KULTURKAMPF- why it was made and supported, and what effects did it have Flashcards
Why it started
Why it started- syllabus of errors (1864) and papal infallibility (1870)
Syllabus of errors- Catholic church declares its against the modernisation and unification of Germany
Papal infallibility- church declares it holds control over state education, and that their ideology outweighs that of the government. Catholics had allegiance to the pope over the state, hindering unification progress as there would be no full loyalty to new country.
This was opposed by Bismarck and the NL because it was a growing barrier to unification. If people supported the catholics over the government, they wouldn’t be able to achieve unification. The catholics were trying to further the protection of their views in Germany at the time.
Why Bismarck supported it
Why Bismarck supported it- non German speaking catholics were siding with the growing Z party, and the catholics sided with Austria against Prussia in the war of 1866, reinforcing Bismarcks idea that the Catholics were adamant to avoid unification and were happy to call on foreign powers like Austria, who had prevented unification in Italy, to help them in Germany. Other non germany minorities like the polish youth were siding with the Z party and further undermining Bismarcks unification. He wanted them to be Germanised instead of siding with catholics, and so he used the Kulturkampf to limit their power.
Effect on German catholics
Effect on German catholics- the persecution of catholics reinforced any doubters’ ideas of siding with the Z party, and subsequently the Z party grew in size from 19% to 28% by 1874, as a way to strengthen their rights. It further divide catholics and non catholics by excluding catholics from many areas of German society. Their schools were inspected, they had 1800 priests exiled, 16 millions marks of church land taken and priest funding withdrawn. Protestants were 50% more likely to go to university and catholics found employment difficult to find, especially in civil services. Overtime, catholics were slowly reinvolved in German society, but there was long lasting tensions between catholics and non catholics.
