During the time of the German Empire, groups like the Navy League, Colonial League, Pan-German League, and Agrarian League attempted to influence the politics of Germany by supporting and lobbying members of the Reichstag. The Agrarian League, representing the interest of landowners and others whose livelihood depended upon agriculture, demanded that the Reichstag pass laws and tariffs that would benefit the interests of the agriculturalists and other wealthy land owners. Their program of 1912 exemplifies their concerns over the progress of Germany and Germany’s politics to that point in time, and it offers their solutions to the problems faced by agriculturalists in 1912.
The program begins by stating “The Agrarian League strives for the preservation and strengthening of our current political system on a Christian-monarchical foundation.” During the time of the German Empire, and even prior to the German Empire in Prussia, the monarchy was the symbol of Conservatism as well as the symbol for the state. In response to the Napoleonic Wars, Prussia and much of the German states greatly encouraged Conservatism in society and in government. Fearful of a Napoleonic-style Liberal uprising from the people, which would attempt to unify Germany with liberalism and democracy instead of conservatism and monarchy, Conservatives gradually merged their principles with the principles of Nationalism, making the monarchy, Protestant Christian values, and the political system of the state seem as though they were key components of what made Germany, Germany. By merging nationalism and Conservatism, Conservatives twisted the idea of unification from being a goal of the liberals to being a goal of the conservatives, who eventually used any means ...
... middle of paper ...
... the Conservative and upper class supportive-Agrarian League attempted to gain favor with the middle class in an effort to became a force within German Democracy and support both the Liberal principles established in 1848 as well as the ‘hometown’ culture of pre-industrialized and pre-unified Germany. The Agrarian League was another Conservative group, much like the Navy League, Colonial League and Pan-German League, which emphasized Nationalist and Conservative ideas and wished to affect the German Government and pull the Imperial government in a more Conservative, Agriculturalist-Friendly and Junker-Friendly direction during the early 20th Century, and away from the increasingly likely path towards Liberalism, Liberal Democracy and eventually, perhaps, even Socialism, Revolution and the overthrow of Conservative, Monarchical government and the Junker upper class.
The populist movement occurred in the late 19th century, formed from the Grangers movement where its goal was ta movement for people, to change the economic system where it would benefit farmers. The grange movement rapidly declined in the 1870s and was replaced by the farmer alliances. The farmer alliances were more political rather then social. The farmer’s alliance later formed the populist. The populist movement is considered to be an agrarian revolt by farmers and those concerned with agriculture, because in the gilded age many people were moving to rural areas where banks and industrial systems were superior over agriculture. The high tariffs, decentralization of currency, and decreasing crop prices were hurting the farmers. Founded by James B Weaver and Tom Watson, they wanted the government to have a stronger control over banking and industries. Populism pursued limited coinage of silver and adjusted income tax so the wealthy would be paying more than the poor. They wanted free coinage of silver because this would eventually help the farmers pay off their debts. Parallel, they wanted the government to have control over railroads, telephone and telegraph systems. They wanted to government to be more in control and involved in the economy and most of all, wanted to stop laissez faire. They aimed for a secret ballot and direct election where the president would only hold office for 1 term. Although they won several seats in congress, the Populist Party never won any presidential elections. The Democrats supported much of the Populists goals. Nevertheless, they voted Democrat William Jennings Bryan for the presidency. His goal of unlimited coinage of silver gained the support of the Populist Party uncovered injustice...
The German nation was born in January 1871 at the Palace of Versailles. Many factors have been noted by historians as to what led to the eventual unification of Germany such as; economic and industrial factors and the role of Otto Von Bismarck. A debate that has emerged over German Unification is whether it was united by ‘coal and iron’ or ‘blood and iron’; this looks at whether economic or political factors were the main driving force behind unification. In this essay I will explore these factors and gain an understanding of how these factors contributed to German Unification and come to a decision as to whether it was a nation unified by economic
After World War I, there was a spiritual void left within the people of Germany. The outcome of the war had ripped the German society along the class lines causing great stress and tension among the people. The people of Germany had believed all along that they were winning the war, and therefore the news of surrender came as a great shock to them. To make things worse, the peace treaty established placed the entire fault of the war on Germany and left them responsible for paying for the costs of the war for all who were involved. This sparked a conflict between the middle and working classes in society. Then, the depression followed, creating even more unhappiness among the people. With all of this unhappiness because of the class divisions and the depression, the Nazi...
The Songerweg emphasizes the particular model of history that Germany, unlike other Western countries, has gone through. Specifically, ‘proponents of this concept emphasize the peculiarities of German history, such as political institutions, social structures, or mentalities and experience, usually in comparison with other Western countries, to demonstrate the unique course of German history’ (Buse & Doerr, 1998, p. 934). Although initially the theory of Sonderweg viewed the characteristics of German historical development as positive, the situation has changed after the World War II. Specifically, in the 19th and early 20th centuries historians applied the Sonderweg model to stress a focus on the role of strong central state and military as the driving force of the development of the country (Buse & Doerr, 1998). In addition to this, historians regarded social reforms in Germany that were made from ‘above’ rather than being the outcomes of revolution to be a positive feature that depicted German state in a favorable way. Finally, the historical school viewed the course of German industrialization and culture as superior to similar processed in the rest of Western European
Agrarian Discontent 1880 to 1900. The period between 1880 and 1900 was a boom time for American politics. The country was finally free of the threat of war, and many of its citizens were living comfortably. However, as these two decades went by, the American farmer found it harder and harder to live comfortably.
