Bismarck’s Attempts to Eradicate Catholicism in Germany

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 Ancient struggles take a principally violent progression when cultural matters are at

stake. Fights about social homogeneity are particularly prone to emerge in countless ways

and on several levels of controversy. The German Kulturkampf amid the Catholics, and

moderation and the Prussian state government immersed much of the 1870’s and 1880’s, yet

with a weakening vigor. The contradictions of this religious philosophies within German

society dominated the influential period of the German party structure and consequently had

a lasting influence on Germany’s dogmatic culture even into the twentieth century.

Apparently, the Kulturkampf concluded in complete letdown. Undeniably, the German

Catholic Church was ultimately uncompromisable by the welfares of the newly initiated

nation-state. Instead, its psychic and political leaders arose with a substantially advanced

notch of unconventionality than before. Accordingly, this paper studies the role of Otto von

Bismarck’s religious values, philosophies, strategies and failure to eradicate Catholicism in

Germany in attempt to unify the Germans socially.

The Catholic dogmas and doctrines announced in 1854, 1864 and 1870 were

perceived in Germany as direct attacks on the modern nation state. [37] Thus, Bismarck,

the Liberals and the Conservatives representing orthodox Protestants found the Centre Party's

support of the pope highly provocative. Many Catholics shared these sentiments, especially

against the pope's declared infallibility and the majority of Catholic German bishops deemed

the definition of the dogma as "'unpropitious' in light of the situation in Germany". While

most Catholics eventually reconciled themselves to the doctrine, some founded the small

breakaway Old Catholic Church.

According to the Bavarian head of government, Hohenlohe, the dogma of infallibility

compromised the Catholic's loyalty to the state.[38] He sent a circular to all the diplomatic
representatives of the Bavarian Kingdom saying, "The only dogmatic thesis which Rome

desires to have decided by the Council, and which the Jesuits in Italy and Germany are now

agitating, is the question of the Infallibility of the Pope. This pretension once become a

dogma, will have a wider scope than the purely spiritual spheres, and will become evidently a

political question: for it will raise the power of the Sovereign Pontiff, even in temporal

matters, above all the princes and peoples of Christendom."[39]

The liberal majorities in the Imperial Diet and the Prussian parliament as well as liberals in

general regarded the Church as backward, a hotbed for reactionaries, enemies of progress and

cast monastic life as the epitome of a backward Catholic medievalism. They were alarmed by

the dramatic rise in the numbers of monasteries, convents and clerical religious groups in an

era of widespread religious revival. The Diocese of Cologne, for example, saw a tenfold

increase of monks and nuns between 1850 and 1872. Prussian authorities were particularly

suspicious of the spread of monastic life among the Polish and French minorities. [40] The

Church, in turn, saw the National-Liberals its worst enemy, accusing them of spearheading

the war against Christianity and the Catholic Church

In the Vormärz period, Catholic publications usually portrayed revolutions as negative and

dangerous to the existing order as well as to the interests of the Catholic Church. Most of

them considered a viable Catholicism to be necessary for the very health of society and state

and to be the only true and effective protection against the scourge of revolution. [36] The

unsuccessful German revolutions of 1848–49, which the Catholic Church had opposed,

produced no democratic reforms and attempts to radically disentangle state-church

relationships failed. In the revolutionary parliament, many prominent representatives of

political Catholicism took the side of the extreme right-wingers. In the years following the

revolution, Catholicism became increasingly politicised due to the massive anti-modernist

and anti-liberal policies of the Vatican.

were not in sympathy with the new empire: the House of Hanover, the ethnic minority of the

Poles, the southern German states. In 1871, the predominantly Catholic states of Southern

Germany had only reluctantly joined the empire, increasing the overall share of the Catholic

population to 36.5%. Among this Catholic share was Germany's largest ethnic minority, well

over 2 million Poles in the east of Prussia, who under Prussia and Germany suffered

discrimination and oppression.[43] Bismarck regarded the new Centre Party not only as an

illegal mixup of politics and religion and the church's "long arm" but also as a unifying force

for Catholic Germans and Poles and thus a threat to the consolidation of the empire. He

feared that the Centre Party would frustrate his broader political agendas and he accused the

Catholic priests of fostering Polish nationalism as had been done openly in the provinces of

Posen and Upper Silesia.

