‘the Political Establishment in Germany Succeeded in Maintaining the Political Status Quo Through a Policy of Moderate Reform’ How Far Do You Agree with This Statement?

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During the period between 1900 and 1914 Germany was socially, economically and politically stagnant. It is considered though that the cause of inactive political status was all the moderate reforms introduced by the weak political establishment. Despite the fact that other factors such as the military, the economy and the pressure groups contributed to the maintenance of the political status quo, it was to a large extent the responsibility of the establishment, as it is directly connected to the political status, and thus responsible for the introduction of better reforms that would help Germany grow politically which it did not, so it was not successful. Firstly, a reason why the political status quo was maintained as such was the constitution of Germany. Victory against France in 1871 led to the unification of the states of North Confederation with the rest of the kingdoms and a new constitution based on the North Confederation’s one was created. The author was Germany’s first Chancellor Otto von Bismarck and it aimed in preserving the power of the elite. The new German Reich was consisted of twenty-five states, four kingdoms, six grand duchies, twelve duchies and principalities and three free cities, and also the territory of Alsace-Loraine that was seized from France in 1871. Each state had a different government and constitution with forms of it varying from near absolutism to universal suffrage. The states were also responsible for things like education, police, justice and health care, whereas the domestic affairs were in the hands of state government. All these may sound pleasing for a country to work efficiently, the truth is though that the constitution of Germany did not help the country advance but sustain the same political status. This happened as it ended up with an unclear political structure that was dominated by the conservative elites and it the
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