Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi



KONU: Yak?n?a? Avrupa'da AlmanyaKONU: Yak?n?a? Avrupa'da AlmanyaFrench Revolution, 1789–1815Congress of ViennaGerman reaction to the?French Revolution?was mixed at first. German intellectuals celebrated the outbreak, hoping to see the triumph of Reason and The Enlightenment. The royal courts in Vienna and Berlin denounced the overthrow of the king and the threatened spread of notions of liberty, equality, and fraternity. By 1793, the?execution of the French king?and the onset of?the Terror?disillusioned the Bildungsbürgertum (educated middle classes). Reformers said the solution was to have faith in the ability of Germans to reform their laws and institutions in peaceful fashion. Europe was racked by two decades of war revolving around France's efforts to spread its revolutionary ideals, and the opposition of reactionary royalty. War broke out in 1792 as Austria and Prussia invaded France, but were defeated at the?Battle of Valmy?(1792). The German lands saw armies marching back and forth, bringing devastation (albeit on a far lower scale than the?Thirty Years' War, almost two centuries before), but also bringing new ideas of liberty and civil rights for the people. Prussia and Austria ended their failed wars with France but (with Russia) partitioned Poland among themselves in 1793 and 1795.French consulate suzereignityFrance?took control of the?Rhineland, imposed French-style reforms, abolished feudalism, established constitutions, promoted freedom of religion, emancipated Jews, opened the bureaucracy to ordinary citizens of talent, and forced the nobility to share power with the rising middle class. Napoleon created the?Kingdom of Westphalia?(1807–1813) as a model state. These reforms proved largely permanent and modernized the western parts of Germany. When the French tried to impose the French language, German opposition grew in intensity. A?Second Coalition?of Britain, Russia, and Austria then attacked France but failed. Napoleon established direct or indirect control over most of western Europe, including the German states apart from Prussia and Austria. The old Holy Roman Empire was little more than a farce; Napoleon simply abolished it in 1806 while forming new countries under his control. In Germany Napoleon set up the "Confederation of the Rhine," comprising most of the German states except Prussia and Austria.[ Imperial French suzereignityUnder?Frederick William II's weak rule (1786-.1797) Prussia had undergone a serious economic, political and military decline. His successor king?Frederick William III?tried to remain neutral during the?War of the Third Coalition?and?French emperor?Napoleon's dissolution of the?Holy Roman Empire?and reorganisation of the German principalities. Induced by the queen and a pro-war party Frederick William joined the?Fourth Coalition?in October 1806. Napoleon easily defeated the Prussian army at the?Battle of Jena?and occupied Berlin. Prussia lost its recently acquired territories in western Germany, its army was reduced to 42,000 men, no trade with Britain was allowed and Berlin had to pay Paris high reparations and fund the French army of occupation.?Saxony?changed sides to support Napoleon and joined the?Confederation of the Rhine. Ruler?Frederick Augustus I?was rewarded with the title of king and given a slice of Poland taken from Prussia. After?Napoleon's military fiasco in Russia in 1812, Prussia allied with Russia in the?Sixth Coalition. A series of battles followed and Austria joined the alliance. Napoleon was decisively defeated in the?Battle of Leipzig?in late 1813. The German states of the Confederation of the Rhine defected to the Coalition against Napoleon, who rejected any peace terms. Coalition forces invaded France in early 1814,?Paris fell?and in April Napoleon surrendered. Prussia as one of the winners at the?Congress of Vienna, gained extensive territory. 1815–1871In 1815 continental Europe was in a state of overall turbulence and exhaustion, as a consequence of the?French Revolutionary?and?Napoleonic Wars. The liberal spirit of the?Enlightenment?and Revolutionary era diverged toward the?Romanticism?of?Edmund Burke,?Joseph de Maistre?and?Novalis. The victorious members of the Coalition had negotiated a new peaceful balance of powers in Vienna and agreed to maintain a stable German heartland that keeps French imperialism at bay. However, the idea of reforming the defunct?Holy Roman Empire?was discarded.?Napoleon's?reorganization of the German states?was continued and the remaining princes were allowed to keep their titles. In 1813, in return for guarantees from the Allies that the sovereignty and integrity of the Southern German states (Baden,?Württemberg, and?Bavaria) would be preserved, they broke with France.German ConfederationDuring the 1815?Congress of Vienna?the 39 former states of the?Confederation of the Rhine?joined the?German Confederation, a loose agreement for mutual defense. Attempts of economic integration and customs coordination were frustrated by repressive anti-national policies. Great Britain approved of the union, convinced that a stable, peaceful entity in central Europe could discourage aggressive moves by France or Russia. Most historians, however, concluded, that the Confederation was weak and ineffective and an obstacle to German nationalism. The union was undermined by the creation of the?Zollverein?in 1834, the?1848 revolutions, the rivalry between Prussia and Austria and was finally dissolved in the wake of the?Austro-Prussian War?of 1866, to be replaced by the?North German Confederation?during the same year.[ Society and economyPopulationBetween 1815 and 1865 the population of the German Confederation (excluding Austria) grew around 60% from 21 million to 34 million. Simultaneously the?Demographic Transition?took place as the high birth rates and high death rates of the pre-industrial country shifted to low birth and death rates of the fast-growing industrialized urban economic and agricultural system. Increased agricultural productivity secured a steady food supply, as famines and epidemics declined. This allowed people to marry earlier, and have more children. The high birthrate was offset by a very high rate of infant mortality and after 1840, large-scale emigration to the?United States. Emigration totaled at 480,000 in the 1840s, 1,200,000 in the 1850s, and at 780,000 in the 1860s. The upper and middle classes first practiced birth control, soon to be universally adopted.IndustrializationIn 1800, Germany's social structure was poorly suited to entrepreneurship or economic development. Domination by France during the French Revolution (1790s to 1815), however, produced important institutional reforms, that included the abolition of feudal restrictions on the sale of large landed estates, the reduction of the power of the guilds in the cities, and the introduction of a new, more efficient commercial law. The idea, that these reforms were beneficial for Industrialization has been contested.