Bismarck’s Germany (1871-1890) Flashcards
1
Q
What was the National Liberal Era?
A
- the National Liberals were the largest party in the Reichstag in the 1870s; they won 125 seats in 1871 and 155 seats in 1874 elections.
2
Q
How did Bismarck and the National Liberals work well together?
A
- in the 1870s, B and the NL worked together to pass useful legislation for a newly unified Empire.
- the Reichsbank was created in 1876 which controlled a new currency for the whole Empire.
- the new currency was the Mark which was very stable because it was backed by gold.
- all internal tariffs were abolished, and they created a uniform law for commerce.
- created a national penal code in 1872.
- set up a single court system and a central supreme court for appeals in 1879.
- established a national postal and telegraph system.
- supported the extension of the railway network across the whole Empire.
- both were united against the Catholic Church which allowed Bismarck to carry out the Kulturkampf, 1872-79.
3
Q
How did the National Liberals oppose Bismarck?
A
- Bismarck did not agree with the NL’s hopes for a parliamentary democracy.
- the NL began to oppose a number of Bismarck’s proposals in the later years of their ‘unnatural alliance’.
- in 1874, Bismarck presented the Eternal Law which proposed that an army of 400,000 men should be wholly financed by federal expenditure; the NL opposed the ‘Eternal Law’ and forced Bismarck to compromise to the Septennates Law whereby the army budget was fixed for 7 years at a time, rather than voted for annually or fixed permanently.
- the Press Law (against socialists) had to considerably watered down before passing through the Reichstag.
4
Q
What was the Kulturkampf?
A
- a political struggle against the Catholics, 1872-79.
5
Q
Why did the Kulturkampf happen?
A
- German Catholics formed their own party, the Zentrum, to defend their interests.
- the Zentrum rejected state interference in the Church education.
- Bismarck was a Protestant who disliked Catholicism and viewed the faith with suspicion.
- Bismarck saw the Zentrum as a threat to the Empire’s unity (many of the national minorities, such as the French and Poles, who wanted nothing to do with the unified Reich were Catholic) and he thought that Zentrum politicians would encourage civil disobedience amongst Catholics if state policies conflicted with the interests of the Catholic Church.
6
Q
What happened during the Kulturkampf?
A
- Bismarck condemned the actions of the Catholic Church in a series of newspaper articles in 1872 which started the Kulturkampf.
- in 1871, the Zentrum was labelled as ‘Reichsfeinde’.
- in 1872, the Catholic section of the Prussian Ministry of Religion and Education was abolished.
- in 1872, Catholic schools were brought directly under state supervision.
- in 1873, the May Laws were passed which were oppressive acts against Catholics that were only applicable in Prussia; one law is that Catholic education came under state supervision.
7
Q
What was the outcome of the Kulturkampf?
A
- Bismarck’s attempt to repress Catholicism was met with considerable opposition; Pope Pius counterattacked by threatening to excommunicate Catholics who obeyed Bismarck’s laws and consequently, only 30 out of 10,000 Catholic Priests submitted to the new legislation.
- the Kulturkampf strengthened the Zentrum; in 1871, the party won 58 seats but this increased to 91 seats in 1874 election.
- the Zentrum transformed itself into a religious, rather than Catholic, party which strengthen Empire unity in the LT.
- Bismarck also alienated his natural allies, the Protestants, as his laws reduced the influence of religion rather than Catholicism; and those on the left who disliked the violation of their fundamental civil rights.
- Bismarck was able to rid himself of the NL and could make the policing changes he desired; and, he made his alliance with Catholic Austria in 1879 after relations with the Papacy improved.
- after the Kulturkampf, the Zentrum opposed Bismarck’s policies throughout the 1880s.
8
Q
How did Bismarck treat the Empire’s national minorities?
A
- Poles were feared because they spoke Polish between themselves and constituted the largest non-German minority in the Reich; Bismarck outlawed the Polish language in education and law courts and tried to ‘Germanise’ them through internal colonisation; this resulted in much discrimination towards the Poles who were seen as a lesser race and now felt isolated and is unified from the Empire, pushing them to hate the Kaiserreich and between 1885 and 1890, Bismarck deported 34,000 Poles.
