Bulow block

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The Bülow Block is named after the Reich Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow and describes an electoral alliance in the Reichstag election of 1907 . Until 1909, the resulting majority in the Reichstag supported von Bülows' policy.

prehistory

After the parliamentary majority, mainly composed of the Center and Social Democrats, refused to accept a supplementary budget for the continuation of the war in German Southwest Africa , the Reichstag was dissolved and early elections were scheduled.

Thereupon conservatives and national liberals as well as left liberals formed an electoral alliance to support the Reich Chancellor von Bülow. It was a defensive alliance against the Catholic center and above all against the dynamic social democracy . By integrating the left-wing liberals, the groups supporting the state were, so to speak, expanded to the left into the progressive educated and economic bourgeoisie. In the election campaign, the government parties had success with nationalist, anti-social democratic and anti-center slogans. In the run-up to the election, they had run-off agreements.

The Bülow Block won the so-called Hottentot elections in 1907 . The success could only come about because of the majority vote . The absolute number of votes in the bloc was lower than that of the opposition parties SPD and Zentrum.

Right to reform policy

For von Bülow, the bloc was not just an electoral alliance, but was intended as an ongoing alliance in parliament to support the government. The political existence of Bülows depended on the existence of the bloc in the following years. Therefore government members like Arthur von Posadowsky-Wehner or the Prussian minister of education Heinrich Konrad Studt , who stood for cooperation with the center, were replaced. Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg was appointed for Posadowsky as Interior Secretary of the Reich and Vice Chancellor , who at the same time also became Deputy Chairman of the Prussian State Ministry . The colonial department previously located in the Foreign Office became independent as the Reich Colonial Office under the liberal and reformer State Secretary Bernhard Dernburg .

It was Bülows' aim to overcome the stagnation of recent years. In the Reichstag he issued the slogan: “Not regression and not standstill, but progress.” However, the majority of Bülow forced a maneuvering between national liberals and conservatives. The conservatives in particular resisted any real change. Liberal-looking government proposals were rejected, while these did not go far enough for the liberals. Overall, the bloc's ability to act and its stability was limited. While conservatives and left-liberals pursued very opposite goals and were ready to break up the alliance if necessary, the national liberals identified themselves most strongly with it. The bloc was held together first of all by the efforts of the Chancellor and secondly by the mutual opposition to the Social Democrats and the center.

In the first few years, however, there actually seemed to be reforms. In the spirit of internal liberalization, a new version of the offense of lese majesty was successful . The vast majority of minor cases have not been punished since then. The stock exchange law, which was reformed in the 1890s at the urging of the agrarians, was liberalized again. The contradictions of the alliance became evident in the Reichsvereingesetz (Reich Association Act ) passed in 1908 . Overall, it was relatively liberal and made membership possible for women for the first time; on the other hand, it contained a “language paragraph” that discriminated against non-German-speaking minorities.

Limits of common ground

The central point of contention between liberals and conservatives was above all the Prussian electoral law issue. For the liberals, especially for Friedrich Naumann , the democratization of Prussian suffrage was the central task of the bloc. But the National Liberals also wanted reforms in this area. On the other hand, the Conservatives defended the three-class suffrage with all their might, as their disproportionate influence on Prussian politics and indirectly on imperial politics was based on it. However, there were signs that something was changing. As a reaction to the social democratic mass demonstrations, the emperor promised in his throne speech of October 20, 1908 that an “organic” further development of the right to vote was one of the most important tasks of legislation. In view of the majority situation, the Chancellor, also in his capacity as Prussian Prime Minister, waved back and forth between liberals and conservatives on this issue.

The Chancellor, and with him the policy he represented, was severely weakened by the Daily Telegraph affair in 1908. He tried to cover up his own complicity, but took responsibility outwardly, but this did not give the emperor any public relief. Von Bülow received the support of the bloc parties in the relevant Reichstag debate, but even in the government camp there was considerable criticism of the emperor's inept behavior. More decisive, however, was that von Bülow lost the emperor's trust. From then on he was only Chancellor on call. The chance of a stronger parliamentarization in view of the ailing position of Wilhelm II was discussed afterwards, but not used.

Imperial financial reform and end of the bloc

The bloc finally broke up in 1909 when the Reich's financial reform failed . The problem of imperial finances had worsened with growing government spending, for example through social policy and the construction of fleets. The main question has long been whether the empire should have the right to raise its own direct taxes. All previous financial reforms had put this problem on the back burner; given the budgetary situation, this was no longer possible. It was necessary to raise 500 million marks annually in the future.

The Liberals were of the opinion that this was at least partially only possible through direct taxes. The government presented a bill which, in addition to consumption taxes on tobacco, beer and liquor, which together made up four-fifths of the total, also provided for an inheritance tax. This met with resolute resistance from the conservatives, who received massive public support from the Federation of Farmers. He even spoke of impending expropriations. In principle, the critics did not want to give a Reichstag elected under democratic suffrage access to property taxes. The Conservatives made it clear without a doubt that if the planned inheritance tax were retained, they would break the block. Even Peter Spahn from the center refusing announced his party.

The question of inheritance tax has polarized the public. Not least the demagoguery of the agricultural associations led to the establishment of the liberal Hansabund . In the Reichstag the Conservatives, the Center and the representatives of the Poles voted against the bill; the Liberals and the Social Democrats for it. The majority (194 to 186 for inheritance tax) were against von Bülow's bill.

Thereupon von Bülow submitted his resignation. However, he brought the financial reform to an end before the end of his chancellorship with changed majorities and content. In place of the inheritance tax, various consumption taxes have now been increased or newly created. A majority of conservatives and the center approved this. In this way, the agrarian interest groups managed to protect property and agriculture. The Reich's financial problems were initially resolved, but the attempted modernization of tax legislation had also failed.

The resignation of Bülows was significant insofar as he had drawn the consequences from a defeat in the Reichstag. This could be interpreted as an approximation to a parliamentary system. Also new was the approval of the Social Democrats for a government bill. This also indicated a possible departure from the previous opposition role. In this sense, the overthrow of Bülows was rather counterproductive for the conservatives, despite the success on the tax issue.

literature

supporting documents

  1. ↑ Quoted from Nipperdey, p. 732