[157]?Nevertheless, traditionalism remained strong in the many small principalities. Until 1850, the guilds, the landed aristocracy, the churches and the government bureaucracies maintained many rules and restrictions that held entrepreneurship in low esteem and given little opportunity to develop. From the 1830s and 1840s, Prussia, Saxony and other states introduced agriculture based on sugar beets, turnips and potatoes, that yielded higher crops, which enabled a surplus rural population to move to industrial areas. In the early 19th century the Industrial Revolution was in full swing in Britain, France, and Belgium. The various small federal states in Germany developed only slowly and independently as competition was strong. Early investments for the railway network during the 1830s came almost exclusively from private hands. Without a central regulatory agency the construction projects were quickly realized. Actual industrialization only took off after 1850 in the wake of the railroad construction. The textile industry grew rapidly, profiting from the elimination of tariff barriers by the Zollverein. During the second half of the 19th century the German industry grew exponentially and by 1900, Germany was an industrial world leader along with Britain and the United States.Historian?Thomas Nipperdey?remarks:On the whole, industrialisation in Germany must be considered to have been positive in its effects. Not only did it change society and the countryside, and finally the world...it created the modern world we live in. It solved the problems of population growth, under-employment and pauperism in a stagnating economy, and abolished dependency on the natural conditions of agriculture, and finally hunger. It created huge improvements in production and both short- and long-term improvements in living standards. However, in terms of social inequality, it can be assumed that it did not change the relative levels of income. Between 1815 and 1873 the statistical distribution of wealth was on the order of 77% to 23% for entrepreneurs and workers respectively. On the other hand, new problems arose, in the form of interrupted growth and new crises, such as urbanisation, 'alienation', new underclasses, proletariat and proletarian misery, new injustices and new masters and, eventually, class warfare. UrbanizationIn 1800 the population was predominantly rural, as only 10% lived in communities of 5,000 or more people, and only 2% lived in cities of more than 100,000 people. After 1815, the urban population grew rapidly, due to the influx of young people from the rural areas. Berlin grew from 172,000 in 1800, to 826,000 inhabitants in 1870, Hamburg from 130,000 to 290,000, Munich from 40,000 to 269,000 and Dresden from 60,000 to 177,000. RailwaysThe takeoff stage of economic development came with the railroad revolution in the 1840s, which opened up new markets for local products, created a pool of middle managers, increased the demand for engineers, architects and skilled machinists and stimulated investments in coal and iron. Political disunity of three dozen states and a pervasive conservatism made it difficult to build railways in the 1830s. However, by the 1840s, trunk lines did link the major cities; each German state was responsible for the lines within its own borders. Economist?Friedrich List?summed up the advantages to be derived from the development of the railway system in 1841:1. As a means of national defence, it facilitates the concentration, distribution and direction of the army.2. It is a means to the improvement of the culture of the nation. It brings talent, knowledge and skill of every kind readily to market.3. It secures the community against dearth and famine, and against excessive fluctuation in the prices of the necessaries of life.4. It promotes the spirit of the nation, as it has a tendency to destroy the Philistine spirit arising from isolation and provincial prejudice and vanity. It binds nations by ligaments, and promotes an interchange of food and of commodities, thus making it feel to be a unit. The iron rails become a nerve system, which, on the one hand, strengthens public opinion, and, on the other hand, strengthens the power of the state for police and governmental purposes. Lacking a technological base at first, engineering and hardware was imported from Britain. In many cities, the new railway shops were the centres of technological awareness and training, so that by 1850, Germany was self-sufficient in meeting the demands of railroad construction, and the railways were a major impetus for the growth of the new steel industry. Observers found that even as late as 1890, their engineering was inferior to Britain. However, German unification in 1870 stimulated consolidation, nationalisation into state-owned companies, and further rapid growth. Unlike the situation in France, the goal was the support of industrialisation. Eventually numerous lines criss-crossed the Ruhr area and other industrial centers and provided good connections to the major ports of Hamburg and Bremen. By 1880, 9,400 locomotives pulled 43,000 passengers and 30,000 tons of freight a day. Newspapers and magazinesWhile there existed no national newspaper the many states issued a great variety of printed media, although they rarely exceeded regional significance. In a typical town existed one or two outlets, urban centers, such as Berlin and Leipzig had dozens. The audience was limited to a few percent of male adults, chiefly from the aristocratic and upper middle class. Liberal publishers outnumbered conservative ones by a wide margin. Foreign governments bribed editors to guarantee a favorable image. Censorship was strict, and the imperial government issued the political news that was supposed to be published. After 1871, strict press laws were enforced by Bismarck to contain the Socialists and hostile editors. Editors focused on political commentary, culture, the arts, high culture and the popular serialized novels. Magazines were politically more influential and attracted intellectual authors.Science and culture during the 18th and 19th century19th-century artists and intellectuals were greatly inspired by the ideas of the French Revolution and the great poets and writers?Johann Wolfgang von Goethe?(1749–1832),?Gotthold Ephraim Lessing?(1729–1781) and?Friedrich Schiller?(1759–1805). The?Sturm und Drang?romantic?movement was embraced and emotion was given free expression in reaction to the perceived rationalism of the?Enlightenment. Philosophical principles and methods were revolutionized by?Immanuel Kant's paradigm shift.?Ludwig van Beethoven?(1770–1827) was the most influential composer of the period from?classical?to?Romantic music. His use of tonal architecture in such a way as to allow significant expansion of musical forms and structures was immediately recognized as bringing a new dimension to music. His later piano music and string quartets, especially, showed the way to a completely unexplored musical universe, and influenced?Franz Schubert?(1797–1828) and?Robert Schumann?(1810–1856). In opera, a new Romantic atmosphere combining supernatural terror and melodramatic plot in a folkloric context was first successfully achieved by?Carl Maria von Weber?(1786–1826) and perfected by?Richard Wagner?(1813–1883) in his?Ring Cycle. The?Brothers Grimm?(1785–1863 & 1786–1859) collected folk stories into the popular?Grimm's Fairy Tales?and are ranked among the founding fathers of?German studies, who initiated the work on the?Deutsches W?rterbuch?("The German Dictionary"), the most comprehensive work on the German language. University professors developed international reputations, especially in the humanities led by history and philology, which brought a new historical perspective to the study of political history, theology, philosophy, language, and literature. With?Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel?(1770–1831),?Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling?(1775–1854),?Arthur Schopenhauer?(1788–1860),?Friedrich Nietzsche?(1844–1900),?Max Weber?(1864–1920),?Karl Marx?(1818–1883) and?Friedrich Engels?(1820–1895) in philosophy,?Friedrich Schleiermacher?(1768–1834) in theology and?Leopold von Ranke?(1795–1886) in history became famous. The?University of Berlin, founded in 1810, became the world's leading university. Von Ranke, for example, professionalized history and set the world standard for historiography. By the 1830s mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology had emerged with world class science, led by?Alexander von Humboldt?(1769–1859) in natural science and?Carl Friedrich Gauss?(1777–1855) in mathematics. Young intellectuals often turned to politics, but their support for the failed revolution of 1848 forced many into exile. 18th- and 19th-century German artists, scientists and philosophersImmanuel Kant?(1724–1804)?Gotthold Ephraim Lessing?(1729–1781)?Johann Wolfgang von Goethe?(1749–1832)?Joseph von Fraunhofer?(1787–1826), physicist and optical lens manufacturer (1787–1826)?Friedrich Schiller?(1759–1805)?Alexander von Humboldt?(1769–1859)?Ludwig van Beethoven?(1770–1827)?Friedrich Hegel?(1770–1831)?Carl Friedrich Gauss?(1777–1855)?Brothers Grimm?(1785–1863 & 1786–1859)?Werner von Siemens?(1816–1892)?Karl Marx?(1818–1883)ReligionTwo main developments reshaped religion in Germany. Across the land, there was a movement to unite the larger Lutheran and the smaller Reformed Protestant churches. The churches themselves brought this about in Baden, Nassau, and Bavaria. However, in Prussia King?Frederick William III?was determined to handle unification entirely on his own terms, without consultation. His goal was to unify the Protestant churches, and to impose a single standardized liturgy, organization and even architecture. The long-term goal was to have fully centralized royal control of all the Protestant churches. In a series of proclamations over several decades the?Church of the Prussian Union?was formed, bringing together the more numerous Lutherans, and the less numerous Reformed Protestants. The government of Prussia now had full control over church affairs, with the king himself recognized as the leading bishop. Opposition to unification came from the "Old Lutherans" in Silesia who clung tightly to the theological and liturgical forms they had followed since the days of Luther. The government attempted to crack down on them, so they went underground. Tens of thousands migrated,?to South Australia, and especially to the United States, where they formed the?Missouri Synod, which is still in operation as a conservative denomination. Finally in 1845 a new king?Frederick William IV?offered a general amnesty and allowed the Old Lutherans to form a separate church association with only nominal government control. From the religious point of view of the typical Catholic or Protestant, major changes were underway in terms of a much more personalized religiosity that focused on the individual more than the church or the ceremony. The rationalism of the late 19th century faded away, and there was a new emphasis on the psychology and feeling of the individual, especially in terms of contemplating sinfulness, redemption, and the mysteries and the revelations of Christianity.?Pietistic revivals?were common among Protestants. Among, Catholics there was a sharp increase in popular pilgrimages. In 1844 alone, half a million pilgrims made a pilgrimage to the city of Trier in the Rhineland to view the?Seamless robe of Jesus, said to be the robe that Jesus wore on the way to his crucifixion. Catholic bishops in Germany had historically been largely independent of Rome, but now the Vatican exerted increasing control, a new "ultramontanism" of Catholics highly loyal to Rome.?A sharp controversy broke out in 1837–38 in the largely Catholic Rhineland over the religious education of children of mixed marriages, where the mother was Catholic and the father Protestant. The government passed laws to require that these children always be raised as Protestants, contrary to Napoleonic law that had previously prevailed and allowed the parents to make the decision. It put the Catholic Archbishop under house arrest. In 1840, the new King Frederick William IV sought reconciliation and ended the controversy by agreeing to most of the Catholic demands. However Catholic memories remained deep and led to a sense that Catholics always needed to stick together in the face of an untrustworthy government. Politics of restoration and revolutionAt the?Hambach Festival?in 1832, intellectuals with various political backgrounds were among the first to use the future?Flag of Germany?and called for a?unified German nation. Liberal and nationalist pressure led to the unsuccessful?Revolution of 1848 in the German states Otto von Bismarck,?Albrecht Graf von Roon?and?Helmut von Moltke, the senior political and military strategists of Prussia during the 1860s After the fall of Napoleon, Europe's statesmen convened in Vienna in 1815 for the reorganisation of European affairs, under the leadership of the?Austrian Prince Metternich. The political principles agreed upon at this?Congress of Vienna?included the restoration, legitimacy and solidarity of rulers for the repression of revolutionary and nationalist ideas. The?German Confederation?(German:?Deutscher Bund) was founded, a loose union of 39 states (35 ruling princes and 4 free cities) under Austrian leadership, with a Federal Diet (German:?Bundestag) meeting in?Frankfurt am Main. It was a loose coalition that failed to satisfy most nationalists. The member states largely went their own way, and Austria had its own interests. In 1819 a student radical assassinated the reactionary playwright?August von Kotzebue, who had scoffed at liberal student organisations. In one of the few major actions of the German Confederation, Prince Metternich called a conference that issued the repressive?Carlsbad Decrees, designed to suppress liberal agitation against the conservative governments of the German states.[172]?The Decrees terminated the fast-fading nationalist fraternities (German:?Burschenschaften), removed liberal university professors, and expanded the censorship of the press. The decrees began the "persecution of the demagogues", which was directed against individuals who were accused of spreading revolutionary and nationalist ideas. Among the persecuted were the poet?Ernst Moritz Arndt, the publisher Johann Joseph G?rres and the "Father of Gymnastics" Ludwig Jahn. In 1834 the?Zollverein?was established, a customs union between Prussia and most other German states, but excluding Austria. As industrialisation developed, the need for a unified German state with a uniform currency, legal system, and government became more and more obvious.1848Growing discontent with the political and social order imposed by the Congress of Vienna led to the outbreak, in 1848, of the?March Revolution?in the German states. In May the German National Assembly (the?Frankfurt Parliament) met in Frankfurt to draw up a national German constitution. But the 1848 revolution turned out to be unsuccessful:?King Frederick William IV of Prussia?refused the imperial crown, the Frankfurt parliament was dissolved, the ruling princes repressed the risings by military force, and the German Confederation was re-established by 1850. Many leaders went into exile, including a number who went to the United States and became a political force there. 