Pre-U, paper 2c European History c. 1715-2000

Section 5 1862-1914

The German Empire, 1871-1890: Bismarck

Focus areas: Bismarck (1871-90)

Prussia inside the new Germany, the nature of the new Empire, political alignments, the Constitution, Monarch and elites, parties.

An overview of economic developments, rapid industrialisation, agrarian needs, commercial power, urbanisation and social issues;

Domestic policies, Kulturkampf, socialism, unions, welfare areas, perceived opposition to Bismarck. Foreign policies (France isolation, Russia and Austria, Britain, the Balkans, minimal imperialism) The situation in 1890: Bismarck’s legacy Bismarck’s place, role, actions and reputation

For each topic area, we have a colour coded each book or article:

Blue is essential Yellow – if you want to develop a deeper understanding read this Green – a monograph or sophisticated/highly detailed account. Pink is for other things that might add to your knowledge but aren’t essential.

o Alan Farmer and Andrina Stiles (2014) The Unification of Germany and the challenge of Nationalism 1789-1919 (Access to History, Hodder Education, 4th edn) pp. 118-124.

Geoff Layton (2009) From Kaiser to Fuhrer: Germany 1900-1945 (Access to History, Hodder Education), pp. 2-7.

Alison Kitson, Germany 1858-1990, Hope, Terror, and Revival (2001), pp. 29-33. (good for the parties). D. G. Williamson, Bismarck and Germany 1862-1890, 2nd, pp. 63-92 Edgar Feucthwanger, ‘The Peculiar Course of German History’, in History Today, issue 43, September

2002. Gordon A. Craig, Germany 1866-1945, The Institutional Structure of the Empire, pp. 38-60. Volker R. Berghahn, Imperial German, 1871-1914: Economy, society, culture and politics (1994), pp. 190-

210 (large structural questions and the Bismarckian and Wilhelmian models of ‘personal rule’); Edgar Feucthwanger, (2001) Imperial Germany 1850-1918, pp. 60-62 Matthew Jeffries, Contesting the German Empire, pp. 90-125: Democracy and the Undemocratic State:

How and by whom was the Empire Governed?

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Prussia inside the new Germany, the nature of the new Empire, political alignments, the Constitution, Monarch and elites, parties.

The basic questions here:

How was the New Germany governed? How Liberal was the new Germany?

Key Points There was no single country called Germany before 1871. Before there were a large number of

individual states loosely allied in the German Confederation. The Second Reich was a kleindeutschland (a version of Germany that excluded Austria (its inclusion

would have resulted in the grossdeutschland later created by the Nazis) created in the defeat of France by Prussia and her allies in 1871.

The Second Reich was dominated by Prussia which ceased to be an independent country, and consisted of Prussia plus 24 other states, which included three other kingdoms, 18 principalities and three free cities.

Prince Otto von Bismarck was the author of the Second Reich’s German Constitution, which represented a hybrid of parliamentary and monarchical government that reflects Bismarck’s political goal – which was to unite Germany under the Prussian military monarchy. It has sometimes been called a system of ‘skirted decisions’ because the choice between a fully representative and a fully authoritarian government was deliberately not made. It was also a compromise between federalism and unitary state.

The federalist and democratic elements of the constitution – were designed to appeal and to appease the Sovereign states on the one hand, and the Liberals who had been the key supporters of a united Germany, on the other.

o Liberals would buy into the constitution in the belief and hope that it would pave the way for a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. Until the late 1870s they had some grounds for confidence that this would be the case.

o The Federal principle: The new Germany was a ‘permanent union’ of 22 Sovereign State governments and 3

Free Hanseatic cities. (There was also an additional territory that was not a state in its own right, but which was governed directly by an imperial governor-general – known as the ‘Reichsland’.)

Each state had its own parliament or Landtag, and its own constitutional arrangements and each retained control of education, transport, direct taxation, police, local justice and health within its state boundaries;

Federal government (the Reich Executive) held control of the Reich as a whole including foreign affairs, defence, civil and criminal law, customs (i.e. indirect taxation on such things as sugar, tobacco and beer), railways and postal service; it had the right to determine the level of direct taxation but only the states could collect it.

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The Reich constitution, essentially consisted of an Executive, a Federal Council (Bundesrat), composed of delegates from the separate states and a National parliament (Reichstag).

o The Executiveo Emperor – always king of Prussia; power to appoint chancellor, dissolve Reichstag; control

foreign policy; make treaties and alliances; supreme commander of army (which he controlled through a military cabinet); could declare war and make peace; supervising the execution of all federal laws and possessed right to interpret the constitution. He aalso had the right to declare martial law in case of civil disorder and, in emergency, to declare federal execution against dissident member states and to sequester their territory and their rights of sovereignty.

o The Emperor appointed:

The Chancellor – Chief Minister of the Reich; was responsible only to the Emperor, not to the Reichstag; decided policy; presided over the Bundesrat; he could hire and fire state secretaries responsible for the various government ministries.

Since the Chancellor and his ministers owed their positions to the Kaiser, much depended upon their relationship to him.

From the outset, Bismarck insisted on an 1852 order that instructed that all communication between government ministers and the Kaiser should be conducted through the chancellor. Kaiser Wilhelm II’s insistence that this order be rescinded in 1890 was one of the key reasons Bismarck was forced to resign.

By 1878, Bismarck had expanded the Chancellor’s office to include eight separate Reich departments: the foreign office, the treasury, the interior office, the admiralty, posts and telegraphs, and the offices for Alsace-Lorraine, the railways and judicial affairs. However, Bismarck abhorred the idea of collective government so there was no cabinet discussions or collective responsibility on the lines of the British model and only twice did he call a meeting of state secretaries to discuss policy.

Stuck between the Reichstag on the one hand, and the Kaiser on the other, the Chancellor held the whole constitution together and his role was absolutely pivotal. This was precisely what Bismarck had intended and reflected his ambitions.

o The Federal Council (Bundesrat) The Bundesrat, effectively the ‘upper chamber’ of the German Parliament, embodied the

Federal principle, since it consisted of 58 deputies nominated from all 25 of the German assemblies. It had the power to introduce legislation, to veto legislation and to change the constitution. The chancellor presided over its meetings. Technically, at least, it was the seat of executive power.

In effect it enabled Bismarck to achieve two goals. 1. It reassured southern states that they would retain control over basics such as education, civil rights, religion and health and could therefore retain their distinctive characteristics rather than be swallowed up whole by Prussia. Bavaria and Wurttemberg were even allowed to retain their own armies even during peacetime. 2. In practice it meant that Prussia could assert its wishes more effectively because of its sheer size meant that it dominated Germany and the Bundesrat.

A key difference with the North German Confederation was that the Kaiser needed the approval of the Bundesrat if war was to be declared.

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Since 17 of its 58 deputies were nominated by Prussia and only 14 votes were required to veto legislation radical proposals were destined to fail. On the other hand, only 14 of the other votes were needed to veto decisions taken by the Kaiser and his chancellor if these ran counter to the collective wishes of a minority of the other states.

The Bundesrat was used to introduce legislation, it was therefore in principle the seat of executive power, but since that legislation had already been negotiated with other state governments, the Bundesrat was in practice little more than a bureaucratic mechanism, often attended only by officials, even lacking its own building.

In practice, with almost 30% of the Bundesrat votes, Prussia was rarely outvoted. What the Reich bureaucracy proposed was never in practice blocked by the Bundesrat. The governments of the other states of the federation never on any major issue invoked their voting power in the Bundesrat against the centre.

The Bundesrat was a barrier to parliamentary government. Bundesrat deputies could address the elected chamber or Reichstag but deputies from the latter were excluded from the Bundesrat. Only when this rule of separation was lifted in the last weeks of the Empire in 1918, did a truly parliamentary system become possible – i.e. one in which Reich government was drawn from elected deputies to the Reichstag, and legislation was proposed by Reichstag deputies.

The Prussian deputies were nominated by a Landtag that was in itself heavily weighted toward the properties classes because of its three-tier voting system, giving the most valuable votes to the richest minority.

o The National Parliament (Reichstag) More important than the Bundesrat was the ‘lower house’ or Reichstag of 397 deputies

elected by secret ballot of all males over 25. If no candidate in a constituency achieved more than 50% of the votes there was a second secret ballot for the two candidates with the highest number of votes.

This was the most democratic element in the constitution and Bismarck’s support for this element – along with other liberal principles (see above) – was one of the reasons traditional Conservatives mistrusted him.

However, the Second Reich cannot be called a ‘parliamentary democracy’ because the government (the Executive branch) was not drawn from the Reichstag deputies and because the Reichstag could neither propose legislation nor dismiss the Chancellor, in the way that. However, Bismarck probably miscalculated if he thought that the Reichstag would play a relatively insignificant role in the Constitution.

The Chancellor needed to control the Reichstag if he was to have any hope of turning his policies into law and making government possible. The Reichstag’s key power was its ability to veto legislation, including the domestic and military budget. This meant that for all its limitations, the Reichstag provided a severe check on the Chancellor’s power.

The Reichstag could initiate debates and the views of its members were reported in the press, so while technically the Chancellor could ignore its resolutions, the

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Reichstag could bring much public pressure to bear on the chancellor and upon his government.

