In Source V A Fair Reflection On Bismarck?s Domestic Policies B Essay, Research Paper
To what extent is the view expressed in source V a fair
reflection on Bismarck?s domestic policies between 1870 and 1890 ??????????? The view in
source V clearly states that Max Faber believes that Bismarck?s legacy was a
Germany that was utterly backward in its political education, and without a
political will.? Germany was a nation
that was accustomed to a great statesman taking responsibility for all
political policies without question, a nation willing to submit under the label
of constitutional monarchy to anything decided for it.? Max Faber also states ?(Germany was) a
nation? accustomed to submit?without criticising the political qualifications
of those who now occupied Bismarck?s empty place.? ??????????? It is clear
from the evidence that, by the end of his time in power in 1890, had almost
complete power in the Reichstag, which would submit almost
unquestioningly to the will of Bismarck.?
Undoubtedly, this situation may not have been entirely beneficial for
Germany, but it also had some benefits.?
During the course of this essay, I will attempt to examine the extent of
Bismarck?s power, and whether Germany was willing to submit to what was decided
for it. I will also look at how beneficial Bismarck?s influence was in Germany. ??????????? Bismarck
was a conservative ?Junker? and his conservative beliefs did not alter during
the course of his time in power.?
However, by manipulation of loyalties in the Reichstag, Bismarck
was able to pass the legislation required.?
Initially, Bismarck was presented with a problem, his natural allies, the
conservatives, were not strong enough to hold a majority in the Reichstag
nor did they entirely sympathise with Bismarck?s unification of Germany.? The previous autocratic monarchical system
was typically conservative, and the German confederation had been widely
accepted by the conservative elements in society.? Bismarck had destroyed the German confederation and set up a
nationalistic unified Germany, and therefore isolated some of his conservative
support.? Bismarck allied himself with
the National Liberals, who respected Bismarck for his pivotal role in the
realisation of one of their chief objectives, the unification to Germany.? Bismarck used the majority held by the
National Liberals to pass his legislation through the Reichstag, and it
was this party that gave him the control he needed to maintain progress. ??????????? Bismarck
made a key realisation early on during his time in office that allowed him to
manipulate the politically conscious elements of society.? Bismarck realised that Liberalism and
Nationalism could be separated and used one against the other.? In this way Bismarck manipulated the
National Liberals.? He used the
Nationalist tendencies within the party to win their favour by unifying
Germany, and consequently gaining their support whilst repressing their Liberal
ideas.? By splitting these two key
ideologies, Bismarck also cleverly split the opposition.? This was key to Bismarck?s eventual almost
supreme power.? Despite the opposition
in the Reichstag, Bismarck reduced and divided the revolutionary
elements within society and this aided his chances of pushing his policies
through the Reichstag. ??????????? Bismarck
also introduced social legislation.? His
welfare program was a great pioneering effort, and also extremely
forward-looking as it pre-dated other developed countries such as Britain by
nearly a quarter of a century.? His
welfare reforms were not the result of a concern for the poorer elements of
society, but more intent on suppressing the revolutionary elements.? He did not really succeed in appeasing the
revolutionary elements of society, nor did he change their political ideas, but
he did succeed in preventing them from gathering support. Bismarck?s idea of
?State socialism? was that if he made the people content with the state, the
way in which the country was governed, they would not revolt and overthrow the
conservative government that gave the country prosperity and gave its people
concessions. As Bismarck himself said: ?Whoever has a pension fro his old age, he is much more
content and easier to handle than the person who has no prospects.? ??????????? Bismarck also built on the economic prosperity of
Prussia.? He kept the standards of
living in Prussia exceptionally high, and the economic prosperity and standard
of living contented the potentially explosive elements of middle-class
Germany.? In this way Bismarck removed
the threat of the revolution predicted by Karl Marx. Despite Bismarck?s
effective management of Germany, he did not totally control elements of
society, and some certainly remained very politically conscious.? Although Bismarck tried extremely hard to
remove opposition, his attempts were generally blundering failures.? Bismarck clashed with the Catholic Church in
a series of events referred to as the Kulturkampf. Bismarck thought that by repressing the Catholics, he would remove a
potentially dangerous body capable of international conspiracy.? This deep suspicion of the Catholic Church
stemmed partially from his own protestant beliefs and partially from his
realisation of the potential of the Catholic Church to become a real power
within Germany.? However, Bismarck
underestimated the loyalty and religious consciousness of those who worshipped
in the Catholic Church.? Instead of
crumpling under the new anti-catholic legislation, the church thrived on
persecution and the political wing, known as the centre party, became
strengthened even further.? This example
shows two key facts, first, that their were elements of the German society
willing to resist Bismarck and his policies, and second, that Germany had not
lost its political consciousness shown by the increase in the number of seats
obtained by the centre party. ?????? Bismarck made a similar mistake in his
dealings with the socialists.? Bismarck
was able to pass his anti-socialist legislation in the after-math of the
assassination attempt on Kaiser William.?
This legislation was particularly aimed at the Social Democratic party,
another element of his opposition in the Reichstag.? The
persecution of the socialists commenced, but instead of having the desired
effect of reducing socialist influence in Germany, the party simply became a
more effective, well-organised ?underground? party, operating from outside
Germany.? Bismarck?s policy had not only
failed to reduce socialist influence in Germany, but it had also retarded the
integration of a large proportion of the working classes into the new system of
government. ??????????? To return to the initial quote form source V, I believe
that Max Faber is mistaken in his evaluation of the German system of government
in two key statements.? Firstly, Max
Faber?s statement that ?Bismarck left behind him?a nation without any political
education.? Germany was certainly politically conscious and indeed many people
had had some form of political education.?
The Reichstag, though it was
neither a liberal constitutional body nor even an effective form of elected
government, it was a body elected by the people.? This gave people the reassurance that at least they had a say in
which laws were passed.? However, whilst
times are good and prosperous there is a human tendency to ignore the political
and enjoy the present.? This was the
case in Germany, whilst under the excellent leadership of Bismarck the people
were generally content due to Bismarck?s expertise in manipulating the Reichstag to pass much needed legislation.? It is clear though, through the examples of
the Kulturkampf and the battle with the
socialists, that as soon as Bismarck underestimated an opposition party and
made a mistake in his repression, the people voiced their displeasure at the
poles. This shows, therefore, that the German people had not lost their
political consciousness but had simply let it lapse a little, whilst they felt
that Bismarck was achieving that which could only benefit Germany.? ??????????? Secondly, Faber says that the German people would not
criticise ?the political qualifications of those who now occupied Bismarck?s
empty place?.? I think that this
statement is fundamentally flawed.? It
is clear that those who stepped into Bismarck?s shoes were not equally
successful in containing the political consciousness of the German people. This
was shown by the immediate need for liberal reform.? The fact remains that Bismarck was, on the whole, extremely
successful in taming the political consciousness of the nation.? The main reason for this was the
overwhelming sense of gratitude for Bismarck?s influence in gaining German
prosperity within a united Germany.?
Bismarck was therefore far more likely to be excused by the German
people as a whole for any mistakes than any other Chancellor would have done. ??????????? Consequently, I believe that Bismarck was successful in
building a state around him that was dependent upon him.? Bismarck led the country in such an inspired
and effective way that he was able to make mistakes and be forgiven for them at
frequent intervals.? The Reichstag
disliked the ?Iron Chancellor?, but the Reichstag would rarely oppose him.?
Bismarck did not remove political consciousness within Germany; he
simply repressed it by contenting the German people with the current
regime.? However, it was Bismarck that
was essential to the new unified Germany and without his guidance the system
was ineffectual.??? ??????????? ?? ???