HI 224
Raffael Scheck
Colby College
Overview
My Home Page
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http://www.colby.edu/personal/rmscheck/
German Unity as a Flaw
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“There are, it appears, some creations of the human hand, the
establishment of states among them, upon which a curse
weighs from the very beginning. The gods turn away and
relinquish their place to the lesser demons. The Reich of 1871,
the German national state, belonged to these creations. . . . [It]
was too big and too mighty in achievement to fit reliably into the
European balance of power and too limited to be a real world
power. That was one part of the curse. And the attempt to base
self-confidence of a nation on domination and hierarchy instead
of freedom and equality, an experiment that contradicted
European civilization, that was the second part.”
Christian Graf von Krokow (1990)
Debates on German Unity
German “peculiarities:” Hans-Ulrich Wehler
Critique: Geoff Eley and David Blackbourn
Why did Germany Remain
Divided for so Long?
Historical Background
Who are the Germans?
 The Germanic tribes
 Conquest and Destruction of the Western
Roman Empire (4th to 5th century CE)
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The Kingdom/Empire of the
Franks
Consolidated in the 6th century CE
 Division of Charlemagne’s empire in 843
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The Holy Roman Empire (of the
German Nation)
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Very powerful around 900-1000
But: weakness of the medieval emperor (elective
monarchy); challenged by the princes and the
Pope
The rise of Habsburg Austria (14th-15th century)
The Reformation: Religious division
The Thirty Years War (1618-1648)
The Rise of Prussia (18th century)
German Cultural Awakening
Luther’s Bible translation
 The cultural bloom of the eighteenth
century (Goethe, Schiller, Kant)
 High literacy (particularly in Prussia)
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The Impact of the French
Revolution and Napoleon
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The French Conquest of “Germany,” 1793-1806
Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, 1806
Mediation: middle-sized states annex small and
smallest territories
Standard weights and measurements
But: Growing German resentment (draft, taxes,
trade embargo)
Upshot: A German National Revolt, 1813
The Congress of Vienna 1814-15
Dynastic principle
 Fear of revolution
 Nationalism seen as democratic, hence as
revolutionary and dangerous
 The German Confederation - a poor
substitute
 Repression of nationalist feeling
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How to Define a German Nation
Absence of a state
 Reference to the people (Volk)
 Definition on cultural-linguistic terms
 Anti-French bias
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Unification through War
Obstacles to Unification
The German Confederation, 1814-1866
 The Princes
 The Nobility
 Prussian-Austrian Dualism
 Foreign Influences
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Failed Unification from Below:
1848-49
Hopes of creating a liberal Germany
through revolution
 What to do with Austria? Or: großdeutsch
versus kleindeutsch
 The Prussian army breaks the revolution
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Economic Pressures
Small states bad for trade
 Division of Prussia (Map)
 Customs Union (Zollverein), 1834
 Industrial Take-Off After 1850
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Bismarck
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A conservative Prussian
Junker
Opponent of the liberals
A critical monarchist
The Prussian
constitutional conflict
1862
German unification under
Prussian and conservative
leadership?
The Wars of Unification
The German War Against Denmark (1864):
Prussia as an Agent of the “German” Cause
 Prussia Defeats Austria (1866)
 The North German Confederation (1867)
 A German War With France (1870-71)
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Germany under Bismarck
The Constitution
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Democratic elements:
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Universal manhood suffrage
Budget right of the Reichstag
Conservative safeguards:
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The Constitution is a
princely insurance
institute against
democracy. (W.
Liebknecht)
Supreme power of the emperor/Prussian king
The Bundesrat
Persistence of undemocratic state constitutions and
separate rights for the states
The status of the army
The Territory and the People
Relative territories of the German states
 Germans outside the Second Empire
 Non-Germans inside the Second Empire
 Regional disparities
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Domestic Politics
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Kulturkampf: Fighting the Catholics (Center
Party); alliance with the liberals
Estrangement between Bismarck and the
conservatives
The shift in 1879: high tariffs; break with the
liberals; rapprochement with the conservatives and
Center Party
Repression of the Socialists; social insurance and
other welfare measures as a bait to the workers
Bismarck’s Foreign Policy
Germany as a “saturated state”
 Danger of geographic position
 French hostility
 Tactics: 1) balance of interests 2) deflection
of expansion 3) threat of war
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And domestic politics as a motivator?? A
conservative foreign policy!
Your socialist critic!
Europe after 1871
Bismarck’s Alliances
Dual Alliance with Austria-Hungary, 1879
 Triple Alliance with Austria-Hungary and
Italy, 1882
 Alliance with Russia: together with AustriaHungary, 1881-87; separately 1887-90
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See what I mean??
The Dismissal of Bismarck: End
of an Era?
The Pessimistic View: Dropping
the Pilot
Loss of experienced leadership
 Collapse of Bismarck‘s alliance system;
hence growing isolation and danger
 Impulsive and inconsistent policy of
Wilhelm II
 A powerful state in full speed but without a
rudder?
