Imperial Germany
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- Created by: Katie Beaumont
- Created on: 10-01-17 19:12
Introduction
Imperial Germany:
- German unification had been achieved by the extension of power by one state, rather than a revolution.
- The old social structure remained intact as Wilhelm II could see no further than maintain the existing power structure.
- Constitutional system of the new Germany strongly reflected the old regime.
- The German unification was orchestrated by Bismarck.
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Economic Growth
Economic growth:
- During imperial germany, economic growth was not unbroken.
- There were some eyears of recession.
- This turned into a financial crises in 1873.
- However, this changed in the 1890s, by a great wave of industrialisation.
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Constitution of the Second Reich
The new constitution was adapted to the new circumstances:
- The legislature was given limited powers.
- This was because there 2 chambers:
- Bundesrat (upper house- 58 representing members, making policy recommendations to the lower house).
- Reichstag (elected every 5 years, based on male suffrage).
- Ministers were not responsible to the Reichstag and it was excluded from a review of military expenditure and foreign treaties.
- The Kaiser had considerable potential power, which Wilhelm I tended to delegate to Bismarck.
- The Kaiser controlled the armed forces and could declare a defensive war.
- The Kaiser could also veto legislation and dissolve the Reichstag.
- The Chancellor was appointed by the Kaiser and was responsible to him.
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Federal Structure
Imperial Germany had a federal structure:
- The constitution was federal to reflect the independent origins of parts of the newly unified Germany.
- This gave individual states considerable power.
- This included the power:
- To determine the nature of their local political arrangements.
- To run education
- Healthcare
- Local police.
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Prussian dominance
There was Prussian dominance within Imperial Germany because:
- The system was overruled by Prussian power.
- This was because the imperial title was passed by inheritance with the kingship of Prussia.
- Prussia was influential in terms of population and territorial terms, meaning Prussia's state government was very powerful.
- Prussian power was also dominant in the Bundesrat.
- This meant that Prussia had influence over the whole of the unified Germany, as it influenced everyone, its government and ministers.
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The Persistence of powerful privileged elites
Powerful privileged elites and the nobiliity persisted, especially in Prussia. Its strength came from 3 sources:
- The persistence of natural deference:
- This was where the social dominance of the noble landowners remained, who employed labourers and had power over tenant farmers ad local tradesmen, who relied on their business.
- A virtual monopoly of official positions:
- The army and higher ranks of the government and administration were dominated by the nobility who had preferred status.
- Political activism:
- From the 1870s, the industrial barons, such as Krupp and Stumm, had pretnesions of joining the noblitiy and a variety of groups,, who felt threatened by urbanisation and industrialisation.
- This included craftsmen, small shopkeepers, farmers, rural workers and some of the academic intellectual groups, who were moving from liberalism to nationalism.
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State within a state
The army was considered a state within the German satte because of its size and influence over the state (its authority only laid with the Kaiser). However, it was dangerously flawed:
- It was dominated by the Prussian officer corps.
- Constitutional irresponsibility:
- The Reichstag had no control over the army and it was only gradual that they won the right to review military spending, every 7 years.
- Minister for War had limited powers.
- A special aura:
- The army had a special place in the minds of the Germans because they were the creator of a unified Germany.
- Citizens deeply respected the army.
- Social exclusiveness:
- The officer corps was dominated by the aristocracy.
- Between 1878 adn 1910, there was not one Jewish officer appointed.
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The Iron Chancellor
The Iron Chancellor:
- Bismarck dominated the political system until 1890.
- This was because Kaiser Wilhelm I left political affairs to Bismarck.
- Bismarck's main activates were to:
- 'Sterilise' the political system.
- Resist revolution.
- Preserve the power of Prussia and the Junker nobility.
- Bismarck opposed the development of political parties.
- He wanted to treart any opposition as if it was a challenge to the state.
- His domestic activities included:
- The Kulturkampf.
- The alignment with corn and iron conservatives.
- Germanisation of the national minorities.
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The Kulturkampf
The Kulturkampf:
- This was introduced due to the potential identification of Catholicism with disloyalty to the state.
- Catholics made up 40% of the population and tended to oppose the militarism.
- The alliance of the National Liberals:
- In 1871, the newly formed Catholic Centre Party won 70 seats in the Reichstag and could be seen as a potential challenge.
- Therefore an attack on the church would weaken it and strengthen his political alliance.
- This included anti-Catholic legislation:
- The Kanzel Paragraph was introduced in November 1871, which were special penalties imposed on political sermons, civil marriage was made compulsory and a range of religious orders (the Jersuits expelled).
- The Falk Laws (1873-75) was taken place in Prussia, where there was state control of church discipline, appointments of office and clerical education were introduced.
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The Failure of the Kulturkampf
The Kulturkampf failed because:
- 30/10,000 priests in Prussia submitted, and bishops and priests were turned into persecuted martyrs.
- The church was strengthend.
- The Centre Party's representation rose to 100 by 1874.
- Bismarck was forced to open negotiations with the newly elected and more conciliatory Pope Leo XIII.
- Most of the legislation disappeared over the next decade.
- There was the danger of the Catholic Centre Party and the Socialists to unite and shake Bismarck.
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