Editing Pope Pius IX (section)

===German Empire===
{{Main|Pope Pius IX and Germany|Kulturkampf}}
In [[German Empire|Germany]], the state of [[Prussia]], under the leadership of [[Otto von Bismarck]], saw Catholicism as a dangerous foreign influence, and in 1872–1878 fought hard to reduce the power of the pope and the bishops. After years of struggle in the [[Kulturkampf]], the Catholics fought back by mobilising their voters in Prussia and in Germany as a whole. After Pius died, Bismarck came to terms with the new [[Pope Leo XIII]]. He dropped his alliance with the anti-Catholic Liberals and instead formed a political coalition with the Catholic [[Centre Party (Germany)|Centre Party]].<ref>Ronald J. Ross, "Enforcing the Kulturkampf in the Bismarckian state and the limits of coercion in imperial Germany." ''Journal of Modern History'' (1984): 456-482. [https://www.jstor.org/stable/1880020 online]</ref>