knowledge test

Question 1

what ways was nationalism promoted in germany?

Answer 1

• Primary, secondary, uni level education taught nationalism and encouraged loyalties to the Kaiser, through teaching in German language and Sedentag day; military parade celebrating victory over France.

Question 2

What did Bismarck do in 1878 to stop socialism and what resulted?

Answer 2

used two assassination attempts on the king to pass anti socialist laws and imprisoned 1500 socialists

Question 3

How did promoting nationalism fail to reduce divisions??

Answer 3

Too much emphasis on militancy and aggression rather than co operation between different political groups, banning the socialists saw him try to reduce the number of political opponents but caused long term divisions

Question 4

How did the socialists react to their banning?

Answer 4

Became an underground movement with over a million members by 1890

Question 5

What prompted the creation of the kulturkampf??

Answer 5

Papal infallibility in 1870 reinforced teachings of the Catholic Church and threatened nationalism

Question 6

What did the Kulturkampf introduce??

Answer 6

• exiled 1800 priests
• seized 16 million marks of church land
• withdrew priest funding

Question 7

why did religious oppression fail to reduce divisions??

Answer 7

• fuelled further hatred between political parties

- the Z party grew 10% following the kulturkampf

Question 8

Who opposed the kulturkampf??

Answer 8

The kaiser, left wing liberals and Junkers

Question 9

What were Bismarcks concerns about the z party and non German speaking catholics?

Answer 9

Z party were growing in power as these non German catholics were siding with the Z party; he opposed them because they sided with Austria against prussia in the 1866 war

Question 10

What aspects of German nationalism weren’t present until 1890??

Answer 10

Flag and national anthem

Question 11

What did Bismarck do in the late 1870s to further ‘reduce’ divisions??

Answer 11

expelled poles and jews

Question 12

What was the name of the threat that Bismarck often referred too and who was he talking about??

Answer 12

Threat of the reichsfeinde (enemies of the empire- which were French and catholic people)

Question 13

How representative of the people was the reichstag and how much power did it have?

Answer 13

• elected by male suffrage of men over 25 every 5 years
• had control over the budget
• could agree or reject laws proposed by the government

FALSE ILLUSION OF DEMOCRACY- they couldn’t initiate legislation that would benefit the men who voted for them, anything they did pass could be vetoed by the Bundesrat

Question 14

How much power did the Bundesrat have and how many members from Prussia, Bavaria and smaller states??

Answer 14

• They had extensive powers but usually just rubber stamped chancellor policies
• they could veto legislation with 14 votes
• prussia had 17 members so could veto anything that wouldnt benefit them
• Bavaria had 6 members and smaller states had one each

Question 15

Who controlled the army and where was it drawn from??

Answer 15

kaiser had control of the army and it was drawn from prussia, wurtemberg, Saxony and Bavaria

Question 16

How much of germany was catholic??

Answer 16

1/3

Question 17

What economic reforms did Bismarck introduce and what evidence is there for its long term success??

Answer 17

• Pro tarriff agenda to protect domestic business(favoured by farmers)
• standardised measures currencies and laws to increase state integration
• freedom of trade introduced and reichsmark currency introduced

success shown by the economic boom in 1890s

Question 18

What are the 4 factors for Bismarck reducing divisions question?

Answer 18

• promoting nationalism
• religious oppression
• politics (reichstag/ Bundesrat)
• state integration/ economics

Question 19

What effect did the kulturkampf have on catholics in society??

Answer 19

-protestants 50% more likely than catholics to find jobs and go to university, especially in the civil services

Question 20

What was the name given to the German identity??

Answer 20

Reichsdeutsche

Question 21

By how many votes did the national liberals and SADP votes fall after Bismarcks anti socialist laws were rejected??

Answer 21

NL- 130,000

SAPD- 181,000

Question 22

What did Bismarck do for the army which annoyed the reichstag??

Answer 22

Automatic expenditure for over 400,000 troops in the army, reichstags limited power included control over the budget, which angered them

Question 23

how long were people conscripted for into the army and how did it help reduce divisions?

Answer 23

Soldiers from across germany were drafted to Prussia for 3 years at a time, reduced state loyalties and taught them prussian nationalism

Question 24

What political freedoms did members of the reichstag enjoy?

