Otto_Von_Bismarck_Source_Evaluation

Otto Von Bismarck Gary Stark Short Paper #1* *February 23, 2009 Otto Von Bismarck was a very substantial figure in German history during the mid to late 1800’s. His name is among the most famous leaders in German history and ispraised with paving the way for the modern German state. More specifically he’s greatest achievements came in the area of politics. He was head of the Prussian Ministry for over thirty years during his career in German politics. Bismarck was heavily in favor of nationalism and was a super conservativepolitician. The phrase “King and country” is always associated with his political viewings. The French and American revolutions were of heated debate and bloodshed at these times and few thought Bismarck would survive with such a strong support for the German state. He stayed steadfast to his goals and beliefs;he questioned everything and demanded answers. His pragmatic approach to government was different from the liberals of the time. While they had their heads in the clouds with ideas of revolution and reform, Bismarck kept his eye on what was real and happen at the time. His most influential contributions to society include early pension funds for elderly citizens and health and accident insurance reforms. He resigned from political duty in 1890. After my search of Otto Von Bismarck, I clicked the first link that came up on google.com which brought me to the website Wikipedia -(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_von_Bismarck). Wikipedia is a web based encyclopedia where anyone can upload information on any subject directly to the website. The articles on this website are usually term papers or journal entries from students and professors. This article did not list and author or any other name or place of reference. The page is detailed and contains a substantial amount of information on Bismarck. It lists a descriptive biography including schools and offices he worked at and attended as well as detailed accounts of relatives and personal relationships he had with others. Lastly it contains all of his political achievements. I think this site would be a good place to start a research paper. You can gather basic information or notes to expand on from more detailed research, I would not however bas a paper around an entry from this website. This article is backed up with listed sources from journals, encyclopedias and quotes from various authors on the subject of Bismarck. Even further, the article was produced by a credible author being a professor of history at the University of Ohio. This would be a good article to use and cite throughout your paper. His article gives a bibliographic account of Bismarck’s life and his political successes, at the end of the paper all of his sources he used are listed for reference. This site would be another trustworthy site to consider using; the author has an extensive history background and includes his documented sources for further research. My fourth article that I selected came from a web site dedicated to the First World War http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/bismarck.htm. In the mission statement the site administrator Michael Duffy explains that this site is not an academic website but more of a user submitted reference to the history of the war. My article on Bismarck was written by Duffy who is an avid history buff. Although his academic credentials are not listed on his site, he article does include references for the work. This article would be good to use again as a basic insight into Bismarck. It’s different from Wikipedia because its sources are listed and an author is given. My fifth and final source for this paper came from www.socialsecurity.gov, this site is a government sponsored and run web page. The page states that this article archival or historical document. The site documents Bismarck’s achievements in social security reform such as pension plans. There is no author for this article; however it is a government run site which would lead me to believe that the information is accurate. In conclusion I have realized that the information available on the internet is vast and seemingly never ending. Just a simple search of Otto Von Bismarck returned half a million web sites with information on my subject. A few that I found would be useful in research paper, but many would not be acceptable. The Internet is a good place to start a research paper, however further information would need to be obtained through more reliable sources.