intellectual father of the Pan-German cast of thought and of the whole movement so denominated. Hans Delbrück, another university professor; Nietzsche with his pitiless "superman" philosophy; Franz Mehring, the Socialist expounder of scientific Socialism; Friedrich Naumann, the originator of the "Mittel Europa” idea, and Maximilian Harden, a vigorous champion of a freer political life, are nearly the whole of that little band who accompanied the iron march of those 43 years with their approval or disapproval.

Bibliography.- Arndt, F. E., 'Deutschlands Stellung in d. Weltwirtschaft' (Leipzig 1908); Bismarck, Otto v., 'Politische Reden (Leipzig 1903. Full edition by Horst Kohl); Gedanken und Erinnerungen (2 vols., Stuttgart 1896); Barker, E., Modern Germany) (London 1912); Dawson, J. M., Evolution of Modern Germany) (London 1913); Elkind, L., 'Speeches of the German Kaiser' (trans. New York 1904); Dahlmann-Waitz Quellenkunde d. deutsch. Geschichte' (7th ed., Leipzig 190506); Lair, A., 'L'Impérialisme allemand) (Paris 1902); Lamprecht, K., Zur jüngsten deutsch. Vergangenheit) (Berlin 1902-04); Loeb, S. J., "German Colonial Financial System' (Public. of the American Economic Asso., 3d series, Vol. I, New York 1900); Gebhardt, Bruno, 'Deutsche Geschichte im 19 Jahrh.' (Berlin 1898-99); Liman, Paul, 'Der Kaiser, ein Charakterbild (Berlin 1905); Klausmann, A. O., 'Reden u. Erlasse, Briefe u. Telegramme Kaiser Wilhelms II (Leipzig 1902); Naumann, Friedrich, 'Demokratie u. Kaisertum' (Berlin 1906); Schierbrand, Wolf von, Germany, the Welding of a World Power) (New York 1902); id., The Kaiser's Speeches' (New York 1903); Sombart, Werner, Sozialismus und soziale Bewegungen im 19 Jahrh.' (Jena 1901); Taylor, W. G., Bismarck, or the Typical German' (Amer. Hist. Ass. Papers, Vol. V); Treitschke, H. von, Reichstagreden'; "Politik (ed. Max Cornicelius, Leipzig 18991901); Ziegler, T., 'Die geistigen u. sozialen Strömungen d. 19 Jahrh.' (Berlin 1899).

WOLF VON SCHIERBRAND.

4. PARTIES AND PARTY POLITICS. The popular organ of government in the German Empire is the Reichstag (Diet). According to the constitution it is supposed to be a co-ordinate factor with the Bundesrat (Federal Council) in Imperial legislation. However, since the latter body sanctions all laws, and since by practice almost all the important legislation starts in the Bundesrat, and since above all the chancellor and the heads of the executive departments are not responsible to the Reichstag but to the Kaiser, the function of the Reichstag is in fact not more than to control the government as carried on by the sovereigns of the different states under the very prominent leadership of the king of Prussia. From this situation it can easily be seen that party politics do not play the same important part as in countries where the head of the government is in general the leader of the party in power, as in England or in the United States.

Franchise and Constituencies.- The franchise for the Reichstag is granted to all male citizens of the age of 25. Disfranchised are persons under guardianship, those in a state of bankruptcy, and those who have received

alms from public funds during the year preceding the election. Persons active in naval or military service are suspended during their period of active service. The qualifications for candidates are the same as for voters, except that the former must have been citizens of any of the federal states for at least one year. Thus we see that practically every male citizen has one vote in deciding the composition of the popular legislative branch of government in Germany.

However the arrangement of constituencies is such that a large number of the people have proportionally two or more votes. According to the Election Law a population of 100,000 was to elect one representative. Each state was given at least one representative regardless of population. This law contains also the provision that a rearrangement of the constituencies was to be made according to the increase or decrease of the population. Yet this redistribution has never taken place in spite of the enormous shifting from the rural districts to the cities as a consequence of the industrial and commercial development of Germany. To-day the deputies of the largest constituencies represent several hundred thousand, while those of the smallest voting districts represent only from 15,000 to 30,000 people. In case of a strictly arithmetical redistribution the SocialDemocrats would have more than twice the number of the Conservative groups, having behind them 4,250,000 voters against the 1,933,000 of the Conservatives, while to-day the Socialists have 110 seats and the Conservatives 74. But the German government looks at the representation in the Reichstag as that of interest rather than that of numbers. It was afraid that otherwise the agricultural interests would be drowned. The European War has fully justified the attitude of the government. Without the good condition of its agriculture, which to a very great extent was made possible through the special care and protection of the government, Germany would in spite of military victory have been forced to surrender unconditionally to her enemies.

