HIST 1F90 : Bismarck's Empire Notes For Essay.docx
29 Feb 2012
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Education: education system free elementary schooling for all girls and boys. Reich is a federation, emperor (king of prussia, wilhelm i); Reichstag (elected by suffrage/voting), shares legislative power with bundesrat. Electoral suffrage for all men over age 25. Socialist party of germany (spd) founded in 1875. Bismarck tries to woo workers away from socialism with social legislation. Welfare system, first in europe, is created throughout 1880s. Medical treatment for 3 million workers and their families. Benefits and a burial grant for incapacitated workers; accident-insurance. Pension for workers over age 70 (financed by workers, employers and the state). Bismarck was the pioneer of state socialism: kulturkampf ( battle of cultures ) Creation of the centre party (zentrum: anti-socialist laws (1878-1890, germanization policies in border regions. Imperial govt responsible for: defence, customs, coinage, banking, communications and civil and criminal codes. States in charge of education, justice, agriculture, church relations; only local government states could levy direct taxation.
