Editing German Empire (section)

===Bismarck era===
{{History of Germany sidebar}}
Bismarck's domestic policies played an important role in forging the authoritarian political culture of the ''Kaiserreich''. Less preoccupied with continental power politics following unification in 1871, Germany's semi-parliamentary government carried out a relatively smooth economic and political revolution from above that pushed them along the way towards becoming the world's leading industrial power of the time.

Bismarck's "revolutionary conservatism" was a conservative state-building strategy designed to make ordinary Germans—not just the Junker elite—more loyal to the throne and empire. According to Kees van Kersbergen and Barbara Vis, his strategy was:

{{Blockquote|granting social rights to enhance the integration of a hierarchical society, to forge a bond between workers and the state so as to strengthen the latter, to maintain traditional relations of authority between social and status groups, and to provide a countervailing power against the modernist forces of liberalism and socialism.{{Sfnp|Kersbergen|Vis|2013|p=38}}}}

Bismarck created the modern welfare state in Germany in the 1880s and enacted universal male suffrage in 1871.{{Sfnp|Moore|Vaudagna|2003|p=226}} He became a great hero to German conservatives, who erected many monuments to his memory and tried to emulate his policies.{{Sfnp|Frankel|2003|pp=543–560}}

====Foreign policy====

{{Further|International relations (1814–1919)}}
[[File:Karolinen-stamp.jpg|thumb|right|A postage stamp from the [[Caroline Islands]]]]

Bismarck's post-1871 foreign policy was conservative and sought to preserve the balance of power in Europe. British historian [[Eric Hobsbawm]] concludes that he "remained undisputed world champion at the game of multilateral diplomatic chess for almost twenty years after 1871, [devoting] himself exclusively, and successfully, to maintaining peace between the powers".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hobsbawm |first=Eric |author-link=Eric Hobsbawm |title=The Age of Empire: 1875–1914 |date=1987 |page=312}}</ref> This was a departure from his adventurous foreign policy for Prussia, where he favored strength and expansion, punctuating this by saying, "The great questions of the age are not settled by speeches and majority votes – this was the error of 1848–49 – but by iron and blood."{{Sfnp|Young|2006|p=33}}

Bismarck's chief concern was that France would plot revenge after its defeat in the [[Franco-Prussian War]]. As the French lacked the strength to defeat Germany by themselves, they sought an alliance with Russia, or perhaps even the newly reformed empire of Austria-Hungary, which would envelope Germany completely. Bismarck wanted to prevent this at all costs and maintain friendly relations with the Austrians and the Russians, signing the [[Dual Alliance (1879)]] with Austria-Hungary in 1879. The Dual Aliance was a defensive alliance that was established against Russia, and by association France, in the event alliance did not work out with the state. However, an alliance with Russia would come not long after the signing of the Dual Alliance with Austria, the ''[[League of the Three Emperors|Dreikaiserbund]]'' (League of Three Emperors), in 1881. During this period, individuals within the German military were advocating a preemptive strike against Russia, but Bismarck knew that such ideas were foolhardy. He once wrote that "the most brilliant victories would not avail against the Russian nation, because of its climate, its desert, and its frugality, and having but one frontier to defend", and because it would leave Germany with another bitter, resentful neighbor. Despite this, another alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy would be signed in 1882, preying on the fears of the German and Austro-Hungarian militaries of the untrustworthiness of Russia itself. This [[Triple Alliance (1882)|Triple Alliance]] continued to 1915, when Italy declared war on Austria-Hungary. Despite Germany, and especially Austria's, lack of faith in the Russian alliance, the [[Reinsurance Treaty#:~:text=The Reinsurance Treaty was a,Petersburg.|Reinsurance Treaty]] would be first signed in 1887, and renewed up until 1890, when the Bismarckian system collapsed upon Bismarck's resignation.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