The Personnel of the Reichstag.- The personnel of the Reichstag compares in general favorably with that of other popular legislative bodies. Men from all walks of life are represented among the 397 members of the Reichstag; 88 members are engaged in agriculture, 5 in industry, 17 in commerce, 2 in trade. 3 are unskilled laborers, 13 live on their own income, and the remainder, 250, are in professional life. Of these latter, 58 are journalists and writers, 20 are Catholic priests, 1 is a Protestant minister, 22 are professors and teachers, 8 are physicians and apothecaries, 39 are lawyers, 24 are judges, 21 are state officers, 7 are communal officers, and 50 are professional employees. Of the deputies, 206 had an academic graduate training, 80 of the members were officers of the reserve. Most of the deputies had some political training in city or local government before their election to the Reichstag. More than half of the members of the present Reichstag were re-elected or had been members during a previous legislative period.

Parties and Party Principles.- The numerous parties of the Reichstag may be grouped into four great parties: Conservatives, Clericals,

Liberals, and Social-Democrats. From the location of their seats, as viewed from the speaker's platform, they are often referred to as the Right, the Centre, the Left, and the Extreme Left respectively. The basic philosophical principle of the conservative parties is authority from above. Throne and altar, i.e., monarchy by the grace of God and the established Church, are, according to their conception, the two strong pillars of the state. They are strongly opposed to the introduction of the democratic form of government. The public schools should be supervised by the state. Part of the Conservatives, sometimes the majority, have believed in special legislation against the Jews, in whom they feared the absolute representatives of commerce and industry, of the metropolitan press and of the exchange, the powerful enemies of the interests which the Conservatives promote. In regard to social reform the Conservatives have enthusiastically supported the so-called state socialism inaugurated by Bismarck, the most important results of which were the splendid compulsory insurance laws of the '80s. They regard social reform as a voluntary but necessary gift of a state the government of which is based on the Christian principle of love and care for the poor and unprotected people.

They

The Conservatives are at present split into the High-Conservatives (or Conservatives proper), the Free-Conservatives (or Imperial Party), the Economic Union, and the Christian Socialists. While the High-Conservatives have frequently disagreed with progressive policies of the government, the Free-Conservatives are the government party par excellence. separated from the High-Conservatives in the '70s in order to support Bismarck. The Economic Union emphasizes the protection of the middle class, and the Christian-Socialists emphasize social reform through the government in the Christian spirit. At one time there existed the Anti-Semites and the Farmers' Union or Agrarians as distinct conservative parties, and their spirit is still more or less in existence among the Conservatives. The Agrarians have extended their influence over the Clericals and partly over the National-Liberals.

Fundamentally the Clericals are conservative. Their main principle is the upholding of the interest of the Catholic minority in Germany. In this policy rests their strength. For this reason they count almost all the Catholics among their followers, rich and poor, employers and employees, industrial working men, and above all, the peasants. Naturally in order to hold this heterogeneous mass of voters together they must combine conservative and democratic principles. This they have successfully done and have so far always been able to keep their hold on the Catholic population of Germany. In regard to school policy and social reform they generally agree with the Conservatives. The organization and leadership of the party is splendid and has a great deal to do with its steady success.

The philosophical principle underlying liberalism is individual liberty. The Liberals are, so to speak, the Protestants in the field of politics. The danger of liberalism is weakness in discipline and organization, obstinacy in placing a certain dogma above all other beliefs with

the result that the party is easily split into many small inefficient groups. This has been the fate of the Liberals in Germany until recently. Several times they have been divided into Progressives, Free-Thinking-Union, South-German People's Party, Democratic Union, etc. present, they form two units: the National-Liberals and the Liberals proper or Radicals.

At

The National-Liberals are in many respects more conservative than liberal. They are a middle party of compromises. They are the strongest believers in nationalism and imperialism, and, as a whole, represent the spirit of modern Germany better than any other party.

The Radical-Liberals advocate especially an arithmetical redistribution of the constituencies for the Reichstag, the introduction of universal manhood suffrage in the several states, above all, in Prussia, abolition of any special privileges of the nobility, extension of the power of the Reichstag, introduction of parliamentary government, a public school free from the supervision of the church, substitution of indirect taxes by direct taxes.

The aim of the Social-Democrats is twofold. In the economic field they work for complete socialization of all means of production and a more just valuation of labor. In the political field they want to establish a direct true democracy. Therefore they advocate: initiative, referendum, recall, universal suffrage with proportional representation, a free church, free public schools including universities, free legal and medical help, high income and inheritance tax, and abolition of all indirect taxation. The German Social-Democrats, like the socialists in all countries, are internally divided into two groups, the Revisionists who wish to participate in all constructive legislation tending to the socialistic goal, and the Radicals, who believe in the principle "all or nothing." Up to the European war, however, the differences of opinion were fought out within the party and in the end the party always voted as a unit according to majority rule. During the war a small party of Internationalists have separated from the large party and with this the solidarity of SocialDemocracy has, for the first time, been broken.