Universal suffrage – of all males over 25 – was intended by Bismarck as a means of containing the liberals, but proved to be a potent engine for politicising the masses. The political mass market saw the emergence of coherent political parties from across the political spectrum (2 Conservative, 2 Liberal, 1 Catholic and 1 Socialist which began as the smallest but became the largest). Turnout at the first election was low – only 51% - but by 1912 (when the SPD won a plurality of seats) this rose to 85%. The Constituency boundaries of 1871 were never changed to reflect the increased urbanisation of Germany so that by the 1900s rural areas were grossly over-represented.

Plebiscitary tactics – Bismarck constantly resorted to the threat to call fresh elections whenever he was opposed on a major issue. In effect, he ran elections as if they were referenda on his policies. This was a powerful tactic which meant that he did not have to rely upon any one party – indeed he could not afford to rely on any one party but upon a shifting combination of coalitions within the Reichstag.

o Legally, the power to dissolve the Reichstag and call fresh elections lay with the Kaiser and the Bundesrat. In practice, neither resisted will of Bismarck in this matter. Thereby the Constitution gave him the opportunity to ‘go above the heads’ of Reichstag politicians and effectively appeal to the voters themselves.

o Bismarck and later chancellors would threaten to go to the polls at a time of crisis – or at a time of perceived crisis. Given that the Emperor and his Foreign Minister – the Chancellor again! – had ultimate control over foreign affairs, it was possible to engineer such ‘moments of crisis’ and therefore to manipulate domestic politics through foreign policy. This route would be fraught with risk after Bismarck’s resignation in 1890 because so much depended upon the Kaiser or the Chancellor’s grasp of international relations. By adopting such tactics, Bismarck arguably presaged future dangers.

o In his later years, before his resignation in 1890, Bismarck threatened a coup d’etat – whereby the agreement between states that had created the Constitution, could be abrogated again, by the same process. The threat that was never carried out, but it was never entirely absent throughout the duration of the empire.

o There were at least 3 problems with Bismarck’s constitution: As a federation, the Reich was lopsided and weighted towards Prussia.

Although theoretically capable of being outvoted in the Bundesrat, Prussia’s size, wealth, and military power placed it in a category of its own. In many respects, the Reich appeared to be but an extension of its powers. Prussia supplied the great majority of its officials in the new central agencies. The Chancellor’s office normally combined with the Minister-Presidency of Prussia. When Bismarck resigned this office in 1872 but found that such friction arose between the Reich and Germany’s largest state that he had to resume it.

Prussia’s size and wealth meant that the Reich budget could not be planned without close cooperation with the Prussian minister of finance;

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In military terms the Prussian General Staff took over the role of strategic planning for the whole Reich and the Prussian minister of war doubled as the Reich minister of war.

The new Reich exhibited Prussian characteristics – the addiction to military values and the continued importance of the Prussian aristocracy in the army, in the bureaucracy and in the imperial court.

The Constitution gave too much responsibility to the chancellor and therefore too much depended upon his personality and character.

The Chancellor’s success depended heavily upon his relationship with the Kaiser and the composition of the Reichstag.

Bismarck stifled the centrifugal tendencies in the Reich by force of personality and personal influence. The danger remained that under a different monarch and a different chancellor the old disunity would reassert itself and that a future German government would be confronted with the conflicting pressures of a Conservative Prussia voted in on a three-tier voting system in which higher tax payers controlled more seats and a left-wing Reichstag voted in under universal male suffrage.

Bismarck could only control the tensions between Prussian and Reich chancelleries by dismissing recalcitrant ministers and replacing them with his own nominees

Bismarck wanted to extend the existing union between the Prussian king and the German emperor and Prussian minister-president and chancellor to the whole Imperial bureaucracy by replacing the whole Reich chancellery with one that would be jointly run by both Prussia and the Reich. This was bitterly opposed by the non-Prussian state delegates in the Bundesrat and by the federalist parties in the Reichstag that defeated the measure.

Taxation. In this area the Reich remained underdeveloped and for reasons that reflect the real power ‘behind the throne’.

If democratic elements in the constitution were designed to appease Liberal sentiment, the nature of taxation was designed to appease the aristocracy. The Reich did not levy direct taxation. This remained in the hands of the state governments that then made grants to the Reich from the taxes they levied, calculated (and here is the important bit) on the basis of population, and NOT on the size of their economies. The German term for these grants was Matrikularbetrage.

As the activities of the Reich increased – particularly in the military sphere – it suffered from its lack of taxing power and this problem was never resolved before 1914.

The affluent classes (Junkers and Industrialists) who were thus over-represented politically in the Prussian Landtag (and to a lesser extent in other state parliaments), were under-represented economically. They were determined to cling to their protection against increased direct and progressive taxation given them by the federal structure.

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Activity: Questions1. What is a constitution? 2. What were Bismarck’s purposes in writing the constitution for the Second Reich?3. In what sense was Bismarck’s constitution a ‘hybrid’? Explain its key principles.4. How does Bismarck’s constitution compare with the US Constitution and the UK constitution?5. Draw a diagram of the Constitution from memory. (Look at Farmer and at Layton, 1-6 first)

o Add in labels which explain: The powers of the Kaiser and his chancellor (the Executive branch) The Reichstag (the legislative branch) The Bundesrat (the Federal council) How were the personnel in each branch put there (e.g. appointed?)

6. How did the role of members of the Bundesrat and the Reichstag differ?7. Do you think a powerful Bundesrat made Germany more or less united?8. To what extent was the Bundesrat a check on the powers of the executive branch?9. To what extent was German democracy a check on the powers of the executive branch?10. What was the significance of the army in this new Germany?11. Was socialist leader August Bebel right to claim that the Reichstag was the ‘fig-leaf of despotism’?

(Farmer & Styles, p. 122)12. What were the implications of the taxation system for the chancellor’s freedom of manoeuvre? (see

Layton, pp. 1-6)13. Was the Second Reich a parliamentary democracy?14. Why was the position of the chancellor so significant in this constitution? 15. Who besides the Chancellor, the Emperor and the Army held power in Germany? (See Layton, 1-6)

Essay question:

How liberal was Germany 1871-1890?

The key to answering any essay question well is to read the question carefully, and allow the nature of the question to shape your answer.

What are the key words in this question?

What do you think the examiner might expect a high scoring response to do?

A complete response to this question will have to consider all of Bismarck’s period in office, but a significant section (about a 6th) should be devoted to the Constitution, and given that this is where Bismarck’s new Germany begins, the a paragraph or two on the Constitution would probably come early on in the essay.

Essentially, our question becomes: ‘How Liberal was Bismarck’s constitution’?

But to really get an understanding of Bismarck’s constitution you should be asking a more fundamental historical question – what was Bismarck really aiming to do? What was/were Bismarck’s goal(s)? What were the purposes of his constitution? What were his main political objectives and how did he design the constitution to help him achieve those?

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Preparation

The word ‘how’ is essentially asking us to measure; and ‘liberal’ is the thing we are measuring. Therefore we need to work out:

a) What are the key concepts of liberalism in the 19th century?a. Liberalism in the 19th century reflected the interests of the bourgeoisie;b. Democracy was liberal – but they didn’t necessarily want too much;c. They preferred big geographic state nationalism to small scale monarchies.d. However, two concepts that were certainly at work in Bismarck’s constitution were

democracy and federalism;b) How are they employed in Bismarck’s constitution?c) What are the limitations on liberalism in this constitution? I.e. how is authoritarianism reinforced?

a. Here you should think about the monarchic principleb. In principle, Federalism might have been expected to devolve power but did it in practice?c. Did Federalism increase power in the hands of the many or of the few?

Use the following table to help you gather ideas together. Keep looking at the materials on the constitution as you do so. Specifically, this question is asking you to weigh up the balance of liberal versus authoritarian elements in the constitution. Try to use the big concepts to help you organise the material. So what are the big concepts in Liberalism? What would a 19th century Liberal be looking for from a constitution? How were those liberal elements constrained by authoritarian ideas and institutions?

Liberal elements Authoritarian elements

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The Reichstag and its Parties

Task: study table 5.2 on p126, Farmer & Styles & identify the following:1. Who were the largest single party in 1871 and until when did they remain the largest single party?2. Which party’s performance was most consistent in terms of their share of the vote? Why might this be the

case?3. Which party’s seats increased by almost 18x during this period? What might the reasons for this be?4. Why might 1881 be regarded as a particularly bad year for Bismarck?5. Complete the following table using p126 & p33 in Kitson.

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The National Liberals and Liberalism

As you have already identified, the National Liberals were the largest single party in 1871 and together with the Progressive Liberals and the Free Conservatives, they provided Bismarck with a comfortable majority. Until 1878 Bismarck could rely on the support of the National Liberals.

The National Liberal party had been founded in 1867, following a split over Bismarck’s Indemnity Bill; on 3 September 1867, the political division of the Liberals was confirmed, when 19 National Liberal deputies opted for his "Indemnity Law".

Broadly speaking the liberals in Germany shared the following values, but it is important not to confuse liberalism with the liberal parties; as our story of 1871-90 will demonstrate, the National Liberals were often prepared to sacrifice their liberal principles for their nationalist ones.

