The government also took note of the fact that most of the members were lower class and upset with the German authorities. The other largest concern for the government was that church figures were being transformed to political figures. The people could relate to these church figures much more compared to politicians because they would see them very frequently and were very personable, unlike the politicians that would come around once and a while to gain votes. These church figures had a huge backing thanks to this new, emerging cult. The government saw this cult as an ongoing issue. The church had a great deal of power that the government felt were "brainwashing" these people. The figures of the church could spread their influence through talks not only in church but also in school. If future generations of children were being taught by members of this culture there is no telling how many people could be influenced by the party. This was also a very organized, faithful cult. I can completely see the fear from the government because of the strength and overflowing popularity that the Roman Catholic church possessed.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
The Kulturkampf - Blog #3
Germany was greatly effected by a massive political alignment due to the presence and great influence of the Roman Catholic Church; this was called the kulturkamp or literally "culture struggle." The Catholic Church had a great deal of power during this time period, which dates to as early as the 1840's. The first thing the church established was a "cohesive Catholic subculture." By doing this mainly the lower class was able to bond together under the influence of the church. This huge subculture was able to question and really take a stand against German Authority. This is best summarized when Anderson states that this cult had a "Reaction function in buttressing Germany's authoritarian establishment against the forces of democracy, often expressed in shorthand as Revolution." The threat of the influence of the Catholic Church frightened the German government very much. Instead of a seeing this cult as a peaceful, religious group they saw them as very dangerous, potential revolutionaries.
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The fear of Catholics is something that seems to run through every Protestant country in Europe. The Germans had just established their united front, and then here come the Catholics, who appear to put their loyalty to a religious figurehead in Rome instead of to the German state. That would seriously scare anyone. For the German unification to have worked, it needed at least 100% of the population to go along with it, or all the hard work would be wasted.
ReplyDeleteChurch officials in the government were also worrying to other leaders because they couldn't be sure where their loyalties lay as well. When there was a conflict between a religious idea and a social idea, which way would they go? Would those leaders only listen to the Pope and eventually try and take control of Germany and give it to the Pope as well? All that may seem silly and out there, it still could have been a legit concern, and it's not really surprising Protestant leaders were worried.
I’d say fear of the Catholic church isn’t so much something that pervades European Politics but World politics. We have had similar problems here in the United States over fears with Catholics and Catholic politicians. The fear seems to be rooted in their obedience to the Pope who they owe their allegiance too, and in most circumstances at least in the church’s mind God should come before country. So it was a legitimate concern of the established elites in Germany that suddenly Catholics were starting to get elected over them. This coupled with the fact that in the minds of many middle class Germans to be German was to be Protestant so how could good Germans ever have a good productive nation if they were being governed by Catholics?
ReplyDeleteThat said I believe n the end the Kulturekamph really ended up hurting both the Liberal and Conservative cause as it effectively alienated a large group that both parties could have drawn from. The conservatives began to lose support from low income country Catholics while the liberals lost their chance to reach out to the poor and offer them a sort of typical bourgeois “fatherly” protection. Instead the Kulturekamph ended up creating the center party of United Catholics from all walks of life effectively putting a wrench in both the conservative and Liberal’s plans for the future.
Clark, you do a great job of hitting on what the government feared from the Church. However, the quote you cite from Anderson is actually her statement of an argument she disagrees with. Anderson argues that the formation of the German state and Catholic concern to defend the Church against the government led to the formation of the Center party and its electoral strength, not a deep-seated connection between Catholicism and reaction. (She actually argues that the Church was not politically reactionary since it did not support the government and it embraced the new mass politics long before other political parties did.)
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