C4C Bayne, Casey E.
17 November 2003
History 101
Lt. Col. Jones
Bismarck’s Plan for Unification
Otto von Bismarck, chancellor of nineteenth century Prussia and Germany, pushed for unification of Germany to turn one of the weakest European powers into the strongest. Historians feel that, “Bismarck seemed unable to outgrow the idea of the division of the German people into Prussians and other Germans” (Salmi, 166). He wanted all German people to be united to make a strong state and set about accomplishing this goal. Bismarck’s implementation of a social insurance plan and higher tariffs helped unify Germany by promoting the working-class’s welfare, boosting the German farmers’ sales, co-opting socialist political support which was causing division in Germany, and giving Germans a stronger feeling of nationalism.
Bismarck introduced a successful, social insurance program to gain the support of working-class people for the unification of Germany. Bismarck knew that if he did not have the support of the working-class his goal would not be accomplished. A German scholar, Hajo Holborn stated, “It had not escaped his attention that the majority of the German people, especially the peasant and working classes, were still politically quiescent and that it might be feasible to mobilize them for the support of monarchical government, as Louis Bonaparte had done” (Hamerow, 9). Bismarck grew up as a simple farmer and from this background he developed sympathy for the working-class and farmers. Erich Marcks, a German scholar, states in Otto von Bismarck: A Historical Assessment, “Only in those years apparently did he become entirely fluent in Low German. And only then did he get to know the country and its people, by dealing with them directly” (Hamerow, 2). Marcks adds that, “The impressions of those long years in the country greatly affected the policies and decisions of his later life” (Hamerow, 3). This welfare plan was the first of its kind and called for workers to be “afforded care and provision in all the vicissitudes of industrial life—medical treatment and maintenance in sickness, generous compensation in the event of accident, support during periods of unemployment, and finally pensions in the time of old age and permanent disablement” (Hamerow, 75). In 1871, the Imperial Diet passed the Employers’ Liability Law which proved to be more of a nuisance than an aid to the working-class because a worker would often times have to go to court to obtain compensation. Bismarck decided that instead of building on this foundation he would start over and in 1881 supported the first Accident Insurance Bill that was brought before the Diet. The goal of this bill was to “secure almost automatically to the workpeople employed therein pensions for injuries which destroyed or reduced their earning capacity” (Hamerow, 75). During Bismarck’s term the Sickness Insurance Law of 1883, the Accident Insurance Law of 1884, and the Old Age and Invalidity Law of 1887 passed through the Reichstag. Bismarck’s plan was successful and he received the support of the working-class for unification of Germany. Bismarck also laid the foundation for a social security plan on which other countries around the world would base their programs. “Bismarck was credited with passing the most advanced social welfare legislation of the age” (“Federal Republic of Germany”, 2).
Bismarck received the German farmers support in 1879 when he raised tariffs in order to boost their sales. Bismarck’s confidential assistant, Lothar Bucher, warned him that Germany was being bombarded by surplus production from foreign countries. Bismarck appeared before the Reichstag on 2 May 1879 to address the issue and stated, “Since we have been swamped by the surplus production of foreign nations, our prices have been depressed; and the development of our industries and our entire economic position has suffered in consequence” (Snyder, 241). Bismarck took advantage of this situation not only to strengthen his country but also to gain support for unification. Bismarck decided “to enact high tariffs on cheap grain from the United States, Canada, and Russia.” (McKay, 809). In Blood and Iron Chancellor, Louis Snyder states “The effect of the new tariff schedule, adopted on June 12, 1879, was that Germany became a world power instead of a purely European power” (Snyder, 240). Bismarck’s main goal in raising tariffs was to win over the Catholic farmers in western and southern Germany, and he succeeded. The Kulturkampf, or cultural struggle, was a campaign which Bismarck and German Liberalism fought against the conservative Roman Catholic Church and the Catholic Party of the Centrum. When Bismarck raised the tariffs, the Catholic farmers withdrew their support of the Catholic Party of the Centrum and supported him. This plan was a success and the support Bismarck received strengthened his fight for German unification.