FOR: • Economic and professional freedom;• State protection of laws and frontiers;• Parliaments elected by a property owning, tax-paying citizens;• Parliamentary government.

AGAINST: • Government intervention in economic matters;• Trade Guilds• Trade Unions• SUSPICIOUS of state support for the poor (leads to high taxation; creates a dependency culture)• Extending the franchise to the working classes.

Liberalism was born from key documents, both from 1776:• The American Declaration of Independence• Adam Smith’s Wealth of the Nations

These encouraged a belief in the essential goodness of human beings. A perfect society could therefore be achieved by the establishment of a regime, which preserved their liberties and empowered them to choose their rulers.

Liberalism was also born in the French Revolution AND the reaction AGAINST the terror of mob violence that followed – when the middle classes lost control of the revolution (helps explain what happened in 1848).This led to a belief in Constitutionalism; designed to protect rights and liberties and ensure that government was in the hands of those who had material interests to defend; but not in the hands of the mob.

Bismarck’s constitution was intended to achieve a balance between elements that would please both the liberals and the sovereign states and it is important to understand how liberal or authoritarian the constitution was.

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An overview of economic developments, rapid industrialisation, agrarian needs, commercial power, urbanisation and social issues;

Alan Farmer and Andrina Stiles (2014) The Unification of Germany and the challenge of Nationalism 1789-1919 (Access to History, Hodder Education, 4th edn) pp. 124.

Geoff Layton (2009) From Kaiser to Fuhrer: Germany 1900-1945 (Access to History, Hodder Education), pp. 7-13.

D. G. Williamson, Bismarck and Germany 1862-1890, 2nd, pp. 48-52 Volker R. Berghahn, Imperial German, 1871-1914: Economy, society, culture and politics (1994), pp. 1-42.

Whilst the Second Reich was not a direct result of the economic union known as the Zollverein, it can be seen as a political expression of the Zollverein which had united Prussia first to northern German states and then eventually to southern German states with the exception of Austria, and which abolished customs duties between German territories. The Zollverein already experienced massive economic growth before 1871 fuelled by

Population growth, Prussian education system which was uniquely orientated towards science and technological subjects, Access to raw materials.

Bismarck’s new Germany incorporated a number of key liberal ideas:

A Uniform commercial code with a special court to enforce it; A National currency, the Reichsmark, based on the gold standard; A Central banking institution known as the Reichsbank, set up in 1875; National criminal and civil law codes and uniform legal procedure in courts throughout the Reich. These reforms played a decisive role in welding together the German states into a national entity and

mollifying the views of liberals and Germans of states outside of Prussia.

The Second Reich boosted the Zollverein’s economic development through the acquisition of:

Alsace-Lorraine, The establishment of a single currency, the Reichsmark, which added some 762,000,000 marks to the

amount of free capital in the economy. and the establishment of the Reichsbank, set up as Germany’s Central Bank in 1875. After 1871 the success

of previous years appeared set to continue. The French indemnity which added 5 billion francs to the German economy.

The period between 1871 and 73, sometimes called the ‘Grunderjahre’ or ‘Grundzeit’ witnessed the

The railway network grow by nearly 27% The amount of goods trafficked grow by over 70% Coal production rise by 38% Iron production grow by 61% Steel production grow by over 50%. Iron and steel works grow (as many were built between 1870 and 1875 as had been over the preceding 70

years) as a result of growth in the railway network; An Annual productivity increase of nearly 5%.

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The Depression of 1873-1896One result of Germany’s economic success was overconfidence, with the free capital flowing through the German economy fuelling a major speculative boom. As a result, generally unsound companies sold their shares at inflated rates. The stock market grew rapidly during the grundjahre from 96.4 in 1870 to 193.1 in 1872. But Germany was not alone in its over-confidence. The collapse came first in Austria, in May 1873, and then spread to all major industrial economies and financial centres, including London and New York. The collapse began in Berlin in October 1873:

The shares of nearly 540 public companies almost halved (from 450 billion marks to 250 billion). The shares of three major Berlin banks were also (roughly) halved. The price of industrial goods like iron, coal, and steel collapsed (index prices 181 to 76 and from 116 to 49 of

iron and coal respectively). The loss of jobs and the effect on wages was severe. For example, the income of Krupp workers was halved

between 1873 and 1878. (Feuchtwanger, pp. 67-68)

The immediate outcome of the depression were calls for the abandonment of the liberal economics of free trade and the adoption of more ‘protectionist’ ones. Pressure from industrialists and the east Elbian Junkers was an important factor in Bismarck’s decision to abandon free trade in 1879. Interest groups that exerted this kind of pressure included:

1871 the League for the Protection of the Economic Interests of Rhineland and Westphalia (the Long Name Society)

1873 the League of German Iron and Steel Industrialists (representing 214 firms)

1876 the Central Association of German Industrialists

Protectionists won over the local chambers of commerce by appealing to both commercial and nationalist sentiments – arguing that Germany should be as self-sufficient as possible as dependency upon other countries could prove fatal at a time of war. In 1875 they even convinced the Congress of German Economists which had hitherto been a citadel of free traders.

1876 Initially the East Elbian Junkers welcomed the fall in the price of industrial goods, but by 1875 they experienced competition from imported from imported American and Russian grain and wool from Australia, made possible by railways and refrigerated shipping. In 1876 Germany became a net importer of grain, threatening the traditional Prussian ruling elite with bankruptcy. They set up the League for Tax and Economic Reform, traditionally hostile to business, they now recognised that they had shared interests.

1877 In February industrialists and farmers in Westphalia drew up a general declaration in favour of protective tariffs.

1877 October – the Central Association and the League agreed a detailed tariff scale on imports which laid the foundations of the alliance between Junkers and heavy industrialists that would come to dominate later Wilhelmine politics.

1878 The failure of Bismarck’s initial attempt to pass a Tariff Bill led to a dissolution of the Reichstag and fresh elections. The bill was eventually passed in 1879, with the support of Conservatives, Catholic Centre Party and 15 National Liberals. This marked a significant change in Bismarck’s Reichstag coalition.

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1879 The Reichstag passed the Tariff Law with a majority consisting of Conservatives and the Catholic Centre Party. 1879 therefore marked a decisive break with the Liberals, but it did not give Bismarck greater control over the Reichstag.

(We will examine Bismarck’s motivations and the major consequences for Germany of what looks like a radical change of direction in the next section).

Impact of Economic DepressionPsychologically, the impact of the depression was harsh. In reality, historians can see that the collapse of 1873 was nothing like that of 1929. It was not so much a period of ‘great depression’ as merely a period of less consistent growth. In part this was to do with the response of German industry and farming to the problems created by the Depression, and by the support they received from the government that tolerated anti-liberal practices that were banned in America.

Structural changes in German industry offset the effect of sinking prices – for example, large engineering and Steel firms like Borsig and Krupp began to expand vertically by acquiring coal and iron-ore mines, whilst other industries such as cement, textiles and chemicals formed cartels which helped stabilise prices and production (Williamson, p. 49).

In Britain and America cartels were frowned upon as being against the spirit of free enterprise, and were made illegal in America after 1890. But in Germany they were accepted and even legally protected. Indeed the state encouraged their formation. Since they restricted competition and encouraged development and investment, such measures were considered sensible as a means of achieving the advantages of large –scale production and economies of scale. In particular, by keeping prices high at home, cartels could subsidise low export prices and undercut opposition abroad. (Layton, p. 12)

Between 1875 and 1890 over 200 cartels were set up (Williamson, p. 49), increasing the concentration of German industry into large units, and into an elite of powerful industrialists and bankers who would form a close alliance with the aristocratic Prussian ruling class that would continue into the Third Reich.

Germany’s political and economic response to the depression would lay the foundations of Germany’s later technological supremacy. In contrast to the rest of Europe, Germany coped well, experiencing growth of 2.5% per annum during the 1880s, in part because it effectively promoted a kind of state-sponsored capitalism:

Germany invested in pioneering technology – e.g. the Gilchrist-Thomas steelmaking process which enabled German industrialists to exploit local low-grade iron-ore to undercut foreign competition.

Increased mechanisation and rationalisation meant that there were large increases in productivity in textiles, coal, iron and steel;

The population continued to migrate from the east Elbian provinces to Berlin and the industrial Ruhr. This was accelerated by the introduction of machinery into the Junker estates and the planting of potato and

sugar beet, which were more effectively harvested by cheap Polish labour employed on a seasonal basis. Between 1880 and 1890 the number of cities with a population of over 100,000 increased from 15 to 26%

and during that decade industry began to employ more people than agriculture.

Long-term impact of the depressionMeasured solely in economic terms, the depression of 1873 was relatively mild; but politically and socially it was to have profound implications for Germany. It is from this point that industrialists and East Elbian Junkers began working together to protect their interests and thereby to place a break on any further liberal development of the Second Reich. Germany had undergone profound industrial change in a short period of time. The experience of pre-industrial professions – small artisanal tradesmen, for example, was one of acute economic displacement thanks to the rise of big industry and the commercial sector. The 1873 crash provided a golden-opportunity for critics of liberalism, conservatives and survivors of pre-industrial economics, to attack the new industrialism and to discredit both political and economic liberalism.

