Bismarck’s constant dependence on Reichstag majority required a big change after Kulturkampf, once he had abandoned the Liberals. This, in itself shows his lack of control, as his legislations had to suit whichever was the strongest party at the time, implying that they were in more control over Germany than he was. Bismarck’s ‘Great Change’ in domestic policy in 1878-79 required Bismarck to change his alliance, from National Liberals to Conservatives as they had more seats in the Reichstag, and many of the National Liberals had broken off due to the passing of the Tariff Law, which imposed duties on imports. Bismarck hoped that the new tariffs would give the federal government a valuable extra source of income in order to ensure that it was no longer financially dependent of both the states and the Reichstag. The loss of National Liberal seats and their refusal to pass anti-socialist legislation encouraged Bismarck to abandon the Liberals and free trade, along with realising that there were political advantages to by adopting protectionist policies. After the Tariff Law was passed through the Reichstag, the National Liberals who believed in free trade and parliamentary government then broke off and formed a new radical party with the Progressives in 1884. However, some National Liberals continued to support Bismarck, although he no longer depended on their backing due to his new Conservative support. In addition, Bismarck also attempted to reduce the Reichstag’s power in 1881. The Reichstag’s authority over the military was reduced, but otherwise Bismarck was unsuccessful, again demonstrating even more lack of control over domestic policy.
Bismarck’s Dual Policy was another attack, this time on socialists, of whom he regarded as ‘anarchic, revolutionary and little better than criminals’. Bismarck again feared the international appeal of socialist ideology, which would overthrow capitalism and replace it with a socialist system, where borders between nation states would be broken down, destroying Bismarck’s work for a unified Germany. There are elements of both control and lack of it with his Dual Policy, due to the completely different approaches he used. The two assassination attempts on the Kaiser provided Bismarck with the ability to dissolve the Reichstag and pass the Anti-Socialist Law. This law banned all socialist meetings and publications and SPD leaders were arrested. However, the SPD was still allowed to stand in Reichstag elections. This Anti-Socialist Law simply motivated the party to move underground, and operated exactly as normal but from outside Germany. By1890, it was a highly organised and well-disciplined party and ended up growing in popularity rather than being weakened. Once again, Bismarck’s lack of control is highlighted, again due to an aggressive attack on a political or religious group. In contrast, he had some degree of control over the socialists by introducing State Socialism, which was a positive response to social change. Here, Bismarck’s aim was to ‘kill Socialism with kindness’, and became a model of social provision for other countries. This part of the policy included the Sickness Insurance Act, which provided medical treatment and up to 13 weeks sick pay to 3 million low wage workers and their families, accident insurance and pensions for the over seventy and permanently disabled. However, this was doubtfully for the well being of those in need, as Bismarck’s mind was constantly focussed on political advantages. The measures were designed to deny the SPD of support by providing for the working class at state level and discourage their demands for greater political power. This kinder approach to Socialism shows more control over domestic policy than the aggressive attacks, even though he still aimed to disband the socialists, and many workers thought it was a ‘sham’, predominantly because the government still opposed the formation of trade unions.
Bismarck’s treatments of the National Minorities were much like that of the Socialists and Catholics, and were also classed as Reichsfeinde. Similarly to before, Bismarck wanted to reduce the political and social influence of the national minorities, and the importance of non-German culture. He therefore concluded in adopting a policy of Germanisation. This included, for example, forbidding the Polish language in education and administration, and the same with Alsace Lorraine, and in replacement, the German language and culture was imposed upon them. By introducing a Settlement Law, 16,000 Poles and Jews were forced to leave, and by 1885, more than 32,000 had left. Bismarck was responding to the Conservatives, as he knew that his policy would gain more support from them. In this sense, he had a certain element of control, over the National Minorities and gaining Conservative support.
The downfall of Bismarck is undoubtedly portraying his lack of control over the two decades from 1871, to 1890 when he resigned bitterly. The death of Wilhelm I was a major threat to Bismarck, as he had worked well with the Kaiser and had always made his own decisions. However, Kaiser Wilhelm II was determined to rule Germany himself, and the clash of their personalities did not help the determination of either person. The relations between Bismarck and KWII deteriorated rapidly in early 1890, due to a difference in approaches to Socialism. The Kaiser wanted to continue to attempt in winning the working class votes by ending child labour and Sunday working days. However, Bismarck wanted to continue to attack the Socialists by making the Anti-Socialist Law permanent, even though this had shown to be unsuccessful and highlighted his lack of control. KWII must have noted Bismarck’s lack of control, due to his determination to attack Socialism in the same way that he had failed before and made them stronger. Wilhelm II already had another Chancellor in mind, and waited until March 1890 when Bismarck was even denied support from the Conservatives in the Reichstag. This major downfall motivated Wilhelm to give Bismarck an ultimatum, which was to either resign or be sacked. Bismarck therefore resigned, due to the fact that he had lost complete control of German domestic Policy by 1890.
Overall, it seems as though Bismarck had a limited amount of control over German domestic policy between 1871-90, as his actions show more lack of control. His constant dependence on the Reichstag was perhaps his main cause of lack of control, as he entailed to gain the largest party’s support in order to pass any kind of legislation. In this sense, the largest party in the Reichstag probably had more control over German domestic Policy than Bismarck himself. His lack of control is also probably due to his aggressive policies in order to manage obstacles, which is perhaps because of his overly hostile approach towards different groups in Germany, by viewing them as Reichsfeinde (enemies of the state). In addition, his downfall could have been avoided if he had given up the Anti-Socialist Law and pursued the extension of the welfare system as Kaiser Wilhelm II was determined to follow up.
