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 ...
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... 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.
"Account for the changing political fortunes of the Nazi Party from November, 1923 until January, 1933."
Gottfried, Ted, and Stephen Alcorn. Nazi Germany: The Face of Tyranny. Brookfield, CT: Twenty-First Century, 2000. Print.
The first major reason that the Weimar republic failed was that it was extremely inefficient and did not have clear goals set within the government. All the different ideas coming from the parties in the republic, created a situation where the people of Germany were getting very unclear, vague messages. This problem can be seen in the struggle between the German Democratic Party and the Communist Party. Troeltsch, a theologian and leader of the German Democratic Party said, “The development will not stop at democracy, and a ‘dictatorship of the proletariat’ will assume the form of terrorist domination by a minority” (Doc 1). This statement is only somewhat reliable because Troeltsch was a politician, and he would benefit from over exaggerating what would happen if the opposing party were to gain control. The exact opposite of this idea is the view of Communist Party member Clara Zetkin. When she talks about how the only way that Germany can really get rid of monarchy is by having a proletariat uprising it can be seen that she obviously embraces communist policy. (Doc 3)....
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...
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.
...of Carsten and similar historians writing at the time is that the far-left were not as politically strong as first thought so consequently there was a lack of any serious opposition to the established order and in turn they were allowed had more independence and self-determination in implementing Germany’s first republic. So the social basis for a constitutional government in Germany was a lot more widespread than formerly thought. Furthermore, the apprehensiveness of the social democrats can be interpreted in terms of distrusting the unstructured mass movements that existed in the pressing post-war years, and placing their trust in the old elites. However, works such as Feldman’s, ‘The great disorder. The German inflation 1914 – 1924’ argue that the perspective representative potential of soldiers and workers unions and councils were in fact decisively contentious
Made up of mostly farmers and rural workers, the Populist Party sought to make changes to help the rural people of the South and Midwest. The rapid urbanization, immigration, and western expansion that took place at the end of and decades after the Civil War caused the government to keep focus on urban cities and how they were aiding in the country’s economic growth as a whole. Farmers now had access to more land and innovative strategies and were more productive than ever before, but with the population
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...
beginning, before the war and before Hitler took power, they felt as if Liberalism was not doing
Farmers were once known for being able to do everything themselves. They grew their own food and sewed their own clothes. People often yearn for the old days and complain about so many people living in cities. Many farmers had to give up their farms and move to the cities, because of something that happened in the late nineteenth century.
Treitschke, Heinrich. “History of Germany in the Nineteenth Century and Historical and Political Writings.” The Human Record. By Alfred J. Andrea and James H. Overfield. Vol. 2. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2011. 2 vols. 292-295.
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.
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.
Richard Bessel’s article stresses the political structure of Weimar Germany as the cause of its failure. Its structure was flawed in numerous ways, all of which contributed to its inevitable failure. First of all, the problems within Germany due to the First World War were massive. This caused economic, political and social problems which first had to be dealt with by the new Weimar government. The loss of the war had left Germany with huge reparations to pay, and massive destruction to repair. In order to gain the capital needed to finance efforts to rebuild, and repay the Allies, the economy had to be brought back to its prewar levels. This was not an easy task.
One factor with somewhat minimal impact in the unification of Germany, however one still worthy of mentioning, was cultural cohesion and social change. During the nineteenth century the Romantic movement developed throughout Europe and in Germany it took the form of celebrating the German heritage and promoting cultural pride. Romantics such as Friedrich Ludwig Jahn glorified the rich history of the German peoples. Through literature and art romantics expressed the idea of Germany as “an organic folk community wrapped in a cloak of tradition” They strived to create a homogenous identity for all Germans. Another force with widespread social impac...