THE GERMANY EMPIRE BISMARCKS GERMANY 1871-1890

Bismarck ruled the German Empire from 1871 to 1890.
During this period, he dominated international politics.
Bismarck put in place domestic policies that were aimed at consolidating his power and ensuring the unity of Germany.
On the other hand, the foreign policies were aimed at preserving the power of the new Germany by preventing an outbreak of War in Europe.
This was done through the system of alliances that were aimed at isolating France and preventing a war of revenge.

BISMARCK’S HOME/DOMESTIC POLICIES

Aims of Bismarck’s hoe policies were;
He wanted to consolidate power to himself
He wanted to eliminate all opposition
He wanted to ensure Germany unity
He also wanted to achieve economic development for Germany.
Bismarck ruled Germany from 1871 to 1890.
During this period, he faced a number of political problems especially from the Catholics and the Socialists.

Resistance from the Catholics.

The German Catholics did not like the command position of Prussia in the new Empire. As such, the Catholic Church preached a dogma of PAPAL INFALIBILITY, which demanded that all loyal Catholics should obey the official statements of the Pope without question.
In 1871, a Catholic Central group was formed and Bismarck was politically threatened.
As a result, Bismarck launched a direct attack on the Roman Catholic Church.
As a result, Bismarck instituted the following laws;
In 1871, Bismarck broke off all diplomatic relations with the Vatican.
In 1872, he introduced suppressive laws that were directed against the Catholics Priests who preached politics were arrested and charged with the “misuse of the pulpit”. Church controlled schools were brought under Government control. Religious societies such as the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) were expelled from Germany while others were dissolved.
Bismarck also introduced the MAY LAWS. These were:
The training, appointment and the work of priests under government control.
The Catholics who disobeyed or opposed the Laws were imprisoned, dismissed from work or exiled.
Civil Marriages were also made legal, hence reducing the authority of the Church over family matters.
This campaign or struggle against the Church was referred to as Kulturkampf (Struggle forCivilization).

Resistance from the Socialists.

The Socialist Party also alarmed Bismarck.
The Socialists believed in the teachings of KARL MARX who advocated for the overthrowing of the capitalist governments and their replacement by governments controlled by workers.
The social democratic Party condemned militarism and demanded for the creation of a Socialist state where the government would own and control major industries on behalf of the people
. After 1875, the Socialists became a threat to National Security.
In 1876, there were two assassination attempts on the Kaiser.
Bismarck blamed the Socialists and introduced Exceptional Lawsto deal with them.
Under these laws;
All Socialist meetings and publications that supported Socialism were banned.
The Socialist Party was also banned.
Many people were imprisoned and exiled.

Social Reforms.

In order to deal further with the problem of Socialism, Bismarck promoted Social Reforms to benefit workers so as to prevent them from joining Socialism.
He introduced insurance schemes against sickness, old age and accidents.

The Presence of Racial Minority

Bismarck thought that the racial minorities were an obstacle to complete Germany unity.
There were a few million non German-speaking people e.g. Poles, Danes and the French within the Germany Empire. Bismarck tried to solve this problem by introducing the Policy of Prussianization/Germanisation.
This was done to ensure unity in Germany.
Some of the features of Prussianisation were;
Introduction of a Prussian code of Law
The Prussian ark became the only currency
The Education system was based on the Prussian Model
German was introduced as the official Language in order to assimilate the minority groups.
The Government also encouraged Germans to buy up properties from non-Germans.

Economic Problems.

German industries also faced a lot of problems as a result of stiff competition from outside.
To ensure economic and industrial development, Bismarck introduced the Triple Law of 1879.
This was done to protect the three main German industries i.e. the Manufacturing, commercial and Agriculture industries against outside importations by introducing high tariffs.
Bismarck wanted to make Germany less dependent on imported goods and make Germany as self sufficient as possible economically.

Nationalization of the Railway System

The Railway system became state owned so that the low transporting rates would be introduced to benefit the local industries.
The Government also subsidized the shipping lines to enable them compete with other countries such as Britain.
These measures led to the development of the Germany industries.

RIVARY AMONG MAJOR WORLD KINGDOMS AND NATIONS

BISMARCK’S FOREIGN POLICIES

Aims of Bismarck’s Foreign Policies;

To preserve the Frankfurt Treaty that led to the creation of the Germany Empire.
To maintain peace in Europe by a policy of Germany strength and domination militarily and economically.
To isolate France because Bismarck feared that with the help of another country, France would attack Germany and revenge to get back the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine
To dominate European diplomacy with the set up of governments in Europe.
To achieve these aims, Bismarck created a system of Alliances and held the Berlin Conference of 1884 to 1885.

BISMARCK’S ALLIANCES

The Three Emperors’ League or the Drekaiserbund Treaty of 1872.

In 1872, Bismarck persuaded the Emperors of Russia (Tsar Alexander) and Austria-Hungary (Frank Joseph) to sign a treaty of friendship and understanding with the German Emperor Kaiser William I.
This alliance was called the Three Emperors League or the Drekaiserbund Treaty.
The terms of the Treaty were;
All agreed to isolate France
They also agreed to crush Socialism and Republicanism in the three Empires.
They agreed to consult each other on international matters especially over the Balkans states.
The Treaty was to be renewed every after 3 years.