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One way this was manifest was in the growth of anti-semitism and its emergence for the first time as a political movement. Confidence had been shaken by revelations in the Reichstag of the fraudulent practices of the successful speculator, Dr Srousberg, whose Jewish ethnicity would be used to fuel anti-Semitism. Owing to their prominence in banking and the stock exchange, Jews became scapegoats and, by 1890, five deputies campaigning on an anti-semitic programme were elected to the Reichstag. Jews became, for such political groups, the symbol of all that was destroying the familiar pre-industrial patterns of life. A powerful force critical of modern economic trends rallied behind the Conservative parties and equated Liberalism and democracy with a Jewish conspiracy.

Another way the economic depression played a part in German politics was to bring together the forces of the left. Initially, the patriotism of the victory at Sedan and the success of German industry tended to dampen the call for political change from workers, but the depression signalled a change in mood. The fear of redundancies, wage cuts and a constant feeling of insecurity created ever-growing support for a mass working-class movement. The two leading working class parties, the General German Works Association or Union (ADAV) led by Ferdinand Lasalle, son of a Jewish merchant who believed in the redistribution of wealth but not revolution (parted company with Marx, another Jewish socialist). In 1869 another party, called the Social Democratic and German Workers’ Party (SDAP) (also known as the League of Workers’ Clubs) under the leadership of Karl Liebknecht and August Bebel adopted a more revolutionary approach. In the wake of the depression of 1873 they began to co-operate, in the election of 1874 and year later united to form the Social Democratic Party (SPD). 1877 the SPD won nearly 10% of the popular vote and 12 seats in the Reichstag. Increasingly, both government and industrialists recognised that only through state welfare policies could the threat of socialism be contained.

Questions1. Summarise the main economic developments of the period 1870-96.2. Describe the social strata of the Second Reich. What were the different classes and what were their

political affiliations?3. How were different social classes affected by the Great Depression of 1873-96?4. Why would the East Elbian landowners have felt hostility towards the industrialists at the beginning of

the period?5. Explain Germany’s response to the Great Depression.6. What were the political effects of the Great Depression of 1873?

How might your knowledge and understanding of the economics of Bismarck’s Germany contribute to a response to the question – How Liberal was the Second Reich, 1871-1890?

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Domestic policies, Kulturkampf, socialism, unions, welfare areas, perceived opposition to Bismarck.

Alan Farmer and Andrina Stiles (2014) The Unification of Germany and the challenge of Nationalism 1789-1919 (Access to History, Hodder Education, 4th edn) pp. 125-136.

Alison Kitson, Germany 1858-1990, Hope, Terror, and Revival (2001), pp. 31-39. D. G. Williamson, Bismarck and Germany 1862-1890, 2nd, Part 5: Domestic Politics.

Because the Chancellor has no choice but to work with the Reichstag, Bismarck’s policies in the years 1871-1890 can be viewed as an attempt to shape whilst also being shaped by, Reichstag politics. Between 1871 and 1879 the National Liberals were the strongest party in the Reichstag so where he could, Bismarck worked with them, but he found himself in conflict over the Army budget and was forced to re-think his economic policies in the face of changing economic conditions and a conservative backlash.

A. The Liberal era 1871-8

The first years of the new Reich, saw Bismarck cement his relationship with Liberal Germany, particularly in economic terms, since free trade was axiomatic with this party of industrial leaders. It is in this context that we have to see Kulturkampf, the struggle with the Catholic Church.

Free Trade - Economic minister Rudolf von Delbruck continued free-trade policies of the Zollverein:

National system of currency introduced Reichsbank created All internal tariffs abolished Legal standardisation The Army Budget was a source of conflict since the conservatives’ desire to see an

‘Eternal Law’ in which the costs of the army would be funded automatically would have severely undermined the Reichstag’s ability to control the budget (since 80% of the budget went on the army). In 1874 Bismarck and the National Liberals agreed a compromise that henceforth the Army budget would be approved every 7 years.

Kulturkampf

Kulturkampf – may at first sight appear authoritarian, controlling and anti-liberal. But in the context of the 19th century, Liberalism was anti-clerical and anti-Catholic.

The struggle for culture was prompted by:o Pope Pius IX’s 1862 Syllabus of Errors and Vatican Councils declaration of Papal

Infallibility in 1870.o 1870 saw the creation of a Catholic Centre Party or Zentrum.o In 1870 the Catholic division of the Prussian ministry of culture was abolishedo 1871 January the Ministry of Culture’s conservative minister was replaced by the Liberal

Adalbert Falk.o Meanwhile, in 1871, Zentrum became the second largest party in the Reichstag. Unique

among German parties, it drew support from all social strata, but also united national minorities who were opposed to Prussian influence – Poles, French, Germans in the southern states. Seen by both Liberals and Bismarck as enemies of German unity.

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o 1872 - When Catholic teachers and professors were dismissed by the Catholic Church for refusing to accept the decree on papal infallibility, Bismarck took this opportunity to condemn the church’s actions in a series of newspaper articles in 1872 – presenting the Prussian government as standing up for religious toleration. An 1872 Law prevented the Jesuit Order from setting up establishments in Germany. In May 1873 Dr Adalbert Falk, introduced a package of measures known as the May

Laws which aimed to bring the Catholic Church under state control: All candidates for priesthood had to attend a secular university for 3 years

before training; All religious appointments needed state approval (i.e. they were subject to state

veto); 1874 obligatory civil marriage was introduced in Prussia; births deaths and

marriages in Prussia now responsibility of state not churcho Zentrum’s leader, Ludwig Windthorst, called upon Catholics to make the

elections ‘a great plebiscite’ against Bismarck’s policies in the elections of 1874. In alliance with the Danes, Poles, and Alsatians, Zentrum won 91 seats.

1875 Prussia was empowered to suspend subsidies to the church in parishes where clergy resisted new legislation; all religious orders, except nursing orders, were dissolved; 241 clergy and 136 editors were fined or imprisoned and over a thousand

parishes were left without incumbents.o By 1876, all but 2 of the 12 Prussian Catholic bishops were in exile or under

house arrest; and more than 1000 priests had been suspended.o Kulturkampf strengthened Bismarck’s relations with the Liberals but it also strengthened

the Centre Party.

Analysis Bismarck’s response to Catholicism seems puzzling at first sight. When in 1870

Italian troops occupied Rome, he had considered the diplomatic advantages of offering the Pope asylum in Germany. Moreover, the Catholic Centre Party, could have been an engine for integrating discontented foreign and German particularists into the new empire.

The Bielefeld School of German historiography argue that the Kulturkampf was the classic example of Bismarck’s policy of ‘negative integration’, using the ‘the Roman menace’ to unite the Protestant majority in the Reichstag against supposed ‘enemies of the state’.

Germany was surrounded by potential Catholic enemies in France and Austria. Bismarck feared that Catholics looked to the Pope for guidance before they looked to the Kaiser.

Less dramatically, perhaps, Kulturkampf offered Bismarck a convenient way of appeasing the Liberals without giving in to their demands for constitutional reform. For example, in 1874 – the year after the May Laws were implemented, Bismarck won support in the Reichstag for at least two important measures that might otherwise have proven a thorny issue for Liberals: firstly for the Septennat (the budget for the army would be reviewed every 7 years by the Reichstag, rather than every year as the Liberals had wanted) and secondly, for a law that would reduce the freedom of the press.

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Bismarck’s response does indeed appear to be pragmatic rather than ideological, but it is important not to underestimate the genuine fear that the Catholic Centre Party could unite opponents of Kleindeutschland.

Leading politicians of the National Liberal Party: Wilhelm Wehrenpfennig, Eduard Lasker, Heinrich von Treitschke, Johannes von Miquel; Bottom row (L-R): Franz von Roggenbach, Karl Braun, Rudolf Gneist, Ludwig Bamberger (woodcut c. 1878).

Questions to consider1. How effectively did Bismarck work with the National liberals?2. Why was Kulturkampf a Liberal policy?3. Why did Bismarck support the Kulturkampf and why did it fail?

4. Bismarck’s Kulturkampf policy has been described by H-U Wehler as ‘negative integration’. What could this mean?

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B. The Politics of 1878-9 It is sometimes alleged that the period 1878-9 represented a fundamental shift in Bismarck’s thinking and allegiances to the extent that some historians have seen this period as the ‘second founding of the Empire’. We will evaluate this interpretation later, but for now, let us accept that something changed in Bismarck’s thinking and that there were many reasons for his change of tact.

What were the motives?Perhaps the key to understanding the shift in policy is the depression that began in 1873 and led to powerful lobbies on the part of the Junkers (the League for Tax and Economic reform) and on the part of the industrialists (particularly the Central Association of German Industrialists), to demand an end to free trade and the promotion of protectionist laws.

However, there were budgetary reasons for the shift. The Reich government was itself suffering thanks to the depression. The federal government revenue – based on customs duties and indirect taxation, was proving inadequate to cover the growing costs of armaments and administration, and the state was increasingly looking to the individual states for support. A change in tariff policy would enable the Reich to raise more revenue through indirect taxation.