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The Power Issues
Constitutional problems
 The political education of Wilhelm II
 Temperaments
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The Substantial Issues in 1890
Renewing anti-Socialist legislation
 Renewing the Reinsurance Treaty with
Russia
 Bismarck‘s dwindling power base in the
Reichstag
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The New Course: Weltpolitik
Germany after Bismarck
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Chancellor Leo von Caprivi (1890-94)
Reversion to free trade
Failure of German-British alliance
Chancellor Chlodwig zu HohenloheSchillingsfürst (1894-1900)
Foundation of the Bismarck cult
Sum: more freedom, less press control, less
manipulation of parliament, but failures in policy
and crisis of monarchic authority (inability of
Kaiser Wilhelm II to rule effectively)
Motives for Weltpolitik
The rapid spread of news
 The changing character of public opinion
 Rise or decline: the influence of Darwinism
 Massive industrial progress
This is social imperialism.
 Prestige
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Governments want success
abroad to prevent the
inevitable socialist
revolution!!! Another form of
opium for the masses!
Signals and Policies
Max Weber‘s inaugural lecture (1895)
 Bernhard von Bülow (foreign minister
1897-1900, chancellor 1900-1909)
 Alfred von Tirpitz (naval minister 18971916)
 Powerful affirmation by Wilhelm II
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The Effects of Weltpolitik
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More confrontational diplomacy. Germany turns
from honest broker to assertive claimant for a
place in the sun
Strengthening of anti-German alliances (FranceBritain in 1904 and Britain-Russia in 1907)
Futile attempts to split the anti-German alliances
(Morocco, 1905 and 1911)
Increasing isolation; stereotype of the „ugly
German“
Was Weltpolitik morally wrong?
The Tirpitz Plan
The Situation Before Fleet
Building
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Geographic situation: good for defense but not good for an
offensive navy. Vulnerability to naval blockade
No chain of overseas coaling stations and trade posts to
support a global naval presence
The Reichstag: the Left and the Conservatives against
fleet-building
Priority of the army
YET: Growing dependence on imports of raw materials
and food
Tirpitz‘s Plan
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Commitment to large battleships concentrated in the North
Sea rather than overseas cruisers
Focus on Britain as potential enemy
Strategic expectations:
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Large-scale battle to win sea power (Mahan)
Close enemy blockade near the German coast
The battlefleet as a lever and deterrent
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Risk theory
Alliance Value
Danger Zone
Building the Fleet
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Naval propaganda (Navy League)
Building a supportive coalition in the Reichstag
The Navy Laws (1898, 1900)
Did fleet building benefit heavy industry?
Domestic motives?
Hey class: don‘t believe what Scheck is
saying! Fleet building was a panacea
against Social Democracy. Tirpitz said
so!!!
Yes, he did. But it was also a protection
against the Kaiser (although Tirpitz did
not say that)!
The Failure of the Tirpitz Plan
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Arms race with Britain: Dreadnought building
Increasing German isolation (failure of the risk
theory; no alliance value of the fleet)
Cost explosion and growing deficit: higher taxes
threaten to split the pro-navy coalition
Growth of Social Democracy (SPD)
Neglect of the army
Lessons of World War I (Battle of Jutland;
submarines)
Naval Strength in 1914
80
70
60
50
40
Britain
Germany
30
20
10
0
New Old
BSh BSh
Lg.
Cr.
Sm. New Old New Old
Cr. T-B T-B U-B U-B
Tradition vs. Modernity: Politics,
Culture, and Society before 1914
Politics
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The parties:
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The rise of the social democrats
The decline of the conservatives
Center party, Liberals (Progressives), National
Liberals
Chancellors between Kaiser and Reichstag
The Rise of the Social Democrats
Elections 1890-1912
120
100
80
Conserv.
SPD
60
40
20
0
1890 1893 1898 1903 1907 1912
The Big Political Issues
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Taxes and tariffs (conservatives for tariffs and against
property taxes)
Suffrage reform in Prussia and other states
Role of the army (military justice)
Demand for accountability of the government to the
Reichstag, not the Kaiser Vote of no confidence
Crisis of monarchism
against the chancellor
in 1913!
The emergence of a radical right (anti-Semites, PanGerman League, Agrarian League)
In sum:
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Old-fashioned structures of authority based
on conservative institutions and old social
classes
versus
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New, democratically legitimated, claims,
represented by the more modern groups
Culture and Society
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Rapid industrialization and technological progress
A highly advanced university system and high literacy
Large white-collar sector
Large women‘s movements (socialist and bourgeois)
Crisis of traditional religious beliefs
State-sponsored counter-measures
The Pessimistic View (Wehler)
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Bismarck‘s constitutional settlement remained unstable
and could only be preserved by manipulative politics
Democracy is the „modern“ norm, but Germany cannot
democratize because of the dependence on pre-modern
groups (Junkers)
By 1914: pre-revolutionary situation and escape into war
Long-term trend: call for a new Bismarck, a powerful
charismatic leader
The Optimistic View (Eley)
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Stress on the modern aspects of late Wilhelmine society
Latent parliamentarization?
Thriving economy and culture
Reformist Social Democrats
No need for revolution
Foreign policy problems were not the outcome of a
domestic crisis. Hence: no escape into war