Answer 24

Parliamentary immunity

Question 25

In what ways was the reichstag somewhat democratic?

Answer 25

- elected by men over 25 - control of the budget - new constitution had a large array of laws that needed passing, so they couldnt just dissolve the reichstag every time it disagreed] - political parties grew with popular appeal eg z party and SAPD

Question 26

In what ways were the lander parliament somewhat democratic??

Answer 26

- Bigger states had more members in the Bundsrat to ensure some level of proportional representation - within their states, elected members had control of taxes, education etc - also electorate voted, increasing democracy

Question 27

What powers did the Kaiser have which increased its dominance??

Answer 27

- control over the army - could dissolve the reichstag - appointed and dismissed the government

Question 28

How was the reichstag undemocratic??

Answer 28

- Bundesrat could veto their legislation - they couldnt initiate their own legislation - supposed to have control over the budget but automatic funding for army of over 400,000 people

Question 29

How much of state expenditure was spent on the army??

Answer 29

80%

Question 30

How was the lander parliaments undemocratic??

Answer 30

- Prussia had 17 seats in the Bundesrat whilst only 14 votes were needed to veto legislation, therefore they could pass laws which benefited their upper class land owning backgrounds - all other states had enough power altogether to veto prussian legislation eg Bavaria had 6 seats of their own, but due to Bismarcks prussian background and the dominance of the kaiser they were very much scared to do so

Question 31

How much were upper class votes worth compared to lower class votes??

Answer 31

Upper class votes worth 3x more than lower class votes

Question 32

Who had all the actual political power in Germany?

Answer 32

Prussian Junkers; the system favoured them massively and ensured a prussian favoured government was always set up

Question 33

What 4 factors are there for who was the biggest threat to German unity??

Answer 33

- socialists - catholicism - failure of nationalism - dominance of the kaiser

Question 34

How much of the vote did the z party have in 1874??

Answer 34

28%

Question 35

Why was the impact of socialists on disunity massively limited compared to catholicism??

Answer 35

They were only formed in 1874 and attracted 7% of the vote so can't have contributed as much to disunity as the catholics of which 1/3 of germany was catholic

Question 36

How did the failure of nationalism encourage disunity??

Answer 36

North south divide- the north celebrated sedentag day and had close ties to prussia whilst the south weren't involved in the war and felt that there was too much emphasis on military values and aggression rather than national pride

Question 37

How did the political system contribute to threats to unity"??

