The German Reich that was founded in 1871 was nothing but a greater Prussia

The German Reich of 1871 was a creation of Prussia for Prussian interests. Otto
von Bismarck a Prussian landowner was the politician who did most to create
united Germany. He was traditionalist who realised that the traditional order
would not survive without reforms. He cynically used the language of German
nationalism to gain popular support for his unification of Germany under
Prussia. Austria with its tradition of liberalism and its multi ethic Empire, was
pushed out of Germany. The Austrian chancellor could be forced out by the
parliament. This was not the practice in Prussia or in the united Germany. The
government of the German Reich was autocratic with elements of liberalism. The
Keiser appointed the chancellor and the Reichstag could nothing about it. The
German Reich was mostly protestant because the Catholic German power,
Austria, was pushed out. Bismarck underlined this when he engaged in a policy
of Culture struggle Kulturkampf. He wanted to minimise the political power of
the Catholic Church. This had the added bonus of pleasing the liberals with
whom Bismarck was in a tactical alliance. But the 1871 settlement didn’t satisfy
Bismarck. He set out in 1878 to set up independent income stream for the Reich
by a tariff on grain imports. The formation of the German Reich and the
characteristics of that Reich once formed show that it was dominated by Prussia.

Bismarck took advantage of German Nationalism to form the Empire under

Prussian rule. German nationalism was a movement that wanted to unite all
ethic Germans in state ruled by popular sovereignty. Reactionaries opposed
German nationalism because it would destroy the tradition German social order.
The Junkers, Prussian landowners, were firmly opposed to revolutions that
would undermine their social status. Bismarck was a Junker who was firmly
devoted to the tradition German order. But Bismarck believed that the best way
to defend the traditional was to compromise with nationalism and liberalism. In
later life for example he introduced social insurance in order to stop the
development of the Social Democratic party. Bismarck made a similar deal with
nationalism. He gave them a united Germany albeit a one that excluded Austria.
Austria posed a problem to German nationalism. It had an empire that was made
up of many nationalities. The Austrian emperors were against German unity. The
best possibility of a united Germany was one that excluded Austria. Nationalist
could have a compromise national state if they supported Bismarck. Bismarck
had said in 1850s that the confederation was “too small for the two of us 1.
Bismarck exploited the idea that Prussia had a mission to unite Germany. [T]here
is nothing more German than Prussian particularism properly understood 2 he
said. Weather Bismarck was a sincere nationalist is debatable. But we know he
used German nationalism to further Prussian dominance of a united Germany.

The German Reich was formed by Prussia defeating Austria and pushing her out
of the German confederation. Prussia and Austria were allied against Denmark.
But Bismarck was still planning to unite Germany and push out Austria. Austria’s
possible allies were not in a position to help Austria. Russia had domestic
1
Matthew S. Selgmann and Roderich R. McLean, Germany from Reich to Republic,
1871-1918 (London, Macmillian Press, 2000),4
2
Seligmann and Roderich, Germany, 4
troubles, France was occupied in Mexico and Britain was committed to staying
out of continental disputes. Prussian troops marched into Holstein in 1866.
Austria rallied most of the German states against Prussia. But Prussia was able to
defeat them all on the battlefield. Austria was defeated and was pushed out of
Germany. Austria had advocated a “third Germany”. In a “third Germany” Austria
and Prussia would share power. This option was definitively closed with the
defeat of Austria. Bismarck could now satisfy the liberals with universal male
suffrage. The Prussians were happy to see Prussia increase in prestige. The
nationalists had a united Germany. Austria was made sign mild peace treaties.
For Bismarck the most important factor was that the European Balance of Power
was maintained. Austria acted as a buffer between Germany and Turkey. Without
Austria Russia would have a free hand in the Balkans. This was a traditional
Prussia position. The united Germany was acting like Prussia in the realm of
foreign policy.

The governmental structure of the second German Reich clearly shows that it
was greater Prussia. It was not a liberal constitution but there were elements of
liberalism in it. The Chancellor was appointed by the King of Prussia. The King of
Prussia was the German emperor. The Prussian chancellor was the imperial
chancellor. The Keiser was both royal and imperial. The Keiser had control over
foreign affairs, the army and he had the power to declare martial law. The
parliament the Reichstag was limited to scrutinising legislation. It was not a
proper liberal regime. Bismarck ignored the law if it suited him. The Prussian
practice of passing budgets for seven years meant that any one parliament might
never see some important bills. So in theory the Reichstag could veto budgets but
might never see it during a parliamentary term. The Prussian antipathy towards
liberal constitutionalism continued in the German Reich. Prussian dominance of
the Reich was built also into the constitution itself. Constitutional amendments
required a super majority in the Bundesrat. Prussia had seventeen votes, enough
to block any amendments. Prussia had firm control over the levers of power in
Imperial Germany.