Meanwhile, the chancellor remained wary of any foreign policy developments that looked even remotely warlike. In 1886, he moved to stop an attempted sale of horses to France because they might be used for cavalry and also ordered an investigation into large Russian purchases of medicine from a German chemical works. Bismarck stubbornly refused to listen to [[Georg Herbert Münster]], ambassador to France, who reported back that the French were not seeking a revanchist war and were desperate for peace at all costs.
Bismarck and most of his contemporaries were conservative-minded and focused their foreign policy attention on Germany's neighboring states. In 1914, 60% of German foreign investment was in Europe, as opposed to just 5% of British investment. Most of the money went to developing nations such as Russia that lacked the capital or technical knowledge to industrialize on their own. The construction of the [[Berlin–Baghdad railway]], financed by German banks, was designed to eventually connect Germany with the Ottoman Empire and the [[Persian Gulf]], but it also collided with British and Russian geopolitical interests. Conflict over the Baghdad Railway was resolved in June 1914.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

Many consider Bismarck's foreign policy as a coherent system and partly responsible for the preservation of Europe's stability. It was also marked by the need to balance circumspect defensiveness and the desire to be free from the constraints of its position as a major European power. {{Sfnp|Tipton|2003|p=170}} Bismarck's successors did not pursue his foreign policy legacy. For instance, Kaiser Wilhelm II, who dismissed the chancellor in 1890, let the treaty with Russia lapse in favor of Germany's alliance with Austria, which finally led to a stronger coalition-building between Russia and France.{{Sfnp|Gvosdev|Marsh|2013|p=241}}

====Colonies====
{{Main|German colonial empire}}
[[File:German_colonial.PNG|thumb|374x374px|The [[German colonial empire]] and its protectorates in 1914]]
Germans had dreamed of colonial imperialism since 1848.{{Sfnp|Fitzpatrick|2007|pp=135–161}} Although Bismarck had little interest in acquiring overseas possessions, most Germans were enthusiastic, and by 1884 he had acquired [[German New Guinea]].{{Sfnp|Ciarlo|2008|pp=285–298}} By the 1890s, German colonial expansion in Asia and the Pacific ([[Jiaozhou Bay]] and [[Tianjin]] in China, the [[Mariana Islands|Marianas]], the [[Caroline Islands]], Samoa) led to frictions with the UK, Russia, Japan, and the US. The largest colonial enterprises were in Africa,<ref>{{Harvp|Gann|Duignan|1977}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}} (political and economic history)</ref><ref>{{Harvp|Perraudin|Zimmerer|2010}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}} (cultural impact in Africa and Germany).</ref> where the [[Herero Wars]] in what is now [[Namibia]] in 1906–1907 resulted in the [[Herero and Nama genocide]].{{Sfnp|Dedering|1993|pp=80–88}}

====Economy====
{{Further|Economic history of Germany}}
{{See also|Urbanization in the German Empire}}

By 1900, Germany became the largest economy in continental Europe and the third-largest in the world behind the United States and the [[British Empire]], which were also its main economic rivals. Throughout its existence, it experienced economic growth and modernization led by heavy industry. In 1871, it had a largely rural population of 41&nbsp;million, while by 1913, this had increased to a predominantly urban population of 68&nbsp;million.{{Sfnp|Milward|Saul|1977|pp=17–70}}

=====Industrial power=====
{{Main|Economic history of Germany#Industrial Revolution|Industrialization in Germany}}
[[File:Essen a54 v Stadtpanorama-1890.jpg|thumb|The [[Krupp]] works in [[Essen]], 1890]]
For 30 years, Germany struggled against Britain to be Europe's leading industrial power. Representative of Germany's industry was the steel giant [[Krupp]], whose first factory was built in [[Essen]]. By 1902, the factory alone became "A great city with its own streets, its own police force, fire department and traffic laws. There are 150 kilometers of rail, 60 different factory buildings, 8,500 machine tools, seven electrical stations, 140 kilometers of underground cable, and 46 overhead."{{Sfnp|Taylor, Edmund|1967|p=206}}

