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I. Central and Eastern Europe: Persistence of the Old Order
- a. Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia pursued political policies that were quite different from those of the western European nations
- i. Central European states had trappings of parliamentary government, including legislative bodies and elections by universal male suffrage, but authoritarian forces, especially powerful monarchies and conservative social groups, remained strong
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EASTERN EUROPE
germany
- a. In eastern Europe, especially Russia, the old system of autocracy was barely touched by the winds of change
- b. Germany
- i. Despite unification, important divisions remained in German society that could not simply be papered over by force of nationalism
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%s
- 1. These divisions evident in new German constitution that provided for a federal system with a bicameral legislature
- a. The Bundesrat, or upper house, represented 25 states that made up Germany
- i. Individual states kept their own kings, their own post offices, and even their own armies in peacetime
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Lower house of German parliament
- i. Lower house of German parliament, the Reichstag, was elected on the basis of universal male suffrage, but it did not have ministerial responsibility
- 1. Ministers of government, the most important of which was chancellor, were responsible not to the parliament but to the emperor
- a. The emperor commanded the armed forces and controlled foreign policy and internal administration
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Creation of parliament
- i. Though the creation of a parliament elected by universal male suffrage presented opportunities for the growth of a real political democracy, it failed to develop in Germany before WWI
- 1. The army and Bismarck were two reasons why it did not
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German army
- i. German army viewed self ads defender of monarchy and aristocracy and sought to escape any control by the Reichstag by operating under a general staff responsible only to the emperor
- 1. Prussian military tradition was strong; military officers took steps to ensure loyalty of their subordinates to the emperor , which was easy as long as Junker landowners were officers
- a. As growth of army made it necessary to turn to the middle for officers, extreme care was taken to choose only sons “of honorable bourgeois families”
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policiesof Bismarck
- i. The policies of Otto von Bismarck, who was chancellor of new German state, served to prevent the growth of more democratic institutions
- 1. At first, Bismarck worked with liberals to achieve greater centralization of Germany through common codes of criminal and commercial law
- Liberals also joined Bismarck in his attack on the catholic church, the so-called Kulturkampf, or struggle for civilization
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Middle-class liberals
- i. Like Bismarck, middle-class liberals distrusted Catholic loyalty to the new Germany
- 1. Bismarck’s strong-arm tactics against the Catholic clergy and Catholic institutions proved counterproductive, and Bismarck welcomed an opportunity to abandon the attack on Catholicism by making an abrupt shift in policy
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1878
- i. 1878: Bismarck abandoned liberals and began to persecute socialists
- 1. When Social Democratic party elected 12 deputies to the Reichstag in 1877, Bismarck grew alarmed, believing that the socialists’ antinationalistic, anticapitalistic, and antimonarchical stance represented a danger to the empire
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Antisocial law
a. 1878: Bismarck got parliament to pass a stringent antisocialist law that outlawed the Social Democratic Party and limited socialist meetings and publications, although socialist candidates were still permitted to run for the Reichstag
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In addition
- 1. In addition to repressive measures, Bismarck attempted to woo workers away from socialism by enacting social welfare legislation
- a. 1883 and 1889: the Reichstag passed laws that established sickness, accident, and disability benefits as well as old-age pensions financed by compulsory contributions from workers, employers, and the state
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Social security system
- i. Bismarck’s social security system was most progressive
- 1. Still, much to be desired, such as pension being payable only at age 70 after forty-eight years of contributions
- a. If deathà no benefits
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Failure
- i. Both the repressive and social welfare measures failed to stop growth of socialism
- 1. Social Democratic Party grew and Bismarck planned more repressive measures, but before he could carry them out, the new emperor William II got rid of him for his own policies
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Austria Hungary
- i. After creation of Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary in 1867, the Austrian part received a constitution that established a parliamentary system with the principle of ministerial responsibility
- 1. Emperor Francis Joseph ignored ministerial responsibility and proceeded to personally appoint and dismiss his ministers and rule by decree when parliament was not in session
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Minorities
- i. Problem of minorities troubled the empire
- 1. Ethnic Germans (1/3) governed Austria, but felt threatened by Czechs, Poles, etc.
- a. Difficulties evident when Count Edward von Taaffe served as prime minister
- i. Attempted to muddle through by relying on a coalition of German conservatives, Czechs, and Poles to maintain a majority in Parliament
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Concessions
- 1. His concessions to national minorities, like allowing Slavic languages, antagonized German-speaking Austrian bureaucracy and aristocracy, two of the basic pillars of the empire
- a. Opposition of Taaffe’s policies brought his downfall but didn’t solve nationalities problem
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Combo of forces
- i. held Austro-Hungarian Empire together was combo of forces
- 1. Francis Joseph was one unifying factor (emperor)
- a. Strongly Anti-Hungarian, but made an effort to take position above national differences
- 2. Loyalty to Catholic Church also helped keep such national groups loyal to Catholic Habsburg dynasty
- 3. Finally, although dominated by German-speaking officials, the large imperial bureaucracy served as unifying force for the empire
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Hugnary
i. Unlike Austria, Hungary had a working parliamentary system, but it was controlled by great Magyar landowners who dominated both Hungarian peasantry and the other ethnic groups in Hungary
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Hungarians
- 1. Hungarians attempted to solve their nationalities problem by systematic Magyarization
- a. Magyar language was imposed on all schools and was only language that could be used by government and military officials
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Russia
- i. Government made no concession whatever to liberal and democratic reforms, eliminating altogether any possibility of a mass politics
- 1. Assassination of Alexander II convinced his son and successor, Alexander III, that reform was mistakeà he quickly instituted what he said were exceptional measures
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Powers
- a. Powers of the secret police were expanded
- b. Advocates of constitutional monarchy and social reform, along with revolutionary groups, were persecuted
- ii. Entire districts of Russia were placed under martial law if the government suspected the inhabitants of treason
- 1. Powers of zemstvos, created by reforms of Alex II, were curtailed
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Alexander
- i. Alexander also pursued a radical Russification program of the numerous nationalities that made up the Russian Empire
- 1. Russians themselves constituted only 40% of the population, which didn’t stop the tsar from banning the use of all languages except Russian in schools
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Policy
a. Policy of Russification served primarily to anger national groups and create new sources of opposition to tsarist policies
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Alex III
- i. When Alex III died , his weak son and successor, Nicholas II, adopted father’s conviction that absolute power should be preserved
- 1. But conditions were changing, especially the growth of industrialization and the tsar’s approach was not realistic in view of new circumstances he faced
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