History 332:  German History

History 332 – GERMAN HISTORY – October 6, 2004  

THE KAISERREICH  

I.                   Schulze:

1.      1871 – an achievement?  Or somehow flawed (“a delayed nation”?)

2.      Deutscher Bund (1815)

3.      1848 Frankfurt Assembly plan

4.      Grossdeutschland/ Kleindeutschland (“Greater/ Lesser Germany”)

5.      “dual hegemony”

6.      “Third Germany”

7.      “The solution ultimately found”

8.      Prussia’s maneuvering room  

II.                The KAISERREICH

A.    Powerful Monarchy

1.      Emperor appoints Chancellor w/o consulting Reichstag

2.      Army reports directly to Emperor – not to Reichstag

3.      No “responsible ministry” – Reichstag has no say over Gov’t officials  

B.     Powerful Army

1.      huge budget

2.      no “checks & balances”

3.      reports only to Kaiser  

C.     A very weak Parliament/Reichstag

1.      little say over domestic or foreign policy

2.      no checks & balances  

D.     Weak Democracy

1.      State of Prussia is by far biggest of the German states

2.      Prussian voting – THREE CLASS SYSTEM (rich elect 1/3 of State Legislature (Landtag); middle classes elect 1/3;  everyone else elects 1/3)  

E.      AUTHORITARIAN/ NATIONALIST CULTURE

1.      Authoritarian – authority, obedience, command, elite privilege is good! Hierarchy is good!;  democracy is bad!

2.      Nationalist – “us vs. them;” “Real Germans” are conservatives & are hostile to the rest of the world  

F.      CHANCELLOR IS KEY FIGURE   

Bismarck’s Constitution – a Strong – or a Weak – System?
Strong	Weak

  III.             The Bismarck Years – Domestic Policy  

A.     AIM: Preserve the Ultra-conservative Monarchical-Aristocratic System

B.     Buy off the NATIONAL LIBERALS by giving them

                                          1.  National Unity

                                    2.  Lots of support for Business

3.   Support of secularism & opposition to Catholicism

4.   KULTURKAMPF – fierce harassment of German Catholics

C.     Buy off the SOCIALISTS by

1.   STICK – Anti-Socialist laws – arrests, censorship

2.   CARROT – elaborate social welfare laws

·        Accident Insurance

·        Unemployment Insurance

·        Pensions

D.     Keep the Conservatives happy

1.   Untiring defense of Junker special privilege

                                       2.    Repression of Liberals & Socialists  

Bismarck’s Domestic Policy – Statesman or Cunning Politician?
Statesman (Germans are better off because of all this)	Cunning Politician (Bismarck & friends are able to stay in power – and that’s all!)

  

IV.  The Bismarck Years -- Foreign Policy

1. Aim: Preserve the Ultra-conservative Prussian-dominated German Empire
2. 1854-56 – Crimean War – England & France v. Russia

1.      Germany’s two key rivals – France in the West, Russia in the East, are enemies

2.      Giving Bismarck “room to maneuver”

3. After 1871 – Bismarck as everyone’s (secret) friend
4. 1872 – DREIKAISERBUND (Germany – Austria – Russia) – three most conservative powers in Europe form public (and partially secret) alliance
5. 1879 – DUAL ALLIANCE (Germany – Austria) – because Austria and Russia are rivals, Germany cuts a separate (and secret) deal with Austria
6. 1881 – 2^nd DREIKAISERBUND (Germany – Austria – Russia)
7. 1887 – REINSURANCE TREATY (Germany-Russia) – to keep the Russians happy, a public (and secret) deal with them

 

B’s Foreign Policy – Keeps the Peace – or – Sets the Stage for War?
Keeps the Peace	Sets the Stage for War