Another of the factors that brings you to the conclusion that the 1871 German
Reich was nothing but a greater Prussia is the fact that Bismarck embarked on a
policy of Kulturkampf, Culture struggle in German. It was in the words of
Bismarck “not a struggle between believers and unbelievers, it is a struggle
between Kingship and priesthood”3. It was struggle against the political power of
Catholicism in the Prussian Germany. Religious order such as the Jesuits were
banned from the empire. Catholics had to have separate civil marriages and
discriminated in the civil service. There was state oversight of ecclesiastical
appointments in Catholicism and catholic education. Bismarck was no liberal but
he was in a tactical alliance with liberals in the German parliament. The liberals
were against the influence of political Catholicism. Catholicism was a powerful
force of reaction in Europe. In the united Germany it suited Bismarck to placate
the liberals and move against political Catholicism. It also tapped into the
cultural background of Northern Germany where there was a suspicion of
Catholicism and especially Jesuits. August Reichenspecger said at the time “we

3
www.zum.de/psm/imperiali#873421
ultramontanes are all to certain extent unclean4 Catholics held loyalties to the
Pope over the mountains in Rome. This made Prussians nervous. In united
Germany Catholics were not totally respectable. The fact that Bismarck would try
to marginalize Catholicism illustrates the extent that united Germany was a
greater Prussia. German Catholicism cut off from Austria was now a minority
religion in a Protestant empire.

Prussia was the dominant part of the Empire. Sixty per cent of the of the
population and land mass was Prussian. Even with this Bismarck was not
content. His tariff reforms illustrate that he wanted even more influence for
Prussia. Originally funds were raised for the imperial government from the
individual states. Bismarck was against this “every year I have to play the role of
mendicant” he complained5. The Reich had no powers to raise taxes. The Reich
was not sufficiently under Prussian control for Bismarck. So he announced on the
15 of December 1878 that he would place a levy of 1 mark per 100 kg of grain.
What happened next shows that while the German Reich was dominated by
Prussia but the other states still had a degree of autonomy. The Reichstag
refused to accept Bismarck’s measures as he presented them. He eventually
accepted a compromise, the Frankstein clause. The Reich was guaranteed 130
million marks raised by customs. Anything in excess of this was given over to the
States. This didn’t provide for all the needs of the empire. This episode illustrates
that the Prussia was anxious to increase its power by increasing the power of the
empire as a whole. But the states and Reichstag were able to resist Prussia’s will
albeit in very minor way. It is the exception that proves the rule because there
are no other case of the states and the Reichstag obstructing Bismarck.

The German Reich founded in 1871 was creation of Prussia. Bismarck was a
reactionary who wanted to preserve the privilege of the Junkers in Prussia and
the traditional balance of power in Europe. But Bismarck was extraordinarily
astute politician. He would play the forces of nationalism and liberalism for his
own ends. It created a united Germany with universal suffrage. So doing he
placated the liberals and the nationalists. His policies of Kulturkampf and tariff
reform were naked examples of Prussian dominance. Kulturkampf was
protestant Germany attacking Catholic Germany. Tariff reform was a power grab
for the imperial government. The imperial government was pseudonymous with
the Prussian government. The 1871 Reich was formed out the defeat of Austria,
her allies and the ideal of Germany that Austria represented. The German Reich
acted in the interests of Prussia in the domestic sphere and foreign spheres.

4
Seligmann and Roderich, Germany, 5
5
Selgmann and McLean, Germany, 129
Bibliography

David Blackbourn, Fontana History of Germany: The long Ninetenth Century,

(London, Fontana Press, 1997)

Otto Pfanze, “Bismarck and German Nationalism,” The American Historical

Review 60 (1955): 548

Matthew S. Seligmann and Roderick R. McLean, Germany from Reich to Republic:

1871-1918, (London, Macmillian, 2000)

A.J.P. Taylor, The Course of German History, (New York, Routledge Classics, 2010)

(HIS,P) Bismarck on the purpose of the Kulturkampf, Speech in the Prussian

House of Lords accessed on the February 7, 2011
www.zum.de/psm/imperiali#8876BC

Lecture notes by Raffael Scheck The road to National Unification

www.colby.edu/personal/r#8815B8 accessed February 7, 2011