Bismarck's domestic policy

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  • Created by: Anna
  • Created on: 12-05-13 11:03

6 points

  • Army budget
  • Economic Protectionism
  • Kulturkampf
  • State Socialism
  • Treatment of Minorities
    1879 tariff act
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Army budget

  • budget should remain at a fixed level outside Reichstag control until 1872
  • Bismarck presented a law that laid down that an army of over 400,000 men would be given federal expenditure
  • 80% spent on army, threatened Reichstag's monetary powers
  • opposed by national liberals
  • Bismarck threatened to call new elections
  • compromised, the military budget was fixed for 7 years at a time and then voted for annually or fixed permanently
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Economic protectionism

  • economic matters dealt by Delbruck
  • continued free trade policies
  • Bismarck ditched free trade and National liberals
  • aligned with conservative and centre party to support the introduction of tariffs to protect the German industry and farming
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Kulturkampf

  • clash with the Catholic Church
  • German Catholics formed Centre party
  • Bismarck wanted to unify and consolidate the reich
  • May Laws
  • failed
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State Socialism

  • wean working classes by introducing various welfare (state socialism) measures designed to assist German workers
  • wanted to win support of workers (lose SPD)
  • sickness insurance act, accident insurance act, old age and disability act
  • model of social provision for other countries
  • not al successful
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Treatment of minorities

  • regarded Danes, French and Poles as potential 'enemies of the state'
  • sought to reduce their influence
  • Polish language outlawed in education and courts
  • Alsace-Lorraine not granted full unity
  • French people were unhappy and allowed to leave
  • national minorities' alienation from the reich probably lessened over the years
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1879 tariff act

  • protectionists made up of mostly conservatives and centre party members had majority in Reichstag
  • Bismarck introduced a general tariff bill
  • July 1879, duties imposed on imports
  • protective tariffs consolidated the work of unification by drawing north and south closer together and accelerated growth of large internal market
  • tariffs did serve to protect German jobs
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