- French were feared because they spoke French between themselves and all those in Alsace-Lorraine considered themselves French and not German; Bismarck dealt with them by removing their representation in the Federal Council and allowing them to leave the Empire freely; this resulted in the French hating the Germans and 400,000 people leaving the Reich by 1914 (also the 1913 Zabern Affair).
- Danes were feared because they formed their own party in the Reichstag because they hated being governing by Berlin and constantly vetoed laws that Bismarck put through; Bismarck dealt with them by not allowing them to have autonomy and independence from the imperial government; this resulted in the Danish resenting the Empire and have no commitments to the Kaiser or Chancellor.
9
Q
What was the outcome of Bismarck’s treatment of the national minorities?
A
- he ultimately weakened the Empire’s social and cultural unity.
- integration never occurred and the minorities strived to keep their individual cultures alive.
- even by 1900, the Empire was not fully united and there was still discrimination and tensions towards the national minorities.
10
Q
Why did Bismarck want economic protectionism?
A
- in the late 1870s, German agriculture suffered from both the effects of a series of bad harvests, and the importation of cheap wheat.
- there was a slow in industrial growth in 1873 which helped to produce a crisis of confidence in free trade; industrialists and workers looked to the government to protect their interests.
- France, Russia and Austria had all adopted protective tariffs by the late 1870s.
- Bismarck hoped that tariffs would provide the federal government with more income.
11
Q
What political factors influenced Bismarck to introduce economic protectionism?
A
- by the late 1870s, landowners and industrialists were clamouring for protective tariffs and by espousing protectionist policies, Bismarck could win influential support.
- Bismarck believed that the induction of tariffs would provide the government with much-needed revenue, meaning he would not be dependent on an annual Reichstag vote.
12
Q
What was the 1879 Tariff Act?
A
- in June 1878, Bismarck called an election aimed at depriving the NL of seats in the Reichstag, which worked as they los 29 seats while the Conservatives and Zentrum emerged with the overall majority.
- in 1879, protectionists made up the majority of the Reichstag as they belonged to either the Conservative or Zentrum political parties, meaning Bismarck was able to introduce a general tariff bill, the 1879 Tariff Act.
- in July 1879, a tariff bill passed through the Reichstag and duties were imposed on imports.
13
Q
What were the results of the 1879 Tariff Act?
A
- Bismarck committed himself to the Conservatives; Bismarck was strongly supported by the Conservatives, landowners and industrialists and this marked the beginning of the ‘alliance of steel and rye’.
- Bismarck had demonstrated his political skill and opportunism, his control over the Reichstag and his ability to make and break alliances.
- the NL and the Zentrum were determined to not allow Bismarck financial freedom from the Reichstag; a Zentrum deputy, George von Frankenstein, put forward a scheme whereby all revenues coming to the federal government in excess of 130 million Marks would be divided up amongst the 25 states and as a result of the Frankenstein Clause, the budgetary rights of the Reichstag were preserved and Bismarck failed to secure the financial independence he longed for.
- the National Liberals splintered and lost influence.
- tariffs raised the cost of living for workers, making them more inclined to vote for the socialists.
- the Reich became more united as economic protectionism brought the north and south of Germany closer together since Bismarck presented tariffs as a patriotic necessity.
- tariffs accelerated the growth of a large internal market.
14
Q
Why were the Socialists a threat to Bismarck?
A
- they wanted to change the constitution.
- socialism was a threat to the society he wanted to maintain.
- in 1877, the SPD won nearly 500,000 votes, giving them 12 seats in the Reichstag.
15
Q
How did Bismarck deal with the socialist threat?
A
- in May 1878, an anarchist tried to assassinate Kaiser Wilhelm I and Bismarck blamed the socialists; a week later, there was another assassination attempt on KWI and Bismarck publicly criticised the NL for failing to pass the anti-socialist bill.
- Bismarck dissolved the Reichstag and the electorate blamed the SPD whose votes significantly reduced from 500,000 to 300,000 and NL who fell by 130,000 votes and 29 seats.
