Kulturkampf & the Septennates

The Septennates

The National Liberals’ main support originate from middle-class Protestants, and had two main aims, the former of which was paramount: the creation of a strong nation state; and the encouragement of a liberal constitution. Until 1878, the National Liberals were Bismarck’s most reliable Reichstag ally.

Religiously, the two were in easy agreement; they both found themselves united against the Catholic Church. Despite this, their relationship remained an uneasy one. Politically, Bismarck did not agree with their hopes for the extension of parliamentary government, and became increasingly irritated as they opposed a number of his proposals. One such disagreement occurred over the army budget.

In 1867, Bismarck and the National Liberals agreed that the military budget should remain at a fixed level, outside of Reichstag until 1872. During the Franco-Prussian War, the fixed budget was extended until 1874. In 1874, Bismarck presented a law proposing that an army of over 400,000 men should be automatically financed by the federal government.

However, eighty per cent of all federal expenditure was…