Politics & Power Quote by Bernhard von Bulow

Fatalism is doing a lot of political work here. Von Bulow casts conflict not as a choice, but as a “law of life,” the kind of pseudo-natural principle that turns policy into destiny. “Development in history” sounds like neutral evolution, but it smuggles in a ranking system: civilizations aren’t merely different, they’re on a ladder, and when they touch, the stronger is entitled to rise. The line is blunt about what polite diplomacy often disguises. “Meet” is a euphemism for border pressure, colonial contact, naval rivalry, trade competition - the whole machinery of imperial Europe. The payoff word is “ascendancy,” not security or survival. This is about dominance.

The subtext is an alibi for aggression. By framing clashes as inevitable, Bulow launders expansionism into biology and turns moral questions into managerial ones: if fighting is a law, then the statesman’s job is simply to prepare, harden alliances, build fleets, and seize advantages before others do. That rhetorical move also disciplines domestic audiences. It asks citizens to accept costs - militarization, taxes, overseas adventures - as the price of history itself.

Context matters. Bulow operated in Wilhelmine Germany’s high-imperial phase, when Weltpolitik and naval buildup aimed to force Germany into the front rank against Britain, France, and Russia. His formulation echoes Social Darwinist currents and the era’s civilizational bragging, a worldview that helped normalize zero-sum geopolitics on the eve of World War I. It “works” because it flatters national pride while shrinking the space for dissent: you can’t argue with a law of nature, only lose to it.