...hed as such and remained on the most part a psychological concept, one that served as a technique of Gleischaltung towards the increasing totality of state authority. The classless society ideal remained as inherently flawed and never could be established given the economic climate, foreign policy goals and the various inconsistencies and paradoxes within government policy. The Volksgemeinschaft was established perhaps through perception, but through reality it remained a superficial, idealised myth towards which the German people could motivate themselves. However, if Germany remained uninterrupted by war, then it could have been possible for the Nirvana of national harmony to be established to a greater extent after this period of catharsis and thus renewal had completed. Nevertheless, once Germany went to war the fabric of the Volksgemeinschaft was torn apart.
The general public of Germany had never had any say in political matters; they allowed the Kaiser to make all the decisions regarding themselves and their once-prosperous country. The groups controlling Germany began to change during October and November 1918. More power began to fall into the hands of the people as they realised the blame for their involvement in the war was the Kaiser’s. People such as the armed soldiers, sailors and workers started protesting and going on strike. This was a far cry from before the war, when Germany was wealthy, proud and ambitious. So for a brief period, it seemed that a revolution would take place, with the people of Germany wanting a social and political revolution.
Otto von Bismarck, born April 1st 1815, was a Prussian statesman who is known for dominating German and European affairs with his conservative policies beginning in the 1860s. In 1862, Bismarck was appointed by King Wilhelm I as Minister-President and Foreign Minister of Prussia. Within ten years of coming to power, Bismarck had unified Germany through three wars against Denmark, Austria, and France. At first these wars were seen as the result of Bismarck’s direct plan for a unified Germany under the Prussian king, but later historians have questioned how far ahead had he ultimately planned it. The question of Bismarck’s nationalism has long been the subject of speculation and controversy; many view Bismarck as an opportunist, using opportunities to extend Prussian territory and the power of the Prussian king, but having no long-term agenda for German unification. Ultimately no successful statesman is either a complete master-planner or a total opportunist, they have to be a bit of both to be successful in what they do, which presents logical argument...
The revolution of 1800 introduced the first peaceful transition of power from Adams to Jefferson. Jefferson sought to change the American ideals of the 1800s, as the people accepted and demanded a change through the Electoral College. Once established in office, he reduced the size of the government, purchased the Louisiana territory, and advocated farming in America. It is known as Jeffersonian Democracy, however, the democracy was based off the notion of Agrarianism. Agrarianism can be defined as the social or political philosophy which values a rural society far more than an urban society; it advocates the concept of farmers being superior to paid workers, thus emphasizing the superior simple rural life style opposed to a far more complex
As named in the stanza before, the Nazis used Gleichschaltung to unify the German empire and all its citizens, in political and social ways as well as private and public lives. Gleichschaltung means coordination or making the same. The term is used to describe that National Socialists tried to coordinate all people to be equal and follow their ideology. All the organizations named above, like the organizations for children Hitler Jugend and Bund Deutscher Mädel were established to bring the citizens of the country together. In those organizations, the people were taught the ideology and concepts of the leaders, so everybody would think and support the same thing, which of course was National Socialism. Within this process of coordination, previous values were changed to the Nazis’ ideology.
beginning, before the war and before Hitler took power, they felt as if Liberalism was not doing
The farmers feared that Eastern industrialists and bankers were gaining too much influence, power and control over the government. During the “bust” cycle, and times of difficulties, farmers got together, talked about their problems and formed the Populist Party. The Populists were formed because of challenges and difficulties in which they were forced to deal with every day. These challenges included crop failures, falling prices, and the inability to pay loans. The Populists party called for reform by wanting the government to intervene and lessen the impact of economic depressions, regu...
Most of the reasons concerning agrarian discontent in the late nineteenth century stem from supposed threats posed by monopolies and trusts, railroads, money shortages and the demonetization of silver, though in many cases their complaints were not valid. The American farmer at this time already had his fair share of problems, perhaps even perceived as unfair in regards to the success industrialized businessmen were experiencing. Nevertheless, crops such as cotton and wheat, which were once the staples of an agricultural society, were selling at such low prices that it was nearly impossible for farmers to make a profit off them, especially since some had invested a great deal of money in modern equipment that would allow them to produce twice as many goods. Furthermore, improvements in transportation allowed foreign competition to emerge, making it harder for American Farmers to not only dispose of surplus crop, but to transport crops period. Finally, years of drought in the Midwest and the degeneration of business in the 1890's devastated many of the nation's farmers, and as a result of this agricultural depression' many farm groups, most notably the Populist Party, arose to fight what farmers saw as the reasons for the decline of agriculture.
German history is seen as a ‘painful issue for thousands of Germans and other Europeans’ . However it has interested many historians over the years into inquiring how and why Hitler came to power and how much of this was to do with the failure of parliamentary democracy in Germany. To fully ascertain to what extent these events have in common and what reasons led to the fall of democracy and rise of the Nazis, each have to be looked at individually. Also it seems beneficial, to be able to evaluate these in the relevant context, to look at the situation in Germany was in prior to 1920.
It was always very difficult for people to agree about politics in the 1900s. Many people wanted to make changes or improvements in the government to promote a stronger d...