Blood

1
Lecture 2

• Blood Iron
• http//web.mit.edu/jinseok/www/songs/mw.mp3

2
Questions

• Did Germany need a strong statesman, namely
  Chancellor Bismarck, to unite?
• Was this an indication of an underdeveloped civil
  society?
• And, did the liberals acquiesce their political
  agenda in the face of successful unification?

3
Reforms Give Way

• 1850 Olmütz Agreement resurrects a conservative
  German Confederation and the balancing act
  between Austria Prussia

4
Evaluating the Confederation

• Winners / Losers
• Possibilities of Reform
• Living on Borrowed Time?

5
1850s Optimism

• Industrialization
• In Prussia coal, iron, and steel production
  increased 8, 14, and 54-fold between 1849-1875.
• Alfred Krupp, the Cannon King, employed 60 men
  in 1836, 1000 in 1858, 8000 in 1865, and doubled
  again to 16,000 in 1873.
• Over a million new buildings went up in Prussia
  during the years 1852-67, the fastest growth
  located in factory plants and public buildings.

6
1850s Optimism

• Demographic Shifts
• Gradual Rise in Living Standards
• Increasing separation between urban rural areas
• Mass emigration
• Avg. life expectancy was still low men, 36.5
  years women, 38.5 years

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Crown v. Parliament

• 1858 Wilhelm I becomes regent of Prussia to
  succeed Friedrich Wilhelm
• Budget Crisis of 1860s
• 1862 Prussian isolation in the Confederation and
  the Zollverein

8
Otto von Bismarck

• Man cannot create or control the tide of time,
  he can only move in the same direction and try to
  direct it.

9
Otto von Bismarck (1815-98)

• Born in Schönhausen in Brandenburg, the son of a
  Pomeranian Junker.
• Educated at Göttingen University.
• 1836 Entered the Prussian civil service.
• 1839 Retired from the civil service to manage
  the family estates.
• 1849 Elected as an ultra-conservative member of
  the Prussian Landtag.
• 1851 Joined the Prussian diplomatic corps,
  serving as Prussian representative to the Federal
  Diet and then ambassador to Russia and France.
• 1862 Appointed Prussian Minister-President.
• 1867 Became Chancellor of the North German
  Confederation.
• 1871-90 Chancellor of the German Empire.

10
Propitious Circumstances

• Fallout from the Crimean War 1854-56
• French defeat of Austrians in 1859
• Franco-British Competition

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Shifting the Balance of Power

• 1863 War of Danish Succession and the take-over
  of Schleswig-Holstein
• July 1866 Seven-Week War against Austria over
  tensions concerning the adminstration of S-H
  power plays in the Confederation Koniggrätz
  victory for Prussia in July

12
Making Good

• 1866 Bill of Indemnity
• Split among Liberals (Progressive Party
  National Liberal Party)
• Creation of North German Confederation Prussia
  and 21 principalities

13
Bismarcks Concessions

• King of Prussia held executive authority as
  president
• Chancellor was named by King and responsible only
  to him
• Two legislative houses Federal Council, or
  Bundesrat, appointed by the state governments
  and a lower house, the Imperial Diet, or
  Reichstag, elected by equal manhood suffrage.
• Prussia controlled 17 votes out of 43 in the
  Bundesrat

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Shifting the Balance of Power

• Napoleon III, Emperor of France
• French-Prussian hostilities
• Controversy over Spanish succession
• French declaration of war on July 19
• War unites German principalities south of the
  River Main
• Franco-Prussian war of 1870-71 Prussian victory
  paves the way for the proclamation of a German
  Empire at Versailles in 1871.

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Franco-Prussian War

• War with France created huge upsurge in German
  national feeling popular pressure in the South
  German states to transform the wartime alliance
  into a permanent union.
• However
• The rulers of the South German states wanted a
  much looser federation than Bismarck proposed,
  giving them more control over their own affairs
• Wilhelm I was reluctant to accept a German
  title which he felt would lessen the dignity of
  his position as King of Prussia
• He insisted that he would only accept the Crown
  of Germany if it were offered by his fellow
  German sovereigns, not the German people
• Bismarck threatened to call on the German people
  to remove those rulers who opposed a united
  Germany.
• Symbolic concessions to South German states
  Bavaria retained a separate postal service and
  peacetime control of its own army.
• Bismarck paid a huge bribe to King Ludwig II of
  Bavaria in order to get him to sign a letter
  offering the German crown to Wilhelm.
• Germany annexed the territories of Alsace and
  Lorraine from France.

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17
The Constitution of the German Empire, 1871

• Based on the Constitution of the North German
  Confederation.
• Germany was to be a federal state.
• Power was divided between the central government
  and the governments of the 25 states.
• The states preserved their own constitutions,
  rulers, parliaments and administrative systems
  with powers over direct taxation, education,
  public health etc.
• As German Emperor, the King of Prussia was head
  of state, head of the civil service and Supreme
  Warlord (Commander-in-Chief) of the armed
  forces.
• A bi-cameral parliament made up of the Bundesrat
  (Federal Council) and the Reichstag (National
  Parliament).
• Prussia dominated the institutions of the new
  Empire, with the most seats in both houses of
  parliament, shared institutions and a dominant
  position in military and administrative circles.

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The Constitution of the German Empire, 1871

• The Chancellor (Reichskanzler)
• The highest official in the Reich
• Also Minister-President of Prussia
• Responsible to the Emperor, not parliament
• Chairman of the Bundesrat
• Appointed government ministers
• Could ignore resolutions passed by the Reichstag

• The Emperor (Kaiser)
• Always the King of Prussia
• Could appoint/dismiss the Chancellor
• Could dissolve the Reichstag
• Could make treaties/declare war
• Commander-in-Chief of the army
• Had to approve all federal laws
• Possessed the right to interpret the constitution

Reich Government
Federal Centralised government with specific
Responsibilities for the Reich as a
whole (foreign policy, defence, customs etc.)
State Regional government with responsibilities Fo
r individual states (education, direct Taxation,
health, local justice etc.)

• Bundesrat (upper house)
• The Federal Council
• Made up of 58 members nominated by states
• Not directly elected
• Consent required in passing new laws
• 14 votes needed to veto legislation
• Prussia had 17 of the 58 seats
• Bavaria had 6, the other states had 1 each

• Reichstag (lower house)
• The National parliament
• Elected by all males over 25
• Limited powers to initiate new legislation
• Government ministers could not be members
• Members were not paid
• Could approve or reject the federal budget
• Elections normally held every 5 years

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Unification

• National currency
• Uniform weights measures
• Common commercial practices, industrial laws, and
  financial regulations

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The German Empire
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From the Meuse?

• From the Meuse to the Memel / From the Adige to
  the Belt

22
Revolution from Above

• January 18, 1871 The German Empire is founded.
• Lesser-Germany under Prussian domination (approx.
  3/5 of the land area and 3/5 of the population).
• What kind of state is this?
• What tensions are relieved?
• What new tensions emerge?