What was the Purpose of the Kulterkampf in the Early Years of the new Reich?

What was the Purpose of Kulturkampf in the Early Years of the new Reich?

In 1871 the German Empire had been formed under the leadership of Prussia and the chancellor Otto Von Bismarck. This was called a unification ‘By Blood and Iron’, blood because of the deaths caused with wars with Austria and France, and iron because of the Prussian industrialisation process that had allowed this. However under a Prussian lead German history did not run as smoothly as the architects of this system would have wanted, as the state soon found itself in a battle with the Roman Catholic Church called Kulturkampf. This essay will be an attempt to explain the Kulturkampf translated in to ‘battle of civilisations’, and what the purpose of it was. However in order to do this I must first explain what triggered the Kulturkampf and what it involved.

In 1871 the first Vatican council announced that on matter of faith and morals the Pope was infallible. This caused pressure around the whole of Europe in Liberal circles. Otto von Bismarck saw it as a direct threat to his newly formed empire. Some German nationalists and the German Bishops in Rome refused to accept these rulings. Rome put pressure on Bismarck in attempt to make them conform, but the chancellor refused, believing that matters of the state and church should be kept separate. However with the emergence of the Centre party in the Reichstag representing catholic views, Bismarck felt they were invading his politics. Thus he set about a war against the Roman Catholic church. The first of the Kulturkampf laws denounced that clergy could not preach at sermons, and ministry worship was abolished. In 1872 new laws gave the state complete control of all schools, taking church influence out of them. Then in 1873 the May laws were introduced, named after the time they were implemented they were also known as the Falk laws after the German cultural minister Adalbert Falk who implemented them. These laws made it necessary for all clergy to conform to government regulation, they would attend government universities. They would have to obtain a license from the state, they could also be expulsed by the state. The laws also made it easier for thee clergy to leave the church by simply informing the local court. The state also warned that the church could not impose fines on anything that was not religiously connected and could impose fines or imprisonment. The church replied to these laws by claiming that it would obey the laws of God and not thee laws of men. The state went further and announced that if the laws were not obeyed then state funding of churches would stop known as the ‘Bread Basket Bill’. Finally in 1874 the Jesuit religion was banned, and civil marriages were made compulsory. These laws caused immense friction in Germany, in 1876 the laws had caused a third of all parishes to be without clergy and 8/12 Prussian Bishops were in exile or under arrest. This essay will now attempt to explain why Bismarck took this strategy.
One of the main reasons for Kulturkampf was the attempted abolishment of the Centre party formed in 1870 by Ludwig Windthorst, that was intended to represent catholic views in the Reichstag. In 1871 it held a massive 63 seat making it the 2nd largest party. It called for social legislations like the regulation of child and female labour. It also called for the amending of the constitution to give religious guarantees, and called for German intervention in Rome when the pope was under siege. Bismarck wanted to see the Centre party gone, the Kulturkampf was a way of attempting to bring the loyalty under the control of the state by teaching them German laws, and liberal views. In 1877 it won a total of 97 seats as Bismarck tried to destroy it, the Centre party grew more powerful. The Centre party drew support fro the rich, middle, and poor classes aswell as the minorities. This was because the Centre party fundamentally wanted to see imperialism end and the freedom of the state re-affirmed. Thus all the enemies of the state rallied behind it. And the clergy rallied behind the pope. The Centre party had greatness thrust upon it and the church that had been loosing a lot of support in Germany became popular again. Bismarck had seen the Kulturkampf as an opportunity to finally beat the Centres, that were proving difficult political opposition, but hiss policy failed to stop there rise and actually made them more powerful.
Bismarck had seen the Roman Catholic Pope as a threat to the German empire he had created. He worried that the Pope may use his powers in a medieval fashion and encourage militant Catholicism. The Kulturkampf was an attempt at taking this impetus away from them. In 1874 an attempt was made on Bismarck’s life by Kullmann made his fears grow. Kulturkampf therefore was aimed at the enemies of the state. Importantly the state stopped the teaching of Polish by the church in schools, and wanted to unite the German people at a common enemy. These included the Jesuits, Hanoverians, Poles, and French. Thus Bismarck used Kulturkampf in an attempt to Germanise the population. Importantly there was no German identity in 1871, there was no national flag, no national anthem, language changed regionally. Turning the population against Catholicism, and the minorities who wanted to see the German empire fail. However as we have seen with the Centre party it made them more resolved in their aims and they unified behind the Catholic party.

Kulturkampf was also used by Bismarck in an attempt to force the population against another common enemy in the French on the international scene. This was when Bismarck claimed that France was helping to foster the Catholic thought and anti-German feeling in Germany. It was seen as doing this through its press and with activists I the country like those in Alsace Lorraine. With France jostling to improve its army in 1874 Bismarck warned the population of a ‘War in Sight’ in 1875. However as he warned that Germany may have to go to a preventive war international opinion was against him. After the formation of the Draikaiserbund in 1871 Germany had formed an allegiance with Austria and Russia, Bismarck wanted to put France out further in the cold. However his allies grew restless, and Britain announced it wanted peace. Therefore again Bismarck had failed in his attempt to isolate France through the use of the Kulturkampf and had to back down.
Finally Kulturkampf was caused by a natural alliance Bismarck had formed with the National Liberals in the Reichstag. Liberals were fundamentally against Catholicism, and Catholicism was fundamentally against them. In 1864 the religious syllabus of errors was printed, this declared that liberal ideals were immoral, whilst the liberals saw liberalism as draconian and authoritarian. Thus whilst Bismarck in the 1870s was promoting Liberal economical policies this alliance meant that the Kulturkampf pleased his liberal allies, and made them politically closer. Importantly the Liberal backing was enough to get Bismarkian legislation passed as they held 125 seats I 1871, and later in 1874 155. Whilst it pushed the conservatives further away as the protestant church had also been affected by the laws. Therefore in order to effectively operate in the Reichstag Bismarck had to keep the Liberals happy in order to consolidate Germany through his policies. However although Bismarck had a good relationship with the liberals in 1878 he had to go back on this allegiance in order to implement conservative protective tariffs. He managed to back down from the Kulturkampf that he had wanted to do earlier when Pope Pius IX died and he made a deal with the new Pope Leo XIII. Many of the Kulturkampf laws were dissolved, and Bismarck moved to make political gains by joining up with the Centres and Conservatives. Importantly Bismarck found a new enemy for the people to focus on in the Reichstag and these were the SPDs, as much like Catholicism he saw them as a threat to his state.
Therefore in conclusion it appears that the Kulturkampf was a policy of the National state versus the Roman Catholic church and enemies of the state. Bismarck wanted to try to attack these groups that did not agree with his formation of Germany in 18721 by turning the population against them, and actively Germanising the population by focusing on a common enemy. Aswell as doing this on the domestic level, he attempted much the same on the international scene by trying to turn International attention against the French however it appears that in both these attempts Bismarck failed. Bismarck had wanted to take Catholic matters out of the concern of the state, but saw the hated Centre party grow so power it made it difficult for him to govern. The only real success that the policy of Kulturkampf really had was that it further cemented his relationship with the Liberals, although by 1878 he had severed these links. Thus in 1878 Bismarck had dismantled the Kulturkampf laws and forced Adalbert Falk to resign because this battle had been lost by the state. People were simply not willing at such an early stage to devote themselves to the nation he had created. Thus in 1879 he turned his attention to the new enemy in the Socialist Democrat party. This is not to say that the German system Bismarck had created failed, in fact Kulturkampf proved that the system was a success as popular politics ruled, and this is what defeated the Chancellor.

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