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Germany 1871-1991 History A level > Kaiser Wilhelm II 1888-1914 > Flashcards

Kaiser Wilhelm II 1888-1914 Flashcards

1
Q

When was Caprivi appointed?

A

1890

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2
Q

What social measures did Caprivi introduce?

A
  • No Sunday working
  • Forbidden to employ children under 13yrs old
  • Women aren’t allowed to work 11+ hours a day
  • Industrial courts solved disputes
  • Trade unions recognised
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3
Q

How did Caprivi renegotiate Germany’s tariff policy?

A
  • Negotiated a series of treaties with Austria-Hungary, Italy, Russia, and many other smaller states
  • Each country agrees changes that benefit one another, leading to reduction of tariffs on agricultural goods
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4
Q

Who opposed Caprivi’s New Course?

A
  • Landowners: Upset by lowering of tariffs so threatened to lower prices which would be economically bad for Germany. Also created pressure group the Agrarian League
  • Military: Caprivi attempted to reduce conscription from 3 to 2 yrs which would weaken military.
  • The Camarillo
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5
Q

How many members did the Agrarian League have?

A

1/3 of a million

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6
Q

What did ‘Reisekaiser’ mean as a nickname for Kaiser Wilhelm II?

A

“Travelling emperor”, referring to how much time he spent travelling and on his yacht

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7
Q

What was Kaiser Wilhelm II’s personality like?

A
  • Ambitious
  • Confident outwardly, but deeply indecisive in reality
  • Could appear charming but found it hard to deeply relate to people
  • Changeable, unpredictable
  • Almost sadistic sense of humour. Would turn his rings round when shaking hands with people to deliberately hurt them
  • Born with a limp left arm and so was always compensating
  • Sensitive to criticism. Any disagreement may result in outbursts of rage
  • Only fully at ease when surrounded with military officers: highly traditional
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8
Q

Who was General Hulsen? What did he do? When?

A
  • 1908
  • At a military party, he tried to cheer up the Kaiser by prancing around in a tutu
  • Instead, he collapsed and died there and then from a heart attack right in the middle of it
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9
Q

What quote did Kaiser Wilhelm II say that sums up how much power he wanted?

A

‘There is only one man in charge of the Reich, and I will not tolerate any other’

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10
Q

Who were Wilhelm’s decisive “favourites”?

A
  • Baron von Holstein
  • Philip zu Eulenberg
  • Both wielded considerable power at court
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11
Q

What did Wilhelm II want out of his first chancellor?

A
  • Caprivi had limited political experience but good administrative abilities. Wilhelm liked this.
  • He wanted Caprivi to not be very proactive and just follow what he said. He turned out to be more proactive than perhaps desired at first
  • Wanted a moderate approach to socialism
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12
Q

Who supported Caprivi’s new course?

A

Working class, socialists, industrialists, Zentrum, Liberals

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13
Q

What did Caprivi agree to do to the army?

A
  • Reduce military service from three to two years
  • Allow Reichstag to discuss military budget every 5 years
  • Reichstag allowed to increase the size of the army by 84,000 in return
  • Disliked by Conservatives and Wilhelm. Thought it was humiliating
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14
Q

Between what dates was Caprivi Chancellor?

A

1890-1894

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15
Q

What was the Schlieffen Plan? When was it drawn up?

A
  • 1892
  • Wilhelm feared a war from France to reclaim Alsace-Lorraine. Russia had become closer to France after Bismarck resigned. The Plan focused on how they’d fight a two-front war
  • Formed a reason for Wilhelm to demand that Caprivi win support for higher taxes to expand the army reserve to make sure the plan was effective
  • Details of the plan weren’t given to the Reichstag. To them, it was just Caprivi asking for more money
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16
Q

Why did Caprivi eventually resign? When?

A
  • !894
  • Kaiser had decided that he once again wanted an anti-socialist bill and therefore made Caprivi draw up new plans for one that he knew the Reichstag would reject
  • The Kaiser ended up being persuaded by Eulenberg to go crazy with a plan to alter the constitution to increase his own power in order to crush socialism
  • However, Caprivi talks him out of it and resigns to make space for a less independently-minded Chancellor
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17
Q

What did Caprivi and the Chancellor disagree on even before Caprivi resigned?

A

Kaiser interfered when Caprivi tried to allow both Protestant and Catholic churches to have control over education

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18
Q

Why did Wilhelm II decide that the socialist threat needed controlling once again? When?