In addition, there were political reasons for changing course. The success of Zentrum, which was taking about 25% of the votes across Germany, proved the kulturkampf was not working. The Centre Party was Bismarck’s enemy, but perhaps he could persuade it to become an ally. Meanwhile, a new threat emerged in the form of the General German Works Union and the League of Workers’ Clubs, who co-operated in the election of 1874 and a year later united to form the Social Democratic Party (SPD). In 1877 the SPD won nearly 10% of the popular vote and 12 seats in the Reichstag. Increasingly, both government and industrialists recognised that only through state welfare policies could the threat of socialism be contained.

Finally, Bismarck perhaps had personal motives. He feared for his future as chancellor. Delbruck’s resignation in 1876 did little to assuage those fears. The succession of Crown Prince Frederick Wilhelm and his English wife Vicky, loomed large in his calculations; this augured the prospect of a Gladstone-type government and a fresh era of liberal reform. Perhaps for that reason, he was happy to look to the right for support.

There are three key changes that can be identified as evidence of this shift and chronologically, they appeared as follows: 1. The Break with Kulturkampf; 2. The Ban on Socialism; 3. The Tariff Law of 1879 which brought an end to free trade.

1. The Break with Kulturkampf

In 1878 Death of Pope Pius IX gave Bismarck opportunity to step back from this policy; he entered negotiations with his successor Pope Leo XIII in February 1878; an indication that Bismarck accepted that Kulturkampf had failed, having increased rather than removed disunity.

In July 1879, Adalbert Falk – a hero for the liberals because of his prominent role in the attack on Catholicism – was replaced by the conservative Robert von Puttkamer. It has been alleged that the latter, from 1881 oversaw a ‘purge’ of liberal sympathisers in the higher civil service, which henceforth became an even greater bastion of aristocratic privilege.

It would nonetheless be the mid-1880s before any anti-Catholic legislation was finally removed from the statue books.

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2. The Ban on Socialism

At about the same time as Bismarck was beginning to soften his approach to the Catholic Church, the Ban on Socialism reflected a genuine fear of left, but was probably directed at the Liberal Party more than at the SPD. Here is further evidence that these years represented a watershed in German history.

In 1875 moderate and revolutionary socialists united to form the Social Democratic Party (SPD). The new party called for the nationalisation of the banks, coalmines and industry and for social equality.

Bismarck adopted the same approach to the socialists that he had with the Catholic Church.

1876 Bismarck attempted, and failed, to pass a bill preventing the publication of socialist propaganda.

At the 1877 elections, the SPD gained 500,000 votes, giving them 12 Reichstag seats. In 1878 an anarchist (i.e. not a socialist!) tried to assassinate Emperor Wilhelm I,

Bismarck tried to use this as a pretext on which to pass through an anti-socialism bill but was defeated by National Liberals concerned about civil liberties.

A 2nd attempt on Wilhelm’s life a week later led Bismarck to criticism the National Liberals and dissolve the Reichstag. The SPD and National Liberal vote suffered to the Conservative coalition’s advantage. An anti-socialist bill was passed in October 1878

The Anti-Socialist Law of October 1878 banned all ‘social democratic, socialist or communist’ activity short of standing for election. New electoral organisations, masquerading under the bland but legal name of ‘societies for municipal elections’ were created in the large cities, which enabled the SPD to rebuild its grass-roots organisation.

o Socialist organisations, including trade unions and working-class clubs were dissolved and banned;

o The Hirsch-Dunker unions survived - they were associated with the Liberal parties and operated more as welfare organisations than as genuine trade unions committed to wage bargaining.)

o Constituency organisation was broken up; o Socialist publications were outlawed; 45 out of 47 party newspapers

suppressed.o Prussian government imposed a minor state of siege in Berlin in 1879 with 67

leading socialists arrested and expelled from the city.o This was repeated in the Silesian city of Bresual.o Similar measures in Hamburg in 1880 and Leipzig in 1881;o Between 1878 and 1890 1500 socialists were imprisoned and a great many

emigrated; but the anti-Socialist Law did not eliminate socialism and did not prevent SPD members from standing for election and speaking freely;

o Given the slimness of the SPD’s representation in the Reichstag, however, it seems likely that the real target of the anti-socialist law was Trade Unions and Working Men’s clubs who offered the most serious form of opposition to industrial monopolies and cartels in the 1870s and 1880s.

o Nonetheless, in the in the short term, the SPD vote was cut by a third in 1878 (from 12 to 9).

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o However, in the long run, as with Kulturkampf, Bismarck’s attack on Socialism would prove counterproductive. Once in parliament, deputies were protected by parliamentary immunity and the right to freedom of speech. Sympathetic newspapers could then legally publish those speeches, and thereby give publicity to even the most inflammatory SPD declarations.

3. The 1879 Tariff Law

Background

Typically, Bismarck kept his options open. Initially, he experimented with nationalising the Railways and raising indirect taxation on sugar, tobacco, brandy etc. but both ideas were jettisoned because of opposition from the states and from the Liberals in the Reichstag. Sometime in 1876 he began to encourage the protectionist campaign without committing to it. But in the same year he forced the resignation of the Secretary of the Chancellory, Delbruck whose close working relationship with liberal leaders was perhaps no longer seen as a virtue by his superior who saw him as a potential rival for the post of chancellor.

In December 1877 Bismarck acknowledged the benefits of Protectionism in his ‘Christmas Letter’ to the Bundesrat.

Bismarck announced to the Reichstag on 22 February 1878 the first stage of a comprehensive financial reform that would almost certainly involve the introduction of tariffs.

However, support for the bill was not forthcoming. Bismarck’s anti-socialist bill was also defeated. The double attempt on Kaiser Wilhelm I’s life in 1878 could not have been more timely. Bismarck called an election in which the main thrust of his campaign was directed against the Progressives and the Left of the National Liberals.

The Zentrum bloc of 95 deputies held the balance of power in the Reichstag and its support would be essential if the tariff bill was to pass.

Zentrum’s co-operation was only won by virtue of a an amendment known as the ‘Frankenstein’ clause, proposed by the deputy leader of the Catholic Party, Count Georg von Frankenstein whereby all revenues coming to the federal government in excess of 130 million should be divided up among the states and returned as part of state payments. The ‘Frankenstein’ clause thus preserved the budgetary rights of the Reichstag and state parliaments.

On 12 July 1879 a conservative, free Conservative and Zentrum majority, joined by 15 right-wing National Liberal rebels, approved the Tariff Act, which levied tariffs on iron, iron goods and grain and increased indirect taxation on selected luxury goods. The tariffs themselves were set at a comparatively low level, which has led some commentators to suggest that their motivation was more political than fiscal, but they could and would be increased in later years (1885, 1887, 1902).

Questions to consider

1. Why did Bismarck come to support protectionist policies?2. Was the Tariff Law primarily politically or economically motivated?3. How far was the anti-socialist law an example of ‘negative integration’?

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C. The Conservative Era, 1879-1890

The Political results of the 1879 Tariff Act were perhaps more far reaching than their economic ones.

Most importantly, Bismarck’s No longer controlled the Reichstag: o The National Liberals never recovered. It was barely able to fight the Prussian

elections in 1879 as a united party and Lasker’s resignation in 1880 precipitated a further 27 desertions from the party. The party that Bismarck had relied upon to control the Reichstag in the 1870s was no more.

o Bismarck now committed himself to Conservative camp – an alignment consisting of the Conservatives, Free Conservatives and a much weakened National Liberal Party.

o Although the Tariff Law was passed with Zentrum support, Bismarck failed either to persuade Zentrum to join an anti-democratic Sammlung or to split that party by wooing its right wing away from Ludwig Windthorst.

Bismarck’s attempt to pass the Discretionary Relief Bill, which would allow the May Laws to remain but to be suspended at the discretion of the government, was rejected by both National Liberals and Zentrum for opposite reasons: For the National Liberals it was too lenient; and for Zentrum it was still too harsh.

The Conservatives, prompted by the National Liberals, deleted a key provision enabling the Prussian government to pardon exiled prelates.

Ludwig Windthorst skilfully blocked any ‘seepage to the right’ by calling for the exemption of the administration of sacraments from criminal prosecution – a measure that would have rendered the May Laws unenforceable.

The inevitable defeat by Conservatives and National Liberals enabled Windthorst to rally his party behind him and to co-operate with the Progressives.

Confronted by an unruly Reichstag, Bismarck began to take measures to try to neutralize its power:

In 1880, Bismarck took the first step towards setting up a Prussian Council on Political Economy representing the elites of commerce, industry and agriculture – a prototype for a Reich Council which he informed Wilhelm I, he intended to use to ‘bypass’ the Reichstag, but this attempt was defeated by Zentrum and a Liberal majority.

An attempt to decrease the number of parliamentary sittings by replacing annual with biennial budgets also defeated in April 1881.

Perhaps this situation was not what Bismarck had expected and it was perhaps for this reason, rather than any ‘masterplan’ that he purged the Prussian cabinet, civil service and the Reich chancellor’s office of liberally-inclined officials;

All holders of official positions, down to those holding modest judicial or teaching positions, were constrained to support the government in elections and to use their influence on others for that purpose (Feucthwanger, p. 87).

