ELEMENTS OF BISMARCK'S DOMESTIC POLICIES (ACHEIVEMENTS AND FAILURES

ELEMENTS OF BISMARCK'S DOMESTIC POLICIES (ACHEIVEMENTS AND FAILURES)

ACHEIVEMENTS
1) Constitutionalism
Bismarck successfully manipulated the new constitution of 1871 to his own advantage and that of Prussia.
The constitution provided for a parliamentary democracy with two assemblies (houses) i.e. the Bundesrat and the Reichstag. The Bundesrat was the legislative assembly (law making body). It was constituted by 58members from the different German states. Out of the 58 representatives, Prussia alone had 17 who were Bismarck's own men. The decision of the Bundasrat could be vetoed by 14 Prussian representatives. This gave Prussia and Bismarck an upper hand to influence German Politics and undermine the opposition.
Besides, Emperor William 1 and Bismarck who had influence over German policies were themselves Prussians.
The Reichstag was to debate and suggest amendments to the laws proposed by the Bundesrat. It had about 400 members and more than a half of its members were Prussians. The power of the Reichstag was limited to passing and amending laws against opposition in favour of Bismarck's or Prussian interest. Above all, the Reichstag could be dissolved by the Emperor with the approval of the Bundesrat. This still gave the Emperor and Bismarck full control over the government and hence German affairs. The constitution guaranteed the German's political freedom and hailed to check dictatorial tendencies within the Empire.
2) Federal system of administration
Bismarck set up a federal government in order to ensure effective administration of the huge heterogeneous empire. All states elected representatives to the two houses of the federal parliament i.e. the Bundesrag and Reichstag. The federal system allowed different states to manage their own affairs as long as they were obedient to the central government at Berlin i.e. they had the power to handle local issues like education, civil and criminal cases. The central government was in-charge of national issues like the army, taxation, foreign affairs, transport and communication. All these departments were dominated by Prussians at the expense of other states. Bismarck used the army to consolidate his iron-rule through intimidation, imprisonment and deportation of suspected opponents. This ensured Prussia's dominance and promoted Bismarck's interest as a sign of success.
3) The Kulturkamf i.e. the struggle for civilization
The Kulturkamf was a struggle between Bismarck supported by his fellow protestant Prussians and the Catholics. The conflict arose because the German Catholics and Pope Pius IX considered the German Empire dominated by Protestants as a serious threat that should be fought. This made the Catholic Prussian representatives in the Bundesrag and Reichstag to form the Catholic center party and advocate for recognition of Catholic religion as the most dominant in Germany. In 1870, the Vatican Council passed the "The Dogma of papal infallibility", which proclaimed that the Pope was infallible (cannot make mistakes) and that his decisions were not to be questioned or rejected by Catholics worldwide. However, some German Catholics especially lecturers, academicians and scientists rejected it. The Pope reacted by excommunicating the rebellious Catholics from the church and demanded that they should be excommunicated from state offices as well.
Bismarck instead reinstated all priests and school officials who were dismissed for non-compliance with the infallibility of the Pope. The Catholic Church went ahead and prohibited catholic students from attending lectures or getting services from such lecturers and priests. The Catholic Center Party started massive campaigns against Bismarck. The Catholics also appealed to follow Catholics in France to assist them against
Bismarck. Bismarck through the minister of Church affairs, Falk in May 1873, 1874 and 1875 passed the
May laws in which the Church was forbidden from excommunicating opponents of the Papal infallibility.
Those who opposed the May laws were exiled, imprisoned and executed. He was so successful that by 1876, all Prussian Bishops were either in Prison, exile or dead and 14,000 parishes were without a priest in-charge.
In short, Bismarck effectively suppressed Catholism and the negative influence of the Pope in German affairs.
This helped to safeguard the interest of his Prussian Protestants.
However, as a shrewd politician, Bismarck realised that suppression of Catholicism would be dangerous in the long run and signed a concordat in which he reconciled with the new Pope Leo III 1879. Bismarck suspended the May laws, the church recovered its former powers except inspection of schools and holding of civil marriage and the Dogma of papal Infallibility was abandoned. This is because he made a tactical sacrifice to gain support of the Catholic Center Party against the social Democrats in the Reichstag who had become very popular.
NB The above extreme measures made Bismarck very unpopular amongst the Catholics in Germany and all over Europe. By 1878, a number of issues made Bismarck to reconcile with the Catholics. First, the social democrats had become a more threatening force than the Catholics and he needed the support of the Catholics.
Secondly, the Kulturkamf would have jeopardized his achievements in the 1878 Berlin congress and the Austro-German alliance of 1879. Thirdly, the German liberal Protestants most especially the Lutherans were alarmed and thus opposed Bismarck's persecution of the Catholics. Fourthly, anew Pope Leo XIII who was more moderate and compromising rose to power in 1878. These factors forced Bismarck to bend down and compromise with the Vatican and the new Pope. Nevertheless one should note that the reconciliation portrays Bismarck as a man of peace.
4) The struggle against Socialism /Social Democratic Party
By 1878, the socialists and the social democratic party were the greatest threat to the existence of the German Empire. They took advantage of unemployment, poor working conditions and exploitation of workers to de-campaign Bismarck's industrial policies and gain more parliamentary seats. For instance m1871, the socialists had won only 3seats in the Reichstag but in 1877 it increased to 12 seats with about 5million supporters. This alarmed Bismarck who reacted by implicating them in an assassination attempt on Emperor William 1in 1878. He secured the support of the Catholic Center Party and the National Liberal Party and caused the parliament to pass the exceptional/enabling law of 1878, by which the Socialist Democratic Party and its newspaper were banned and some socialist supporters were imprisoned, killed or deported to exile. To address the roots of socialism, Bismarck introduced insurance schemes against sickness in 1883 and pension for retired workers or those incapacitated in 1884. Thus, -the exceptional law and welfare schemes helped control the strength of socialism in Germany.