A
  • 1893
  • After the socialists had made considerable gains in the election. It became clear that the Kaiser couldn’t single-handedly win over the workers
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19
Q

What is a quote from Caprivi about resigning?

A

“My relations with the All Highest have become intolerable. You cannot imagine how relived I will feel to get out of here”

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20
Q

Between which years was Hohenlohe chancellor?

A

1894-1900

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21
Q

Why did Wilhelm select Hohenlohe as the new chancellor?

A
  • Selected to be nothing more than a figurehead chancellor
  • Posed no political threat to those surrounding the Kaiser
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22
Q

How did the Kaiser describe Hohenlohe?

A
  • As a “Straw Doll” for his plans
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23
Q

What were the anti-socialist bills introduced by Hohenlohe and when were they? How did the Reichstag react to them?

A
  • FIrst of the anti-socialist bills introduced by Hohenlohe was Subversion Bill in 1894
  • Second was the anti-union bill in 1899
  • Both get thrown out of the Reichstag because of a dip in Conservatives representation between 1893 and 1898
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24
Q

What did Kaiser Wilhelm ask Posadowsky Wehner to introduce? What position did Wehner hold at that point? When was this?-

A
  • 1899
  • Asked to introduce a bill imposing prison sentences for strike action perceived as harmful to public security
  • Still rejected by a large amount of the Reichstag
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25
Q

What made Kaiser Wilhelm ignore domestic affairs increasingly?

A

Weltpolitik

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26
Q

What position did Tirpitz hold? When was he appointed?

A
  • Naval Secretary
  • 1897
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27
Q

What did Tirpitz believe Weltpolitik could do?

A

Unite people of different backgrounds and therefore overcome Reichstag difficulties at that point

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28
Q

What contributed to the desirability of Weltpolitik?

A
  • Industrialisation creating economic demands to acquire raw materials beyond Europe. Also created demand for battleships
  • Nationalists want to Germany to remain as the leading nations and therefore want a more active world policy
  • Pressure groups (Pan-German/Navy League) popularise Weltpolitik and pressurise gov to implement it
  • Wilhelm’s mother was British and the Kaiser held a rocky relationship with her so it was probable that the Kaiser wanted to beat Britain in something
  • Was meant to be a way to rally the German people behind their Kaiser to reach a perfect Germany
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29
Q

What did the Kaiser say about Britain?

A

‘The English will be brought low someday’

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30
Q

What foreign affairs led to Weltpolitik?

A
  • Kaiser thought that introducing Weltpolitik may also force Britain to see that (with France being their traditional enemy) Germany was a beneficial ally. Especially after the Triple Alliance between Austria, Germany and Italy was strong and the France-Russian alliance was the only alternative
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31
Q

How did Weltpolitik backfire?

A
  • Actually ended up forcing England to ally with France and generate country-wide hatred in British press
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32
Q

What was the policy of Concentration that Hohenlohe started?

A
  • Basically equivalent to Bismarck’s Sammlungspolitik
  • Policy to concentrate middle class support against socialists
  • Deliberately played on Nationalist sympathies to directly oppose the working class
  • Encouraged and supported by right-wing pressure groups
33
Q

What did WIlhelm denounce socialists as?

A
  • ‘Fellows without a fatherland’
  • ‘Treasonable rabble’
34
Q

By the third navy law, what was Germany doing?

A
  • Building 3 battleships and 6 cruisers yearly
  • Widening the Kiel Canal to accommodate dreadnoughts
35
Q

What eventually gave Hohenlohe the opportunity to resign?

A

A disagreement over colonial policy

36
Q

What did the Pan-German League want? When was it established? How many members did it have?

A
  • Est. 1891
  • 25,000 members, mainly middle-class
  • 60 Reichstag deputies by 1914
  • Anti-semitic
  • Wanted worldwide unity of ethnic Germans, to gain colonies and suppress socialism/democracy
37
Q

What did the Navy League want? When was it established? How many members did it have?

A
  • Est. 1898
  • 500,000 members
  • Wanted to promote naval expansion, develop support for navy, put pressure on Reichstag for naval bills, promote growth of colonies
38
Q

What did the Agrarian League want? When was it established? How many members did it have?

A
  • 1893
  • 250,000 members (330,000+ by 1913)
  • Junker-led (but many members were smallholders/tenant farmers)
  • Wanted to protect agricultural interests, lobby for tariff protection for farmers
39
Q

What did the Imperial League against Social Democracy want? When was it established? How many members did it have?

