Religion has been the most common identity among Western Europeans for the last several millennia, particularly Catholicism. After its adoption, the Roman empire, with an abundance of brutality and a lack of respect for foreign beliefs, set a tone for a pattern of conversion. This mindset determined the fate of the Western world. As a result of the this mechanistic and hierarchical movement, organized religion in the 19th century had a prominent role in everyday life. Pitted against one another philosophically, Catholic and Protestants lived had for centuries in strife. With the unification of a Protestant German empire it is not surprising that Catholics received political backlash resulting in stifled individual liberties. What remains interesting is how and why this change occurred in a newly founded constitutional state.
Flaunting his popularity, Bismarck led the way in the persecution of the Catholics. The Catholics, as pointed out by Margaret Anderson, were a fairly liberal group of people. She tells us that a distinct link between Catholicism and conservatism would be a complete misinterpretation of the actual scenario. If the Catholics were believers in a political ideology shared by so many Protestants, why the persecution? I find the answer in a simple, and subtle fear.
With Rome’s secular influence over the world at an all time low, I ironically see this coupled by an increase in international political power. This political power lies in the relatively new European concept of the vote. While the newly unified German empire did disproportionately represent its citizens, I would imagine that the sheer number of Catholics did not sit well with Bismarck and the ruling Protestants.
Anderson’s approach to the discerning clerical influence on the vote appears to be less dangerous than those in strict Catholic opposition would liked to have believe. Anderson does say that “pastors had sometimes conveyed their support for a candidate from the pulpit...hung around the polls.” I believe that in this period in Germany people overwhelmingly, as is human nature, voted for socio-economic reasons. However, being raised in a Catholic church I have been present at multiple homilies where a well respected priest has thrown his support behind a candidate, even to the point of insinuating mortal danger of the soul pending on the vote. My personal experience, in much more secular world than could ever have been dreamed of 150 years ago, is the incarnation of the Catholic’s struggle for power in the modern world. Any institution composed of a substantial portion a nation’s population has inherent power. Bismarck cleverly used the masses to exert tyranny against the German minority.
I hypothesize that this fear inspired a sort of paranoia in Bismarck that comes so often with great power. As a diplomat of his stature, he had little trouble exerting his will to see the growth of the Kulturkampf. Unfortunately, this complex did not die out. The ability of the German majority to have extreme prejudices fostered by the conservative national leaders eventually led to historical tragedy.
This is just my opinion, but I don't think it's really surprising that the backlash against Catholicism came with the founding of a constitutional state. The Catholics were extremely radical and the fact that their loyalty could lie with the Pope instead of the German state scared a lot of people. They weren't sure if the Catholics could be trusted to do the right thing in politics, or just in life in general. And you're right, the large number of them together didn't sit well with Bismarck. If they got voted into power, who knows where Germany could have gone, and that was something Bismarck wanted to not happen at all, so the fact that they were given limited individual liberties is understandable, although technically wrong, since they founded a constitutional state.
ReplyDeleteFor Bismarck, the Cgurch constituted a counter-authority and a threat to his efforts to create an internally unified German state. He feared that the Catholic political party, strengthened by universal suffrage, would becoming a rallying point for discontent in the Empire, especially in the parts of Poland that Prussia controlled. These areas were already unhappy about Germanization and religion became a away to preserve their Polish national identity.
ReplyDeleteKatie, I' not what you mean when you refer to Catholics as 'radical' other than the fact that embraced mass politics much earlier than the other tradition parties. Anderson argues that the Catholics were not reactionary but I'm not sure that she would classify them as radical.
Matt, I agree with your point about persecution being a result of a potential threat. Bismarck worried the Catholics would be able to to take positions of power they were never able to have in the past because the new system of democracy allowed them to do so. As this notion became apparent to the aristocracy, they felt the need to suppress Catholicism. Of course, after noticing the persecution of their own people, the Catholics would allign themselves into the Center Party. This would serve as their collective effort to thwart conservative efforts of oppression. I can't say it was the sole reason for the failure of the Kulturkampf, but the success of the Center Party and their existence through Bismarck's era is a major part of it.
ReplyDelete