It became scarcely possible for holders of such positions to support any parties other than the Free Conservatives and Conservative parties loyal to the government.

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o In some ways the German Reich became more united as a result of tariffs, but around a more conservative and political agenda: Bismarck presented tariffs as a patriotic necessity, essential for the defence of the Fatherland. In other ways the Reich became more divided as protectionism polarised the beneficiaries who fought tooth and nail to maintain their privileges whilst consumers bore the brunt of high prices and – among the poor - falling living standards.

Agricultural prices continued to fall, the tariff on grain protected farmers and landowners from the worst effects of the depression. Landowners now became staunch supporters of Bismarck, having been lukewarm in the 1870s.

Owners of large industrial enterprises abandoned their support for free trade and therefore their support for the National Liberal Party, instead supporting the Free Conservatives in an ‘alliance of steel and rye’.

Consumers suffered from artificially high prices – especially bread; and the poor suffered falling living standards. The effects in the long-term was to increase support for the SPD.

The 1881 election and its aftermath Bismarck suffered a striking defeat in the 1881 election and effectively lost control of the

Reichstag until 1887; the Progressives won 115 seats in that year (compared with 39 in 1878) and the Centre party 100 (up from 94).

The secessionist National Liberals fought this election as the Liberal Union and poled almost as many votes as the National Liberals themselves who won 47 votes. Together the Secessionists and the Progressives still held 106 seats (Feuchtwanger, p. 90).

Therefore, over three quarters of the Reichstag’s 397 seats were now hostile to the government – perhaps because of the sharp rise in retail prices as a result of protectionism.

The SPD saw a reduction in its o Before the election of 1881 police stepped up their activities and 600 were arrested;o Because of sheer shortage of candidates, Bebel had to stand in 35 constituencies

and Liebknetcht in 16!o 1881 elections saw SPD vote regain the third it lost in 1878, going back up to 12

votes.by one-third, already suggesting that anti-socialist law was going to be counter-productive.

The 1884 electiono The 1884 election (which took place without a premature dissolution) saw an

improvement in Bismarck’s electoral fortunes, by rallying patriotic support for his colonial policy (on which see later).

o The German Conservative Party increased its support and its seats in the Reichstag increased from 50 to 78.

o The rump National Liberal party remained loyal to Bismarck, and endorsed the Heidelberg Declaration of 1884, which approved of protective tariffs, Bismarck’s social insurance scheme, tax reform, a strong army, anti-socialism and the importance of agriculture in Germany’s economic life. This confirmed the party’s move to the right

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under Johannes von Miquel, but the party’s 51 seats in the election was not enough to control the Reichstag.

o Together the Conservative parties and the National Liberals controlled 157 seats (Feuchtwanger, p. 90).

o The Liberal Union united with the Progressives to form a new radical party in 1884 called the German Free Thought Party (Deutsche Freisinnige Partei ) but it lost 41 seats, dwon from 115 in 1881 to 74 in 1884.

o Meanwhile, Bismarck’s attempts to win over the working classes by promoting a kind of ‘state socialism’ through the Sickness Insurance Act of 1883 and the Accident Insurance Law of 1884 failed to integrate the workers into the consensus as periodic labour unrest and an increased SPD vote showed.o Workers remained cynical in the face of a ban on Trade Unions.o The SPD doubled its seats from 12 to 24 despite the ban.o So long as working conditions remained harsh, the SPD was assured of a future;

Paradoxically, the rise in socialist vote facilitated the formation of a pro-government Sammlung in the Reichstag. Bismarck’s expansionary policy in African and South East Asia gave the National Liberals and the Free Conservatives a rallying cry.

An 1886 Bill aimed at buying out Polish farmers in the eastern provinces appeased the Conservatives.

The election of 1887 The rise of Boulanger in France in 1886, together with the Bulgarian crisis of that year,

gave Bismarck the chance to call an early election in 1887 under conditions of national crisis and he briefly regained control of the Reichstag.

Bismarck had insisted on a 10% increase in the size of the army and demanded a new Septennat, although the current one still had a year to run.

The election was fought in an atmosphere of artificially contrived crisis: both the Freisinn and the Zentrum parties had been prepared to support a compromise on the grounds that the issue at stake was not the length of the budget, but ‘whether the Empire is to be protected by an imperial army or a parliamentary one.’

The Police vigorously enforced the Anti-Socialist law and reservists were called up for manoeuvres in Alsace-Lorraine.

Both the Free Thought and the SPD parties lost over half their strength (Freisinn were reduced from 74 to 32 and the SPD from 24 to 11), whilst the National Liberal seats almost doubled. Together with the conservatives and Free Conservatives they controlled 220 seats out of 397.

Bismarck tried to secure the support of Zentrum by securing papal support for the ‘peace bill’ of 1885 that would end Kulturkampf though still require ecclesiastical appointments to be registered with provincial governors in Prussia. Further concessions were made – except to the Poles – by the second ‘Peace bill’ in April 1887. The right wing of the party greeted it ‘as the end of an unnatural 15 years of domestic exile.’

Questions to consider1. How successful was Bismarck in tackling the socialist ‘threat’?2. Bismarck lost control of the Reichstag after 1879. How far do you agree?3. How far did Bismarck move to the right during this period?4. Was Bismarck’s rightward move part of a plan or more a response to circumstances?

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Social Policies in the 1880s: a mixture of moderate reform and repression

Social Insurance

Bismarck’s ban on Socialism was accompanied by a concerted effort to integrate the workers into the conservative consensus through the introduction of a social welfare programme. Again, it is important to stress that in one sense these policies reflected Bismarck’s genuine paternalism, but in another they represent sheer pragmatism. Pflanze calls it an attempt ‘to integrate the workers into a German national consensus based on the Prussian-German establishment.’ Given the effects that protectionism was likely to have on the price of bread, it would have been short-sighted to ignore the social situation of workers.

1883 Sickness Insurance Act provided medical treatment and up to 13 weeks’ sick pay to 3 million low-paid workers; workers paid 1/3rd contribution and employers 2/3rd.

Bismarck proposed that the state supplemented the workers’ contribution, only for this to be defeated by the National Liberals and Zentrum, as the former suspected state socialism, and the latter feared any strengthening of central government.

1884 Accident Insurance Act gave a worker permanently disabled or sick for more than 13 weeks’ a living allowance financed wholly by employers.

1886 Accident insurance scheme was extended to cover 7 million agricultural workers. 1889 Old Age and Disability Act which gave pensions to those over 70, and disablement

pensions for those who were younger. Workers, employers and the state paid for this.

Treatment of National minorities – ruthless policy of Germanisation

Bismarck’s treatment of national minorities in the 1880s reflects his broader attempts to use conservative nationalism as a means of uniting Germany behind the conservative autocratic structure of the Prussian state.

Bismarck regarded national minorities as potential ‘enemies of the state’: Alsace-Lorraine was not granted full autonomy; but became a special region under

direct imperial rule with governor and Prussian civil servants; German language was imposed on schools and local administration; French people who disliked German rule were allowed to leave;

2,300,000 Poles lived in Prussia’s eastern provinces but Bismarck outlawed use of Polish in education and law courts;

Bismarck was not anti-Semitic but he responded positively to demands from Conservatives to control illegal Polish and Jewish immigration, which increased in 1881 after the pogroms in Russia, by strengthening border controls on the eastern frontiers of the Reich.

Four years later local authorities were suddenly ordered to expel within 2 weeks all illegal aliens: 1885-6 some 16,000 Poles and Jews with Russian citizenship were herded across the frontier

In 1885 Polish deputies were backed by Zentrum and the Liberals to question the government about it;

January 1886 the Reichstag insisted on debating the issue and a majority censured the Imperial government for sanctioning ‘unjustified expulsions’. In response Bismarck introduced a Bill for the Protection of the German National Interests in

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the Eastern Provinces, which appealed successfully to the Nationalism of the National Liberals and was approved by the Reichstag.

It created the Prussian Colonization Commission to buy up land from bankrupt Poles and to lease it to German peasants. Over the next two years there were further measures, such as:

The abolition of Polish language teaching in elementary schools Obliged all Prussian officials and conscripts of Polish origin be posted to

western Germany where they would ‘learn the blessings of German civilization.’

Professor Mosler, senior member of Zentrum at the time, argued that Bismarck had ended Kulturkampf in 1887 so that he could ‘trample down the Poles to his heart’s content.’ In the dioceses of Gnesen-Posen and Kulm he maintained the laws after they were repealed elsewhere in Germany.

By January 1888 32,000 aliens, of whom 10,000 were Jews, had been expelled. Officially the expellees were described as Russian ‘conscription dodgers’, although in fact many had lived in the eastern provinces of Prussia for generations.

The Germanization policies affected French speakers in Alsace-lorraine, Danes in Schleswig and Poles in eastern Prussia. They fought back by setting up their own cultural organisations.

By 1914 Bismarck’s failure was evidenced by the fact that in the border populations on the east there was still a competition for landowning primacy between Poles and Germans.

