1835

Ferdinand I succeeded as Emperor of Austria until his abdication December 1848, after the death of his father Franz (who had said, 'My Empire resembles a ramshackle house. If one wishes to demolish a bit of it one does not know how much will collapse.') He had serious mental problems and suffered fits (his parents were double first cousins). He's sometimes referred to as 'retarded' but he kept a lucid diary, spoke five languages, played the piano. Franz had defended Metternich from his family, Tsar, and other powerful people. Ferdinand was very different. Siemann: a triumvirate took on the role of regent for Ferdinand — Archduke Ludwig (Franz's brother), Archduke Franz Karl (Ferdinand's brother), and Metternich.

Bismarck 'scraped through' (AJPT) the civil service exams and entered the Prussian service in as a law clerk in Berlin.

He wrote to a former student friend: 'My life, looked at closely, is really rather pitiful. By day I pursue studies that do not interest me. My evenings I spend in the company of courtiers and civil servants, affecting a delight I am not Schulenburg enough to feel or to seek. I find it hard to believe that the most complete achievement of my chosen goal, the longest title and the largest medal in Germany, or the most stupendous distinction will indemnify me for the physically and spiritually shrunken beat that will be the product of this life. I am still frequently visited by the desire to swap the pen for the plough and the briefcase for the game bag. But that is something I can always still do.'

he wrote to a friend complaining that his job was taking minutes in a court, 'my beautiful fingers begin to curve under the burden of the constantly moving pen, and I wish most ardently to serve in some other capacity'. He applied for a transfer to the provincial administration at Aachen.