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HIST2086 Bismarck: The Iron Chancellor

HIST2086 Bismarck: The Iron Chancellor. North German Bund and Dual Monarchy, 1867-71 Lecture 12 14 October 2010. North German Confederation (Norddeutscher Bund). Prussia (4/5 of population, most of territory) Saxony Hesse-Darmstadt Braunschweig Oldenburg Saxe-Weimar and Coburg

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HIST2086 Bismarck: The Iron Chancellor

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  1. HIST2086Bismarck: The Iron Chancellor North German Bund and Dual Monarchy, 1867-71 Lecture 12 14 October 2010

  2. North German Confederation (Norddeutscher Bund) • Prussia (4/5 of population, most of territory) • Saxony • Hesse-Darmstadt • Braunschweig • Oldenburg • Saxe-Weimar and Coburg • Free cities of Hamburg, Lübeck, Bremen • Mecklenburg-Schwerin and M.-Strelitz • Princedoms of Thuringia and Meiningen

  3. Bismarck’s position (1) Bismarck told Prussian Crown Prince in Jan 1867 that … • The North German Bund is only a Provisorium • His real energies are directed toward the unification of the whole of Germany • This objective will be gained in the not too distant future • In order to attain it, however, it was above all essential that the north come together in a firmer whole

  4. Bismarck’s position (2) • Opposed to idea of parliamentary government + of crown only of symbolic status (= no British model) • Regarded powerful monarchy as essential • Believed in traditional loyalties of peasants to monarchy + in concept of universal suffrage (French model “Bonapartism”) • Kept Reichstag in weak position without real power • NGC constitution with dual-goal: To appeal to national patriots in South + to look favourable to Southern governments & dynasties

  5. NGC Constitution, Jul 1867 • King of Prussia = President of NGC, commander-in-chief, power of declaring war + making peace, appointed/dismissed Federal Chancellor • Federal Council (Bundesrat) = Representation of NGC Federal States (Bundesstaaten) • Parliament (Reichstag) = Elected by universal manhood suffrage (step into democracy!) • Federal Chancellor (Bundeskanzler) = Chief Minister + representative of Prussian King in Bundesrat

  6. NGC’s economic unity • Prussian taler to dominate over Austrian gulden • Berlin the hub of German finance • Bismarck’s initiative for fundamental reorganisation of Customs Union (Zollverein): Bicameral legislature with certain competences; its members elected by universal + equal manhood suffrage = Economic ‘community of interest’ of all NGC members = To overcome any future foreign objection to develop CU into political ‘community of interest’

  7. Habsburg Empire • A family concern • A collection of estates on huge, international scale • Largest state in 19th c. Europe apart from Russia • Consisted mainly of kingdoms & duchies, acquired through marriage or war • Austrian, Bohemian, Hungarian Lands + Lombardy-Venetia most important = Raison d’être of Habsburgs to acquire new territories = Habsburg Empire to provide power base for family-based monarchy

  8. Main pillars • Imperial army • Catholic church • Imperial bureaucracy = Tools of Germanizationuntil 1867 → Germans 24% of population but strong dominance in all political & economic key sectors = Slowly declining dominance of Germans after 1867 → Germans regarded themselves as leading force + as culturally superior towards Slavs & Magyars

  9. Franz Joseph I • Absolutism as basic faith • Only accepted constitutional reforms after military defeats (war with F + Piedmont, 1859) + financial pressures in early 1860s • Accepted Ausgleich (compromise) with Hungary (1867) as final outcome of reforms • Became devoted adherent to Ausgleich after Austria’s final exclusion from Germany, 1871

  10. Austro-Hungarian Compromise (Ausgleich) • Recognised 2 independent states united by common interests + monarch = Dual Monarchy • One monarch as Emperor of Austria + King of Hungary (k. u. k. = Imperial and Royal) • New constitution: bicameral legislature, extended basic rights but option to suspend in emergency = Strengthened Franz Joseph in foreign policy = Caused intense problems in domestic policy = Gave no political rights to each nationality: Problems of Slavs, etc. remained unresolved

  11. Position of Magyars and Slavs • Magyars: Ausgleich as best one possible deal because Hungary strongly protected by Austria vs. Russia or Prussia • Slavs: Not satisfied but feared absorption by Russia or Prussia if Habsburg Empire broke up = Habsburg Monarchy by both seen as best “Third Way” in Central Europe between much worse Russian and Prussian alternatives

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