1. 8. Political Organisations: p. 7 - 8
TOPIC: Issues in the Second Reich
KD ANSWERS 5:
8. Political Organisations: p
Political Parties flourished - in part because of universal Male Suffrage (by 1871), but also because other political views were suppressed.
Name
Conservatives
Junkers, landed interests, especially in Prussia.
Supported the Kaiser, discipline and authority
Favoured nationalist foreign policy
Groups
Views
Name
Free Conservatives
Commercial, industrial and wealthier professional classes.
Similar to Conservatives; strong supporters of von Bismarck and Protectionism.
Groups
Views

2. Make sure to know these two groups. They were
TOPIC: Issues in the Second Reich
KD ANSWERS 6:
8. Political Organisations: p
Name
National Liberals
Industrial middle class and Protestant middle class.
Supported nationalist policies, with a liberal constitution. Supported von Bismarck’s Kulturkampf.
Groups
Views
Name
Liberal Progressives
Middle classes
Favoured parliamentary government, but not in support of von Bismarck’s ‘nation state.’
Groups
Views
Make sure to know these two groups. They were
targeted by the Kaiser’s ‘divide and rule’ strategy.

3. 8. Political Organisations: p. 7 - 8 Name
TOPIC: Issues in the Second Reich
KD ANSWERS 7:
8. Political Organisations: p
Name
Centre Party - Zentrum
Catholics, mainly based in the South (Bavaria, Upper Silesia), as well as non-socialist middle and working classes.
Anti-socialist, anti-Prussia and OPPOSED von Bismarck’s Kulturkampf.
Groups
Views
Name
Social Democratic Party (SPD)
Working classes
Split views: Marxists (led by August Bebel) argued for revolution and non-cooperation, while Reformists (led by Eduard Bernstein) wanted to work within Reichstag.
Groups
Views

4. Seats won in the Reichstag 1898 - 1912
TOPIC: Issues in the Second Reich
KD ANSWERS 8:
8. Political Organisations: p
Seats won in the Reichstag
1898
1903
1907
1912
Conservatives 56 54 60 43
Free Conservatives 23 21 24 14
National Liberals 46 51 45
Liberal Progressives 41 31 42
Centre Party
102
100
105 91
Social Democrats 81
110
Other 82 63 69 52
What do these figures suggest about the direction
Germany is heading? Discuss