KULTURKAMPF («struggle for civilization»). — Under this name was disguised a violent legal and police persecution carried out by Chancellor Bismarck against the Catholic Church in Germany and especially in Prussia, the causes of which can only be traced back to Bismarck’s personal policy, a fierce advocate of the «reason of state», favoured by Masonic liberalism, anti-Roman Germanism, and Protestantism.
With the Constitution of 1848, the Church enjoyed a certain freedom in Prussia, which allowed it a flourishing development of institutions and works; Catholics were asserting themselves in public life, while the hierarchy strengthened doctrinal and disciplinary ties with Rome at the Vatican Council. Hence the resentment of the Church’s enemies and their reaction. The starting point is given by three events: 1) the victory over France and the establishment of the Empire; 2) the definition of the dogma of papal infallibility; 3) the formation of the Centre Party.
Bismarck demanded that the Pope induce the French clergy to yield to German expansion and subsequently influence the Bavarian Catholic deputies, who were hostile to the establishment of the Empire. The papal refusal to both requests led to the loss of Prussian support for the Holy See in the Roman Question. Another cause of hostility toward the Church was the attitude of Catholics in Westphalia and the Rhineland toward France during the Franco-German War, and the Bavarians’ opposition to the war itself. To secure the support of the National Liberals regarding unification, Bismarck yielded to their program of secularization. Among religious grounds, hostility also came from conservative Protestants.
Faced with these manoeuvres, Prussian Catholics organized themselves. At Soest, a program of action was drawn up, which became a banner during the election to the Landtag. Catholic candidates asserted themselves and shortly afterward formed a party called the «Centre». Its principal exponents were Savigny, Windthorst, Mallinckrodt, Peter and August Reichensperger.
After the establishment of the Empire, Bishop Ketteler asked Bismarck to extend to all of Germany (including Alsace-Lorraine) the constitutional guarantees enjoyed by Prussian Catholics. This request was renewed by Catholic deputies in the Reichstag, but the motion was rejected by the liberal-conservative coalition. Bismarck attempted to stifle the nascent party by trying to bring Vatican disapproval upon it, but in vain. Meanwhile, disputes arose between ecclesiastical and civil authorities over disciplinary and penal measures taken against anti-infallibilist priests and teachers: in Bavaria, the Minister of Culture, Lutz, declared that he did not recognize the dogma of papal infallibility and kept in their posts, with their salaries, those condemned by the Church. Similar incidents occurred in Cologne, Bonn, and Braunsberg. In Berlin, on the other hand, the Catholic Division of the Ministry of Culture, which had functioned for thirty years, was suppressed because it was directed by Catholics who were not only loyal to the hierarchy but also of Polish origin, and thus doubly enemies of the Reich. The establishment of an Old Catholic Church, despite Döllinger’s opposition, detached the anti-infallibilists from Rome and provoked numerous disputes, as they claimed the right to obtain from the State the assignment of Catholic churches for their worship, forcing Catholics to abandon them.
The first law inaugurating the K. was the so-called «pulpit paragraph»: the initiative was taken by Lutz, who invoked the Reichstag’s intervention against the alleged danger posed by priests’ abuse of preaching, especially in Bavaria. The law passed on 28 November 1871 with 179 votes against 108; in the following five years it was applied twice in Silesia, twice in the Rhineland, twice in Westphalia, and once in Bavaria; in itself it was therefore of little importance, but unfortunately it set a precedent of incalculable scope. Indeed, a few months later came the law on «school supervision». Until then, the State, which had the right of supervision, had asked ecclesiastical authorities to appoint inspectors chosen from among priests or pastors, depending on the prevailing denomination. Suspicious of clerical influence in schools, especially in Polish territories, Bismarck imposed a project whereby school inspectors were to be appointed, commanded, and dismissed solely by the State. The Minister of Culture, Müller, a believing Protestant, tried to soften the project, but the National Liberals demanded and secured Bismarck’s dismissal of the minister. He was replaced by Adalbert Falk, who would become the black soul of the K. The project immediately met with opposition not only from Catholics but also from Protestants. In the Reichstag, formidable clashes occurred between the Centre and Bismarck, but the liberal majority approved the project. In the House of Lords, the strong opposition of Protestant conservatives was overcome following the Westerwelle incident (a former papal zouave accused of attempting to assassinate Bismarck); the government press denounced an international conspiracy promoted by Catholics against the integrity of Germany, and the majority was convinced of the need to strike at the Ultramontanes. At first the law was applied moderately, but now the school system was at the State’s mercy. Indeed, Falk refused to recognize the effects of the communion of Wollmann and Michelis, Old Catholics, on the part of Archbishop Krementz, and the same occurred in Cologne. The Minister of War, Roon, wanted to force Bishop von Ketteler to allow the Old Catholics to hold services in the church of St Pantaleon: upon his refusal, the bishop was removed.