The Liberals regarded 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. [48] The renewed vitality of Catholicism in

Germany with its mass gatherings also attracted Protestants – even the heir to the Prussian

throne, with the king's approval, attended one. Anti-liberalism, anti-clericalism, and anti-

Catholicism became powerful intellectual forces of the time and the antagonism between

Liberals and Protestants on one side and the Catholic Church on the other was fought out

through mud-slinging in the press. A wave of anti-Catholic, anticlerical and anti-

monastic pamphleteering in the liberal press[49] was answered by anti-liberal preaching and

propaganda in Catholic newspapers and vice versa.

For these reasons, the government sought to wean the Catholic masses away from the

hierarchy and the Centre Party and the liberal's demands to curb the power of the churches

meshed well with Bismarck's main political objective to crush the Centre Party
At least since 1847 and in line with the Liberals, Bismarck had also been of the professed

opinion, that state and church should be completely separated and "the sphere of the state had

to be made secure against the incursions by the church," [51] although his ideas were not as far-

reaching as in the United States or in Great Britain. He had in mind the traditional position of

the Protestant church in Prussia and provoked considerable resistance from conservative

Protestants. This became clear in a heated debate with Prussian culture minister von Mühler

in 1871 when Bismarck said: "Since you stopped my plans in the Protestant church, I have to

go via Rome."[52] In August 1871, at Bad Ems, Bismarck revealed his intention to fight

against the Centre Party, to separate state and church, to transfer school inspection to laymen,

to abolish religious instruction from schools and to transfer religious affairs to the minister of

justice.[53]

On 22 January 1872, liberal Adalbert Falk replaced conservative Heinrich von Mühler as

Prussian minister for religion, education and health. In Bismarck's mind, Falk was "to re-

establish the rights of the state in relation to the church". Yet, unlike Bismarck, whose main

motivation for the Kulturkampf was the political power struggle with the Centre Party, Falk,

a lawyer, was a strong proponent of state authority having in mind the legal aspects of state-

church relationships. Falk became the driving force behind the Kulturkampf laws. Although

Bismarck publicly supported Falk, he doubted the success of his laws and was unhappy with

his lack of political tact and sensitivity. The differences in their attitudes concerning the

Kulturkampf eventually put the two politicians at odds with each other.[54][55]

With this background and the determination of church and state, the Kulturkampf in Germany

acquired an additional edge as it gathered in intensity and bitterness.

From 1871 to 1876, the Prussian state parliament and the federal legislature (Reichstag), both

with liberal majorities, enacted 22 laws in the context of the Kulturkampf. They were mainly

directed against clerics: bishops, priests and religious orders (anti-clerical) and enforced the
supremacy of the state over the church.[56][57] While several laws were specific to the Catholic

Church (Jesuits, congregations etc.) the general laws affected both Catholic and Protestant

churches. In an attempt to overcome increasing resistance by the Catholic Church and its

defiance of the laws, new regulations increasingly went beyond state matters referring to the

purely internal affairs of the church. Even many liberals saw them as an encroachment on

civil liberties, compromising their own credo.[58]

Constitutionally, education and regulation of religious affairs were vested in the federal states

and the leading actor of the Kulturkampf was Prussia, Germany's largest state. However,

some of the laws were also passed by the Reichstag and applied to all of Germany. In

general, the laws did not affect the press and associations including Catholic ones

The political situation in Europe was very volatile. Initially perceived as a possible enemy

hostile to German unification under Prussian leadership, Austria and Germany very quickly

became friends and formed the Dual Alliance in 1879. The possibility of a war with France or

Russia also became more remote. Therefore, social and economic problems moved to the fore

and Bismarck's attention gradually turned to other topics he deemed more threatening such as

the increasing popularity of the socialists or more important such as questions of import

duties. In these matters, he could either not rely on the support of the liberals to pursue his

goals or they were not sufficient to form a majority. Bismarck had not been comfortable with

the increasing ferocity of the Kulturkampf. Concerning the rise of the Centre Party, the laws

had proven to be greatly ineffective and even counterproductive. He soon realized that they

were of no help battling the Centre Party and as far as separation of state and church was

concerned, he had achieved more than he wanted.[72]

In order to garner support for his Anti-Socialist Laws and protective trade tariffs, Bismarck

turned his back on the liberals in search of new alliances. The death of Pius IX on 7 February

1878 opened the door for a settlement with the Catholic Church. The new pope, Leo XIII was
pragmatic and conciliatory and expressed his wish for peace in a letter to the Prussian king on

the very day of his election followed by a second letter in a similar vein that same year.

