Germany depth study 1

Impact of New Germany constitution trying to reconcile unity and division

When did Germany become unified?

1871

Who was the head of unified Germany?

Kaiser Wilhelm I

Otto von Bismarck

What problems did Otto von Bismarck face?

The German states all had developed separate identities

What differences did the German states have?

Religion

Ethnicity

Culture

Geography

What did Bismarck aim to do?

Create an integrated and unified Germany through a constitution

Who did Bismarck use to help him create the constitution?

The National Liberals

What did Bismarck and the National Liberals create?

Kulturkampf

What was Kulturkampf?

A policy of discrimination aimed at the Catholic church

What was taught in schools as a result of Kulturkampf?

German nationalism

Who were the enemies of the Reich?

Catholics

French

Socialists

When was the Congress of Vienna?

1815

What did the Congress of Vienna do?

Previous 360 states consolidated into 38

How were the German states connected?

Loosely through a common defence policy

What religion was prominent in Bavaria?

Catholicism

What did nationalist writers think was the definer of to be German?

Having the same language

What was the problem with having ‘language’ as the uniting factor?

Prussia and Austria incorporated large population that did not speak German

Was the process of unification equal/ who dominated it?

No

Prussia was determined to control it

What role did the Prussian Prince have in United Germany?

Wilhelm became the Kaiser

What proportion of the new German state was Catholic?

1/3

Who saw themselves as a discriminated minority?

Junkers

Southern Germans

non-Prussians

Peasantry

How did unified Germany avoid dynastic rivalry?

Allowing 22 different Royals to maintain power

What superseded state powers?

Imperial law

What political body did the constitution establish?

Reichstag

What establishments created German Unity?

Single Currency

Political process everyone can be involved in equally

Sole measurements

Legal System

Civil Service

Linking up of the railway system

Who was able to vote in Unified Germany?

Men over 35

How did Kaiser Wilhelm help Unify Germany?

His restrained leadership

Was the German army beneficial in Unifying Germany?

Yes

What was the German Army made up of?

4 Separate Armies:

Prussia

Bavaria

Saxony

Wurttemberg

How was the German army ran?

In times of war the emperor would be in charge of the entire military but each separate army was allied to the King of that region

Who did Bismarck call the ‘enemy’ to unify germany?

Predominately France

What was the problem with creating an enemy for German unity?

It is short lived and superfical

How many states was Germany pre Unification?

38 seperate states

What were the Northern States before unification?

Northern German Confederation

Who requested to join with the Northern German Confederation? x4

• Bavaria

• BAden

• Wurttemberg

• Hesse-Darmstadt

Why did the Southern German States want to join the Northern German Cofederation?

Mass wave of nationalism after the war

What states were wary of giving up complete power to Prussia?

Bavaria

When and what established Germany as a federal state?

1871

The constitution

Were each of the Lander were allowed to retain their own consitution?

YES

What did Lander holding on to their own consitution result in?

They were very different

Give example of the different states being different

Bavaria was relatively liberal whilst Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Scherwin had no elected parliaent until 1918 and its consitution pre dates the French revolution

What did the Southern States have compared to the north?

More privelege

Give examples of the privledge given to the Southern States X3

• Retain their own railway

• Own postal system

• Exempted from Beer Tax and Spirits

What was the power of lander centred on?

Bundesrat

What was the Bundesrat made from?

Delegates of the state governments

What did the amount of delegates in the Bundesrat based upon?

Size of the state

How many seats did Prussia have?

17/58

Who were allowed to vote in Germany 1871?

Men above 25

Why did Bismarck allow men 25 or above to vote?

Allowing a democratic vote would minimise more liberal influence

How much were the Reichstag payed?

Nothing

What did the lack of reichstag pay result in?

Difficult for the less privleged classes to run for elections

What legislation could the Bundesrat veto?

Everything

Who had responsibility to reichstag?

Not Kasier nor Chaancellor nor military cheifs

What could the Kaiser do to the reichstag?

Dissolve it and call new elections

What affect political parties influence?

Regional divisions

Where was the National Liberals influential? and what did they support

North

Supported the German empire

Where was the German peoples party influential? and what did they support

South

Opposed creation of unified Germany

Who did the Centre Party represent?

Catholic

Strongest in Bavaria and BAden

Who did the German Conservative Party represent?

Junker class of Prussia

How can the Reichstag be seen as important in creating a unified German nation?

Everyone across the country could excercise their voice on how the country should run

Dissent was able to be voiced overcoming serious regional and social division

Different minorities ran under different parties doing well in 1874-1881

What other factor effect the Reichstag?

Social factors

Who did the National Liberals represent? and where were they most powerful?

Patriotic

Educated

Wealthy Middle class

Saxony

Who did the Socialist Workers Party represent? and where were they most powerful?

Working class

Baden and Industrial areas of the Rhineland

Why was there a growth in Socialism?

The rapid urbanisation of Germany society

Depression of the 1870s

What did the political elections display about the unity of Germanys Empire?

The regional and social divisions

Who did best in Reichstag elections?

Parties hostile to the new German nation

What was the Reichstag important in giving a voice to?

Minorities who overtime became more intergrated

The debate meant that issues never developed into violence against the state

Who had the majority of the vote in 1871?

National Liberalss

30.1%

Who had the least votes in 1871?

SPD

Who formed the National Liberals?

Politicans that supported Bismarck creation of a unified Germany

Who was the most popular party in the Reichstag for the first decade

The national liberals

Where did National Liberal focus there ideology?

• National Unity

• Civil Liberties

• Free trade

• No protectionist policies

• One economic policy to unite Geremany

What did Bismarck do regarding the national liberalss polices to Germany?

• Removed movement restrictions

• Removed laws that restricted interest on loans

• Reichmark became sole currency of Germany

Why did Bismarkc want to work with the National Liberals?

1. There ideology supported constitituional changes

2. They were the largest party so could not be simply ignored

3. By cooperating the middle classes would hopefully remain happy with the German system

4. They both feared Catholic support for the Centre Party- saw as a threat to national unity- therefor supported Kulturkampf