1850sThe 1850s were a period of extreme political reaction. Dissent was vigorously suppressed, and many Germans emigrated to America following the collapse of the 1848 uprisings. Frederick William IV became extremely depressed and melancholic during this period, and was surrounded by men who advocated?clericalism?and?absolute divine monarchy. The Prussian people once again lost interest in politics. Prussia not only expanded its territory but began to industrialize rapidly, while maintaining a strong agricultural base.Bismarck takes charge (1862–1866)In 1857, the Prussian king?Frederick William IV?suffered a stroke and his brother?William?served as regent until 1861 when he became King William I. Although conservative, William was very pragmatic. His most significant accomplishment was the naming of?Otto von Bismarck?as Prussian minister president in 1862. The cooperation of Bismarck, Defense Minister?Albrecht von Roon, and Field Marshal?Helmut von Moltke?set the stage for the military victories over Denmark, Austria, and France, that led to the unification of Germany. In 1863–64, disputes between Prussia and Denmark over?Schleswig?escalated, which was not part of the German Confederation, and which Danish nationalists wanted to incorporate into the Danish kingdom. The conflict led to the?Second War of Schleswig?in 1864. Prussia, joined by Austria, easily defeated Denmark and occupied?Jutland. The Danes were forced to cede both the Duchy of Schleswig and the?Duchy of Holstein?to Austria and Prussia. The subsequent management of the two duchies led to tensions between Austria and Prussia. Austria wanted the duchies to become an independent entity within the German Confederation, while Prussia intended to annex them. The disagreement served as a pretext for the?Seven Weeks War?between Austria and Prussia, that broke out in June 1866. In July, the two armies clashed at Sadowa-K?niggr?tz (Bohemia) in an?enormous battle?involving half a million men. Prussian superior logistics and the modern breech-loading?needle guns?superioity over the slow?muzzle-loading rifles?of the Austrians, proved to be elementary for Prussia's victory. The battle had also decided the?struggle for hegemony?in Germany and Bismarck was deliberately lenient with defeated Austria, that was to play only a subordinate role in future German affairs. North German Confederation, 1866–1871After the?Seven Weeks War?the German Confederation was dissolved and the?North German Federation?(German?Norddeutscher Bund) was established under the leadership of Prussia. Austria was excluded and its immense influence over Germany finally came to an end. The North German Federation was a transitional organisation that existed from 1867 to 1871, between the dissolution of the German Confederation and the founding of the German Empire. German Empire, 1871–1918Flag of the?North German Confederation?(1866–71) and the?German Empire?(1871–1918).Imperial Germany 1871–1918Chancellor?Otto von Bismarck?determined the political course of the German Empire until 1890. He fostered alliances in Europe to contain France on the one hand and aspired to consolidate Germany's influence in Europe on the other. His principal domestic policies focused on the suppression of socialism and the reduction of the strong influence of the Roman Catholic Church on its adherents. He issued a series of anti-socialist laws in accord with a set of social laws, that included universal health care, pension plans and other social security programs. His?Kulturkampf?policies were vehemently resisted by Catholics, who organized political opposition in the Center (Zentrum) Party. German industrial and economic power had grown to match Britain by 1900.In 1888, the young and ambitious Kaiser?Wilhelm II?became emperor. He rejected advice from experienced politicians and ordered Bismarck's resignation in 1890. He opposed Bismarck's careful and delicate foreign policy and was determined to pursue colonialist policies, as Britain and France had been doing for centuries. The Kaiser promoted the active colonization of Africa and Asia for the lands that were not already colonies of other European powers. The Kaiser took a mostly unilateral approach in Europe only allied with the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and embarked on a dangerous naval arms race with Britain. His aggressive and erroneous policies greatly contributed to the situation in which the assassination of the Austrian-Hungarian crown prince would spark off?World War I.Bismarck eraThe new empireIn 1868, the Spanish queen?Isabella II?was deposed in the?Glorious Revolution, leaving the country's throne vacant. When Prussia suggested the Hohenzollern candidate,?Prince Leopold?as successor, France vehemently objected. The matter evolved into a?diplomatic scandal?and in July 1870, France resolved to end it in a?full-scale war. The conflict was quickly decided as Prussia, joined by forces of a pan-German alliance never gave up the tactical initiative. A series of victories in north-eastern France followed and another French army group was simultaneously encircled at Metz. A few weeks later, the French army contingent under Emperor?Napoleon III's personal command was finally forced to capitulate in the?fortress of Sedan.?Napoleon was taken prisoner and a?provisional government?hastily proclaimed in Paris. The new government resolved to fight on and tried to reorganize the remaining armies while the Germans settled down to besiege Paris. The starving city surrendered in January 1871 and Jules Favre signed the surrender at Versailles. France was forced to pay indemnities of 5?billion francs and cede?Alsace-Lorraine?to Germany. This conclusion left the French national psyche deeply humiliated and further aggravated the?French–German enmity. During the?Siege of Paris, the German princes assembled in the?Hall of Mirrors?of the?Palace of Versailles?on 18 January 1871 and announced the establishment of the?German Empire?and proclaimed the Prussian King?Wilhelm I?as?German Emperor. The act?unified all ethnic German states?with the exception of Austria in the?Little German solution?of a federal economic, political and administrative unit. Bismarck, was appointed to serve as Chancellor.A federal empireThe new empire was a?federal?union of 25 states that varied considerably in size, demography, constitution, economy, culture, religion and socio-political development. However, even Prussia itself, which accounted for two-thirds of the territory as well as of the population, had emerged from the empire's periphery as a newcomer. It also faced colossal cultural and economic internal divisions. The Prussian provinces of Westphalia and the Rhineland for example had been under French control?during the previous decades. The local people, who had benefited from the liberal, civil reforms, that were derived from the ideas of the French Revolution, had only little in common with predominantly rural communities in authoritarian and disjointed?Junker?estates of?Pommerania.?The inhabitants of the smaller territorial lands, especially in central and southern Germany greatly rejected the Prussianized concept of the nation and preferred to associate such terms with their individual home state. The Hanseatic port cities of Hamburg, Bremen and Lübeck ranked among the most ferocious opponents of the?so-called contract with Prussia. As advocates of free trade, they objected Prussian ideas of economic integration and refused to sign the renewed?Zollverein?