How successful was Bismarck in his attempts to control the political parties in Germany in the years 1871-90? • Bismarck’s attempts to control political parties from 1871-90 was moderately successful since he often did manage to pass legislature on his own terms by securing an alliance with the National Liberals with the 1871 Kulturkampf and the Conservative with the 1879 Tariff Reforms. Though his repressive policies of Kulturkampf and the 1878 Anti-Socialist laws actually strengthened the political parties of Catholic Centre Party and the SPD, I believe that Bismarck did successfully maintain control by forming new alliances as a result you would serve to distinguish any burgeoning threats. Yes, Bismarck was successful during his liberal era of 1871-78 • Bismarck was initially successful in his alliance with the National Liberals since he capitalised upon the nationalist elements of their party. • This meant they often backed his proposals – e.g.
Firstly, Italy was only partially politically united, namely due to a number of liberal policies. The voting reforms of 1912 allowed universal male suffrage, which thus widened the electorate and allowed more Italians to vote for a majority government, therefore increasing political stability and unity, as opposed to unstable coalitions. The election deals of 1912 somewhat united the liberals and Catholics, as it widened liberal support due to their adoption of Catholic policies (which appealed to the Catholic voter, a large majority of Italians), which somewhat increased stability due to a widened electorate. Finally, the liberals invited moderate socialists to form policies with the Catholics as part of trasformismo, which partially increased political unity for a short time due to the pretence of a unified coalition and the attempt at unifying two polarised political parties. Overall, all these policies somewhat increased political unity, albeit temporarily, as they widened the electorate and allowed the Italian masses the chance to vote in a majority government.
However, Gladstone did have unsuccessful legislation in Ireland, with the 1870 Irish land act, and the 1873 Irish universities bill. Both of these were fundamentally trying to be liberal, but had very illiberal factors to them such as not allowing students in his new university to study theology, philosophy and modern history. These reforms didn’t receive the same popularity or support as the disestablishment of the Irish church. Overall, you would probably argue that Gladstone was a success in Ireland, as his biggest and most controversial piece of legislation, yet it still managed to be very successful and appealed to the Irish people and the non-conformists whereas it scared off the Anglicans. Gladstone also introduced the removal of unjustified privilege, as he described
In 1913 the value of American trade was about $2 billion, but by 1916 it had risen to $6 billion. Due to the war new markets developed. The British navy blocked German food exports leaving America to experience a 300% rise in food exports. With the introduction of new markets came; reduced unemployment, new foreign investments and an increased reliance from Great Britain on US loans which were raised in New York. This meant the US became the world’s Creditor nation and the financial capital moved from London to New York.
How successful was Macmillan as leader of the Conservatives? The success of Macmillan's leadership of the Conservatives is defined by the electoral support the party had during his time of leadership, as his decisions in policy and his image affected the party's election victories altogether. Furthermore, another success factor may be his ability to stay as leader of the party itself, as an unsuccessful leader would be urged to step down. Most importantly, the initial success of Macmillan as leader of the Conservatives could be because of his ability to manipulate the media and create a positive personal image in his early years, leading to a successful election victory in 1959. Macmillan was able to bolster the image of the party by handling criticism and potentially turning it around.
Wolsey's greatest achievement was replacing the traditional fifteenths and tenths system of taxation to a system that was fairer to people in comparison to what they earned. It was based on the amount people could afford to pay. Commissioners went round and assessed the wealth of people around the country, then greater taxes were placed on the rich. Between 1513 and 1516 the subsidy raised 170000 while fifteenths and tenths raised only 90000. ---------------------- In 1523 Wolsey demanded 800000 in taxation from parliament.
These factors led to a fragile liberal government, with the main threat in my opinion being posed not by the nationalists but the socialists. The PSI was founded in 1895 and soon became a strong threat to the liberal government. They were fiercely opposed to the liberal regime, saying it was a cover for the capitalist exploitation of Italian working classes, and used evidence that wages were still low and hours were still long in comparison to the rest of Western Europe. Also welfare benefits compared unfavourably. This led to strong support of the socialists from working classes, so much so that a relatively new party was winning over 20% of the vote by 1913.
Industry was a main contributor to the economy of Russia and Finance Minister Sergei Witte (1892-1903) targeted output in particular as a means of transforming the economy. One example of Witte in action is the change in coal output: in 1890 it was 5.9 million tonnes (before Witte took over as Finance Minister) but in 1900 it had increased to 16.1 million tonnes. That is nearly tripling the output in those ten years. Furthermore, in 1913 it was 35.4 million tonnes (still increasing because of Witte) however it dipped in 1916 to 33.8 million tonnes. This could be because of two things: the war or the unsustainability of his policies.
Wal-Mart reported profits of nearly $15 billion in 2011. At around 2 million employees, a $2 wage increase across the board would create an additional $7.8 billion in labor costs annually (assuming 40 hour work weeks). If we look at the 2011 data, this would shift the net income of Wal-Mart in half. While Wal-Mart could most certainly increase wages, it results in a significant impact So why don’t they? It is clear that customer service is not a priority, or a core competency, of Wal-Mart.
Before the first world war had started the Germans over spent and went into a massive deficit because they thought that when the won the war they would inherit the country and its wealth. Therefore this justified the government printing large amounts of money in order to fund their cause. Another cause is the war reparations which they had to pay back was agreed at 60 billion marks in order to pay for this more money was printed, could this mean that it was pressure from other countries that were to blame. Though not the worst hyperinflation ever it did have some of the most devastating effects. In 1914 the exchange rate of the dollar to the pound was $1 to 1mark, by 1923 the exchange rate was $1 to 1trillion marks.