A
  • Est. 1904
  • 200,000 members
  • Supported by heavy industry
  • Wanted to curb socialist growth through propaganda and promote conservative values
40
Q

What did the Industrialists’ League want? When was it established?

A
  • Est. 1895
  • Wanted high tariffs to promote exports and to promote manufacturing interests
41
Q

What did the Army League want? When was it established? How many members did it have?

A
  • Est. 1912
  • 300,000 members
  • Wanted to promote expansion of German army and pressurise Reichstag to pass army bills
42
Q

What was Bulow’s nickname?

A

The Eel

43
Q

Why was Bulow chosen as the next chancellor?

A
  • Groomed for office by the Kaiser’s inner circle
  • Went out of his way to flatter Wilhelm
  • Visited Kaiser Wilhelm every morning
  • Flattery was effective because of his constant desire to be loved by people (after a lack of love in his early life)
  • Rose to the top during his time as foreign minister from 1897 to 1900
  • Also was one of the advocates for Weltpolitik
44
Q

What did Kaiser Wilhelm say about Bulow?

A

‘Since I have Bulow I can sleep peacefully’

45
Q

What did Bulow’s new tariff law do? When was it?

A
  • 1902
  • Restored duties on agricultural products and a few main manufactured goods that had been taken off in Caprivi’s time
  • Increased revenue for the navy + appeased Agrarian interests
46
Q

What policy did Bulow abandon?

A
  • Aggressively anti-socialist Sammlungspolitik (or Concentration)
  • Though retained the part that sought support by appealing to patriotism
47
Q

What social security did Posadowsky-Wehner introduce? When? Why?

A
  • 1900-03
  • Hoped to draw support away from the socialists
  • Extended accident/health insurance
  • Introduced new rules for arbitration of industrial disputes
  • Socialists actually ended up being the ones who took credit for these
48
Q

What reform was introduced in 1904?

A

Introduction of the secret ballot

49
Q

What reform was introduced in 1906?

A

Payment of Reichstag deputies (meaning that lower middle/working class men can now put themselves forward)

50
Q

Why were relations between the Kaiser and Bulow getting worse in 1905?

A
  • Bulow had failed to control the Reichstag to win the approval the Kaiser needed to increase military spending
  • New income raised by his tariffs proved insufficient
  • When trying to force increased taxes, the SPD and Zentrum opposed him
51
Q

How did Bulow end up compromising with Zentrum and the SPD to raise more money for military spending? When?

A
  • 1906
  • Introduced a small tax on legacies. This tax was almost negligible.
  • Supported by Zentrum and SPD
  • Conservatives and Bundesrat are hostile
52
Q

What was the Bulow Bloc?

A
  • Coalition negotiated by Bulow
  • Combined elements of Conservatives, members of the Agrarian League, and the Liberals
  • Coalition used in the 1907 elections
53
Q

What was the Hottentot Election?

A
  • 1907 election
  • Fought for support for Bulow’s policies in South West Africa which branded Zentrum and the SPD as unpatriotic, swaying the vote towards the Bulow Bloc coalition
  • SPD and Zentrum had forced the election and were critical of the gov’s imperial policies
54
Q

How much did the National Debt increase between 1900 and 08?

A

It doubled.

55
Q

What reform was implemented in 1901?

A

Industrial courts were made compulsory in all towns

56
Q

What did Bulow want to do to meet spending demands?

A
  • Two-pronged attack through more inheritance taxes and indirect taxation
  • Indirect taxes would have hit workers hard, causing the SPD to reject it completely
57
Q

How did the socialists want to resolve the large national debt in 1908 compared to the conservatives?

A
  • Socialists want increased taxes on property and inheritance (Progressives agree with them and also want Constitutional reform in Prussian Landtag
  • Conservatives want taxes on consumer goods
58
Q

Who defeated Bulow’s finance bill in June 1909?

A

Conservatives, Progressives, Socialists, Zentrum: shows he’s lost support of everyone by now!

59
Q

What eventually led to Bulow’s resignation?

A

The Daily Telegraph Affair

60
Q

When was the Daily Telegraph Affair?

A

October 1908

61
Q

What was the Daily Telegraph Affair?

