Otto Von Bismarck Analysis

Often times, humans have the tendency to oppose those who they believe are irrational or distinctively different than them. This was the case in the newly unified German nation during the late nineteenth century. Under German chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the infant German state began to develop a growing sense of nationalistic pride, as the National Liberals became a dominant political force for political and social activism. When Bismarck and the Prussian-controlled German government tried to unify their people under the new regime, they were faced with a struggle between differing cultures of the various German states, known as the Kulturkampf. They found that one of the easiest ways to eliminate this separation was to identify an outsider group or a common enemy that would cause the majority of the population to rally together to defeat …show more content…
One of the most active groups was the Association of German Catholics that was founded on July 8, 1872. In their founding manifesto, the Association claims, “Without the slightest sense of propriety it aims to drive from German soil the celebrated preachers of truth, the splendid educators of you, the comprehensively trained scholars, the spotlessly pure priests, and the good Samaritans of the last war, labeling them as the dangerous dregs of society.” It is clear in just this section of their manifesto that the Catholics are feeling strong senses of hostility and discrimination from the German government. They highlight the positive contributions that the Catholics have made towards German education, spiritual life, as well as the military, referencing the labors of Catholic men in the Franco-Prussian war. By portraying them “the dangerous dregs of society,” Bismarck and the German government show the Catholics as enemies and deviants of the