INTRO
MAIN 1
Was Bismarck’s KulturKampf a success?
 Germany united 1871, but still divisions – most
notably on religious grounds.
 Two-thirds Germany, mainly in Prussia and
North, are Protestant. One third is Catholic –
Poles, Rhinelanders, southern Germans. Bismarck
himself is concerned about effects of these
divides upon Germany - minorities are Catholic,
threatening unity. Also rise of Catholic Centre
Party provides opposition to his Germany.
 Why was this important? Pope Pius IX Syllabus
of Errors in 1864 condemns Liberal principles,
and in 1870 papal infallibility introduced – this
greatly alarms liberals.
 Therefore Bismarck introduces KulturKampf to
weaken the influence of the Church in Germany.
Will assess if he succeeds against three
objectives
1. Establish state control over Catholic
Church
2. Weakening of Catholic Centre Party
3. Increase National Unity.
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Get the state
power over
the Catholic
Church.
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Bismarck wanted to bring the Catholic Church
further under state control, lessening their
disruptive influence and opposition to unified rule.
Began by defending the ‘Old Catholics’ and claiming
Prussian govt. committed to religious toleration.
Begins the Kulturkampf in 1872, condemning
Catholic Church in newspaper articles.
Successes: In 1872, the Jesuits were expelled
from Germany, increasing state control over
education.
More severe anti-Roman Catholic laws of 1873 (the
May Laws) allowed the government to supervise the
education of the Roman Catholic clergy, and
curtailed the disciplinary powers of the Church.
This clearly weakens the influence of the church.
In 1875, civil ceremonies were required for
weddings, which could hitherto be performed in
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MAIN 2
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Weaken the
Catholic
Centre Party.
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churches. Subsidies would be suspended from 1875
to all churches who refused to comply. This clearly
brings major Church responsibilities under the
control of the state.
By 1876 10 of the 12 Catholic Bishops were in exile
or under house arrest. More than 1000 priests had
been suspended. This shows how seriously the
measures have been put into practice.
We can assess how effective this was by seeing
what remained after Bismarck withdrew from his
policy of KulturKampf:
There are failures: Falk resigns, some of the
anti-catholic measures repealed – exiled clergy
allowed to return home.
It was not a complete failure, however – Church
does not regain former power completely. After
the Kulturkampf ended, many of the May Laws
remain – civil marriage remains compulsory, Jesuits
still exiled, State still oversees permenent Church
appointments.
Bismarck therefore is unsuccessful in making the
Catholic Church powerless, but he does succeed in
increasing state control over the Church to a
certain extent.
Second goal of KulturKampf – weaken Catholic
Centre Party’s influence in Germany.
Bismarck became increasingly concerned about the
emergence of the Catholic Centre Party (after
1870) – he thought they would encourage civil
disobedience among the Catholics, and they quickly
become rallying party for critics of the Empire.
He tried unsuccessfully to get the Vatican and
German Bishops to withdraw support for the Party.
But on the Vatican’s refusal he severed relations in
1872 and stepped up anti-catholic measures.
After Unification, Bismarck needed a parliamentary
majority and had little alternative but to work with
the National Liberals for most of the decade in
order to effectively govern. They did not always
agree – Bismarck was against extension of
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MAIN 3
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Increase
National
Unity.
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parliamentary govt.
The Protestant crusade against the Centre Party
allowed Bismarck to strengthen his alliance with the
National Liberals, who are wary of the Papacy’s
opposition to Liberal values. Bismarck therefore
successfully limited the disruptive Catholic
elements that he feared by forming an effective
parliamentary alliance against it.
However, failures: Bismarck’s vision of a
protestant crusade of National Liberals and
conservative Prussian elites never fully appeared –
Protestants not too keen on KulturKampf legislation
limiting all (including Protestant) Church
involvement in education.
Centre Party support increases – 58 seats (1871)
grows to 91 (1874). The increase in support for the
Centre Party is so strong that Bismarck is forced to
call of the Kulturkampf crusade – a major defeat.
Kulturkampf clearly strengthened the party, not
weakening it. Ultimately, Bismarck sides with the
Centre Party against his new enemy, Socialism – so
he has clearly not succeeded in defeating it.
Prussia (except the Rhineland) and most other
northern German states were predominantly
Protestant, but many Catholics lived in the southern
German states. The religious differences in
Germany are potentially a major hurdle for
Bismarck, who is trying to forge a national identity.
The government tried to Germanize the state's
national minorities, situated mainly in the borders
of the empire, such as the Danes in the North of
Germany, the French of Alsace-Lorraine and the
Poles in the East of Germany. They were all Catholic
and potential opponents of Bismarck.
Bismarck regarded the Minorities as ‘enemies of
the state’. He outlawed the Polish Language in
Education and law Courts; Alsace-Lorraine was ruled
directly by Prussia as a ‘special region’. The German
Language was imposed in schools and local
administration – clearly all actions that increase
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CONCLUSION
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the standardisation and unity throughout
Germany, at least superficially.
However, the Kulturkampf does not help this
process of unification: Church thrives on
persecution – considerable opposition to Bismarck’s
measures in Catholic areas, Catholics strive to
maintain their religious identity. Priests are
sheltered, only 30 of 10,000 Prussian Catholic
Priests submit to the May Laws, showing us that the
KulturKampf is clearly not increasing National Unity,
but reducing it, even in Prussia.
Bismarck’s attack on the Catholic Church holds
together his alliance with the National Liberals,
enabling him to govern, and it also does establish a
certain amount of State control over what were
previously Church areas.
BUT the rise in support of the Centre Party and
the Catholic Church makes the Kulturkampf a
failure for Bismarck and he is forced to back off.
The opposition to the Unified regime makes the
country less united, rather than more so – despite
some increase in state control over the church, the
effort must be judged a failure.