Following the example of Prussia, other states adopted measures hostile to Catholics. Confronted with this threatening tide, the German bishops gathered at Fulda and on 1 Apr. 1872 sent a collective letter to Falk. Bismarck did not abandon the idea of drawing the Pope to his side: having dismissed Arnim, he thought of replacing him with Card. Gustavus of Hohenlohe, an opponent of the Jesuits, of papal infallibility, of ultramontanes and of regalism. The Vatican, however, replied that it could not accept him: the blame was laid on the Jesuits, who paid the penalty—suppression, closure of houses, expulsion and arrests, even during the celebration of Mass or the administration of the Sacraments. Besides the Jesuits, the Lazarists, Redemptorists, Fathers of the Holy Spirit and the Dames of the Sacred Heart were struck as “affiliated” to the Company. Moreover, Falk excluded all religious from public teaching, causing the closure of 892 convents of nuns. In Posen lay inspectors replaced ecclesiastical ones. The protests of Pius IX further irritated Bismarck, who vented his spleen on Abp. Krementz, imposing unconditional subordination to the laws of the State and, failing to obtain it, excluding him from the Marienburg festivities and depriving him of his stipend.
Once again the bishops met at Fulda (20 Sept. 1873) and addressed a collective letter of protest to their faithful. To the Catholic reaction was joined that of some Protestants such as Gerlach, a sympathiser and later a member of the Centre Party, and of the conservatives Kleist-Retzow, Bismarck’s uncle, and Brüel, while the socialists sought an approach to the Catholics to enlist them as allies in the social question. From the islet of Caprera Garibaldi applauded Bismarck.
Among Bismarck’s counsellors there were various tendencies for regulating Church-State relations: Abeken, Wagner and Roessler wanted a relentless struggle for the secularisation of Church property; Meier and Hinrichs favoured separation of Church and State; Schulte, an “Old Catholic,” advocated the democratisation of the Church under State auspices; Friedberg was the theorist of the subjection of the Church to the State. Falk inclined towards adopting Friedberg’s theories, but Bismarck would not tie himself to rigid theories, preferring to pursue a pragmatic policy. The Court was little enthusiastic about bellicose ideas, and Bismarck himself was strangely hostile to an imperial ecclesiastical legislation: the experiment was to begin in Prussia, accompanied by a transformation of the bureaucracy, accused of conservatism. At Warsaw Bismarck decided to relinquish the office of President of the Prussian government, entrusting it to Roon, a conservative. The projects were temporarily shelved, but after Pius IX’s allocution in consistory there was a recrudescence of persecution and diplomatic relations with the Holy See were broken off (30 Dec. 1872).
Meanwhile Schulte asked the government to recognise the “Old Catholic” Church and its bishop, offering in exchange his collaboration with the State’s ecclesiastical policy.
The projects of Falk and his associates awaited the Emperor’s signature: Bismarck’s main task, despite his resignation as Prussian President, was to persuade William I to sign them. They aimed above all at depriving Prussian Catholics of those privileges which the Constitution of 1848 had granted them over other states. Articles 15, 16 and 18 of the Constitution, guaranteeing the freedom and independence of the Catholic Church, were accordingly amended. On 17 Jan. 1873 the celebrated materialist Virchow dubbed the battle waged by the State against the Church the *Kulturkampf*. The debates were violent: on one side brute force, anti-Catholic and anti-Roman venom; on the other, defenders of the rights of conscience, of liberty and of faith. On 9 May 1873 the laws were passed. The first contained provisions on the education and placement of ecclesiastics; it required as a condition for holding an ecclesiastical office the passing of a State examination in philosophy, German history and literature, and subjected any appointment of an ecclesiastic to State approval. The second established norms regarding the Church’s disciplinary power, reserving it to German ecclesiastical authorities and thus excluding the Holy See; it instituted a Royal tribunal for ecclesiastical affairs, to which appeal could be made against disciplinary measures of ecclesiastical authorities, and which was granted the right to depose ecclesiastics for transgressing State laws concerning their office or their spiritual duties.
The third law limited the right of bishops to resort to penal and coercive measures belonging purely to the religious sphere, but forbade punishing those who submitted to State laws on ecclesiastical matters. The fourth facilitated “leaving the Church.” Severe penalties were imposed for non-observance of the May Laws.
