February decrees

Two documents that Kaiser Wilhelm II had published in 1890 and that announced an expansion of workers' protection are referred to as February decrees .

"The February Decrees". Idealized representation of Wilhelm II and the claim to a "social empire" ( Neuruppiner Bilderbogen from 1890)

The decrees were drawn up against the background of the dispute between Wilhelm II and Otto von Bismarck over workers' policy. At a meeting of the Privy Council on January 24, 1890, Wilhelm demanded the development of occupational safety measures, also under the impression of the great miners' strike in the Ruhr area in 1889. Bismarck made no secret of his rejection and resigned as Prussian trade minister. As his successor he recommended Hans Hermann von Berlepsch , who had partly been the impetus for the imperial advance.

Bismarck had the edicts drawn up in which, on the one hand, Wilhelm's new social policy was publicly announced, but at the same time an attempt was made to delay implementation through some provisions.

The decrees contained the declaration of intent for improved occupational safety. It is the responsibility of the state to “regulate the time, duration and type of work in such a way that the preservation of health, the rules of morality, the economic needs of workers and their right to legal equality are preserved.” Workers' representatives were also announced and an international workers protection conference.

When handing over the template, Bismarck once again urgently advised against publication. The emperor did not follow it. The edicts were published on February 4, 1890, without the mandatory countersignature by Bismarck. The latter threatened to resign from the office of the Prussian Prime Minister. He initially remained in office, but the February decrees were one aspect that contributed to the overthrow of Bismarck that year.

The February edicts serve as a starting point for the so-called New Course . In the trade regulation amendment of 1891, the intentions were partially implemented.

literature

Wilfried Loth: The Empire. Authority and Political Mobilization. Munich 1996, ISBN 3-423-04505-1 , pp. 87-89
Thomas Nipperdey: German History 1866-1918. Power state before democracy. CH Beck, Munich 1992, ISBN 3-406-34801-7 . P. 424

Web links

Chronology of the German trade union movement

Individual evidence

↑ For the wording of the "February Decrees" and the history of their origins cf. Collection of sources on the history of German social policy from 1867 to 1914 . II. Department. From the Imperial Social Message to the February decrees of Wilhelm II (1881-1890), Volume 1: Basic questions of social policy, edited by Wolfgang Ayaß , Florian Tennstedt and Heidi Winter, Darmstadt 2003, No. 102, 105-106, 109, 112 -115, 127-128, 130-134, 137-138.
↑ On the reception of the "February Decrees" cf. Collection of sources on the history of German social policy from 1867 to 1914 , III. Department: Development and differentiation of social policy since the beginning of the New Course (1890-1904) , Volume 1, Basic Questions of Social Policy , edited by Wolfgang Ayaß, Darmstadt 2016, No. 1–7, No. 11, No. 19, No. 22 and 41.

[1] For the wording of the "February Decrees" and the history of their origins cf. Collection of sources on the history of German social policy from 1867 to 1914 . II. Department. From the Imperial Social Message to the February decrees of Wilhelm II (1881-1890), Volume 1: Basic questions of social policy, edited by Wolfgang Ayaß , Florian Tennstedt and Heidi Winter, Darmstadt 2003, No. 102, 105-106, 109, 112 -115, 127-128, 130-134, 137-138.

[2] On the reception of the "February Decrees" cf. Collection of sources on the history of German social policy from 1867 to 1914 , III. Department: Development and differentiation of social policy since the beginning of the New Course (1890-1904) , Volume 1, Basic Questions of Social Policy , edited by Wolfgang Ayaß, Darmstadt 2016, No. 1–7, No. 11, No. 19, No. 22 and 41.