A complete essay (including referencing) following the PEEL (Point, Evidence, Explanation, Link) structure. A* graded. Extremely useful for revision purposes and can be used to both aid your revision or be used to develop your own essay plan. I used this when revising for my A Level exam and found ...
‘Bismarck successfully controlled the political opposition he faced in the years 1871-
1890’. To what extent do you agree with this statement?
In the period 1871-1890 Bismarck did not successfully control the political opposition
that he faced. In politics, the opposition are those who hold conflicting view to the
Government and stands against the government for the beliefs that they hold. To
control this opposition is to keep its impact on matters in government to the
minimum. With this in mind, whilst Bismarck was a very able politician who had
success when dealing with foreign policy, problems arose when he was faced with
political opposition his method of dealing with which was often found to be
unsuccessful.
During the early years of Bismarck’s period as Chancellor, he was unable to
successfully deal with the political opposition from the National Liberals. In the year
of 1874, Bismarck put forward a policy known as “Eternal Law” within which, the
Army was guaranteed over 80% of Federal Expenditure. The policy was met with
unyielding resistance from the National Liberals who wished to maintain the system
of annual budgets as they felt that this maintained the power of the Reichstag and
gave them a far greater say in the control of the Reich. Furthermore, the National
Liberals felt that in giving 80% of Federal Expenditure solely to the army, the
Reichstag was greatly reducing its monetary power, which was therefore influencing
strongly upon the Reichstag’s ability to cater for other needs of the German people.
A bitter struggle ensued against Bismarck’s policy and eventually a compromise
agreement was made, known as the Septennial Law, whereby the military budget
was set at 80% of Federal Expenditure for seven years. This was a bitter blow for
Bismarck as it now meant that the Reichstag maintained power over the army as
they could decide as to whether government spending on the army should be
reduced. Whilst in the short term Bismarck had succeeded in passing the policy, it
was not the “Eternal Law” that he desired, leaving the Reichstag in overall control of
army budgets. It was down to the political opposition that Bismarck faced from the
National Liberals that Bismarck was unable to pass his original policy. The
compromise agreement therefore shows that Bismarck was unable to successfully
control opposition that he faced from the National Liberals. He failed to pass his
initial policy and due to the vetoing that the policy underwent, the policy did not
possess a stable and guaranteed future.
Bismarck showed further inability to successfully control political opposition through
his dealing of the Catholic Church. In 1871, Bismarck introduced his policy of
Kulturkampf, an attempt to break the independent power that the Catholic Church
held in the newly unified Germany. That the role of the Catholic Church became
such an important issue for Bismarck is largely due to the views that the Centre
Party held about the Reich. With strong views on the dominant role of Prussia,
Bismarck saw the party as ‘reichsfeinde’ to the empire that he was wishing to create.
In an attempt to fight back against the Catholic Church, Bismarck modified the
influence that the Catholic Church held in German society through a number of new
measures which included bringing schools under the direct supervision of the state
and giving Parishes the power to elect their own Priests. As a means by which to
enforce these modifications, Bismarck introduced the “Bread Basket Law”. This new
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