Under Bismarck, Germany was a world innovator in building the [[welfare state]]. German workers enjoyed health, accident and maternity benefits, canteens, changing rooms, and a national pension scheme.<ref name="Hennock">{{Harvp|Hennock|2007}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref>

Industrialisation progressed dynamically in Germany, and German manufacturers began to capture domestic markets from British imports, and also to compete with British industry abroad, particularly in the U.S. The German textile and metal industries had by 1870 surpassed those of Britain in organisation and technical efficiency and superseded British manufacturers in the domestic market. Germany became the dominant economic power on the continent and was the second-largest exporting nation after Britain.<ref>{{Harvp|Tilly|Kopsidis|2020}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref>

Technological progress during German industrialisation occurred in four waves: the railway wave (1877–1886), the dye wave (1887–1896), the chemical wave (1897–1902), and the wave of electrical engineering (1903–1918).{{Sfnp|Streb|2006|pp=347–373}} Since Germany industrialised later than Britain, it was able to model its factories after those of Britain, thus making more efficient use of its capital and avoiding legacy methods in its leap to the envelope of technology. Germany invested more heavily than the British in research, especially in chemistry, ICE engines and electricity. Germany's dominance in physics and chemistry was such that one-third of all Nobel Prizes went to German inventors and researchers. The German [[cartel]] system (known as ''Konzerne''), being significantly concentrated, was able to make more efficient use of capital. Germany was not weighted down with an expensive worldwide empire that needed defense. Following Germany's annexation of [[Alsace-Lorraine]] in 1871, it absorbed parts of what had been France's industrial base.{{Sfnp|Broadberry|O'Rourke|2010}}

Germany overtook British steel production in 1893 and pig iron production in 1903. The German steel and pig iron production continued its rapid expansion: Between 1911 and 1913, the German steel and pig iron output reached one quarter of total global production.{{Sfnp|Torp|2014|p=63}}

German factories were larger and more modern than their British and French counterparts.<ref name="Germany article of Encyclopedia Britannia"/> By 1913, the German electricity production was higher than the combined electricity production of Britain, France, Italy and Sweden.{{Sfnp|Berend|2016|p=28}}

By 1900, the German chemical industry dominated the world market for [[Dye|synthetic dyes]].<ref>{{Harvp|Beer|1981}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref> The three major firms [[BASF]],<ref>{{Cite book |last=Abelshauser |first=Werner |title=German History and Global Enterprise: BASF: The History of a Company |date=2004}} (covers 1865 to 2000)</ref> [[Bayer]] and [[Hoechst AG|Hoechst]] produced several hundred different dyes, along with the five smaller firms. Imperial Germany built up the world's largest chemical industry, the production of German chemical industry was 60% higher than that of the United States.{{Sfnp|Berend|2016|p=28}} In 1913, these eight firms produced almost 90% of the world supply of dyestuffs and sold about 80% of their production abroad. The three major firms had also integrated upstream into the production of essential raw materials and they began to expand into other areas of chemistry such as [[Drug|pharmaceuticals]], [[photographic film]], [[Agrichemical|agricultural chemicals]] and [[Electrochemistry|electrochemicals]]. Top-level decision-making was in the hands of professional salaried managers; leading Chandler to call the German dye companies "the world's first truly managerial industrial enterprises".{{Sfnp|Chandler|2004|pp=474–475}} There were many spinoffs from research—such as the pharmaceutical industry, which emerged from chemical research.{{Sfnp|Burhop|2009|pp=475–477}}

By the start of [[World War I]] (1914–1918), German industry switched to war production. The heaviest demands were on coal and steel for artillery and shell production, and on chemicals for the synthesis of materials that were subject to import restrictions and for chemical weapons and war supplies.