(Custom Union) treaties until 1888. The?Hanseatic?merchants' overseas economic success corresponded with their globalist mindset. The citizen of Hamburg, whom Bismark characterized as?extremely irritating?and the German ambassador in London as?the worst Germans we have, were particularly appalled by Prussian militarism and its unopposed growing influence. The Prusso-German authorities were aware of necessary integration concepts as the results and the 52%?voter turnout?of the?first imperial elections?had clearly demonstrated. Historians increasingly argue, that the nation-state was?forged through empire. National identity was expressed in bombastic imperial?stone iconography?and was to be achieved as an imperial people, with?an emperor as head of state and it was to develop imperial ambitions?– domestic, European and global. Bismarck's domestic policies as Chancellor of Germany were based on his effort to universally adopt the idea of the Protestant Prussian state and achieve the clear separation of church and state in all imperial principalities. In the?Kulturkampf?(lit.: culture struggle) from 1871 to 1878, he tried to minimize the influence of the Roman Catholic Church and its political arm, the?Catholic Centre Party, via secularization of all education and introduction of civil marriage, but without success. The Kulturkampf antagonised many Protestants as well as Catholics and was eventually abandoned. The millions of non-German imperial subjects, like the Polish, Danish and French minorities, were left with no choice but to endure discrimination or accept?the policies of?Germanisation.A three class systemAristocracyThe new Empire provided attractive top level career opportunities for the national nobility in the various branches of the consular and civil services and the army. As a consequence the aristocratic near total control of the civil sector guaranteed a dominant voice in the decision making in the universities and the churches. The 1914 German diplomatic corps consisted of 8 princes, 29 counts, 20 barons, 54 representants of the lower nobility and a mere 11 commoners. These commoners were indiscriminately recruited from elite industrialist and banking families. The consular corps employed numerous commoners, that however, occupied positions of little to no executive power.[189]?The Prussian tradition to reserve the highest military ranks for young aristocrats was adopted and the new?constitution?put all military affairs under the direct control of the Emperor and beyond control of the Reichstag. ?With its large corps of reserve officers across Germany, the military strengthened its role as?"The estate which upheld the nation", and historian?Hans-Ulrich Wehler?added:?"it became an almost separate, self-perpetuating caste. Power increasingly was centralized among the 7000 aristocrats, who resided in the national capital of?Berlin and neighboring Potsdam. Berlin's rapidly increasing rich middle-class copied the aristocracy and tried to marry into it. A peerage could permanently boost a rich industrial family into the upper reaches of the establishment.?However, the process tended to work in the other direction as the nobility became industrialists. For example, 221 of the 243 mines in Silesia were owned by nobles or by the King of Prussia himself. Middle classThe?middle class?in the cities grew exponentially, although it never acquired the powerful parliamentary representation and legislative rights as in France, Britain or the United States. The?Association of German Women's Organizations or BDF?was established in 1894 to encompass the proliferating women's organizations that had emerged since the 1860s. From the beginning the BDF was a?bourgeois?organization, its members working toward equality with men in such areas as education, financial opportunities, and political life. Working-class women were not welcome and were organized by the Socialists. Working classThe rise of the Socialist Workers' Party (later known as the?Social Democratic Party of Germany, SPD), aimed to peacefully establish a socialist order through the transformation of the existing political and social conditions. From 1878, Bismarck tried to oppose the growing social democratic movement by?outlawing the party's organisation, its assemblies and most of its newspapers. Nonetheless, the Social Democrats grew stronger and Bismarck initiated his?social welfare program?in 1883 in order to appease the working class.Bismarck built on a tradition of welfare programs in Prussia and Saxony that began as early as the 1840s. In the 1880s he introduced old age pensions, accident insurance, medical care, and unemployment insurance that formed the basis of the modern?European welfare state. His paternalistic programs won the support of German industry because its goals were to win the support of the working classes for the Empire and reduce the outflow of immigrants to America, where wages were higher but welfare did not exist.?Bismarck further won the support of both industry and skilled workers by his high tariff policies, which protected profits and wages from American competition, although they alienated the liberal intellectuals who wanted free trade. KulturkampfBismarck would not tolerate any power outside Germany—as in Rome—having a say in domestic affairs. He launched the?Kulturkampf?("culture war") against the power of the pope and the Catholic Church in 1873, but only in the state of Prussia. This gained strong support from German liberals, who saw the Catholic Church as the bastion of reaction and their greatest enemy. The Catholic element, in turn, saw in the?National-Liberals?the worst enemy and formed the?Center Party. Catholics, although nearly a third of the national population, were seldom allowed to hold major positions in the Imperial government, or the Prussian government. After 1871, there was a systematic purge of the remaining Catholics; in the powerful interior ministry, which handled all police affairs, the only Catholic was a messenger boy. Jews were likewise heavily discriminated against. Most of the Kulturkampf was fought out in Prussia, but Imperial Germany passed the?Pulpit Law?which made it a crime for any cleric to discuss public issues in a way that displeased the government. Nearly all Catholic bishops, clergy, and laymen rejected the legality of the new laws and defiantly faced the increasingly heavy penalties and imprisonments imposed by Bismarck's government. Historian Anthony Steinhoff reports the casualty totals:As of 1878, only three of eight Prussian dioceses still had bishops, some 1,125 of 4,600 parishes were vacant, and nearly 1,800 priests ended up in jail or in exile?... Finally, between 1872 and 1878, numerous Catholic newspapers were confiscated, Catholic associations and assemblies were dissolved, and Catholic civil servants were dismissed merely on the pretence of having