Bismarck and the Pope entered into direct negotiations without the participation of the

Church or the Reichstag, yet initially without much success. It came to pass that Falk,

vehemently resented by Catholics, resigned on 14 July 1879, which could be read as a peace

offering to the Vatican. A decisive boost only came in February 1880, when the Vatican

unexpectedly agreed to the civic registry of clerics. As the Kulturkampf slowly wound down

the talks lead to a number of so-called mitigation and peace laws which were passed until

1887.[69

On 29 September 1885, as another sign of peace, Bismarck proposed the Pope as arbiter in a

dispute with Spain about the Caroline Islands and accepted his verdict in favour of Spain. In

gratitude but to the great horror of Catholics, the Pope awarded Bismarck the Supreme Order

of Christ, the highest order of chivalry to be granted by the Holy See. Bismarck was the only

Protestant ever to receive this award.

After further negotiations between Prussia and the Vatican, the Prussian parliament passed 2

additional laws amending some of the Kulturkampf laws.

 1886 May 21: The First Peace Law amended some of the regulations in the education

standards and civic registry law of 11 May 1873 and state exams for clerics (waiver in

Second Mitigation Law of 31 May 1882) were totally abolished. Episcopal-theological

academies and seminaries, as well as theological studies at these institutions, were

readmitted. Students were allowed to be quartered in Catholic boarding houses

(Konvikts). The state acknowledged papal disciplinary powers and abolished The Royal

Court of Justice for Ecclesiastical Affairs

Prussia

On 23 May 1887, the Pope declared "The struggle which damaged the church and was of no

good to the state is now over". The Mitigation and Peace Laws restored the inner autonomy

of the Catholic church while leaving key regulations and the laws concerning separation of

church and state in place (civic marriage, civic registry, religious disaffiliation, government

school supervision, civic registry of clerics, ban of Jesuits, pulpit law, state supervision of

church assets, constitutional amendments and the Catholic section in the Ministry of Culture

was not reintroduced).

The respective opposing parties in the Reichstag harshly criticized the concessions made by

the Vatican and the Prussian government. Windthorst and the Centre Party were dismayed at

being sidelined and not being consulted about the concessions the pope made, e. g. about the

ban on Jesuits or the civil registry of clerics. None of the party's major demands were met.

Instead, the pope even sided with Bismarck on non-religious issues and pressured the Centre

Party to support Bismarck or at least abstain, e. g. in the matter of the hotly debated Septennat

1887 (7-year military budget). Many Liberals, especially Falk, objected to the concessions

Bismarck made to the Church.

The growth of the Centre Party has been considered a major setback for Bismarck although

never publicly conceded. Yet, in spite of strong Catholic representation in the Reichstag, the

political power and influence of the Church in the public sphere and its political power was

greatly reduced.

Although Germany and the Vatican were officially at peace after 1878, religious conflicts and

tensions continued. At the turn of the century, Pope Pius X announced the

encyclical Pascendi dominici gregis, mounting new attacks on historical criticism of biblical

As of 1910, clerics had to take an oath against all forms of modernism, a requirement later

extended to teachers of Catholic religion at schools and professors of Catholic theology

resulting in intense political and public debates and new conflicts with the state

The abolition of the Catholic section of the Prussian Ministry of ecclesiastical and

educational affairs deprived Catholics of their voice at the highest level. The system of strict

government supervision of schools was applied only in Catholic areas; the Protestant schools

were left alone. The school politics also alienated Protestant conservatives and churchmen.[74]

The British ambassador Odo Russell reported to London in October 1872 how Bismarck's

plans were backfiring by strengthening the ultramontane (pro-papal) position inside German

Catholicism:

The German Bishops who were politically powerless in Germany and theologically in

opposition to the Pope in Rome – have now become powerful political leaders in

Germany and enthusiastic defenders of the now infallible Faith of Rome, united,

disciplined, and thirsting for martyrdom, thanks to Bismarck's uncalled for antiliberal

declaration of War on the freedom they had hitherto peacefully enjoyed.[75]

Nearly all German bishops, clergy and laymen rejected the legality of the new laws and

were defiantly facing the increasingly heavy penalties, trials and imprisonments. As of

1878, only three of eight Prussian dioceses still had bishops, some 1,125 of 4,600

parishes were vacant, and nearly 1,800 priests ended up in jail or in exile, nearly half the

monks and nuns had left Prussia, a third of the monasteries and convents were closed.

