Was the Kulturkampf Bismarck's most serious mistake in domestic policy?

Daniel Pearson History Essay

Was the Kulturkampf Bismarck’s

most serious mistake in domestic policy?

Introduction

Otto von Bismarck was chancellor of Germany from 1862-1890; he went through three wars and eventually united all the German states to make a unified Germany. As chancellor he dealt with domestic policies in Germany and some were successful but some were disastrous. From the defeat of Austria in 1866 until 1878 Bismarck was allied primarily with the National Liberals. Together they created a civil and criminal code for the new empire and accomplished Germany's adoption of the gold standard and move toward free trade. Just as they had earlier written off Bismarck as an arch conservative, liberals now viewed him as a comrade, a man who had rejected his conservative roots. As Prussian prime minister and German chancellor, he was determined to unite all of Prussia and make a new Second Reich. In this struggle, he sought to make Germany the greatest power in Europe, but realized that to achieve this goal, national unity was essential. Thus, he and the National Liberals introduced measurers into the country that dealt with threats of division. One target of persecution was the German Catholics of southern Germany and Alsace and Lorraine. Through the harsh measures such as the May Laws, School Inspection Laws, and persecution of the clergy, Bismarck divided rather than united the German people through the Kulturkampf

Could the idea of Kulturkampf have been Bismarck’s biggest failure as Chancellor of Germany?

Kulturkampf

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Could the idea of Kulturkampf have been Bismarck’s biggest failure as Chancellor of Germany?

Kulturkampf

Kulturkampf was a way for Bismarck to cut out the threat of Catholics becoming a political figure and also their views were very different to those of Bismarck and the way he saw the future of Germany. There was also another reason why Bismarck disliked the Catholics, he believed they were a “state within a state” and that the people couldn’t follow the true unified State if it had attachments to the Rome. The rising Catholic vote was a concern to Bismarck, ever since the acquisition of the regions of Alsace and Lorraine from France at the end of the Franco-Prussian War; the new German Empire had a very large Catholic representation of approximately one-third of the population. The person that Bismarck’s angered was aimed at was no other than the Catholic Centre Parties political leader Ludwig Windthorst, but as always, Bismarck used this inconveniences of the political rivalry with the Centre Party and authorized his anti-papal campaign. He believed that the Centre Party perceived to stand for an allegiance other than the national state. This, he thought, made it an enemy for the unity of Germany.

The national liberals were just the party that Bismarck needed to campaign against the Pope and the Catholic Centre Party, thus without any hesitation, they carried out the plan of Kulturkampf.

Bismarck appointed Adalbert Falk to the position of Prussian Ministry of Public Worship, Bismarck’s itinerary for Falk was “Restore the rights of the state over the church and do it with the least possible fuss”. Although this was impossible, Falk began his tasks by trying to get the school inspection provisions made law. On 1872, the School Inspection Law was passed. Intended as a warning to the Roman Catholic Church, it became represented later as the first stroke in the Kulturkampf. After this the conflict between Bismarck and the Catholics spread, and in 1872 they brought in a law against the Jesuits, the liberals traditional enemy, who had established themselves in education, and this law expelled Jesuits and institutions from Germany. Then in 1873, Falk introduced the May Laws. . The strictest of measures yet, these laws were intended to remove all the priests from state service, separate Church and State, remove Catholic influences on marriage and education, and make the inclusion of political propaganda in sermons illegal.

The conflict finally came to a head on July 13 1874, as Bismarck rode by in his carriage in Kissingen. A catholic attempted to assassinate the Chancellor, but Bismarck was only wounded in his right hand, he used this to charge the Catholic Centre Party with inspiring the would-be-assassin. But the desired affect was not achieved. The hatred of the Kulturkampf was still felt over the nation, and Bismarck finally realized the need for dissolving this law that had caused so much conflict and divide throughout Germany. Bismarck made a serious mistake in believing that the state was more important than the Pope, and not only brought the divided Catholic population together but divided the rest of Germany

Was Kulturkampf his most serious mistake in domestic affairs?

I believe that Kulturkampf has to be the most serious mistake in domestic affairs whilst Bismarck was Chancellor of Germany. This one act of stupidity made the people of Germany divided and Catholics no with a grudge against Bismarck. This one idea changed the outlay of Germany’s economy and altered the Parliamentary aspect of Germany also.

Bismarck was very sly in his work and would change sides many times to get the outcome he wanted. As he looked to the liberals for their backing throughout Kulturkampf, in earlier years he had stopped them from gaining any power in Germany due to his dislike of the liberals. Also to add to this analysis of Bismarck, after Kulturkampf he made an alliance with the conservative parties, at the expense of the liberals. This was another blunder in Bismarck’s handling of the domestic affairs in Germany. He formed an alliance with the conservative parties to introduce tariffs on iron as well as major grains. This again was to the dislike of a majority of the population at the time, the Junkers.

Another example of Bismarck’s handling of domestic affairs came prior to the Commune of Pairs of 1871; he developed an uncompromising hatred for socialists and anarchists. He made it very clear in his statements and public speeches that he disliked the socialists and anarchists. As a result of his hatred he banned the Social Democratic Party from the Reichstag in 1878, the ban was renewed until 1890. Again he made an error and put a stop to a party becoming a big influence in everyday Germany, like he tried to do with the Catholics. Although this was a serious matter it still doesn’t compare with the laws he set on the Catholic Centre Party, which were a large percentage of the population.

But all in all the Kulturkampf was the most serious mistake due to the fact that he toiled with religious affairs, the Pope, and a majority of the population, which was the Catholics. He abused his authority as Chancellor and because he had a concern about the growing votes the Catholics were getting and the views of the Pope, he simply brought in a law to alter all affairs and change the shape of the economy. This made many enemies for Bismarck and was shown when there was an attempt to assassinate him. Kulturkampf was an abuse of power and a serious mistake, a mistake that was the most serious of Bismarck’s career.