Blood and Iron (speech) iron chancellor." Blood and Iron (speech) Blood and Iron (German: "Blut und Eisen") is the name given to a speech made by Otto von Bismarck given on 30 September 1862, at the time when he was Minister President of Prussia, about the unification of the German territories. It is also a transposed phrase that Bismarck uttered near the end of the speech that has become one of his most widely known quotations. In September 1862, when the Prussian House of Representatives was refusing to approve an increase in military spending desired by King Wilhelm I, the monarch appointed Bismarck Minister
New Statesman having meanwhile absorbed "Marxism Today" in 1991. In 1993, the "Statesman" was sued by Prime Minister John Major after it published an article discussing rumours that Major was having an extramarital affair with a Downing Street caterer. Although the action was settled out of court for a minimal sum, the magazine's legal costs almost led to its closure. In 1994, KGB defector Yuri Shvets said that the KGB utilised the "New Statesman" to spread disinformation. Shvets said that the KGB had provided disinformation, including forged documents, to the "New Statesman" journalist Claudia Wright which she used for anti-American and anti-Israel