Realpolitik

So said Henry Kissinger, the U.S. Secretary of State and national security advisor.

Realpolitik is typically associated with diplomacy in the 19th and 20th centuries as well as the present. Its critics underscore its apparent disconnect from ethics.

Congress of Berlin (July 13, 1878) features statesmen, including Otto von Bismarck, by Anton von Werner, 1881. Source: Wikipedia Commons (public domain).

Realpolitik: Origin

The origins of Realpolitik depend on historic interpretation. The term "Realpolitik" was invented in the mid-19th-century, first used to describe the Austria and German States' position toward the Crimean war of 1853.

Thucydides

Some scholars go all the way to ancient Greece and discuss the Athenian historian Thucydides (ca. 460 – ca. 400 BCE) as an early example of Realpolitik. Thucydides was known for his focus on impartiality and evidence-based analysis. For this reason, he is often considered the source of political realism in the realm of foreign policy and international relations.

Niccolò Machiavelli

In Early Modern Europe, Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527) is usually viewed as an important example of Realpolitik before the introduction of the term.

Machiavelli was an Italian writer and statesman who resided in Florence. At this time, the Medici family had a significant impact on the political developments in that Italian city. Machiavelli wrote a variety of texts, but he is best known for his work on political philosophy, especially his book, The Prince. Machiavelli’s work in this field focused on political realism. For this reason, some historians trace the origin of Realpolitik to the Renaissance.

A Portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli, Santi di Tito, 1550-1600. Source: Wikipedia Commons (public domain).

Cardinal Richelieu

Armand Jean du Plessis, better known as Cardinal Richelieu (1585–1642), was a high-ranking member of the clergy as well as a statesman. Within the Catholic Church, Richelieu became a bishop in 1607 and rose to the rank of cardinal in 1622. At the same time, from 1624, he also served as the chief minister to King Louis XIII.

Some historians refer to Richelieu as the first Prime Minister in the world. During his tenure, Richelieu used pragmatic politics to consolidate and centralize the power of the French state by subordinating the nobility to the king.

Portrait of Cardinal Richelieu, Philippe de Champaigne, 1642. Source: Wikipedia Commons (public domain).

In practice, Richelieu believed France would benefit from a chaotic Central Europe to limit the power of the Austrian Habsburg dynasty in that region. To do so, France supported small Central European states, harming Austria. Richelieu's plan was so successful that it was not until 1871 that a united Central Europe, in the form of a unified Germany under Otto von Bismarck, emerged.

Ludwig August von Rochau

August Ludwig von Rochau (1810–1873), a German statesman and political theorist, introduced the term Realpolitik in 1853. The term appeared in his text called Practical Politics: an Application of its Principles to the Situation of the German States (Grundsätze der Realpolitik, angewendet auf die staatlichen Zustände Deutschlands). According to Rochau, politics is subject to a certain set of laws of power, just like the world is subject to the laws of physics. Understanding the way in which the state is formed and altered offers additional insight into the way political power operates.

The concept became popular among German thinkers and statesmen alike. It was especially closely linked to the German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck because of his achievement of unifying Germany in 1871. However, as time went on, the meaning of the term "Realpolitik" became more malleable.

Realpolitik: Examples

Because the term Realpolitik has turned into a broadly interpreted concept, the statesmen who subscribe to this concept are quite diverse.

Realpolitik & Otto von Bismarck

Otto von Bismarck (1815 – 1898) is, perhaps, the best-known example of a 19th-century statesman to use Realpolitik during his political tenure. Between 1862 and 1890, Bismarck was the Prime Minister of Prussia (East Germany). His greatest achievement was unifying German-speaking lands, except Austria, in 1871, of which he was the first Chancellor (1871–1890). He held multiple political positions at the same time, including being the Minister of Foreign Affairs (1862–1890).

Unification of Germany

In order to carry out the unification of Germany, Bismarck fought against Denmark, Austria, and France between 1864 and 1871. Bismarck was also known as a highly skilled diplomat using Realpolitik who worked toward German interests and prevented a large-scale European war.

Otto von Bismarck, German Chancellor, Kabinett-Photo, ca. 1875. Source: Wikipedia Commons (public domain).

Domestic Policy

In domestic politics, Bismarck was also pragmatic. He was a conservative with strong links to the monarchy. Bismarck introduced many measures that historians describe as precedents of today’s welfare states. These were social reforms for the working class which included old-age pensions, healthcare, and accident insurance. Bismarck’s program was a way to minimize any potential for social unrest.

Henry Kissinger

Henry Kissinger (born in 1923 as Heinz Alfred Wolfgang Kissinger) is one of the most famous examples of Realpolitik in the 20th century. Kissinger is an American statesman and scholar. He served as the U.S. National Security Advisor (1969–1975) and a Secretary of State (1973–1977) during the Nixon and Ford administrations.

Cold War

Kissinger's successes with Realpolitik in the 1970s involved his separate, but related, policies toward the Soviet Union and China in the context of the Cold War.

• The Cold War was the conflict that arose after 1945 between the former WWII Allies, the United States, and the Soviet Union. The conflict was, in part, ideological, in which capitalism and socialism, or Communism, clashed. As a result, the world was split into two spheres, aligned with the United States and the Soviet Union, respectively. This division was known as bipolarity. One of the more dangerous aspects of the Cold War was the existence of nuclear weapons.

Sino-Soviet Split

The Soviet Union and China were America's ideological rivals. Kissinger's policy was to exploit a rift between them, known as the Sino-Soviet split, and to separately pursue an improved relationship with each country. As a result, the United States and the Soviet Union were in a period of détente—an easing of political tensions—in the 1970s.

Between the late 1960s and early 1970s, the two Cold War rivals pursued setting limits to nuclear weapons, such as the discussions held in the context of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, SALT. One of their most important results was the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty (1972) which limited each of the two sides to having access to only two deployment areas for anti-ballistic missiles.

Henry Kissinger and Chairman Mao and the first Premier Zhou Enlai, Beijing, the early 1970s. Source: Wikipedia Commons (public domain).

At the same time, Kissinger made a secret trip to China in 1971. This trip was followed by a significant improvement in relations with China, in which Nixon was the first U.S. President to visit China after decades of an essentially frozen diplomatic relationship.

Realpolitik: Significance

Realpolitik remains an influential aspect of the practical application of politics, especially in the international arena. Today, the term has a broader and more malleable meaning than its initial usage in the 1850s.

Realpolitik and Political Realism

Realpolitik and political realism are related, although not identical, concepts. Scholars usually describe Realpolitik as a practical application of political ideas. In contrast, political realism is a theory that explains the way international relations work. This theory presupposes that different countries, each, have their own interests, and they pursue them by using Realpolitik. In other words, the relationship between political realism and Realpolitik is that of theory and practice.