disclaimer: Before I get going on this thing I want to go ahead and admit that I am not strong with politics. it is difficult for me to understand those subtle differences that define a party. I cannot keep them all straight in my head. If I get something wrong, I apologize in advance. If anyone would like to explain all of these different parties to me, please feel free)
The role that religion plays in the "modernized" society is actually an interesting and slightly ironic story. Something that I think is important to remember is the religious/secular struggle that had been going on for decades, even centuries before this conflict. For hundreds of years the Church was the ultimate authority on all issues. They held “the keys to the Kingdom” so to speak. You see the “German” (yes I know it did not exist yet, but go with me) secular world start to try to assert is power as early as the 11th century with the struggle between Pope Gregory VII and Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor. Embedded deeply into the European psyche is this rebellious attitude toward papal authority. You see it pan out multiple times over the years (remember the Reformation?)
I think that it is this mindset that helped push the mistrust and censorship of the Catholic community. After Italian Unification, the power of the Papacy was further diminished. During this time a particularly ambitious Pope was trying to regain secular power (for example, by announcing the Infallibility of the Church). Of course in the now distinctly Protestant, unified Germany there would be an outcry. In fact, I think that all of Protestant Europe was infuriated. The leaders, the aristocracy and ruling family (and Bismark), feared the influence that the Church might try to reassert. The rise of Church authority meant the decline of secular influence. After all, hadn’t they JUST put the Papacy in their place? Hadn’t Church and State already been (mostly) separated?
It is also pretty amusing how Bismark fought for and achieved universal male suffrage but that ended up being detrimental to his plans later on. Much of the lower working classes were indeed Catholic. By giving them the power to vote, they could vote for the Conservative (Catholic leaning) politicians.
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Good point. It is very interesting to think about how the Catholic Church’s influence on Europe may have brought them together in many scenarios. When you think about it, the church’s lust for power may have been something that pushed much of the changes that we can look back and see in the past of that region. Especially regarding the Pope’s “Infallibility of the Papacy” thing (that went well). I guess that it’s just another one of those things that factors into the passing of events. Yes, Bismarck giving universal suffrage did end up biting him later on, but what if that wasn’t for the best. Things like this just intrigue me. Is Catholics were not given the right to vote, but everyone else was, what might have Bismarck done with that new found power? He could have eventually taken it to a very dark place that without that kind of check on some of his political goals.
ReplyDeleteIn many ways, the 1870s seem to have been the perfect storm of political vs religious conditions. The creation of a unified Germany, forged in war but still uncertain about ethnic Germans outside of its boundaries and other minorities within the Reich, occurred simultaneously with the destruction of the Pope's secular power and his decision to proclaim himself the 'prisoner of the Vatican' while vigorously reasserting his spiritual authority. These two factors must also be seen in light of the cultural struggle between religion and modernity that threatened not just the Catholic Church but religion in general. Without all of these factors happening at the same time, would the Kulturkampf have even occurred?
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