Liberal Union (Germany)
The Liberal Association ( sometimes referred to as secession ) was a Liberal party during the German Empire, which was in 1880 emerged from a split of the left wing of the National Liberal Party, and in 1884 merged with the German Progressive Party to the German Liberal Party. Later, the Liberal Association, founded in 1893 tied to their tradition.
Elimination of the National Liberals
The National Liberal Reichstag fraction was characterized by a colorful variety of opinions and interests of their members. It formed a reservoir for Liberals from the Prussian provinces and the southern German countries and united both " Manchester liberals " and " protectionists ". Early as 1875 noted Friedrich Kapp - Member of the Zentralwahlkomittes the National Liberal Party - critically that " the National Liberal Party [ ... ] such a hodgepodge of all possible partially incompatible aspirations, views and goals [ is ] that she must go to pieces ". Against this background, it came within the National Liberal faction in a gradual process of alienation between the relatively well-connected left to Eduard Lasker, Max von Forckenbeck and Ludwig Bamberger one hand and the growing numerically, but occurring without a central leader of the right wing.
The supporters of the left wing came more and more to the conviction that the party leadership to Rudolf von Bennigsen and Miquel John had the National Liberals too tied to the policy of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck. First differences of opinion within the National Liberal Party had in 1878 become clear during the negotiations on the Anti-Socialist Law. The intra-party differences deepened, as the left wing laws limiting the Kulturkampf against the Catholic Church stronger and the military budget was only willing to grant for a legislative period and not, as in the form of Septennat for seven years. These issues led ultimately therefore to cleavage of the National Liberal Party and establishing the Liberal Union, because the more right -oriented party leadership supported the protective tariff policy. The newly founded party came mainly in the left-liberal wing.
Main reasons for the drop in the well " secession " designated Liberal Union was the conviction that, for a continued support of the conservative Bismarck's policy as it operated the National Liberals since 1878, basic liberal principles would be violated or even sacrificed entirely. Therefore, the secessionists calling for the return to free trade. Domestically, they strove against Bismarck's intentions to a gradual parliamentary government of the constitutional system in terms of an effective separation of powers and argued for the preservation of state sovereignty against the church. With these demands, the secessionists reared against the accomplished of the National Liberals "conservative revolution" of 1878/79 as part of the " Bismarck using the Junker, priests and Ultramontanes short of all enemies of the Empire gained victory [ it ] " again in the short term, but long term vain.
Organization of secessionists
The Liberal Association was a classic of dignitaries and thereby organisatotisch poorly adjusted to the beginning era of mass politicization. The party consisted essentially of the deputies of the Reichstag, some main urban notables and personal confidence men in the constituencies. The number of secessionist local associations remained relatively low, estimated there were 1884 of which 50 in the entire Reich. They consisted mainly in the major trading and maritime towns of northern and eastern Germany. Sociologically, the secessionists were all civil aligned to upper middle-class. Her bearing layers included in particular free-trade economic and liberal education circles, while its importance in the petty bourgeoisie and the working class was rather low, because these groups advocated in general, the protective tariffs. As the party bearing upper middle classes were unwilling organization in many parts, the secessionists were " officers without NCOs and is therefore often without a crew ," said Nipperdey. However, the new party initially seemed to have success, they turned but after the 1881 Reichstag elections, after all 46 members of the Reichstag, the same number as the National Liberals, of whom she had split away.
In the short time of its existence, the Liberal association has developed only approaches key institutions. First, we began a five-member Executive Committee, which the deputies Heinrich Rickert and Gustav Lipke and the non- parliamentarians Friedrich Kapp, Albert Groening and Theodor Wilhelm Lesse belonged. This committee addressed, among others, an office, a caucus, initiated the publication of a correspondence writing in the paths initiated and collected the money required for this purpose. Soon after, has complemented the parliamentary representation a " choice of the Liberal Club " was founded as an organization for the followers in the country. The connection of the leading deputies and Berlin notables with the partly organized in the electoral association members was maintained by party conventions to which the most important people of the constituencies were invited. According Nipperdey, the Congress had less the character of an institution rather than a meeting with the "Friends of the land ." In essence, he has the only legitimizes the decisions of the factional leaders, so about 1882 adopted a programmatic declaration en bloc, and an Executive Committee shall be established to further advance the organizational structure of the party.
The organization of the central authority was not clearly defined. In practice, formed the leading MPs, members of the Executive Committee and the Group Executive Board members, the party leadership to the other people were involved in the individual case. For example, one of Heinrich Rickert and Eduard Lasker 1881 election manifesto designed by Ludwig Bamberger, Max von Forckenbeck, Franz von Stauffenberg and Friedrich Kapp was signed. Other leading figures of the party were, among others, Karl Baumbach, Georg von Bunsen, Theodor Mommsen, Karl Schrader, Georg von Siemens, Friedrich Witte and the young Theodor Barth. In the Reichstag allowed each other a lot of freedom, for example, Eduard Lasker took almost a solely for the health law passed in 1883, which, however, the unit not endangered.
Merger with the Progressive
In the longer term, the secessionists were intent on establishing a new liberal party collection that would put on the model of the British Liberal Party in the future, perhaps after the seizure of power of the Crown Prince Friedrich, a government. The desire for the union of all the Liberals came in the written resignation of the secessionist Reichstag deputies from the Group of the National Liberals expressed. With proper care, careful, open the door for a return to the National Liberals did not strike, demanding the secessionists "that some merger of the Liberal Party on the key issues, the cessation confusing and exhausting struggles of various liberal factions". The plans for a pan- liberal party but failed finally, when the National Liberals clearly presented with their " Heidelberg Declaration " of 1884 behind the policy of Bismarck. In addition, the economic policy standpoint of secessionists joined an association with the National Liberals. The constitutional idea of the overall political liberalism had increasingly lost weight.
Instead, the leaders of the Liberal Union gradually became friends with the idea to realize a merger with the Progressive Party. While Ludwig Bamberger and Max faced initially reserved by Forckenbeck plans on these matters, because they were afraid of losing the middle position of the secessionists in German liberalism, and also shied away from the autocratic leadership style of the progressive party leader Eugen Richter, Heinrich Rickert and Georg von Bunsen were lively for a a merger. There they finally succeeded in a meeting of the Group Executive Board, to win over the waverers for a merger. Already in January 1884 Franz von Stauffenberg and Eugen Richter had taken the merger negotiations, in March of the same year, the two parties formed in the Reichstag a parliamentary group, which included a total of 100 deputies, and soon after was completed formally before the general election of October 1884, the merger.
When choosing the new German Liberal Party lost a third of their mandates and returned with only 64 seats in the Reichstag. The Liberals now recognized that the overall liberalism in Germany was only conceivable as a major political factor, when it also included the National Liberals. This solution, however desirable it might seem, however, failed due to the then political orientation of the various fractions, as the residual fraction of the National Liberal Party was far to the right and originating from the Progress Party members of the Radical Party were located far to the left. A merger of all Liberal MPs under one roof proved impossible dar.
Bismarck had succeeded with occupying not only the National Liberals for his conservative government, but decisively and sustainably weaken the liberal movement as a whole in the Reichstag. He thus contributed decisively to the fact that a Liberal government prevented the German Empire and at the same time the liberal opposition in the Reichstag was decisively weakened.