=====Railways=====
Lacking a technological base at first, the Germans imported their engineering and hardware from Britain but quickly learned the skills needed to operate and expand the railways. In many cities, the new railway shops were the centers of technological awareness and training, so that by 1850, Germany was self-sufficient in meeting the demands of railroad construction, and the railways were a major impetus for the growth of the new steel industry. German unification in 1870 stimulated consolidation, nationalisation into state-owned companies, and further rapid growth. Unlike the situation in France, the goal was support of industrialisation, and so heavy lines crisscrossed the [[Ruhr]] and other industrial districts and provided good connections to the major ports of [[Hamburg]] and [[Bremen]]. By 1880, Germany had 9,400 locomotives pulling 43,000 passengers and 30,000 tons of freight, and forged ahead of France.<ref>{{Harvp|Mitchell|2000}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref> The total length of German railroad tracks expanded from {{Cvt|21,000|km|mi}} in 1871 to {{Cvt|63,000|km|mi}} by 1913, establishing the largest rail network in the world after the United States.<ref>{{Harvp|Feuchtwanger|2002|at=Table 1}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref> The German rail network was followed by Austria-Hungary ({{Cvt|43,280|km|disp=semicolon}}), France ({{Cvt|40,770|km|disp=semicolon}}), the United Kingdom ({{Cvt|32,623|km|disp=semicolon}}), Italy ({{Cvt|18,873|km|disp=semicolon}}) and Spain ({{Cvt|15,088|km|disp=semicolon}}).{{Sfnp|Broadberry|O'Rourke|2010|page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=YHk0z-ujS3AC&pg=PA80 80]}}

====Consolidation====
The creation of the Empire under Prussian leadership was a victory for the concept of {{Lang|de|[[Kleindeutschland and Großdeutschland|Kleindeutschland]]}} (Smaller Germany) over the ''Großdeutschland'' concept. This meant that Austria-Hungary, a multi-ethnic Empire with a considerable German-speaking population, would remain outside of the German nation state. Bismarck's policy was to pursue a solution diplomatically.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}} The effective alliance between Germany and Austria played a major role in Germany's decision to enter [[Causes of World War I|World War I]] in 1914.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}}

Bismarck announced there would be no more territorial additions to Germany in Europe, and his diplomacy after 1871 was focused on stabilizing the European system and preventing any wars. He succeeded, and only after his departure from office in 1890 did the diplomatic tensions start rising again.{{Sfnp|Grenville|2000|p= 342}}

====Social issues====
After achieving formal unification in 1871, Bismarck devoted much of his attention to the cause of national unity. He opposed Catholic civil rights and emancipation, especially the influence of the [[Holy See|Vatican]] under [[Pope Pius IX]], and working-class radicalism, represented by the emerging [[Social Democratic Party of Germany|Social Democratic Party]].

=====Kulturkampf=====
{{Main|Kulturkampf}}
{{See also|Pope Pius IX and Germany}}
[[File:Kladderadatsch 1875 - Zwischen Berlin und Rom.png|thumb|right|upright=1.35|Tensions between Germany and the Catholic Church hierarchy as depicted in a chess game between Bismarck and [[Pope Pius IX]]. ''Between Berlin and Rome'', [[Kladderadatsch]], 1875.]]
Prussia in 1871 included 16,000,000 Protestants, both Reformed and Lutheran, and 8,000,000 Catholics. Most people were generally segregated into their own religious worlds, living in rural districts or city neighbourhoods that were overwhelmingly of the same religion, and sending their children to separate public schools where their religion was taught. There was little interaction or intermarriage. On the whole, the Protestants had a higher social status, and the Catholics were more likely to be peasant farmers or unskilled or semiskilled industrial workers. In 1870, the Catholics formed their own political party, the [[Centre Party (Germany)|Centre Party]], which generally supported unification and most of Bismarck's policies. However, Bismarck distrusted parliamentary democracy in general and opposition parties in particular, especially when the Centre Party showed signs of gaining support among dissident elements such as the Polish Catholics in [[Silesia]]. A powerful intellectual force of the time was [[anti-Catholicism]], led by the liberal intellectuals who formed a vital part of Bismarck's coalition. They saw the Catholic Church as a powerful force of reaction and anti-modernity, especially after the proclamation of [[papal infallibility]] in 1870, and the tightening control of the Vatican over the local bishops.{{Sfnp|Lamberti|2001|pp=169–187}}