Answer 37

``` divide between the upper class Prussians and the rest of the country- prussia had all the power in the bundesrat whilst the reichstag had comparatively very little. -it gave the false illusion of democracy and meant that when people realised the limits to their representation they began to resent Bismarck/ Prussia ```

Question 38

What prompted the war in sight crisis/ worried Bismarck??

Answer 38

- New aggressive royalist government in France which mightve prompted catholic opposition to Germany - The French army organisation law in 1873 which increased French battalions from 3 to 4, and so they had 800,000

Question 39

Who was the German military leader and what did he consider doing?

Answer 39

Von Moltke, considered a preventative war to attack France before they attacked germany

Question 40

What did the two newspapers publish and when??

Answer 40

5th April 1875- Kölnische Zeitung encouraged by Bismarck suggested that French and Austrian catholics were siding together against Germany 9th April- Berliner post spread ideas that Germany were considering preventative war against France, with the headline 'is war in sight'

Question 41

What was Europes response to the papers??

Answer 41

widespread shock and worry about potential for another war. A German diplomat in Russia told the French ambassador that a war was being considered

Question 42

what did gorchakov do in response to the war in sight crisis?

Answer 42

Gorchakov announced he felt that peace was assured after visiting Germany with the Tsar and British support. Bismarck was annoyed that his plans for a potential war were easily undermined by foreign leaders and he was excluded from talks about German foreign policy.

Question 43

How did Bismarck change his foreign policy approach in the future(after war in sight)

Answer 43

Was careful about the political ideas he spread in the press, stopped attacking the church. There was increased unease among European leaders.

Question 44

When was the SAPD formed and what did this say about their potential opposition?

Answer 44

1875- they can't have been as much of a threat as Bismarck suggested as they were limited to just 7% of the vote and had not been around long

Question 45

What law increased the French battalions from 3 to 4 and when, providing how many troops?

Answer 45

French army organisation law in 1873, 800,000 troops

Question 46

What ideas did NL and Bismarck share initially?

Answer 46

- Opposition to catholics/ Z party - protectionist policies - pro-unity

Question 47

Why were some left wing NL unhappy with Bismarck and led to the split?

Answer 47

He refused to extend parliamentary power

Question 48

Why did Bismarck feel he needed tariffs?

Answer 48

To protects industries like metal works and agriculture during the depression

Question 49

What examples of democracy was there in the Reichstag?

Answer 49

The Reichstag was elected by men over 25 who voted for their parties, and the Reichstag did have some important powers; - they could veto legislation from the Bundestag and due had control over the budget. - The Kaiser could dissolve them but the fact so many laws needed to be passed in the new reunified Germany meant they were rarely dissolved and adds to the fact that they weren’t completely undermine; - they also enjoyed parliamentary immunity

Question 50

what examples of a lack of democracy were there in the reichstag

Answer 50

- however, in reality the Reichstag gave an illusion of democracy because the Reichstag did little more than rubber-stamped the policies of the Bundestag. - They couldn’t initiate legislation so parties that grew with popular support couldn’t introduce laws to help their voters. - Furthermore the control over the budget was undermined due to the emphasis on the army, with armies of over 400,000 getting automatic expenditure, and the military budget being set for 7 years at a time - Reichstag members were not paid, making it difficult for the lower classes to run for election

Question 51

How was the leadership of Germany undemocratic?

Answer 51

The Kaiser of Prussia could appoint and dismiss the Chancellor who was not an elected person and therefore undermined democracy in the country - the Kaiser had control over the army and 80% of state expenditure went towards it, and the army was drawn from 4 states to serve under the King - The Kaiser controlled all foreign policy and this was not delegated to anyone else, so he effectively had complete control in war-time situations - the Kaiser had emergency powers, allowing him to introduce laws which over-ruled state laws, suggesting a very authoritarian government in Germany and limiting the extent of democracy - Bismarck could ignore the demands of the Reichstag and even considered changing the constitution in 1880 to curtail any growing power of the Reichstag

Question 52

examples of democracy in the Bundesrat/ lander parliaments

Answer 52

- Each parliament was elected and had their own individual control over education, taxes and education etc - the big 4 southern states were given a range of benefits by Bismarck to encourage them to join the northern confederation, such as exemption from taxes on alcohol - The bundesrat was made up of representatives from each state, with proportional numbers per state being seated in the Bundesrat, which meant it should’ve achieved a good level of democracy because these members could initiate legislation to benefit their constituent

Question 53

Examples of lack of democracy in Bundesrat/ lander parliaments?

Answer 53

- however in reality democracy here did not exceed the small numbers of powers that each state parliament had over their own affairs; Prussia dominated the Bundesrat with 17 seats, whilst only 14 votes were needed to veto legislation; along with the fact that upper class votes for the Lander parliaments were worth 3 times as much as lower class votes, it meant a Prussian favoured government was almost always set up, massively reducing the amount of democracy to be enjoyed in Germany - other states like Bavaria had 6 seats but scared to challenge control of Prussia

Question 54

What did Bismarck work with the national liberals to introduce

Answer 54

-free trade legislation- -freedom of movement restrictions removed -standard legal system introduced -weights measures and currencies standardised across the country -Kulturkapmf -

Question 55

When did Bismarck split the national liberals and why?

Answer 55

-1879- more conservative members voted with Bismarck due to pro-tariff ideas but left wing members formed the liberal union

Question 56

What two parties did the NL split into in 1880?

Answer 56

Left wing- liberal union | -right wing= national liberal party

Question 57

How did Bismarck try and promote nationalism among non Germans?

Answer 57

- Enforced German speaking over Poles and French | - exiled poles and jews in late 1870s

Question 58

What did the anti-socialist laws in 1878 do?

Answer 58

- Prohibited socialist meetings, | - allowed police to randomly search, arrest and exile politicians

Question 59

Why did Bismarck introduce the Kulturkampf?

Answer 59

- Curtail the growing influence of the church and Z party - syllabus of errors in 1864 and papal infallibility - they sided with Austria against Prussia in the Austro-Prussian war - they were deemed to be part of the Reichsfeinde instead of the Reichsdeutsche homogenous identity favoured by Bismarck