Questions to Consider

1. Why were Liberals suspicious of Bismarck’s social insurance schemes?2. Why might some Liberals have been prepared to ‘buy in’ to the welfare state?3. Is there any sense in which Germanisation policies could be considered ‘liberal’?4. Germanisation was simply ‘Kulturkampf by other means.’ How far do you agree?5. Bismarck’s social policies were all about ‘negative integration.’ How far do you agree?

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Historical Interpretations

Was the shift of 1878-9 part of Bismarck’s master plan?Before WWII German historians cast Bismarck as the hero of a story about Germany’s Sonderweg or ‘special path’. In the 1960s and 1970s the Bielefeld school turned this idea on its head. Bismarck became the villain of a negative Sonderweg in which 1878-9 represented the Empire’s second founding.

Among those who see the period 1878-9 as a ‘second founding’ there has been, in recent times, a challenge to the idea that Bismarck was the mastermind. As with the first Reichsgrundung, the decisions of the late 1870s gain their coherence only retrospectively. The Chancellor was as much reacting to events as shaping them and probably had only two consistent aims:

1. To strengthen his own position above the parties;2. To find a stable Reichstag majority somewhat further to the right (ideally with the National Liberals but

without the troublesome left wing.)

Beyond this –as Lerman notes - ‘it was not always obvious even to Bismarck himself where he was heading’.

Was there a second founding of the Empire in 1878-9? The significance of 1879 has been emphasised by many German historians. Bohme, for example, argued that the fateful alliance (Sammlung) between agrarian Junkers and heavy industrialists was forged at this time and that it was this that would prove an obstacle to all future political reform. Similarly, Winkler chose 1879 as one of the Turning Points in German History, emphasising in particular the moral and political fall of German liberalism. Wolfgang Mommsen termed it the ‘great domestic watershed’. Making conscious connections between Bismarck and a later German chancellor, Wehler argued the years 1878-9 brought together ‘a coalition of Junker landowners, industrial barons, the now purified conservative bureaucracy and the military’ which would stand as a conservative guard forestalling ‘the democratic aspirations of Germans for at least a generation.’

More recently, only H. A. Winkler has upheld the notion of a conservative re-founding of the Empire without reservation. At the other end of the spectrum there those who dismiss it without reservation. Andreas Hillgruber for example, argues that the ‘the two decades from 1871 to 1890 form a single continues epoch’. Others see 1878-9 as a significant caesura for a completely different reason: not because of what changed, but what didn’t. Engleberg argues that ‘historical and political progress demanded change in the late 1870s, but found its path was blocked. Feuchtwanger agrees: ‘the change of course in 1879 was not so much a re-foundation of the Reich as a reinforcement of the existing liberal deficit.’

According to H-U Wehler, Bismarck’s basic aim of adapting an essentially autocratic political structure to new socio-economic realities without any further concessions to democracy could only be achieved by one expedient after another. To defend the fragile structure of the Empire from revolutionary change became ‘a labour of Sisyphus’ (Wehler), increasingly dependent upon plebiscitary elections and imperialist diversions in Africa.

Potential Essay questions:

1. ‘Bismarck created a Liberal Germany in 1871 and then destroyed Liberalism.’ How justified is this view?2. How accurate is it to say that Bismarck had little success in domestic affairs from 1871 to 1890?3. To what extent was Bismarck in control of domestic policy in Germany after 1871?4. ‘Bismarck’s rule in Germany after 1871 was far more successful than is generally admitted.’ How far do you

agree with this statement?5. ‘Bismarck’s domestic policies failed to tackle the real issues facing Germany at that time.’ How far do you

agree with this statement?6. How Liberal was Germany between 1871 and 1890?

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The situation in 1890: Bismarck’s legacy

D. G. Williamson, Bismarck and Germany 1862-1890, 2nd, Part Matthew Jeffries,, Contesting the German Empire, 1871-1890, pp. 61-69.

Only by manipulating the international situation was Bismarck able to regain control of the Reichstag in the later 1880s.

1884 Bismarck used colonial policy to rally patriotic support and the Conservative parties won seats from the Liberal parties

Bismarck attempted to split the Zentrum and the new German Free Thought Party (formed from the Progressives and the Liberal Union or left wing National Liberals) by seeking a renewal of the anti-Socialist laws. When the law was passed with the support of Zentrum and the right-leaning Free Thought deputies, the Free Thought Party were punished in the election of 1884, preventing Bismarck’s ‘nightmare’ of a large left-wing Liberal party.

Moreover, the dramatic rise in the socialist vote paradoxically facilitated the creation of a pro-government Sammlung in the Reichstag.

Bismarck’s expansionary policy in Africa and South East Asia gave the National Liberals a rallying cry and led to the close co-operation with the conservatives.

However, only the conjunction of the Bulgarian crisis and the rise of Boulanger in France in 1886 finally gave Bisrmack the chalnce to call an election under crisis conditions.

1886 Bismarck asked the Reichstag for substantial military increases; Reichstag would only agree on condition that it could review military expenditure every three years. Bismarck dissolved the Reichstag and used a the spectre of a revenge-seeking France to lead the conservative campaign;

1887 The Conservatives and National Liberals won an absolute majority and the Septennates were passed.

the SPD and the Free Thought Party lost over half their deputies, while the electoral Kartell composed of Conservatives, Fre Conservatives and National Liberals won 220 seats which meant that he at last had a majority, but even this was not stable.

Bismarck continued his efforts to build rapprochement with Zentrum through the Peace Bill of 1887 which virtually ended the Kulturkampf.

In the context of this dramatic revival in his fortunes, Bismarck was un-phased by the passing of Wilhelm I and then of Frederick III before the accession of Wilhelm II all within the space of a few months in 1888.

However, the alliance of National Liberals and Conservatives was not a reliable Sammlung upon which to control the Reichstag. Tensions grew in 1888 when the National Liberals, now back under the control of the more left wing Bennigsen refused to endorse an attempt to raise duties on wood and grain. National Liberals voted against further protective duties on wood and grain. Meanwhile, the Liberal leader Bennigsen demanded in 1889 the appointment of a Reich finance minister responsible to parliament.

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1888 March – Wilhelm I died (aged 90) and was succeeded by his son Frederick;

June 15 Frederick died from cancer leaving his 29-year-old son, Wilhelm II to become emperor. He and Bismarck (73) were soon at odds over both foreign and social policy.

Bismarck consistently underestimated the political significance of Wilhelm II whose court became a magnet for those officials and politicians who opposed Bismarck.

Wilhelmo Questioned the need to maintain links with Russia;o Questioned the wisdom of ending Kulturkampf;o Thought that the Working classes could be won over by extending the welfare

system, including end to child labour and Sunday working; Bismarck meanwhile favoured further repression.

1889 Bismarck proposed to make the Anti-Socialist Law permanent. Wilhelm was not completely against this but insisted on watering down the bill which was later rejected by the Reichstag in January 1890.

1889 February during elections to Reichstag, Wilhelm issued a proclamation promising new social legislation; the absence of Bismarck’s countersignature caused a sensation; His Conservative and national Liberal allies lost 85 seats while the Progressives gained 46 and the Socialists won 24.

Bismarck proposed that the Reichstag be asked to approve a new anti-socialist law and an increase in the military budget and that if it refused the assembly of German princes would meet and alter the constitution. Wilhelm II refused.

1890 January 24 Bismarck refused to modify the bill at a Crown Council meeting; and it was defeated in the Reichstag two days later. The Kartell broke up, and the subsequent election in February led to a strengthening of Zentrum, the Free Thought Party, and the SPD. Bismarck’s only options were to turn to the Conservatives and Zentrum or to recommend a coup.

March Bismarck and Wilhelm quarrelled over an 1852 order that denied the right of ministers to approach the Kaiser directly; Wilhelm insisted that the order be withdrawn and in the argument that followed Wilhelm II demanded Bismarck’s resignation and threatened him with dismissal; 3 days later Bismarck resigned.

Question:

How did Bismarck fall from power?

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Bismarck’s place, role, actions and reputation

Alan Farmer and Andrina Stiles (2014) The Unification of Germany and the challenge of Nationalism 1789-1919 (Access to History, Hodder Education, 4th edn) pp. 151-153. Contains an excellent summary of the issues in debating the contribution of Bismarck.

D. G. Williamson, Bismarck and Germany 1862-1890, 2nd, pp. 86-91. Matthew Jeffries, Contesting the German Empire, 1871-1918 (Blackwell, 2008), pp. 69-79: ‘How do

Historians characterize Bisarmck’s Rule?’

Historiography

Wehler, Bismarck and Imperialism: used the expression Bonapartism to denote a particular kind of accommodation between the bourgeoisie, nobility, and military, to defend ‘a traditional, unstable, social and political structure which found itself threatened by strong forces of social and political change.’ The stabilization was to be achieved by ‘undisguised repression as well as limited concessions’ (such as welfare legislation) and involved ‘diverting attention away from constitutional policy towards economic policy, away from the question of emancipation of home towards compensatory successes abroad.’ It involved the use of plebiscitary techniques to appeal direction to the people, over the heads of troublesome politicians (as demonstrated by Bismarck’s introduction of universal male suffrage for Reichstag elections, in an effort to circumvent the liberals). Michael Sturmer used a subtly different term – ‘caesarist’ (used by 20th century historians to describe the rule of Cromwell, both Napoleons and Bismarck) – to draw parallels between Roman times, when emperors side-stepped troublesome political elites by appealing directly to the masses, and plebeians were appeased by a diet of ‘bread and circuses’.