Ultramontane sympathies. Bismarck underestimated the resolve of the Catholic Church and did not foresee the extremes that this struggle would attain.?The Catholic Church denounced the harsh new laws as anti-Catholic and mustered the support of its rank and file voters across Germany. In the following elections, the Center Party won a quarter of the seats in the Imperial Diet.?The conflict ended after 1879 because Pope Pius IX died in 1878 and Bismarck broke with the Liberals to put his main emphasis on tariffs, foreign policy, and?attacking socialists. Bismarck negotiated with the conciliatory new pope?Leo XIII.?Peace was restored, the bishops returned and the jailed clerics were released. Laws were toned down or taken back (Mitigation Laws 1880–1883 and Peace Laws 1886/87), but the laws concerning education, civil registry of marriages and religious disaffiliation remained in place. The Center Party gained strength and became an ally of Bismarck, especially when he attacked socialism. Foreign policies and relationsChancellor Bismarck's imperial foreign policy basically aimed at security and the prevention of a Franco-Russian alliance, in order to avoid a likely?Two-front war. The?League of Three Emperors?was signed in 1873 by Russia, Austria, and Germany. It stated that?republicanism?and?socialism?were common enemies and that the three powers would discuss any matters concerning foreign policy. Bismarck needed good relations with Russia in order to keep France isolated. Russia fought a victorious?war against the Ottoman Empire?from 1877 to 1878 and attempted to?establish?the?Principality of Bulgaria, that was strongly opposed by France and Britain in particular, as they were long concerned with the preservation of the?Ottoman Empire?and Russian containment at the?Bosphorus Strait?and the Black Sea. Germany hosted the?Congress of Berlin?in 1878, where a more moderate peace settlement was agreed upon.In 1879, Germany formed the?Dual Alliance?with Austria-Hungary, an agreement of mutual military assistance in the case of an attack from Russia, which was not satisfied with the agreement of the Congress of Berlin. The establishment of the Dual Alliance led Russia to take a more conciliatory stance and in 1887, the so-called?Reinsurance Treaty?was signed between Germany and Russia. In it, the two powers agreed on mutual military support in the case that France attacked Germany or an Austrian attack on Russia. Russia turned its attention eastward to Asia and remained largely inactive in European politics for the next 25 years. In 1882, Italy, seeking supporters for its interests in?North Africa?against France's colonial policy, joined the Dual Alliance, which became the?Triple Alliance. In return for German and Austrian support, Italy committed itself to assisting Germany in the case of a French attack. Bismarck had always argued that the acquisition of overseas colonies was impractical and the burden of administration and maintenance would outweigh the benefits. Eventually, Bismarck gave way, and a number of colonies were established in Africa (Togo, the?Cameroons,?German South-West Africa, and?German East Africa) and in?Oceania?(German New Guinea, the?Bismarck Archipelago, and the?Marshall Islands). Consequently, Bismarck initiated the?Berlin Conference?of 1885, a formal meeting of the European colonial powers, who sought to "established international guidelines for the acquisition of African territory" (see?Colonisation of Africa). Its outcome, the?General Act of the Berlin Conference, can be seen as the formalisation of the "Scramble for Africa" and "New Imperialism".Wilhelminian Era (1888–1918)Wilhelm IIEmperor William I died in 1888. His son?Frederick III, open for a more liberal political course, reigned only for ninety-nine days, as he was stricken with throat cancer and died three months after his coronation. His son?Wilhelm II?followed him on the throne at the age of 29. Wilhelm rejected the liberal ideas of his parents and embarked on a conservative autocratic rule. He early on decided to replace the political elite and in March 1890 he forced chancellor Bismarck into retirement. Following his principle of "Personal Regiment", Wilhelm was determined to exercise maximum influence on all government affairs. Alliances and diplomacyThe young?Kaiser Wilhelm?set out to apply his imperialist ideas of?Weltpolitik?(German:?[?v?ltpoli?ti?k], "world politics"), as he envisaged a gratuitously aggressive political course to increase the empire's influence in and control over the world. After the removal of Bismarck, foreign policies were tackled with by the Kaiser and the Federal Foreign Office under?Friedrich von Holstein. Wilhelm's increasingly erratic and reckless conduct was unmistakably related to character deficits and the lack of diplomatic skills. The foreign office's rather sketchy assessment of the current situation and its recommendations for the empire's most suitable course of action were:First a long-term coalition between France and Russia had to fall apart, secondly, Russia and Britain would never get together, and finally, Britain would eventually seek an alliance with Germany. Subsequently, Wilhelm refused to renew the?Reinsurance Treaty?with Russia. Russia promptly formed a closer relationship with France in the?Dual Alliance of 1894, as both countries were concerned about the novel disagreeability of Germany. Furthermore, Anglo–German relations provided, from a British point of view, no basis for any consensus as the Kaiser refused to divert from his, although somewhat peculiarly desperate and anachronistic, aggressive imperial engagement and the?naval arms race?in particular. Von Holstein's analysis proved to be mistaken on every point, Wilhelm, however, failed too, as he did not adopt a nuanced political dialogue. Germany was left gradually isolated and dependent on the?Triple Alliance?with Austria-Hungary, and Italy. This agreement was hampered by differences between Austria and Italy and in 1915 Italy left the alliance. In 1897 Admiral?Alfred von Tirpitz, state secretary of the?German Imperial Naval Office?devised his initially rather practical, yet nonetheless?ambitious plan?to build a sizeable naval force. Although basically posing only an indirect threat as a?Fleet in being, Tirpitz theorized, that its mere existence would force Great Britain, dependend on unrestricted movement on the seas, to agree to diplomatic compromises.?Tirpitz started the program of warship construction in 1898 and enjoyed the full support of Kaiser Wilhelm. Wilhelm entertained less rational ideas on the fleet, that circled around his romantic childhood dream to have a "fleet of [his] own some day" and his obsessive adherence to direct his policies along the line of?Alfred Thayer Mahan's work?The Influence of Sea Power upon History.?In exchange for the eastern African island of?Zanzibar, Germany had bargained the island of?Heligoland?in the?German Bight?with Britain in 1890, and converted the island into a naval base and installed immense coastal defense batteries. Britain considered the imperial German endeavours to be a dangerous infringement on the century-old delicate balance of global affairs and trade on the seas under British control. The British, however, resolved to keep up the?naval arms race?and introduced the highly advanced new?Dreadnought?battleship concept in 1907. Germany