5) Promotion of trade
Bismarck promoted internal and external trade in favour of Germany. He worked tirelessly to maintain European peace which created a favourable atmosphere that promoted trade in Europe. From 1871-1879, he pursued a free trade policy, which won for him the support of National Liberal Party most of whom were traders. However, from 1880, Bismarck realised that the free trade policy was detrimental to the industrialization of Germany and adopted a protectionist policy. The policy protected internal markets for grains which appeased his fellow Prussian Junkers (land lords) who were great com producers. For instance, the East Prussian Junkers were relieved because cheaper grains from other countries had greatly lowered the price of their grains. Protectionist policy also safeguarded other small scale industries like iron and steel industries from foreign competitions and earned Bismarck more support from the industrialists.
6) The struggle with the National Liberal party (His protectionist trade policy)
Bismarck silenced opposition from the National Liberal Party against the policy of protectionism that he adopted from 1879. The Jewish traders allied with the National Liberal Party and started a fierce campaign against Bismarck in the parliament and throughout Germany. Bismarck reacted by influencing his supporters
in the parliament to undermine their influence. He also used anti-Semitic propaganda in the media in which he emphasized that the Jews were non-Germans and could not determine the destiny of Germany in any way.
The propaganda also accused the leaders of the National Liberal Party to be Jews whose ambition was to cause the downfall of the German Empire. Thus, Bismarck successfully used the media and anti Semitic propaganda to suppress opposition from the liberals and the Jews to make the policy of protectionism successful. The success of the policy promoted industrial development in Germany and brought economic prosperity that was second only to Britain in Europe.
7) Germanisation policy
Germanisation of non Germans within the Empire was a remarkable achievement by Bismarck. The German Empire that was proclaimed in 1871 was multi racial in that it forcefully incorporated the French in Alsace and Lorraine, the Danes in Schleswig and the Poles in Eastern Germany. These nationalities desired to break away and join their respective mother states. Bismarck encouraged Germans from other states to settle amongst them in order to outnumber and overpower them in decision making. The non Germans were forced to abandon their mother tongue and speak the German language. Bismarck used divide and rule policy, intimidation, spy network and imprisonment to frustrate any attempt to break away from the Empire. These nationalities were also few and disunited which favoured the success of divide and rule policy. Bismarck also used Prussian domination of the Bundesrag and Reichstag to pass anti nationalistic and anti secessionist laws that consolidated Germanisation policy.
8) Colonial policy
Initially, Bismarck pursued an anti colonial policy. His extreme view was that colonies are not worth the bones of a single German soldier. However, the protectionist policy made German industrialists and traders to start advocating for territorial acquisition during the, scramble and partition of colonies. They demanded colonies for raw materials, investments and resettlement of excess population. Although Bismarck was opposed to colonies, he was influenced by public opinion to change his negative colonial attitude and allow the establishment of German colonisation society led by Karl Peters to acquire colonies in Africa. The need to maintain European peace made Bismarck to call the Berlin conference of 1884 -85 through which
Germany acquired Togo land, Cameroon and Namibia. These became areas for exploitation, which benefited the German industrialists, businessmen and the common man.
9) Military reforms
Bismarck's military reforms from 1871-1890 consolidated the military strength of Germany that was achieved during the unification process. He continued with the policy of retraining, rearming and modernizing the German army. The same measures were taken to improve the naval strength of Germany.
Compulsory military service was introduced to mobilize a big force against internal opposition and external invasion. Domestically, the army was used to suppress internal opposition groups like the socialists and Catholics. However, Bismarck followed a cautious naval policy to avoid destabilizing the balance of power and conflicts with Britain. In other words, Bismarck deliberately kept the German naval strength below that of Britain to maintain the balance of power in favour of Britain as a naval power and Germany as a land power.
10) Socio-economic development.
Bismarck also implemented significant socio-economic reforms in die history of Germany. In 1873, he constructed an imperial railway line to facilitate transport and communication across the German states. In 1876, he established an imperial bank and introduced a uniform/common currency in the German Empire. He also improved and modernized roads, communication, agricultural and industrial sectors. These reforms helped to consolidate the spirit of unity, germanisation and patriotism within the German empire. Such reforms also transformed Germany into a powerful state with a powerful economy that became most dominant in European and world affairs during the Bismarckian era.
A critical assessment of Bismarck's domestic policy reveals that it was a state man's clever game of playing one party or opponents against others. He used the Protestant conservative Junkers and the National Liberal Party against the Catholic Center Party. Later, he utilized the Catholic Center Party, .the National Liberal Party and conservative Junkers against the socialists and Social Democratic Party. Lastly, he used the industrialists, Junkers and agriculturists that he pleased through a protectionist policy against the National Liberal Party. Above all, he used Prussian dominance in the parliament to destroy his opponents.
Nevertheless, Bismarck failed to completely destroy Catholicism and socialism to the extent that he officially withdrew his policies against the Catholics and socialists. He over promulgated Prussian interest and failed to perfectly Germanize the diversities within the empire. This is why some historians have argued that Bismarck short sightedness and insensitivity in domestic policy was a sharp contrast with his sure hand in foreign policy.