Germany an Entrenched Authoritarian State free essay sample

To what extent was Wilhelmine Germany an entrenched Authoritarian state? Kaiser Wilhelm II came to power in 1888 after Wilhelm I died and a brief reign from Frederick III, his behaviour could be unpredictable and although he was the grandson of Queen Victoria he was anti-British, however he admired them at the same time. He believed in the divine right of kings, the theory claimed that, kings were only answerable to God, and it was sinful for their subjects to resist them. Wilhelm II was determined to exercise much more direct control over government than his grandfather, this was apparent in 1890 when Wilhelm disagreed with Bismarck’s anti-socialist policies, colonial expansion and relations with Russia, consequently Bismarck retired ‘because of his health’. Wilhelm II was determined to reinstate the importance of the imperial throne, as opposed to the country being run by parliament, he wanted to demonstrate how important an all-powerful monarch was. This can be seen by Germany having 4 chancellors under Wilhelm II and each for less than ten years; Wilhelm II wished to have weak chancellors that he could easily control. Kulturkampf, was an attempt by Bismarck, to suppress the Catholic Church, he feared that because the German Empire established in 1871 had a substantial minority of Catholics that their loyalty to Rome would conflict with their loyalty to the empire. Consequently he conducted a struggle with the Catholics, by the May laws of 1873-5 education was bought under state control and state approval was required for the licensing of priests. Bismarck’s anti-Catholic campaign backfired after the Catholic Centre Party made gains in the Reichstag elections of 1874 and 1877. And since Bismarck required their support against the Liberals over tariffs, he toned down the Kulturkampf and removed some of the May Laws. However, once Wilhelm II was Kaiser the differences between the state and the church were set aside in an attempt to oppose socialism at all cost, this is an example of Wilhelm’s determination in suppressing socialism. The most the monarchy was challenged came from the newly formed Social Democratic Party of Germany in the 1890s which advocated Marxism, which was the ideology of Karl Marx, who believed that the working classes will overthrow the ruling classes by revolution. This was after anti-socialist laws were ended with the death of Bismarck and the party grew significantly as a result. The threat of the SPD caused the state to attempt to soothe tensions by initially trying to crack down on socialism as well as otivating the government to form some sort of social reforms. Continuing, to support the view that Wilhelmine Germany was an authoritarian state, was that regardless of the public vote the Kaiser still got to choose who had seats in cabinet. This is evident in the 1912 election result, when despite being the largest party the Social Democratic Party still had no seats in the cabinet. Demonstrating just how truly threatened the government felt by them. However, even though the Social Democrats had no cabinet seats, their election success meant that there was more diversity in the Reichstag, allowing the Kaiser to be challenged, also highlighting that the Reichstag was the democratic element of the constitution. In 1893 Caprivi made concessions over the Army Bill in the Reichstag by reducing the length of conscription for national service from three years to two years. The Reichstag rejected the Army Bill, resulting in them being dissolved. Opponents of Caprivi now reinforced Wilhelm II’s own doubts and the Kaiser tried to get Caprivi to draw up an anti-socialist Subversion Bill after the increase in SPD seats, however, he refused. He had successfully talked the Kaiser away from this course of action, however Caprivi had lost the will to carry on and resigned and gladly retired in 1894. The Tariff reform in 1902 caused tensions between the Chancellor, Bulow and the Conservatives and Agrarian league. They had opposed Caprivi’s tariff reduction, where their profits had been damaged. However the Social Democrats and Left Liberals wanted lower tariffs to reduce the cost of bread. A reason why Bulow may have proposed to lower the tariff rate is because of the power the Social Democrats and Left Liberals held in the Reichstag as opposed to the Conservatives in 1902. Therefore, this meant that there would be no political backlash towards the Chancellor thus the Kaiser was less likely to force him to resign. Eventually, the tariff was lowered to pre-1982 levels, and was effectively a compromise between the Social Democrats, National Liberals and the Free Conservatives. This left the working class content; subsequently meaning they applied less pressure upon the government. Bulow’s decision was backed up the following year by the election result where the Socialists gained 25 seats and the Conservatives lost 4 seats. This is an example of the declining influence of the Junkers, and more importantly an example of democracy. The Hottentot election was the name given to the election in 1907 and resulted after the Kaiser dissolved the Reichstag after they failed to support Bulow’s government in their proposal of using more money to suppress the rebels in the Colony of German South West Africa and to compensate the white settlers. The government’s election campaign was anti-socialist, anti-Catholic and Nationalistic. The result was that Social Democrat seats were halved, and right wing parties gained seats. As a result, ‘Bulow bloc’ a coalition was formed which comprised of the Conservatives, Free Conservatives, National Liberals and Left Liberals. The Daily Telegraph affair occurred in the winter of 1908-9 and has aspects of both an Authoritarian state, and that of a non-authoritarian state. For example, Bulow chose to support the Reichstag in the uproar over the Kaiser’s comments. However, Wilhelm II felt let down