At the Threshold of Dissolution
The National Liberals and Bismarck 1877/1878
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8958232 |
|---|---|
| Authors | John F Flynn (corresponding author) |
| Year | 1988 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 319-340 |
| Publication date | 1988-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Historical Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-246X • E-ISSN: 1469-5103 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0018246x00012905 |
| OpenAlex | W2164978562 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 10 |
Allied to Bismarck and more national than liberal, the National Liberal party split the liberal movement and became the largest and most successful party in Germany from 1867 to 1879. But it acted singularly ineffectively when it plunged headlong into the greatest crisis of its history by failing to support tax legislation during a year-long negotiation with Bismarck begun in the summer of 1877. For one thing, the party focused its attention on a single issue when many were at stake, any one of which could have been an obstacle to an agreement with Bismarck. Secondly, although its factions had continually demonstrated their willingness to reach unanimity, these agreements had taken so long to develop and lasted so briefly that in effect the party spent the greater part of a critical year in opposition to Bismarck. Furthermore, by weakening the degree of its commitments in response to Bismarck's hostility towards its demands, the National Liberal party appeared indecisive, unreliable and deceptive. The issue which had produced this inept behaviour was the implementation of the party goal of maintaining parliamentary power in Germany, specifically of assuring to the Reichstag the right to vote annually the sources of the revenue of the imperial government. The story of that issue is the concern of this article. It argues that knowledge of the tensions generated by divergent principles and goals on parliamentary rights will clarify both the schismatic tendencies and the character of the National Liberal party in the later 1870s. Thus the proper assessment of the role that the issue played in the history of the party requires that the actual decision-making process be counted at least equally with agreements. Whether continual co-operation among National Liberals on parliamentary rights was based upon increased hostility or cordiality has remained the critical and unanswered practical question
Economics · Law and economics · Legislation · Liberal Party · Negotiation · Opposition (politics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Unanimity · Central European national history · European Political History Analysis · Law · Political Theory and Influence · Public Administration
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |