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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What superseded state powers?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?
There ideology supported constitituional changes
They were the largest party so could not be simply ignored
By cooperating the middle classes would hopefully remain happy with the German system
They both feared Catholic support for the Centre Party- saw as a threat to national unity- therefor supported Kulturkampf
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