Opinion of Otto von Bismarck?

[Kingpoleon]

   Also, wasn't he a big proponent of a pro-Russia foreign policy?  One wonders if he could have safely maneuvered Germany away from getting in a big war had someone like him still been in leadership in the 20th century.

No, he encouraged isolating Russia. He originally chiefly wanted a German-Spanish alliance, with Italy and the U. K. being bonuses. Realpolitik intervened.

[Kingpoleon]

Bismarck is second only to Napoleon in terms of affecting post-Renaissance pre-WWII history. If he'd stayed on a little longer, I'm not sure the German Empire would have ever fallen. Keep in mind that one more marriage with the British monarch line would have meant no  Triple Entente. The Danzig Corridor might have been conceded via a post-Cold War referendum to a Polish-Lithuanian Kingdom under a Hohenzollern monarch.

Very fortunate for democracies and very unfortunate for empires that Wilhelm II didn't like him or his sons.

[Kingpoleon]

Whether good or bad, definitely an example of a "Great Man of History".

Napoleon, Alexander the Great, and Julius Caesar being the others?