Besides these four big groups there are a few deputies in the Reichstag who protest against the incorporation of certain races in the empire. The strongest of these, the Poles, vote in almost all other questions with their co-religionists, the Clericals. The same is true with the Alsatians. The one Danish representative votes usually with the Liberals. The Guelph party, protesting against the annexation of Hanover by Germany, has gone out of existence since the marriage of the Duke of Brunswick, heir to the throne of Hanover, to the daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm the Second, and his acquiescence in the present situation.

In regard to class interests the different parties show, roughly speaking, the following representation:

Conservatives Agriculture, crafts, shopkeepers, higher and middle rank officials, orthodox Protestant Church.

Clericals Above all the interests of Catholicism from Catholic nobility to peasantry.

Liberals The right wing, or National Liberals: large industrial and commercial interests,

tariff, es

Clericals Protective tariff. National Liberals - Protective pecially for commerce and industry Liberals Free trade or very low protection for industry and commerce.

Social-Democrats - Free trade.

Outline of Party History.-1871-1878. During this period the National Liberals were by far the strongest party and Bismarck_relied on their support and that of the Free-Conservatives. These parties rendered the same service to the new German Empire which the Federalists rendered to the young republic of the United States. With their assistance the organization of the government was established on a firm basis. This period is filled with the deplorable conflict between the state and the Catholic Church, the so-called Kulturkampf. Finally the government had to com

the Imperial government relied in the Reichstag on the Conservative Clerical Union or Bloc.

1907-1908. But the Clericals were very unreliable and demanded special privileges in return for their co-operation with the government. When for this reason they refused to grant the necessary money to put down the Herero rebellion in German Southwest Africa, the government dissolved the Reichstag and appealed to the people. The election brought the government a majority of a Conservative-Liberal combination. However, this unnatural alliance was dissolved in the very next year because the two parties could not agree on part of the financial reform of the Empire.

Since 1908. Therefore Bülow resigned as Chancellor and Bethmann-Hollweg returned to the old bloc of Conservatives and Clericals. The situation is now such that the National Liberals hold the balance of power and can throw it either to the Conservative-Clerical or the Liberal-Socialist group.

The following table shows the party movement in the Reichstag from 1871 to the 1912 legislative period:

promise with the rapidly growing Clerical party. The National-Liberals were dropped as "factio non grata," because they opposed the special legislation of persecution proposed by Bismarck against the growing Social-Democratic party, and the creation of financial independence of the empire without political responsibility to the Reichstag.

1878-1887. In the following decade Bismarck depended for the support of his bills mainly on the Conservatives and Clericals. In the year 1879 Bismarck, with the help of the Conservatives and Clericals, changed the tariff policy from free trade to protection. The National-Liberals split over this issue.

1887-1890. In the year 1887 the Reichstag was dissolved because the government could not find a majority for its demands of a strengthening of the army, necessitated by the threatening "revanche" of France under the leadership of General Boulanger. The result of the election of 1887 was the victory of the government which found a working majority in the Conservatives and the National-Liberals, a union known in German parliamentary history as the Cartell.

1890-1907. In the election of 1890 the Cartell majority broke down and the government had to make further concessions to the Clericals in order to win their support. Until 1907

Bibliography. Mahler, K., 'Die Programme der pol. Parteien in Deutschland' (Leipzig 1911); Lowell, A. L., Government and Parties in Continental Europe' (2 vols., Boston 1896); Ogg, F. A., The Governments of Europe (New York 1912); Krüger, F. K., 'Government and Politics of the German Empire' (Yonkers-on-Hudson 1915); Bülow, B. von, Imperial Germany) (Pt. II, New York 1914). DR. FRITZ-KONRAD KRÜGER,

Author of Government and Politics of the
German Empire.'

5. THE GOVERNMENT. Generally speaking, the predecessor of the present German Empire was the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation whose origin may be dated back to the year 800, when Charlemagne, ruler of the Germanic Francs, assumed the Imperial crown of the old Roman Empire, thus reviving the ancient idea of an "imperium mundi." But in constant struggles with the papacy, which as the "sacerdotium mundi" considered itself the master over the imperium and with the territorial rulers and lords within the empire, the central authority was steadily weakened so that at the end of the Thirty Years' War (1648) the power of the emperor was merely a shadow; the real power being in the hands of the territorial rulers, secular and ecclesiastic, of whom there existed about 300. The German