建立新的联盟，以及如何与中国、俄罗斯这样的国家打交道（他很可能会亲自出访，尽全力与这些国家的领导人进行严肃对话）。如果有哪个德国小政客或小政党敢阻挠他，他定会大发雷霆。而当他得知如今民主选举已无可避免时，会气得把嘴唇咬得鲜血淋漓……最终，他会长叹一声，无奈接受现实。

Jack Smith Lived in The United States of America
杰克・史密斯 曾居住于美利坚合众国

Otto von Bismarck was an ultra-conservative Prussian. The fact that Prussia no longer exists in any capacity would be enough to for him to hate modern Germany. He was also a very conservative Lutheran, so he would hate modern Germany’s stance towards religion. The very idea that a thousand years of German settlement expansion east of the Elbe would be completely undone in only 3 decades would horrify him.

奥托·冯·俾斯麦是一名极端保守的普鲁士人。普鲁士已彻底不复存在这一事实，就足以让他憎恶现代德国。同时，他也是一名极为保守的路德宗信徒，因此会对现代德国的宗教立场感到不满。一想到日耳曼人在易北河以东长达千年的殖民扩张成果，竟在短短三十年内化为乌有，他定会惊恐万分。

Marc Kerkmann, lives in Germany (1993-present)

马克·克曼，现居德国（1993年至今）

In many ways Bismarck would have difficulty making sense of modern Germany, even if he was told in outline what had happened since his death. However, that would apply to other politicians of the time if they were suddenly placed in the present. (For example, Gladstone would find it very hard to make sense of modern Britain).

即便大致了解了自己去世后发生的一切，俾斯麦在很多方面仍难以理解现代德国。不过，这一点适用于所有那个时代的政治家，如果他们突然置身于当下的话（比如，格莱斯顿也很难理解现代英国）。

Beyond this, Bismarck, as a Prussian patriot, would be utterly appalled that Prussia has been wiped off the face of the map, with the whole area from the Oder-Neiße Line to the Memel annexed to foreign countries and without a German-speaking population. What? Berlin only 40 miles from the Polish border! He would be stunned and completely unable to come to terms with that.

除此之外，作为一名普鲁士爱国者，俾斯麦会对普鲁士从地图上被彻底抹去感到震惊——从奥得河-尼斯河线到梅梅尔的整片区域都被外国吞并，德语人口已不复存在。什么？柏林距离波兰边境只有40英里！他会目瞪口呆，完全无法接受这一现实。

He would be equally appalled to discover that the aristocracy had been stripped of its pre-1918 role in society and (on the whole) had nothing left but its titles. Last but not least, Germany with a female Chancellor - and not even the daughter of a senior army officer with an aristocratic title - would leave him beyond gobsmacked. I imagine the Iron Chancellor might even faint and it probably wouldn’t be easy to revive him.

当他发现贵族阶层已被剥夺了1918年之前在社会中的角色，（大体上）只剩下头衔时，也会同样震惊。最后同样重要的是，德国居然由一位女性担任总理——而且她甚至都不是有贵族头衔的高级军官的女儿——这会让他惊得目瞪口呆。我猜想这位“铁血宰相”说不定会当场晕过去，而且可能很难醒过来。

Jan Kannemacher Lives in Germany
扬・坎内马赫尔 居住在德国

Bismarck had built an empire by war and firmed it up by diplomacy. At a certain point, he realised that Germany was geographically in a very bad position right in the middle of everything. Any major conflict in Europe was bound to affect or spill over into Germany, so he created a tightly woven network of alliances. The situation he saw and acted on was "any European power except France needing us, and being stopped from forming coalitions against us by their relationships with each other".

俾斯麦通过战争建立了帝国，又通过外交巩固了帝国地位。在某个时刻，他意识到德国地处欧洲中心，地理位置十分不利，欧洲任何重大冲突都势必会影响德国或蔓延至德国境内，因此他构建了一个严密的联盟网络。他所设想并努力实现的局面是：“除法国之外的任何欧洲大国都需要我们，并且由于它们之间的相互关系，无法结成针对我们的联盟。”

He did not bother much with nationalism. If anything, Bismarck followed what's called "Realpolitik" these days. His main goal was avoiding what happened in the next century.

他并不十分在意民族主义。确切地说，俾斯麦奉行的是如今所谓的“现实政治”，他的主要目标是避免下个世纪（德国所经历的那些灾难）发生。

As for modern Germany, Bismarck would likely approve of the country being an economical power of the first order. Not so much of the democratic system, since he was a die-hard monarchist. The current system of alliances would also not meet his standards, because it's too centered in the west, does not isolate France and has no option to tie up Russia. The EU? Since it's (contrary to many, many tedious claims) not dominated by Germany, Otto wouldn't like it. Then again, he also wouldn't enjoy his own status as a fossil with highly outdated concepts and ideas. Still, I wouldn't mind current German politicians have the same quality of insight and foresight.

对于现代德国，俾斯麦可能会认可其作为一流经济强国的地位，但对民主制度则未必认同，毕竟他是一名坚定的君主制拥护者。当前的联盟体系也达不到他的标准，因为它过于以西方为中心，既没有孤立法国，也无法拉拢俄罗斯。那欧盟呢？由于（与许多冗长乏味的论调相反）欧盟并非由德国主导，俾斯麦不会喜欢它。不过话说回来，他也不会喜欢自己成为一个观念严重过时的老古董。尽管如此，我还是希望如今的德国政客能拥有同样敏锐的洞察力和远见卓识。

"Sollte es noch einmal zu einem Krieg in Europa kommen, wird er durch irgendeinen Unsinn auf dem Balkan ausgelöst werden." (Should there ever be another war in Europe, it will be triggered by some nonsense in the Balkans - paraphrasing his own remark from 1878.)

“倘若欧洲再爆发战争，那一定是由巴尔干地区的某些荒唐事引发的。”（改编自他1878年的言论）