The Dual Alliance -1879.

The members of the alliance were Germany and Austria.
This was a secret alliance that was signed between Austria and Germany in 1879.
This was after Russia and Austria-Hungary quarreled over the Balkan states.
Bismarck held a meeting in Berlin to discuss the matter.
At this meeting, Bismarck sided with Austria, this offended Russia.
The terms of this alliance were;
To isolate France
To assist each other if one of them was attacked by two or more countries but to remain neutral if attacked by only one.

In 1881 and 1884, the Drekaiserbund Treaty was renewed with the same members under the same terms.
The Triple Alliance of 1882

The members of the Triple Alliance were Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. The alliance was signed in 1882.
Italy formed this alliance with Germany and Austria after she was offended by the French occupation of Tunisia, which Italy considered as her territory.
Bismarck had diplomatically encouraged the French occupation of Tunisia.
The terms of the alliance were;
To isolate France. This alliance deepened the isolation of France.
To assist each other if attacked by a Fourth power
Italy also pledged not to be involved in any war against Britain.

The Secret Reinsurance Treaty-1887

Bismarck was still determined to prevent an alliance between France and Russia. He also wanted to avoid fighting on two fronts in case of an outbreak of war.
Therefore, after the end of the Drekaiserbund Treaty, Bismarck realized that that Russia could easily join France to attack Germany.
As a result, Bismarck secretly approached Russia to sign the Reinsurance Treaty to reinsure Germany against an attack from France.
The Terms of the Alliance were;
Germany recognized the Russian influence in the Balkans.
Russia would remain neutral if France attacked Germany and Germany would remain neutral if Russia was attacked by Austria.
The two would help each other if one was attacked by two or more countries
Agreed to isolate France.
The alliance was to be renewed after three years.
However, it was becoming increasingly difficult for Bismarck to reconcile the interests of the Triple Alliance and the Secret Reinsurance Treaty due to the hatred that existed between Austria and Russia over the Balkans.

THE BERLIN CONFERENCE-1884-1885

The Berlin Conference was also part of Bismarck’s Foreign policies. Until the 1880s, Bismarck was not interested in acquiring colonies for Germany.
He regarded Germany as a European Power which did not need any territories outside Europe. He believed that Germany could be expanded within Europe.
However, some sectors of the German population felt that Germany was being left out in the colonial scramble to her disadvantage.
The industrialists especially begun to persuade Bismarck to revise his colonial policy.
In addition, Bismarck wanted to control European Diplomacy and prevent quarrelsover colonies in Africa to disturb the peace in Europe if war broke out.
Hence Bismarck called for and chaired the Berlin Colonial Conference. The Conference resulted into the peaceful division of the African Continent.
Germany also acquired South West Africa (Namibia), Togo, Cameroon and in 1890, Tanganyika or Germany East Africa.

THE FALL OF BISMARCK

Kaiser William I who had supported Bismarck’s policies died in 1888, he was succeeded by Fredrick.
Fredrick hated Bismarck because he wanted a more Liberal and democratic government.
Fredrick died from cancer three months after ascending to the throne.
A 28 year old Kaiser William II succeeded him. By 1890, the young Kaiser differed with Bismarck over the following;
Socialists: Kaiser William II wanted to do away with Bismarck’s anti socialist Laws.
He wanted to come to terms with the Socialist Democratic Party while Bismarck wanted to crush them.
Colonies: The Kaiser wanted a policy of Colonial Expansion for Germany while Bismarck wanted to confine German expansion to Europe.
Navy: Kaiser William II wanted to construct a Greater Germany Navy to challenge the British naval supremacy.
In short, he wanted Germany to dominate every country in Europe regardless of the consequences. On the other hand, Bismarck was careful not to provoke other countries especially Britain.
Foreign Policy:
Kaiser William II favored giving support to Austria to acquire some territories in the Balkans openly while Bismarck it secretly.
This therefore, meant that Kaiser William II did not support Bismarck’s system of alliances
As a result of these differences, Bismarck was forced to resign after being at the center of Germany and European diplomacy for more than 20years.
This marked the fall of Otto Von Bismarck.

QUESTIONS

Write briefly on aspects of Bismarck’s Germany under three of the following headings;

Bismarck and the Catholic Church
Bismarck and the Socialists
Objectives/Aims of his Foreign Policy
Reasons for the fall of Bismarck.

What problems did Bismarck face at home and how did he solve them between 1870 and 1890? {20}
What were the aims of Bismarck’s home policies? How did he achieve them between 1870 and 1890? {4, 16}

What were the aims of Bismarck’s Foreign policy? How did he achieve them between 1870 and 1890? {4, 16}.

(a) Describe Bismarck’s System of Alliances between 1870 and 1890. (b) What was the reaction of other European Countries to these Alliances? (16,4)

(b) Did Bismarck manage to isolate France?

- What led to the fall of Bismarck?

- Why did Italy fight on the side of the allied Forces in the First World War?

Sharing is caring and loving !

Sponsor