quickly adopted the concept and by 1910 the arms race again escalated. In the?First Moroccan Crisis?of 1905, Germany nearly clashed with Britain and France when the latter attempted to establish a protectorate over Morocco. Kaiser Wilhelm II was upset at having not been informed about French intentions, and declared their support for Moroccan independence. William II made a highly provocative speech regarding this. The following year, a conference was held in which all of the European powers except Austria-Hungary (by now little more than a German satellite) sided with France. A compromise was brokered by the United States where the French relinquished some, but not all, control over Morocco. The?Second Moroccan Crisis?of 1911 saw another dispute over Morocco erupt when France tried to suppress a revolt there. Germany, still smarting from the previous quarrel, agreed to a settlement whereby the French ceded some territory in central Africa in exchange for Germany's renouncing any right to intervene in Moroccan affairs. This confirmed French control over Morocco, which became a full protectorate of that country in 1912. EconomyBy 1890 the economy continued to industrialize and grow on an even higher rate than during the previous two decades and increased dramatically in the years leading up to World War I. As the growth rates for the individual branches and sectors often varied considerably, and periodical figures provided by the?Kaiserliches Statistisches Amt?("Imperial Statistical Bureau) are often disputed or just assessments. Classification and naming of internationally traded commodities and exported goods was still in progress and the structure of production and export had changed during four decades. Published documents provide numbers such as: The proportion of goods manufactured by the modern industry was approximately 25% in 1900, while the proportion of consumer related products in manufactured exports stood at 40%.Reasonably exact are the figures for the entire industrial production between 1870 and 1914, which increased about 500%.Historian J. A. Perkins argued that more important than Bismarck's new tariff on imported grain was the introduction of the sugar beet as a main crop. Farmers quickly abandoned traditional, inefficient practices in favor of modern methods, including the use of artificial fertilizers and mechanical tools. Intensive methodical farming of sugar and other root crops made Germany the most efficient agricultural producer in Europe by 1914. Even so, farms were usually small in size and women did much of the field work. An unintended consequence was the increased dependence on migratory, especially foreign, labor. The basics of the modern chemical research laboratory layout and the introduction of essential equipment and instruments such as?Bunsen burners, the?Petri dish, the?Erlenmeyer flask, task-oriented working principles and team research originated in 19th-century Germany and France. The organisation of knowledge acquisition was further refined by laboratory integration in research institutes of the universities and the industries. Germany acquired the leading role in the world's?Chemical industry?by the late 19th century through strictly organized methodology. In 1913, the German Chemical industry produced almost 90 percent of the global supply of?dyestuffs?and sold about 80 percent of its production abroad. Germany became Europe's leading steel-producing nation in the 1890s, thanks in large part to the protection from American and British competition afforded by tariffs and cartels. The leading firm was "Friedrich Krupp AG Hoesch-Krupp", run by the?Krupp family. The merger of several major firms into the?Vereinigte Stahlwerke?(United Steel Works) in 1926 was modeled on the?U.S. Steel?corporation in the United States. The new company emphasized rationalization of management structures and modernization of the technology; it employed a multi-divisional structure and used return on investment as its measure of success. By 1913, American and German exports dominated the world steel market, as Britain slipped to third place.In machinery, iron and steel, and other industries, German firms avoided cut-throat competition and instead relied on trade associations. Germany was a world leader because of its prevailing "corporatist mentality", its strong bureaucratic tradition, and the encouragement of the government. These associations regulate competition and allowed small firms to function in the shadow of much larger companies.WomenGermany's unification process after 1871 was heavily dominated by men and give priority to the "Fatherland" theme and related male issues, such as military prowess. Nevertheless, middle class women enrolled in the?Bund Deutscher Frauenvereine, the Union of German Feminist Organizations (BDF). Founded in 1894, it grew to include 137 separate women's rights groups from 1907 until 1933, when the Nazi regime disbanded the organization. The BDF gave national direction to the proliferating women's organizations that had sprung up since the 1860s. From the beginning the BDF was a bourgeois organization, its members working toward equality with men in such areas as education, financial opportunities, and political life. Working-class women were not welcome; they were organized by the Socialists. Formal organizations for promoting women's rights grew in numbers during the Wilhelmine period. German feminists began to network with feminists from other countries, and participated in the growth of international organizations.ColoniesBy the 1890s, German colonial expansion in Asia and the Pacific (Kiauchau?in China, the?Marianas, the?Caroline Islands,?Samoa) led to frictions with Britain, Russia, Japan and the United States.?The construction of the?Baghdad Railway, financed by German banks, was designed to eventually connect Germany with the Turkish Empire and the?Persian Gulf, but it also collided with British and Russian geopolitical interests. The largest colonial enterprises were in Africa. The harsh treatment of the?Nama?and?Herero?in what is now?Namibia?in Africa in 1906–07 led to charges of genocide against the Germans. Historians are examining the links and precedents between the?Herero and Namaqua Genocide?and the?Holocaust?of the 1940s. World War ICausesEthnic demands for nation states upset the balance between the empires that dominated Europe,?leading to World War I, which started in August 1914. Germany stood behind its ally Austria in a confrontation with Serbia, but Serbia was under the protection of Russia, which was allied to France. Germany was the leader of the Central Powers, which included Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and later Bulgaria; arrayed against them were the Allies, consisting chiefly of Russia, France, Britain, and in 1915 Italy.In explaining why neutral Britain went to war with Germany, author Paul M. Kennedy recognized it was critical for war that Germany become economically more powerful than Britain, but he downplays the disputes over economic trade imperialism, the Baghdad Railway, confrontations in Central and Eastern Europe, high-charged political rhetoric and domestic pressure-groups. Germany's reliance time and again on sheer power, while Britain increasingly appealed to moral sensibilities, played a role, especially in seeing the invasion of Belgium as a necessary military tactic or a profound moral crime. The German invasion of Belgium was not important because the British decision had already been made and the British were more concerned with the fate of France. Kennedy argues that by far the main reason was London's fear that a repeat of 1870?