Chapter 2: Government and opposition Flashcards
Which party was most successful in the 1871 elections and how many seats did they have?
national liberals (125 seats)
Who was Rudolf von Bennigsen?
- founder and chairman of the national liberals
- initially cooperated with Bismark to achieve German unification and economic development
- later resigned over the anti-socialist laws
What laws were introduced by the Reichstag to bring economic unity to Germany?
How much did the railyway network grow by between 1871 and 1873?
- Reichbank (1876) - controlled the mark (new currency backed by gold)
- national post and telegraph system
- single court system - central supreme court for appeals
- support for an extension of the railway network across the whole empire
27%
What was Kulturkampf?
When was it ?
culture struggle - attack on the catholic church
1871
Why did Bismark support Kulturkampf?
- catholic church is financially independant and has political influence via the zentrum (second largest party in Reichstag by 1871 - 63 deputies) - Bismark feels threatened
- Bismark hopes an attack on the church will gain support from protestant Germans
Why did the National liberals support Kulturkampf?
- clash of values (Pope declared the church to be opposed to liberalism and nationalism - liberals want reform)
- liberals also want non-religious educational control
What were the main aspects of Kulturkampf?
- clergy are fordidden from mentioning politics when preaching
- catholic section of the prussian ministry of religion and education was abolished
- press campaign against the Zentrum
What was Bismarks Reichsfeinde?
Bismark labelled certain groups as enemies of the state - catholics (from 1871), social democrats (after 1878), progressive left wing liberals (early to mid 1880’s)
What were the 1873 May laws and who did they impact?
only applies to PRUSSIA
* catholic** education under state supervision**
* clergy were appointed by the state (not the pope)
* state financial aid to the church was ended
* prussian** catholics were deprived of some legal and civil rights **
What was the impact of the Kulturkampf for the catholics?
How many seats did they get in the 1874 election?
- politician** Ludwig Windhorst** - organises meetings and national reistance tours to attack the kulturkampf - increased unity
- election success - Ludwig called upon catholics to make the election a “great plebicite” - won 91 seats
What was the impact of the Kulturkampf for Bismark?
Why does he decide to end the policy?
- bismark** increased division** - increased critisism from protestants and jews who believed he was limiting religious freedoms
Decides to end the policy… - 1870’s economic depressions - wants to abandon free trade - knows he will lose liberal support so needs centre party backing
- protestant conservatives are increasingly hostile - Bismark can’t lose their support
- socialism was a greater threat - church is also in opposition so Bismark wants to form an alliance against the “new threat”
What was economic protection?
Who supported/opposed it?
putting tarifs on goods coming into the country to protect home industries - opposite of free trade
- there were increased calls for protectionism after the 1873 great depression
- pressure from east elbian Junkers - competition from american and russian grain threatened them with bankrupcy
- appealed to nationalist sentiment - said Germany needed to be self-sufficient incase of war
supported by conservatives and opposed by the national liberals
What was Bismarks attitude towards protective tariffs - did he support or oppose them?
Generally supports them because…
* wants germany to be more self-sufficient
* wants to work more closely with the zentrum and conservatives (who support tariffs) to combat socialism
What was the 1874 army budget and what was the impact of this?
- Bismark wants permanent funding for the army (would remove military matters from Reichstag control
- opposed by the liberals - compromise - they introduced the septennial law instead (Reichstag vote on military spending every seven years)
- this is a defeat for Bismark
What were the results of the 1877-1878 elections?
Why did these results occur?
1877 - national liberals lose seats and pro-protection parties do better
1878 - liberals lose 29 seats - resulted in the party losing influence - those who still believed in free trade broke away and joined the progressives
When was the tariff legislation introduced ?
Who supported this?
1879
conservatives and zentrum - beginning of the alliance of steel and Rye
When was the SPD created?
1875
What was Bismarks attitude to socialism ?
What events allowed him to change public attitudes?
threat to traditional society
1878 - there **were two attempted assassinations **on the Kaisers life ( one was a former SPD member) - Bismark persuaded the Reichstag that the SPD were disloyal and needed to be supressed
Max Hodel was the first man to try and assassinate the Kaiser
When was the first anti-socialist law and what were its main aspects?
passed** october 1878**
* socialist organisations, meetings and publications were banned
* police powers increased - could break up meetings and censor publications
* This law was renewed four times - socialism was essentially illegal
What were the impacts of the anti-socialist laws?
What happens to the number of SPD votes and seats?
Bismark was not successful in limiting the influence of socialism
* more **industrial workers **turn to socialism
* votes double between 1878 and 1890
* seats rose from 9 to 15
What and when was Bismarks state socialism policy?
What were peoples reactions to this policy
Bismark tries to make socialism less appealing by making changes which benefit workers
* 1883 - medical insurance
* 1889 - old age pensions
- some workers were pleased by the benefits - opposed by national liberals as it extended the role of the state and limited individual freedom
What was the result of the 1881 election and why was this an issue for Bismark?
75% of the Reichstag are hostile to Bismark
- Bismark has to create a majority from various groups - legislation is slowed down
What was the war scare crisis?
What was the impact?
When was it ?
- Bismark wants a 10% tax increase to fund the military
- creates a war scare crisis (suggests war with france is imminent after Boulanger makes some war-like threats)
- election is held and Bismark is able to get his increase in taxation - Shows the influence of Bismark (although the government is still very unstable)
1886
What was the permanent anti-socialism bill?
What was the impact?
When was it ?
rejected by the Reichstag (liberals no longer support the policy) - a general election is held and SPD representation actually increases which poses a threat to Bismark
1890
