Bismarck 1871-1890
- Created by: nutcase36
- Created on: 22-04-19 14:27
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- Bismarck's Germany 1871-1890
- Politically
- Military spending
- Septennates
- Bismarck faced challenges in winning support for the army budget in 1873 and 1887.
- Nationalism
- Nationalism has shifted from a progressive force to a conservative and militaristic ideal.
- Social reform
- 1883 Sickness Insurance Act introduced 1884: Accident Insurance Act introduced 1889: Old Age and Disability Act introduced
- policies were needed to improve the position of workers in Germany so as to erode support for the socialists.
- Parties in the Reichstag
- Centre Party: Catholics who lived in the Empire felt uncomfortable living in a Protestant dominated environment. They soon created their own political party
- National Liberals: Dominant party of the early years of the Second Reich. Middle Class party. Favoured anti-Clerical measures and Free Trade
- SPD: Party wished to see a socialist state in Germany. Persecuted but received the largest number of votes from 1890 onwards. Very popular in the newly expanding towns
- Conservatives:This party represented the interest of the Junker class. Strong in Prussia. Over represented in the Reichstag
- Kulturkampf (see other notes)
- Anti-Socialism
- Anti-socialist laws, which banned Socialism, prohibited the printing of Socialist ideas and Socialist meetings
- threat to the social and political unity of the Reich and to Europe
- The Law deprived socialist organisations of the right of assembly and publication (of the 47 socialist newspapers, 45 were banned)
- Military spending
- Economically
- Free trade to protectionism
- · Bismarck oversaw shift from free trade in 1871 to protectionism in 1879, in response to ‘alliance of steel and rye’.
- Tariff act passed in 1879
- Heavily protected with tariffs to prevent cheap Russian and American grain imports, kept food prices high.
- Agriculture accounted for 35-40% of GNP in 1880s
- Abundant raw materials (e.g. Ruhr, Saar, Alsace-Lorraine)
- Economic crisis from 1873-1890 slowed growth.
- The invention of the internal combustion engine (1876)Electric train (1879)Telephone network introduced into Berlin (1881)Four Wheel Cars were patented by Daimler and Benz
- Industry represented 30-35% of GNP in 1880s
- Free trade to protectionism
- Socially
- Population
- . Compulsory smallpox immunisation 1874, diphtheria serum available from 1890s
- Urbanisation accelerated from 1880.
- Working class divided in terms of gender, ethnicity and religion and also between skilled and unskilled workers.
- Standard of living
- a third of Germany’s population lived at/below the poverty line.
- rising problem of homelessness.
- Women
- Expected not to work after they had married, but many working-class married women had to do so in order to provide for their families.
- Population
- Politically
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