Radical Changes: An insight of the Peasants and Politcs in Germany, 1871-1914

David Blackbourn’s article “Peasants and Politics in Germany, 1871-1914” is an interesting article about Germany’s people and politics. He discusses how Germany has gone through significant changes from the nineteenth to the twentieth century. Blackbourn mentions several important changes and perceptions he found important while describing peasant life during this period. An important perception Blackbourn mentions was how Germany was predominantly rural and agricultural society during the nineteenth century and became an industrial society in the twentieth. I think Blackbourn thoroughly described the changes that occurred in four key aspects. The first aspect he discusses was how the rural society was simple and election participation were low to an extremely “political, co-operative, educational, recreational and enthusiastic election participation.” The second aspect was the economic changes which affected the German rural society after the 1870s threaten the Junkers while opening up opportunity to the peasantry. For example, the depression on grain prices allowed peasants to take advantage of the low prices rather than challenging the Junkers. The third aspect was the peasant’s dissatisfaction with the governmental institutions that were supposedly representing for ‘the corporate interests of agriculture,’ but rather were plotting political agendas in the 1880s. Blackbourn states an example, “… over the ostensibly less contentious issue of breeding policy, the lager landowners showed a keen interest in military and race horses, while the peasantry were more concerned with working animals.” The fourth aspect was the established parties that apparently closed the gap between themselves and the angry rural population. Blackbourn describes that the, “come-back of the old parties after the mid-1890s should ultimately be seen, in this perspective, as a provisional achievement.” I think that Blackbourn description of the peasantry life through the 1870s, 80s and 90s was extremely difficult due to the rapid differences from societal change from rural to urban.

GERMANY 19TH CENTURY

Theories about Germany during the Nineteenth Century

Germany’s government during the nineteenth century was greatly determined by the influence Bismarck had over the liberal parties. Many historians have argued about different theories explaining how liberalism has affected Germany during the nineteenth century and led towards Nazism. Among these historians are James Sheehan, Kenneth Barkin and Chris Lorenz and each have written articles sharing an insight to how liberalism had affected Germany during the nineteenth century.
Sheehan’s article called “German Liberalism in the Nineteenth Century,” discussed how Bismarck as the ‘Iron Chancellor’ needed the liberals to support him during the nineteenth century. His article mentioned how Bismarck tried to influence the liberals by proposing an indemnity bill. Sheehan states “A number of those in the Prussian Fortschrittspartei found Bismarck’s indemnity bill unacceptable. To them, it merely legalized the “gap theory,” which had allowed the minister-president to defy the parliament…,” which illustrated how liberalism affected Germany in the nineteenth century. Barkin’s article called “1878-1879 The Second Founding of the Reich, A Perspective,” discussed how Bismarck abandoned the liberals for a more conservative perspective. His article talks about how Bismarck left his liberal supporters for two Conservative parties. Barkin’s article further discussed the theory of how Bismarck’s abandonment of the liberals was how the ‘Iron Chancellor’ failed to keep his control over Germany. Lorenz’s article called “Beyond Good and Evil? The German Empire of 1871 and Modern German Historiography,” discussed how Bismarck aimed for a German Empire during the nineteenth century. His article mentions a theory of how Bismarck influenced liberalism in the nineteenth century by being an Imperial force. All and all, Bismarck was the primary influence on liberalism in the nineteenth century. Sheehan, Barkin and Lorenz’s articles all supported their individual theories explaining how liberalism has affected Germany during the nineteenth century.