The Vatican, previously consulted on the Melchers projects, had replied by inviting the German bishops to agree on a uniform line of conduct. At Fulda, after considering the consequences of their attitude, the German bishops agreed with Ketteler to reject the laws en bloc and at least to offer passive resistance. Regarding the oath of fidelity to the amended Constitution, Catholic officials would take it with a mental reservation.
The Catholics continued undeterred their activities, indeed multiplied them: prayers, congresses, the press, propaganda, social questions, elections. Some Silesian Catholic nobles, enemies of the Centre Party, signed an address of loyalty to the Emperor and respect for the laws (14 June 1873). But the attempt of the “State Catholics” did not shake the solidarity of the episcopate, the Centre Party and the Catholic people. The application of the “May Laws” was marked by the intrusions of Government commissioners and police raids on colleges and seminaries, fines on bishops and arrests of priests not recognised by the State. The first to be struck were the Archbishop of Posen, Ledochowski, and that of Fulda, Ketteler. The former, a recidivist and insolvent, was deprived of his endowment and later his property, palace and furniture were sequestrated and he was imprisoned for debts to the State.
In vain Pius IX wrote personally to the Emperor. On the very day when William replied negatively to the Pope, the Government recognised the legitimacy and proceeded to install the “Old Catholic” bishop Reinkens, consecrated at Rotterdam by the Jansenist bishop of Deventer. On 4 Nov. 1873 there were elections to the Landtag: the Centre Party scored a success, but unfortunately the National Liberals had grown at the expense of the Conservatives. To remedy the fact that many faithful were clandestinely celebrating religious marriages, Falk deemed the moment ripe to vary the obligation of civil marriage and at the same time to entrust civil status registers to officials. Roon, opposed to this, resigned and Bismarck resumed his post as Prussian President. In the new Landtag the Centre Party demanded the adoption of universal, direct, secret suffrage and the payment of parliamentary allowances, since there were now many workers and peasants among the deputies; but these proposals were shelved by the very National Liberals who had made them an electoral programme. Equal fate befell the request to annul the May Laws.
By this time ideological factors had also entered the struggle, represented by personalities such as Strauss, an enemy of all Churches, Hartmann, the anti-Christian philosopher, Virchow, the materialist, etc. Jews and Freemasons were in the ascendant, provoking even the resentment of believing Protestants.
Despite the campaign of hatred and lies (the false bull of Pius IX), the Centre made progress in the elections to the Reichstag. Unfortunately the law on civil marriage and the keeping of civil registers was passed and, after some hesitation, signed by the Emperor. Moreover, Falk planned to entrust to the government the administration of the revenues of vacant bishoprics and the conferment of ecclesiastical offices. One after another followed the imprisonments of M. Ledóchowski, bishop of Gnesna, M. Eberhard, bishop of Treves, P. Melchers, cardinal of Cologne, K. Martin, bishop of Paderborn, J. B. Brinkmann, bishop of Münster. But the Catholics resisted: the Chapter of Posen refused to appoint a vicar in place of Ledóchowski; the parishioners of Grasdorf refused to elect the parish priest according to government regulations, and at Xions the faithful deserted the church officiated by a State-appointed priest. Unfortunately a deplorable incident, in which Catholics were unjustly implicated, namely the attempt on Kullmann’s life against Bismarck (Kissingen, 13 July 1874), provoked a violent reaction against the Catholic press, associations and personalities.
On 5 February 1875 Pius IX wrote to the German bishops, condemning the May Laws as contrary to virtue, and on 15 March he made Ledóchowski a cardinal while he was still in prison. Bismarck’s attempts to promote an international Kulturkampf proved vain. A shameful blackmail was then resorted to: by the so-called “Law of deprivation or starvation” of 2 April 1875 all State contributions to the Catholic Church were suspended, while it was declared that the allowance would be paid to those ecclesiastics who would declare in writing their submission to the May Laws.