Between 1872 and 1878, numerous Catholic newspapers were confiscated, Catholic

associations and assemblies were dissolved, and Catholic civil servants were dismissed
merely on the pretence of having Ultramontane sympathies. Thousands of laypeople were

imprisoned for assisting priests to evade the punitive new laws.[76][77]

The general ideological enthusiasm among the liberals for the Kulturkampf [78] was in

contrast to Bismarck's pragmatic attitude towards the measures[79] and growing disquiet

from the Conservatives.[80] Apart from the outspoken criticism of the Kulturkampf Laws

by the Catholic Church and the Centre Party, there were also a number of Liberals and

Protestants who voiced concern at least at the so-called "Kampfgesetze" (battle laws).

"Unease concerning the effects of his programme continued to spread among all but the

most bigoted priest-haters and the most doctrinaire liberals". [81] Such noted critics outside

the Catholic camp were Friedrich Heinrich Geffcken, Emil Albert Friedberg or Julius von

Kirchmann. Although they were proponents of state superiority, they regarded some of

the laws as either ineffective or as interference in internal church affairs and not

consistent with liberal values. Geffcken wrote that "with the intention to emancipate the

laity from the hierarchy, the main body of the Catholics was brought in phalanx into the

hands of leaders from which it was to be wrested. But the state cannot fight at length

against a third of the population, it has no means to break such a passive resistance

supported and organized by religious fanaticism. If a statesman desists from the

correctness of a measure it only matters that he has the power to enforce it." Even

Bismarck – who initially saw a variety of tactical political advantages in these measures,

e. g. for his suppressive policies against the Polish population – took pains to distance

himself from the rigors of their enforcement."[82]

The Kulturkampf law considered the harshest and with no equivalent in Europe was the

Expatriation Law. Passed by a liberal majority in parliament, it stipulated banishment as a

punishment that all civilized peoples considered the harshest beyond the death penalty.[83]
As to the Centre Party, these measures did not have the effect that Bismarck had in mind.

In the state elections of November 1873, it grew from 50 to 90 seats and in the Reichstag

elections from 63 to 91. The number of Catholic periodicals also increased; in 1873 there

were about 120.[68]

The Kulturkampf gave secularists and socialists an opportunity to attack all religions, an

outcome that distressed the Protestant leaders and especially Bismarck himself, who was

a devout pietistic Protestant.[84]

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 that the entire

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 Center Party.

To Bismarck's surprise, the Conservative Party especially the Junkers from his own

landowning class in East Prussia sided with the Catholics. They were Protestants and did

not like the Pope, but they had much in common with the Center Party. The

Conservatives controlled their local schools and did not want bureaucrats from Berlin to

take them over. They were hostile to the liberals, being fearful of free trade that would

put them in competition with the United States and other grain exporters, and disliking

their secular views. In the Prussian legislature, they sided with the Center Party on the

school issue. Bismarck was livid, and he resigned the premiership of Prussia (while

remaining Chancellor of the German Empire), telling an ally, "in domestic affairs I have

lost the ground that is for me acceptable through the unpatriotic treason of the

Conservative Party in the Catholic question." Indeed, many of Bismarck's conservative

was strongly opposed to the civil marriage component of the Kulturkampf.[85]

The Kulturkampf made Catholics more resolute; they responded not with violence but

with votes, and as the newly formed Center Party became a major force in the Imperial

Parliament, it gained support from non-Catholic minorities who felt threatened by

Bismarck's centralization of power.[84] In the long run, the most significant result was the

mobilization of the Catholic voters through the Center Party, and their insistence on

protecting their church. Historian Margaret Anderson says:

The effort was perceived, and not only by its opponents, as aiming at nothing less

than the forcible assimilation of the Catholic Church and its adherents to the values

and norms of the empire's Protestant majority....[it led] Catholics – young and old,

male and female, cleric and lay, big men and small – to cleave to their priests and

defy the legislation.[86]

After the Center party had doubled its popular vote in the elections of 1874, it

became the second largest party in the national parliament, and remained a powerful

force for the next 60 years. It became difficult for Bismarck to form a government

without their support.[84][87] From the decades-long experience in battling against the

Kulturkampf, the Catholics of Germany, says Professor Margaret Anderson, learned

democracy. She states that the clergy:

Acquired a pragmatic, but nonetheless real, commitment to democratic elections,

parliamentary procedures, and party politics – commitments in which they schooled

their flock, by their practice as much as by their preaching.