– when Prussia and the German states smashed France?– would mean that Germany, with a powerful army and navy, would control the English Channel and northwest France. British policy makers insisted that would be a catastrophe for British security. Western FrontIn the west, Germany sought a quick victory by encircling Paris using the?Schlieffen Plan. But it failed due to Belgian resistance, Berlin's diversion of troops, and very stiff French resistance on the?Marne, north of Paris.The?Western Front?became an extremely bloody battleground of?trench warfare. The stalemate lasted from 1914 until early 1918, with ferocious battles that moved forces a few hundred yards at best along a line that stretched from the?North Sea?to the Swiss border. The British imposed a tight naval blockade in the?North Sea?which lasted until 1919, sharply reducing Germany's overseas access to raw materials and foodstuffs. Food scarcity became a serious problem by 1917. The United States joined with the Allies in April 1917. The entry of the United States into the war – following Germany's declaration of unrestricted submarine warfare – marked a decisive turning-point against Germany. Eastern FrontMore wide open was the fighting on the?Eastern Front. In the east, there were decisive victories against the Russian army, the trapping and defeat of large parts of the Russian contingent at the?Battle of Tannenberg, followed by huge Austrian and German successes. The breakdown of Russian forces – exacerbated by internal turmoil caused by the 1917?Russian Revolution?– led to the?Treaty of Brest-Litovsk?the Bolsheviks were forced to sign on 3 March 1918 as Russia withdrew from the war. It gave Germany control of Eastern Europe. Spencer Tucker says, "The German General Staff had formulated extraordinarily harsh terms that shocked even the German negotiator."?When Germany later complained that the?Treaty of Versailles?of 1919 was too harsh on them, the Allies responded that it was more benign than Brest-Litovsk.1918By defeating Russia in 1917 Germany was able to bring hundreds of thousands of combat troops from the east to the Western Front, giving it a numerical advantage over the Allies. By retraining the soldiers in new storm-trooper tactics, the Germans expected to unfreeze the Battlefield and win a decisive victory before the American army arrived in strength.?However, the spring offensives all failed, as the Allies fell back and regrouped, and the Germans lacked the reserves necessary to consolidate their gains. In the summer, with the Americans arriving at 10,000 a day, and the German reserves exhausted, it was only a matter of time before multiple Allied offenses destroyed the German army. HomefrontUnexpectedly Germany plunged into?World War I?(1914–1918). It rapidly mobilized its civilian economy for the war effort, the economy was handicapped by the British blockade that cut off food supplies.?Meanwhile, conditions deteriorated rapidly on the home front, with severe food shortages reported in all urban areas. Causes involved the transfer of many farmers and food workers into the military, an overburdened railroad system, shortages of coal, and the British blockade that cut off imports from abroad. The winter of 1916–1917 was known as the "turnip winter," because that vegetable, usually fed to livestock, was used by people as a substitute for potatoes and meat, which were increasingly scarce. Thousands of soup kitchens were opened to feed the hungry people, who grumbled that the farmers were keeping the food for themselves. Even the army had to cut the rations for soldiers.?Morale of both civilians and soldiers continued to sink.1918 was also the year of the deadly?1918 Spanish Flu pandemic?which struck hard at a population weakened by years of malnutrition.Revolution 1918The end of October 1918, in?Wilhelmshaven, in northern Germany, saw the beginning of the?German Revolution of 1918–19. Units of the German Navy refused to set sail for a last, large-scale operation in a war which they saw as good as lost, initiating the uprising. On 3 November, the revolt spread to other cities and states of the country, in many of which workers' and soldiers' councils were established. Meanwhile, Hindenburg and the senior commanders had lost confidence in the Kaiser and his government. The Kaiser and all German ruling princes abdicated. On 9 November 1918, the Social Democrat?Philipp Scheidemann?proclaimed a Republic.On 11 November,?the Compiègne armistice?was signed, ending the war. The?Treaty of Versailles?was signed on 28 June 1919. Germany was to cede Alsace-Lorraine to France. Eupen-Malmédy would temporarily be ceded to Belgium, with a plebiscite to be held to allow the people the choice of the territory either remaining with Belgium or being returned to German control. Following a plebiscite, the territory was allotted to Belgium on 20 September 1920. The future of?North Schleswig?was to be decided by plebiscite. In the?Schleswig Plebiscites, the Danish-speaking population in the north voted for Denmark and the southern, German speaking populace, part voted for Germany. Schleswig was thus partitioned. Holstein remained German without a referendum.?Memel?was ceded to the Allied and Associated powers, to decide the future of the area. On 9 January 1923, Lithuanian forces invaded the territory. Following negotiations, on 8 May 1924, the League of Nations ratified the annexation on the grounds that Lithuania accepted the?Memel Statute, a power-sharing arrangement to protect non-Lithuanians in the territory and its autonomous status. Until 1929, German-Lithuanian co-operation increased and this power sharing arrangement worked. Poland was restored and most of the provinces of?Posen?and?West Prussia, and some areas of?Upper Silesia?were reincorporated into the reformed country after plebiscites and independence uprisings. All German colonies were to be handed over to League of Nations, who then assigned them as?Mandates?to Australia, France, Japan, New Zealand, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. The new owners were required to act as a disinterested trustee over the region, promoting the welfare of its inhabitants in a variety of ways until they were able to govern themselves. The left and right banks of the Rhine were to be permanently demilitarised. The industrially important?Saarland?was to be governed by the?League of Nations?for 15 years and its coalfields administered by France. At the end of that time a plebiscite was to determine the Saar's future status. To ensure execution of the treaty's terms, Allied troops would occupy the left (German) bank of the Rhine for a period of 5–15 years. The German army was to be limited to 100,000 officers and men; the general staff was to be dissolved; vast quantities of war material were to be handed over and the manufacture of munitions rigidly curtailed. The navy was to be similarly reduced, and no military aircraft were allowed. Germany was also required to pay?reparations?for all civilian damage caused during the war. ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download