How democratic was Germany 1871-78 Flashcards
Factor 1- democracy/political party power
Reichstag power
Facts-New constitution needed a vast number of new laws to be passed, and no laws could be passed without reichstag vote (take too long to dissolve reichstag every time they disagreed with Bismarck so they usually approved most things). Reichstag also had control over the budget (most of the time) which they could use to make life difficultly for Bismarck if necessary. The members had parliamentary immunity, allowing them free speech which is democratic as they could voice their views, no matter how extreme, without fear of arrest. Finally, because of universal male suffrage, mass political parties grew with popular appeal, which Bismarck could not simply ignore
Explanation- It’s clear that these parties/ reichstag members had some political influence because Bismarck considered changing the constitution in 1880 to reduce the power of the Reichstag, showing they had potential to undermine his influence.
Factor 2- democracy/political party power
Powers of the Länder parliaments
Facts-Bundesrat made up of members elected by their respective state Länder parliaments. Bigger states had more representatives, with Prussia having 17 members and Bavaria having 6; smaller states had one. The Bundesrat had more political power than Reichstag and could veto legislation with just 14 votes, as well as further extensive powers; however usually just rubber stamped chancellor policies. Within their respective states, the elected members had control over state education, taxation etc.
Explanation- This shows democracy because these members are voted by the electorate and therefore those who are elected should in theory be representative of the people’s needs, and because the parliaments had important power, it would make sense that people voted for those who would benefit their states the most.
Factor 3- limitations of political power/democracy
Kaiser and Chancellor/Kaiser’s dominance over army-
Facts; The kaiser could appoint/dismiss the government and dissolve the reichstag at any time. He appointed the chancellor, who wasn’t dependant on reichstag approval to stay, and could ignore the reichstag or propose new laws for them. Despite the reichstag supposedly having control over the army, in 1874 Bismarck presented law that said an army over 400,000 would receive automatic funding; given 80% of federal expenditure was spent on army, this seriously undermined monetary powers of the reichstag.
Explanation- The reichstag and constitutional system gave the people of Germany and the Reichstag/party members a false illusion of power and control, when in reality they were easily overruled by the Kaiser and chancellor, and had very limited power to make change, suggesting a lack of democracy. The balance of power was way too heavily towards the Kaiser primarily, who could undermine any aspect of the constitution if it didn’t suit him.
Factor 4- limitations of political power/democracy
Dominance of Prussia
Facts- Because Prussia was the biggest state, it had 17 seats in the Bundesrat, whilst only 14 votes were needed to veto any law. Their members were junkers; wealthy land owners from Prussia. This clever system gave the illusion that all the other states could put together their votes and veto any laws that would benefit the junkers at the expense of everyone else, when in reality all other states were too scared to undermine Prussia, who was supported by the Kaiser because of their upper class background, and the fact that the Kaiser was Prussian. Coupled with this, the voting system worked so that upper class votes were worth more than lower class votes, and so it always ensured a prussian favoured parliament was set up, and their dominance insure their would be no revolution from below to oppose this.
Judgement- In reality, the political power lay in the hands of Prussia and their junkers, who had very little consideration of lower class needs and were certainly not in the mindset to provide them with any more political influence incase it saw them being undermined.
Judgement/ line of argument
Overall, the new constitution was not mainly democratic as political parties in the Reichstag had much less power over how the country was run, because of a combination of the Prussian Kaiser who could over rule anything, and the Prussian state in the Länder that were dominant in comparison to other states. The way voting worked further ensured that democracy was only suited to the upper classes, and Except for SAPD, all parties in the Reichstag were right wing, so it lacked democratic choice; After 1878, SAPD were banned so even less choice and potential for democracy in the long term
