Who Actually Ran Germany 1900-1914

Who Actually

Ran

Germany ?

The Kaiser

• System of Government centered on the imperial court in which the Kaiser exercised considerable control over the direction of government policy.

For Example:

• His chancellors were never able to assert power in the way that Bismarck had done previously.

The German Constitution granted the Kaiser extensive powers if he exerted them and he alone had the right to appoint and dismiss the Chancellor and his state secretaries completely independent of the wishes of the Reichstag. This means the population's voice was never truly heard and instead the Kaiser ruled in an autocratic manner.

HOWEVER...

• The Kaiser's grasp of politics was limited
• he was essentially a lazy and pleasure seeking man
• He was never able to settle down to the regular routine required of government and administration
• he much preferred to spend his time playing the social and ceremonial roles of a monarch

This left the Kaiser open to attack and, due to his lack of presence may mean that others could take advantage of the Reichstag's / Chancellor's lack of power.

Power in the

Hands of

the Elite

Structuralist view - Interprets history by analyzing the role of social and economic forces and structures. They tend to place less emphasis on the role on the individual.

Because the Kaiser was largely absent from the political circle in Germany it has to be debated how much control he actually had over Germany.

Because the Reichstag and the Chancellors had such limited powers, a power vacuum was formed due to the lack of a clear leader. This would have left Germany in political confusion and a power struggle.

Other forces (Elites) took control of the situation and exerted a major influence over the nation's affairs.

This was because they were Prussian and therefore had considerable power granted by the constitution.

Changes in Germany

Due to Industrialization, a powerful middle calss began emerging, most notably industrialists, bankers and others engaged in trade and commerce.

The Elites wanted to maintain their power when they saw a threat to democracy that prompted them to seek alliances with the newly emerging elites of industry and commerce.

Industrialization saw an increase in socialism due to urbanization.

They hoped to bring this about by offering them a stake in the system and the promise of armaments contracts and colonical markets overseas.

First Germany NEEDED an Empire

This also saw domestic trade becoming foreign policy. As it is the Elites that are engaging in this, it suggests that the Elites were the ones in control of Germany

• it exaggerated the unity of purpose within the elites.
• It failed to recognize the declining influence of the junkers
• it did not emphasis the fears of the German middle classes who did not take their lead fro the traditional elites - about revolution and full democracy.

There were many political developments in the late 19th century on 'history from below' rather than 'from above'.

The Elites lacked any real unity of purpose and therefore they struggled to come to terms with the social upheavals that accompanied the tremendous economic changes in Germany at the time.

Many of the interest groups in Germany were demanding a genuine voice - therefore some historians have successfully highlighted the tremendous growth of political activity and its diversity.

This had led them to suggest that Germany's political leaders were not so much using, but actually responding to public opinion.

If this was indeed the case then the politics of Wilhelme Germany were the result of rather more complicated developements than has previously been thought.

This therefore suggests that the people ran a considerable amount of Germany.

A Synthesized

interpretation

On the one hand, the kaiser was never able to dominate the direction of foreign and domestic policy.

On the other, the nature of the German Constitution meant that when no agreement between power blocks could be reached, the key decisions feel to him.

therefore that is truly the question: Who Ran Germany? It would appear there was no one ruler do to either political weakness, or a lack of power.

However...

An Individualist Interpretation

Mass

Politics

Movements

challenge to the structuralist approach

1900-14