On the other hand…

Gall argued that although there may have been superficial similarities between Napoleon III’s France and Bismarck’s Germany, they were not consciously engineered or utilized, by the Chancellor. Unlike Louis Napoleon, Bismarck did not come to power through a coup d’etat and never resorted to an actual referendum.

Which of the following extracts do you think provides the fairer summary of Bismarck’s career?

M. Kitchen, A History of Modern Germany 1800-2000, Blackwell, 2006:

Bismarck was a towering genius who left an indelible mark on Germany and on Europe, but his legacy, like that of so many truly great men, was extremely mixed… his power-hungry brutality, his lust for confrontation rather than compromise, and his inability either to delegate authority or to tolerate anyone who even approached being his equal, left a fatal legacy. He was a man of profound and even pathological contradictions, and the ambivalence and inconsistency of his own imperious personality was deeply embedded in the structure of the Reich of which he was the architect.

W. L. Langer, European Alliances and Alignments 1871-90, Vintage Books, 1950, p. 479:

His [Bismarck’s] had been a great career, beginning with three wars in eight years and ending with a period of twenty years during which he worked for the peace of Europe despite countless opportunities to embark on further enterprises with more than even chance of success… No other statesman of his standing had ever before shown the

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same great moderation and sound political sense of the possible and desirable … Bismarck at least deserves full credit for having steered European politics through this dangerous transitional period without serious conflict between the great powers.

o Bismarck’s measures laid the foundations for a welfare state They were the first of their kind in the world AJP Taylor said that this alone would be sufficient ‘to establish his reputation as

a constructive statesman even if he had done nothing else.’

Essay questions

1. How accurate is it to say that Bismarck had little success in domestic affairs from 1871 to 1890?2. To what extent was Bismarck in control of policy in Germany after 1871?3. Bismarck’s rule in Germany after 1871 was far more successful than is generally admitted.’ How far do

you agree with this statement?4. To what extent was Bismarck responsible for maintaining European peace between 1871 and 1890?

Past paper questions on Bismarck and Second Reich

2016 Specimen23. How liberal was the German Empire between 1871 and 1890?

201524. ‘Bismarck’s domestic policies after 1871 destroyed German Liberalism.’ Discuss.

201422. To what extent did the foreign policy of Bismarck in the period 1871 to 1890 achieve its aims?23. How stable was Wilhelmine Germany?

201322. ‘Neither wise nor effective.’ Discuss this view of Bismarck’s foreign policy in the period 1871–90.23. How far did Wilhelmine Germany meet the needs of the German people between 1888 and 1914?

201222. How liberal was the German Empire between 1871 and 1890?

201122. ‘Bismarck created a Liberal Germany in 1871 and then destroyed Liberalism.’ How justified is this view?

201022. How successful was Bismarck’s foreign policy in the period 1871–90?23. ‘The massive tensions within Germany in the years 1890–1914 were created by the domestic policies of

Wilhelm II.’ Discuss.

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Further Reading:

Jonathan Steinberg, How did Bismarck Do It, History Today: http://www.historytoday.com/jonathan-steinberg/how-did-bismarck-do-it

Robert Gewarth, Bismarck and the German right looks at the long-term legacy of Bismarck and later German history. History Today: http://www.historytoday.com/robert-gerwarth/bismarck-and-german-right

Matthew Jeffries, Contesting the German Empire, pp. 7-46; The German Empire and its Historians.

Websites

German History Documents and Images: http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/index.cfm Forging an empire: Bismarckian Germany (1866-1890): http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/section.cfm?

section_id=10

Wilhelmine Germany and the First World War (1890-1918): http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/section.cfm?section_id=11

Review of John Rohl, The Kaiser and his court: Wilhelm II and the Government of Germany (Cambridge, 1996): http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/47

Review of Jonathan Steinberg, Bismarck: A Life (Oxford, 2011): http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/1123

Listening and Viewing

Radio 4’s In our Time: Bismarck - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00775pm Personality and Power: the Case of Otto von Bismarck (Interview with Jonathan Steinberg):

https://youtu.be/6Xie5_WJD5E German film biopic of Bismarck, made in 1940, probably tells us as much about the German propaganda

machine in 1940 as it does about Bismarck, but here it is anyway (with English subtitles): https://youtu.be/wHj54dxRvK8

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A brief timeline 1871-1890

Domestic Policy Foreign Policy Colonial Policy

1871 18 January – Wilhelm I formally declared German Emperor in the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles

14 April – Constitution adopted by the Reichstag

Grundejahre (1871-3)

‘Long Name Society’ established

Treaty of Frankfurt Bismarck told British Ambassador, he did not want to acquire colonies or build a bigger navy

1872 Beginning of Kulturkampf laws

1873 Depression (1873-86)

‘League of German Iron & Steel Industrialists’ established.

May Laws attempted to bring Catholic church under state control.

Dreikaiserbund or Three Emperor’s Alliance

French repayment of indemnity

1874 Obligatory civil marriage introduced in Prussia

Elections – Zentrum won 91 seats – a reaction to Kulturkampf

Reichstag agreed to septennal army budget

1875 Reichsbank established & Reichsmark introduced

Kulturkampf legislation continued e.g. all religious orders, except nursing orders, dissolved

Social Democratic Party (SPD) formed.

War in Sight Crisis

The Balkans Crisis (1875-8)

1876 ‘Central Association of German Industrialists’ established

10/12 Catholic bishops exiled or under house arrest, more than 1,000 priests suspended

Reichstadt Agreement between Austria & Russia

1877 Elections – SPD won 12 Reichstag seats.

General declaration in favour of protective tariffs from Industrialists & farmers from Westphalia

Russia declared war on Turkey (Russo-Turkish War 1877-8)

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1878 Failure of first tariff bill

Death of Pope Pius IX

First assassination attempt on Wilhelm I

Failure of Anti-Socialist Law

Second assassination attempt

Reichstag dissolved

0ctober – Anti-Socialist Law passed

Russian forces threatened Constantinople

Treaty of San Stefano

Congress of Berlin

1879 Adalbert Falk removed from office

Tariff Law passed with ‘Frankenstein Clause’

Dual Alliance

1880 Scheme to set up Prussian Council on Political Economy to bypass the Reichstag defeated by liberal & Zentrum majority

Attempt to replace annual with biennial budget defeated

1881 Elections – Bismarck effectively lost control of the Reichstag, Progressives won 115 seats & Zentrum 100. SPD seats increased from 9 to 12

Renewal of Dreikaiserbund Bismarck encouraged France to embark on colonial expansion in Africa & Asia

1882 Triple Alliance

1883 Sickness Insurance Act

1884 Elections - SPD doubled its seats from 12 to 24, the Progressives and the Liberal Union (the secessionist Liberals) won 106 seats between them & formed the German Free Thought Party (Freisinn)

The National Liberals won only 51 seats but Conservatives gained as a consequence of Colonial Policy

Renewal of Anti-Socialist Law

Heidelberg Declaration

Accident Insurance Act

Dreikaiserbund renewed Conference of Berlin

1884-5 Germany acquired South West Africa, Togoland, the Cameroons, German East Africa & some Pacific Islands e.g. German New Guinea & German Samoa

1885 1885-6, 16,000 Poles and Jews with Russian citizenship were herded across the frontier

Bulgarian Crisis (1885-6) shattered Dreikaiserbund

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First ‘Peace Bill’ made important concessions to the Catholics

1886 January – a Reichstag majority censured the government regarding the forced expulsion of Poles

Bill for the Protection of German National Interests in the Eastern Provinces approved by Reichstag

Project for an Imperial Liquor Monopoly defeated by the Reichstag

Bulgarian Crisis + Boulanger – Bismarck called for 10% increase in size of army & new Septennat

Boulanger appointed French Foreign Minister

1886 German-Anglo agreement – recognised Germany’s colonial possessions

1887 Elections ‘fought in an atmosphere of artificially contrived crisis’, German Free Thought Party & SPD lost over half of seats, the Conservatives, Free Conservatives & National Liberals won 220 seats

Septennat passed

Second ‘Peace Bill’ effectively ended Kulturkampf

February - Triple Alliance renewed

March - First Mediterranean Agreement

June – Reinsurance Treaty

November – Russian denied access to German money markets

December – Second Mediterranean Agreement

Bismarck resisted demands for further colonial expansion

1888 By January 32,000 ‘aliens’, of whom 10,000 were Jews had been expelled.

March - accession of Frederick III

June – death of Frederick and accession of Wilhelm II

Bismarck published the Triple Alliance

1889 Old Age Pension & Disability Act

1890 Bill proposing a permanent Anti-Socialist Law rejected by the Reichstag

Elections – 5 deputies campaigning on an anti-Semitic programme elected

Bismarck’s Conservative & National Liberal Allies lost 85 seats

Wilhelm II refused Bismarck’s proposal to alter the Constitution

March – Bismarck resigned

Russian asked for renewal of Reinsurance Treaty

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