The Kulturkampf launched by Bismarck 1871–1880 affected Prussia; although there were similar movements in Baden and Hesse, the rest of Germany was not affected. According to the new imperial constitution, the states were in charge of religious and educational affairs; they funded the Protestant and Catholic schools. In July 1871 Bismarck abolished the Catholic section of the Prussian Ministry of ecclesiastical and educational affairs, depriving Catholics of their voice at the highest level. The system of strict [[state education|government supervision of schools]] was applied only in Catholic areas; the Protestant schools were left alone.{{Sfnp|Lamberti|2001|p=177}}

Much more serious were the May laws of 1873. One made the appointment of any priest dependent on his attendance at a German university, as opposed to the seminaries that the Catholics typically used. Furthermore, all candidates for the ministry had to pass an examination in German culture before a state board which weeded out intransigent Catholics. Another provision gave the government a veto power over most church activities. A second law abolished the jurisdiction of the Vatican over the Catholic Church in Prussia; its authority was transferred to a government body controlled by Protestants.<ref>{{Harvp|Ross|1998}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref>

Nearly all German bishops, clergy, and laymen rejected the legality of the new laws, and were defiant in the face of heavier and heavier penalties and imprisonments imposed by Bismarck's government. By 1876, all the Prussian bishops were imprisoned or in exile, and a third of the Catholic parishes were without a priest. In the face of systematic defiance, the Bismarck government increased the penalties and its attacks, and were challenged in 1875 when a papal encyclical declared the whole ecclesiastical legislation of Prussia was invalid, and threatened to excommunicate any Catholic who obeyed. There was no violence, but the Catholics mobilized their support, set up numerous civic organizations, raised money to pay fines, and rallied behind their church and the Centre Party. The "Old Catholic Church", which rejected the First Vatican Council, attracted only a few thousand members. Bismarck, a devout pietistic Protestant, realized his Kulturkampf was backfiring when secular and socialist elements used the opportunity to attack all religion. In the long run, the most significant result was the mobilization of the Catholic voters, and their insistence on protecting their religious identity. In the elections of 1874, the Centre party doubled its popular vote, and became the second-largest party in the national parliament—and remained a powerful force for the next 60 years, so that after Bismarck it became difficult to form a government without their support.{{Sfnp|Holborn|1969|pages=258–260}}{{Sfnp|Clark|2006|pages=568–576}}

=====Social reform=====
Bismarck built on a tradition of welfare programs in Prussia and Saxony that began as early as in the 1840s. In the 1880s he introduced old-age pensions, accident insurance, medical care and unemployment insurance that formed the basis of the modern [[European welfare state]]. He came to realize that this sort of policy was very appealing, since it bound workers to the state, and also fit in very well with his authoritarian nature. The social security systems installed by Bismarck (health care in 1883, accident insurance in 1884, invalidity and old-age insurance in 1889) at the time were the largest in the world and, to a degree, still exist in Germany today.

Bismarck's paternalistic programs won the support of German industry because its goals were to win the support of the working classes for the Empire and reduce the outflow of immigrants to America, where wages were higher but welfare did not exist.<ref name=Hennock/><ref>{{Harvp|Beck|1997}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref> Bismarck further won the support of both industry and skilled workers by his high tariff policies, which protected profits and wages from American competition, although they alienated the liberal intellectuals who wanted free trade.{{Sfnp|Spencer|1979|pp=40–64}}{{Sfnp|Lambi|1962|pp=59–70}}