While Bismarck was attempting his political changes, a movement of socialism was sweeping his country; he hoped these changes would inhibit the spread of this movement and the German people’s support of it. This socialist movement was counteracting his plan to unify the state, thus, Bismarck felt there was no other alternative but to outlaw socialism. “As for socialism, Bismarck tried to stop its growth in Germany, and in 1878 he forced through a law outlawing the Social Democrats” (McKay, 809). Despite his efforts, the socialist movement in Germany was already too powerful. Historians agreed that the socialist movement was on the rise in Germany, “Indeed, socialist ideas spread rapidly, and more and more Social Democrats were elected to the Reichstag in the 1890s” (McKay, 810). Bismarck’s biggest socialist threat was the Social Democratic Party which was attempting to portray him as a power-hungry chancellor who did not have the people’s interest at heart. Bismarck, however, countered this claim by introducing his social insurance plan, which promoted the people’s welfare. Interestingly, historians stated that following Bismarck’s term the socialists had a change of heart, “In the years before World War I, as the Social Democratic party broadened its base and adopted a more patriotic tone, German socialists identified increasingly with the German state, and they concentrated on gradual social and political reform” (McKay, 810). Although Bismarck was not able to inhibit the spread of socialism in Germany he was able to weaken their supports system by gathering the support of the working-class.
The implementation of each of Bismarck’s plans was intended to develop a deep sense of nationalism in the German people. Bismarck’s desire for German unification had its roots in previous ideas of unification specifically the German Confederation. Bismarck, however, did not want to include Germany’s historical rival Austria-Hungary in his unification plan. Bismarck’s “criticism of the loose structure of the German Confederation” that had been formed at the Congress of Vienna in 1814 was caused when hostility grew between Austria and Prussia as each power blocked each other within the German Confederation (Hamerow, 9). Bismarck served as the representative of the Prussia government in the Diet of the German Confederation and felt that it was his job to overthrow Austria as leader of the German confederation. Bismarck’s mission was “to defend the rights and the dignity of the deeply humiliated Prussian state against this Austria” (Hamerow, 11). Prussia was humiliated because according to Meyer “She had failed in her German policy, she had failed in Schleswig-Holstein, she had failed in the attempt to meet the expectations of her own as well as of the German people by the introduction of a constitutional form of government” (Hamerow, 11). Historians agree that this was one of the most difficult tasks in history. Bismarck knew that the German people’s bitterness toward Austria was the perfect platform to introduce German nationalism. Bismarck used the German nationalism to start the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 which lasted only seven weeks. At the close of this war Prussia had defeated Austria and forced the Austrians to withdraw from German affairs. With the fire of nationalism burning in his people, Bismarck expanded Prussia by adding the states north of the Main River and forming alliances with the mainly Catholic states of the south. Following the Austro-Prussia War, the French felt threatened by the newly strengthened Prussian state and decided that war would teach Prussia a lesson. France was unsuccessful and Bismarck forced the French to accept his harsh peace terms. Historians state that, “The Franco-Prussian War, which Europeans generally saw as a test of nations in a pitiless Darwinian struggle for existence, released an enormous surge of patriotic feeling in Germany.” (McKay, 788). Nationalism was Bismarck’s strongest ally for unification, because if all Germans felt how he felt about being German than there was nothing the German people could not accomplish.
Each of Bismarck’s actions during his term laid the foundation for a strong nationalist state. One might wonder whether or not Bismarck’s actions laid the foundation for World War II and the rise of Hitler. The grandparents which Bismarck taught German nationalism more than likely passed on that same spirit to their grandchildren who rose with a strong patriotic feeling to support Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich. Would Hitler have been proud to be German without Bismarck? Yes, Hitler might have been just as nationalistic, but Bismarck’s success in unifying the German people gave Hitler a foundation to build on. Bismarck’s accomplishment in unifying the German people was considered by many historians to be impossible, however, Bismarck like Hitler knew it was the people that would make him successful. They both discovered it was the people’s pride that made them successful.
Works Cited
Hamerow, Theodore S, ed. Otto von Bismarck: A Historical Assessment. Boston:
D. C. Heath and Company, 1962.
McKay, John P., Bennett D. Hill, John Buckler, and Patricia Buckley Ebrey. A History
of World Societies. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004.
Salmi, Hannu. Imagined Germany: Richard Wagner’s National Utopia. New York:
Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 1999.
Snyder, Louis L. The Blood and Iron Chancellor. Canada: D. Van Nostrand Company,
1967.
“Federal Republic of Germany.” Background Notes on Countries of the World.
Oct. 2003: 1-15.
Documentation: Lt. Col. Jones reviewed my paper with me and made necessary corrections and allowed me to change my thesis slightly.