Editing Otto von Bismarck (section)

===Death===
[[File:Bismarck auf dem Totenbett.jpg|thumb|upright|Bismarck on his deathbed, 30 July 1898]]

Bismarck spent his final years composing his memoirs (''Gedanken und Erinnerungen'', or ''Thoughts and Memories''), a work lauded by historians.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Egerton |first=George W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ys4x1wgIpcoC&pg=PR14 |title=Political Memoir: Essays on the Politics of Memory |publisher=Psychology Press |date=1994 |isbn=978-0-7146-3471-5 |page=14 |access-date=11 August 2015 |archive-date=4 October 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004034753/https://books.google.com/books?id=ys4x1wgIpcoC&pg=PR14 |url-status=live }}</ref> In the memoirs, Bismarck continued his feud with Wilhelm II by attacking him, and by increasing the drama around every event and by often presenting himself in a favourable light. He also published the text of the Reinsurance Treaty with Russia, a major breach of national security, for which an individual of lesser status would have been heavily prosecuted.

Bismarck's health began to fail in 1896. He was diagnosed with [[gangrene]] in his foot, but refused to accept treatment for it; as a result, he had difficulty walking and often used a wheelchair. By July 1898, he was a full-time wheelchair user, had trouble breathing, and was almost constantly feverish and in pain. His health rallied momentarily on the 28th, but then sharply deteriorated over the next two days. He died just after midnight on 30 July 1898, at the age of 83 in [[Friedrichsruh]],<ref>Steinberg, pp. 462–463.</ref> where he is entombed in the [[Bismarck Mausoleum]]. He was succeeded as Prince Bismarck by his eldest son, [[Herbert von Bismarck|Herbert]]. Bismarck managed a posthumous snub of Wilhelm II by having his own sarcophagus inscribed with the words, "A loyal German servant of Emperor Wilhelm I".<ref>Steinberg, pp. 463–464.</ref>