=====Antisemitism=====
As it was throughout Europe at the time, [[antisemitism]] was endemic in Germany during the period. Before [[Napoleon]]'s decrees ended the ghettos in [[Confederation of the Rhine]], it had been religiously motivated, but by the 19th century, it was a factor in [[German nationalism]]. In the popular mind, Jews became a symbol of capitalism and wealth. On the other hand, the constitution and legal system protected the rights of Jews as German citizens. Antisemitic parties were formed but soon collapsed.<ref>{{Harvp|Levy|1975}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref> But after the [[Treaty of Versailles]], and [[Adolf Hitler]]'s rise to power in [[Nazi Germany|Germany]], antisemitism in Germany would increase.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Everyday Antisemitism in Pre-War Nazi Germany |url=https://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/microsoft%20word%20-%205618.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040512132613/http://www.yadvashem.org/odot_pdf/Microsoft%20Word%20-%205618.pdf |archive-date=12 May 2004}}</ref>

=====Germanisation=====
{{Main|Germanisation}}
[[File:Rugi pruskie.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Prussian deportations]] of ethnic [[Polish people|Poles]] ''(Polenausweisungen)'', 1909 painting by [[Wojciech Kossak]]]]
One of the effects of the unification policies was the gradually increasing tendency to eliminate the use of non-German languages in public life, schools and academic settings with the intent of pressuring the non-German population to abandon their national identity in what was called "[[Germanisation]]". These policies often had the reverse effect of stimulating resistance, usually in the form of homeschooling and tighter unity in the minority groups, especially the [[Polish people|Poles]].{{Sfnp|Baycroft|Hewitson|2006|p=166}}

The Germanisation policies were targeted particularly [[Germanisation of Poles during the Partitions|against the significant Polish minority]] of the empire, gained by Prussia in the [[partitions of Poland]]. Poles were treated as an [[ethnic minority]] even where they made up the majority, as in the [[Province of Posen]], where a series of anti-Polish measures was enforced.<ref>{{Harvp|Kulczycki|1981}}.{{page needed|date=May 2025}}</ref> Numerous anti-Polish laws had no great effect especially in the province of Posen where the German-speaking population dropped from 42.8% in 1871 to 38.1% in 1905, despite all efforts.{{Sfnp|Broszat|1978|p=144}}

====Law====
[[File:Meyers b18 s0533a.jpg|thumb|Crime; convicts in relation to the population, 1882–1886]]
Bismarck's efforts also initiated the levelling of the enormous differences between the German states, which had been independent in their evolution for centuries, especially with legislation. The completely different legal histories and judicial systems posed enormous complications, especially for national trade. While a common trade code had already been introduced by the [[German Confederation|Confederation]] in 1861 (which was adapted for the Empire and, with great modifications, is still in effect today), there was little similarity in laws otherwise.

In 1871, a common {{Ill|Reich criminal code|lt=criminal code |de|Reichsstrafgesetzbuch}} was introduced; in 1877, common court procedures were established in the court system by the {{Ill|courts constitution act|de|Gerichtsverfassungsgesetz}}, code of civil procedure ({{Lang|de|[[Zivilprozessordnung (Germany)|Zivilprozessordnung]]}}) and code of criminal procedure ({{Lang|de|{{Ill|Strafprozessordnung|de|Strafprozessordnung (Deutschland)|v=sup}}}}). In 1873 the constitution was amended to allow the Empire to replace the various and greatly differing Civil Codes of the states (If they existed at all; for example, parts of Germany formerly occupied by Napoleon's France had adopted the French Civil Code, while in Prussia the {{Lang|de|[[General State Laws for the Prussian States|Allgemeines Preußisches Landrecht]]}} of 1794 was still in effect). In 1881, a first commission was established to produce a common Civil Code for all of the Empire, an enormous effort that would produce the {{Lang|de|[[Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch]]}} (BGB), possibly one of the most impressive legal works in the world; it was eventually put into effect on 1 January 1900. All of these [[Codification (law)|codification]]s are, albeit with many amendments, still in effect today.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}
<gallery widths=180>
Legal systems in 1895 Germany.png| Different legal systems in Germany prior to 1900
DR Fields of Law.png|Fields of law in the German Empire
</gallery>