A
  • Interview given by the Kaiser to a British newspaper
  • Suggested all Germans except him were anti-British and that he was stopping this attitude
  • Bulow given opportunity to stop this interview being published but failed to (though the Kaiser would’ve probably been angry if he had anyway)
  • Worsened relations with Britain, who believe the Kaiser to be arrogant
  • Reichstag calls for Kaiser’s powers to be curbed
  • Bulow used as a scapegoat and resigns shortly after. Kaiser falls further into the shadows
62
Q

When was Bethmann-Hollweg Chancellor?

A

Between 1909 and 1917

63
Q

What was the biggest challenge facing Bethmann-Hollweg?

A

Reconciling a budget defecit with added demands of added military expenditure

64
Q

What were the left wing demands to Bethmann-Hollweg?

A
  • Reform of the Prussian Landtag voting system
  • Proposed in 1910, but defeated by a combination of progressives (who didn’t think measures went far enough) and Conservatives
65
Q

When was universal male suffrage introduced? How old did you have to be?

A
  • 1911
  • 21 yr old males can all vote
66
Q

What fraction of Germans voted for the SPD in the 1912 election? Why was Bethmann-Hollweg blamed?

A
  • 1/3
  • Bethmann-Hollweg failed to push patriotism
67
Q

What did the 1912 election mean for Bethmann-Hollweg?

A
  • SPD and Liberals now have a left-wing majority
  • Chancellor can no longer win majorities for policies
68
Q

What happened to the army in 1913?

A
  • Reichstag (which fierce opposition for the SPD) is persuaded to agree in a large increase in army size, funded by a special ‘defence tax’ on the value of property
  • Conservatives strongly oppose this tax and it leads to a vote of no confidence
  • The Kaiser simply keeps Bethmann Hollweg in and they simply stop working through the Reichstag, issuing imperial decrees with no approval or consultation
69
Q

Which historian believed in the ‘Shadow Kaiser’ idea?

A

Hans-Ulrich Wehler

70
Q

Which historian believed in the ‘Personal Rule’ idea?

A

John Rohl

71
Q

What was the Zabern Affair? When was it?

A
  • December 1913
  • Kaiser declares support for Zabern Affair
  • In Alsace-Lorraine, they’re running military drills to train Alsatian soldiers
  • One of the commanding officers calls the Alsatians “Whacks”, a derogatory insult
  • Protests begin happening and are put down with harsh military action
  • Kaiser seemingly ignores them, doesn’t reprimand the officer involved, and instead just sends them to do military drills elsewhere. This makes it seem like the military can do anything they like
72
Q

What evidence is there to suggest that Kaiser Wilhelm’s behaviour is unconstitutional?

A
  • He dictated/controlled all appointments, legislation, and diplomatic moves
  • Arguable that he did nothing more than the constitution allows
  • Started actively ignoring the Reichstag with Bethmann-Hollweg (the body which needs a majority to be able to pass legislation)
73
Q

How was support for the SPD counterbalanced with support for extreme nationalism in 1914?

A
  • Germany had the largest socialist party by 1914
  • However, it also possessed the largest army
  • This pull between the left and right was at the expense of the moderate centre, and liberalism declined during Kaiser Wilhelm’s period
74
Q

What did the Erfurt Programme demand? What conference was it made at?

A
  • Erfurt conference of 1891
  • Demanded the abolition of class rule, equal rights, use of income tax, property tax, and inheritance tax for government revenue (all Marxist principles)
75
Q

What theory did August Bebel and others develop? How did it show their moderate outlook?

A
  • ‘Gradual socialism’ to achieve the long term goal of constitutional change
  • Showed moderate outlook because it meant they didn’t take advantage of opportunities to challenge the country’s leader after Zabern and the Daily Telegraph
  • They didn’t want to appear unpatriotic overall
76
Q

Which traditional Marxists were part of the SPD? How did they make themselves apparent?

A
  • Karl Liebknecht, Rosa Luxembourg
  • Defeated a revisionist amendment to the Erfurt Programme which stated the desire to work through the Reichstag
  • These extremist ideas in the backdrop made it harder for other parties to support them (eg. Liberals) and gave right wing an excuse to attack them
77
Q

How was the National Liberal Party split in 1914?

A
  • Right national liberals oppose socialism and want an expansionist foreign policy
  • Left national liberals (and progressives) want social reforms and extensions of Reichstag power
78
Q

Who was Heinrich Class? What did he do?

A
  • Leader of the pan-German League
  • Set out their agenda in a pamphlet ‘If I were Kaiser’ in 1912
  • This pamphlet was overtly anti-semitic

Germany 1871-1991 History A level (5 decks)

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