1. HI136, History of Germany Lecture 2
Bismarck’s Germany

2. Germany United
The Franco-Prussian War ( ): primacy of domestic policy
War with France created an huge upsurge in German national feeling – popular pressure in the South German states to transform the wartime alliance into a permanent union.
18 January 1871: Bismarck has the German Empire proclaimed in the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of Versailles.

3. The architects of German Unification – Bismarck (left) with General Albrecht von Roon (centre) and Field Marshal Helmuth von Moltke (right).

4. Bismarck in his own words:
“We are not in this world in order to be happy or to enjoy ourselves, but rather to fulfill our duty.” (1851, in a latter to his wife Johanna)
“Politics is the art of the possible” (1867)

5. Otto von Bismarck ( )
Born in Schönhausen in Brandenburg, the son of a Pomeranian Junker.
Educated at Göttingen University.
1836: Entered the Prussian civil service.
1839: Retired from the civil service to manage the family estates.
1849: Elected as an ultra-conservative member of the Prussian Landtag.
1851: Joined the Prussian diplomatic corps, serving as Prussian representative to the Federal Diet and then ambassador to Russia and France.
1862: Appointed Prussian Minister- President.
1867: Became Chancellor of the North German Confederation.
: Chancellor of the German Empire.

6. The ‘White Revolutionary’? German Nationalist or Prussian Patriot?
The ‘mad Junker’?
Junker – a corruption of Junger Herr (Young Sir): the title given to Prussian landowners east of the River Elbe. Closely associated with Conservative politics in the 19th century.
The ‘White Revolutionary’?
Realpolitik – ‘a system of politics or principles based on practical rather than moral or ideological considerations.’ (OED).
German Nationalist or Prussian Patriot?
The ‘Bismarck Myth’

7. River Elbe

8. The Constitution of the German Empire
The Emperor (Kaiser)
Always the King of Prussia
Could appoint/dismiss the Chancellor
Could dissolve the Reichstag
Could make treaties/declare war
Commander-in-Chief of the army
Had to approve all federal laws
Possessed the right to interpret the constitution
The Chancellor (Reichskanzler)
The ‘highest official in the Reich’
Also Minister-President of Prussia
Responsible to the Emperor, not parliament
Chairman of the Bundesrat
Appointed government ministers
Could ignore resolutions passed by the Reichstag
Reich
Government
Federal
Centralised government with specific
Responsibilities for the Reich as a whole
(foreign policy, defence, customs etc.)
State
Regional government with responsibilities
For individual states (education, direct
Taxation, health, local justice etc.)
Bundesrat (upper house)
The Federal Council
Made up of 58 members nominated by states
Not directly elected
Consent required in passing new laws
14 votes needed to veto legislation
Prussia had 17 of the 58 seats
Bavaria had 6, the other states had 1 each
Reichstag (lower house)
The National parliament
Elected by all males over 25
Limited powers to initiate new legislation
Government ministers could not be members
Members were not paid
Could approve or reject the federal budget
Elections normally held every 5 years

9. The emergence of German identity
Five parties dominating the Reichstag until 1918: conservatives, Centrum, national liberals, SDP, and Radicals (Liberals, German Progress Party).
Even after unification many Germans had difficulty in identifying with the new state:
Liberals – increasingly conscious that Bismarck’s Empire was not the united Germany they had desired for so long.
Conservatives – who remained un-reconciled to the idea of a united Germany.
Workers’ Movement ( SPD) felt that unification had done little to improve their lot and that the system had been deliberately designed to prevent them achieving their goals.

10. The Niederwald ‘Germania’ Monument (1885) The Teutoburger Wald Monument (1875)

11. Statue of Bismarck in the Großer Stern in Berlin (1901)

12. Enemies Within: ‘Minorities’
Poles
Danes
Alsatians
Other Germans (Bavarians/Hanovarians)
Jews

13. The Kulturkampf (Struggle of Civilizations)
1870: The doctrine of Papal Infallibility published.
1872: Catholic schools brought under state control. The Jesuit Order banned from Germany.
1873: The ‘May Laws’
Only candidates for ordination who had been trained in Germany and passed a state approved examination could become priests; religious appointments had to be approved by the state.
1874: Civil marriage introduced.
1875: All religious orders except nursing orders banned.
: End of the Kulturkampf – Dr Falk dismissed and some of the anti-Catholic laws repealed.

14. The Development of the SPD
1869: August Bebel and Wilhelm Liebknecht form the Marxist Social Democratic Workers’ Party.
1875: This merges with Ferdinand Lassale’s General German Workers’ Association to form the Social Democratic Party of Germany (Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, SPD) at a ‘Unity Conference’ in Gotha.
The party’s ‘Gotha Programme’ called for
“universal, direct, equal suffrage, with secret ballot and obligatory voting for all citizens over 20 years of age”
freedom of press, association and assembly
the abolition of child & female labour
a shorter working week
free, universal primary education
While the SPD was an avowedly Marxist party, pledged to overthrow the established bourgeois order, they were committed to doing so through legal means.

15. State Socialism 1883: Sickness Insurance Act
Provided medical treatment and up to 13 weeks sick pay for 3 million low-paid workers.
1884: Accident Insurance Act
Provided protection for workers permanently disabled or sick for more than 13 weeks.
1889: Old Age & Disability Act
Provided old age and disability pensions for people over 70 and those permanently disabled.

16. Anti-Socialist Legislation
Bismarck was fundamentally opposed to Socialism – they represented a threat to the very fabric of the society he sought to preserve.
1876: Legislation banning the publication of Socialist propaganda defeated in the Reichstag.
1878: Two failed assassination attempts on Wilhelm I provide an opportunity to introduce anti-Socialist legislation.
Oct 1878: The Anti-Socialist Law passed by the Reichstag. This
Banned socialist organizations (including trade unions)
Gave the police powers to break up socialist meetings
Outlawed the publication and distribution of socialist literature

17. Key points of Bismarck’s foreign policy
Always keep France isolated
Stay friends with at least three out of the European great powers
Therefore various treaties: with Austria-Hungary (1879, Dual Alliance); with Russia (1887, secret Reinsurance Treaty); with Italy (1882, Triple Alliance – joined with AH)
Colonies: ambivalent and changing; first for, later against; hosted in 1884 the Berlin conference
In light of his successors, OB was a very successful & strategical diplomat

18. 1888 – The Year of Three Emperors
Wilhelm I ( ) Friedrich III (1888) Wilhelm II ( )

19. “Dropping the Pilot?”
Bismarck and Wilhelm disagreed over the need to retain close links with Russia.
They clashed over social policy and the Anti-Socialist Law.
In March 1890 Bismarck and Wilhelm quarrelled over ministers access to the monarch.
Wilhelm gave Bismarck an ultimatum: resign or be dismissed. The next day Bismarck resigned.

20. Assessment Bismarck’s admirers Bismarck’s critics
He maintained peace between and 1890
His policies helped Germany’s economic development
He pioneered state socialism
In the 1870s he worked closely with the National Liberals and implemented many liberal policies
He was not a dictator – his powers were limited and he worked with the parties in the Reichstag
His long tenure in power points to his political skill
Bismarck’s critics
He was responsible for France remaining isolated and embittered
His influence has been exaggerated
“Negative integration” – using attacks on minorities to whip up patriotism
The Kulturkampf was a major miscalculation
His anti-socialist policies were unsuccessful
He was unable to delegate and jealous of perceived rivals
A flawed legacy – Bismarck’s rule led to Wilhemine & Nazi Germany