by Bulow as he had entrusted him to edit the article before publishing. Therefore Bulow lost the support of the Kaiser and the following year he pressurised Bulow into resigning as Chancellor after the Reichstag rejected his budget proposals. The Zabern affair in 1913 came just before the First World War, and occurred after Alsace had been annexed in 1871, as a result of the Franco-Prussian war. Tensions were rising between the French inhabitants and the German soldiers which led to a series of disturbances. In November 1913 officers were ordered to clear the streets of locals after a curfew, some citizens were arrested and held in military barracks. The violence began after an officer used a sabre to cut down a disabled cobbler, this led to protests and the subsequent result was officers acting above the law. Many believed that Citizens liberties had been taken away. The Chancellor at the time, Bethmann condoned the actions of the army, and the army used the defence that they were only accountable to the Kaiser who also condoned their actions. This caused uproar and political opposition leading to a ‘vote of no confidence’ from the Reichstag. This event highlighted the divisions in the political system especially after Bethmann was able to maintain his role as chancellor, although major opposition had been shown to him. This made it clear that the Kaiser’s actions, personality and decisions were still dominating the Kaiserreich. This is a prime example of the military’s power and status. Because of the relative powerlessness of the Reichstag, much of the political activity of Wilhelmine Germany took place outside the parliamentary system. Pressure groups played an important role. Pressure groups such as, the Pan-German League built up support for Wilhelm’s weltpolitik, which was essentially the expansion of the navy, along with colonial expansion and the attempt to make Germany a powerful force. There was also the navy league founded in 1891 which helped to drum up enthusiasm for Tirpitz naval expansion programme. However, the rise of pressure groups demonstrates the oppression on democracy that the Wilhelmine era caused. Political influence was mostly wielded by three powerful interest groups; the Junkers, industrialists and the army. However, the influence of the Junkers had began to decline as seen from the tariff reform, however, industrialisation led to the emergence of a powerful and wealthy group of big industrialists. They supported Weltpolitik as a means of securing markets for Germany’s manufacturers and sources of raw materials; they also provided the finance for the Pan-German League and The Navy League. Opposition to Socialism united the industrialists and the landowners. Furthermore, the army’s oath was made to the Kaiser, neither to Germany nor to the Reichstag. This implies that the Kaiser had his own army and could effectively go to war without the Reichstag’s approval. This leads on to the Reichstag’s limited powers, they could merely pass acts, not suggest their own, however they were the only democratic body in Germany, elected by the people, yet they had no real influence. The Reichstag could easily be dissolved if they persisted to refuse to pass acts for example, being Germany’s Kaiser automatically meant Wilhelm II was the King Of Prussia, and in order to dissolve the Reichstag the Kaiser needed the approval of the Bundesrat, which comprised of 17 Prussians, and only 14 votes were needed to veto. The Chancellor was generally also the Prussian Prime Minister. Therefore making the system very autocratic, along with the Kaiser’s power to appoint and force the resignation of Chancellors. Sammlungspolitik was the domestic policy of Kaiser Wilhelm II during his rule in Germany, translated it means ‘bringing together policy’. Its primary aim was to unite the political parties and groups in favour of Weltpolitik and also diminishing the influence of the SPD. The policy was successful up until 1909 when there was trouble with the navy’s budget and money had to be raised. Instead of choosing to tax the rich, the government chose to increase sales tax, which was the increase of the price of goods which led to the loss of support from some parties. Consequently, the socialists gained seats in the 1912 election. The trade union movement was becoming an increasing powerful voice of the working classes, as it represented people of an increasingly urbanised and industrial labour market. This shows that the electorates were beginning to have more of a voice and they were also getting increasing representation. Moreover, it also demonstrates the evolvement of an alternative powerbase as opposed to the Junkers and aristocracy. Trade unions were successful in their demands when the working class was finally given what it needed in the form of pensions, sickness benefits and even housing was provided by the big industries to reduce social unease. The Mittelstand can be translated as the middle class, which comprised of skilled workers and small traders. They found themselves trapped between the most powerful workers and their trade unions and the larger, more productive enterprises of big businesses. Consequently, the resentment led to many in this class regard the old times, before industrialisation as a ‘golden bygone era’. Subsequently, they swayed towards right-wing movements, after the changing attitudes of the Mittelstand and the peasantry. To conclude, although there are elements of a democratic state, in Wilhelmine Germany, such as the Reichstag, trade union movements and pressure groups, ultimately the Kaiser couldn’t be challenged to a significant extent as he still held almost absolute control, for example his ability to appoint Chancellors and to force their resignation. Along with Prussian dominance in the Bundesrat, meaning should the Reichstag disagree with the Chancellor he could dissolve the Reichstag. Fundamentally, Wilhelmine Germany was an authoritarian state.