Otto von Bismarck

Otto von Bismarck was the first chancellor of the German Empire. He tried to suppress the Socialist movement, represented by the Social-Democratic party, first by not allowing Socialist candidates to campaign freely. As the elections of '84 and '87 showed, the repression failed. Bismarck responded by having his conservative government providing German workers with old-age pensions and unemployment insurance for workers, things that SPD promised but could not deliver. Bismarck expected the German workers would start voting for less radical parties, but the 1890 election proved him wrong.