Kulturkampf
Topic: The Rise of Nationalism in Europe · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Kulturkampf is a German word meaning "culture struggle". It was a conflict in the 1870s between Bismarck's government and the Catholic Church. It took place mainly in Prussia, soon after Germany was united in 1871. Bismarck feared that Catholics owed more loyalty to the Pope than to the new German state. So he passed laws to cut the Church's power. The struggle shows how German nationalism after 1871 became less tolerant.
Example
The new laws put schools under state inspection. They gave the state control over how priests were trained and appointed. They also made civil marriage compulsory, meaning a marriage carried out by the state rather than the Church. Catholic resistance was strong. Bismarck needed Catholic political support, so many of these laws were softened or removed from the late 1870s.
Don't confuse with
- Romanticism: Romanticism used culture to bring a nation together. Kulturkampf was a state campaign against one religious group inside the nation.
Related concepts
- Otto von Bismarck
- Blood and iron
- Franco-Prussian War
- Unification of Germany
- Paris Commune 1871
- Count Cavour
- Napoleon III
- Giuseppe Garibaldi
- Expedition of the Thousand
- Unification of Italy