Another law of 31 May 1875 suppressed all religious houses, except those whose members devoted themselves exclusively to the care of the sick, on condition that they were subject to State supervision and could be suppressed at any moment. On 18 June Articles 15, 16 and 18 of the Prussian Constitution were finally abrogated, since the ecclesiastical laws issued from 1873 onwards were in contradiction with them. Immediately afterwards came the law on the administration of ecclesiastical property: this, the work of Schulte, withdrew ecclesiastical patrimonies from the direct and exclusive management of the parish priests and entrusted them to a church council (Kirchenvorstand), elected by the parishioners and controlled by a committee three times as large (Gemeindevertretung), also elected; the parish priest was president, but with a consultative vote! The bishop and the superior president of the province could make suggestions, but the final word rested with the Minister of Cults. The bishops consulted with Rome and decided that, while not accepting the law, it was advisable to tolerate it: in fact the Catholic people elected trustworthy, sincere men, collaborators of the hierarchy, to the church councils and committees. The “Old Catholics” obtained the right to use Catholic churches and benefices, provided they were numerous enough: despite the condescension of the civil authorities, however, they made very few conquests. This period is characterized by an endless series of acts of heroism and sacrifice. The Catholics resisted, while their adversaries were increasingly worried about the consequences. In the Reichstag elections of January 1877 the Centre and the Conservatives made progress at the expense of the National Liberals. The Catholic von Galen presented a project of social legislation, which was rejected. While most Germans desired the end of the Kulturkampf, Bismarck finally found two foreign allies: Gambetta and Crispi. But the death of Pius IX and the election of Leo XIII marked a decisive turning-point in the struggle.
The double attempt by socialists on the life of the Emperor, the parliamentary progress of the Centre and the Socialists, turned the Government’s attention to the socialist danger. Meanwhile, both on the occasion of Leo’s elevation and of the attempts on the Emperor’s life, a cordial exchange of messages had taken place between the Pope and the Emperor. At Kissingen Bismarck had long conversations with the nuncio at Munich, Aloisi-Masella, but no immediate results were achieved, because the Holy See demanded as a preliminary condition the abolition of the May Laws, while Bismarck demanded the obligation of notification to the Government before the conferment of ecclesiastical offices. The first scapegoat of this change of policy was Falk, who was replaced by the Conservative von Puttkamer. The negotiations continued in Vienna between the Prussian ambassador and the nuncio Jacobini. The first law of relaxation is that of 14 July 1880. It declared immune from penalty the “spiritual functions of office” of ecclesiastics appointed before the May Laws to vacant or interdicted parishes, and authorized the Government to dispense bishops from the oath of observance of the laws of the State, to resume State contributions to the individual dioceses and to permit the foundation of new religious houses devoted to the care of the sick. In 1881 bishops were appointed to Treves and Fulda, in 1882 to Osnabrück, Breslau and Paderborn. In the same year diplomatic relations between Prussia and the Holy See were resumed. While holding firm on the May Laws, on 11 June 1883 a law was passed which allowed bishops to perform episcopal functions in vacant dioceses and to appoint without obligation of notification chaplains and assistant priests to vacant parishes, provided they were dispensed from the prescribed State examination. Leo permitted the bishops to ask for dispensation “for the past and for this once only”, explicitly protesting that he did not recognize the May Laws. The bishop of Limburg, Blum, was “graciously” allowed to return, and Brinkmann was able to return from exile. The State “interdict” was also removed from the dioceses of Ermland, Culm, Hildesheim and Cologne.
With the appointment of the nuncio Jacobini as Secretary of State, the negotiations continued in Rome, but always without any definite results. In Berlin Windthorst persistently attacked the May Laws, succeeding twice in obtaining a favourable vote for the suppression of the law on the expulsion of the clergy. The insuperable preliminary condition from the Vatican side was that of freedom of education for the clergy; from the German side that of Ledochowski’s renunciation of Posen. The question of Cologne was settled by the appointment of Melchers as cardinal and the promotion of Krementz to archbishop of Cologne.
In September 1885 there was a sudden rapprochement between the Pope and Bismarck: Germany was in conflict with Spain over possession of the Caroline Islands. Umberto I offered to act as arbiter, but Spain refused; Bismarck turned to Leo XIII. As a sign of goodwill the Pope conferred upon the Chancellor the Supreme Order of Christ. The result of this rapprochement was, on the part of the Holy See, an instruction to bishops to ascertain, before permanently conferring an ecclesiastical office, whether the government had any civil or political objections; on the part of the Reich, the law of 21 May 1886 abolished the state examination in culture and authorized theological studies in existing episcopal institutes, the royal tribunal for ecclesiastical affairs was suppressed, and the disciplinary authority of the Pope was recognized. Leo XIII and Bismarck were eager to settle their differences definitively, and the Vatican preferred to negotiate directly, setting aside the hierarchy and the Centre Party, which were inclined to fight intransigently for a return to the status quo ante. The law of 29 April 1887 limited the duty of notification to the definitive provision of parishes, restored freedom to priests and religious to celebrate Mass and administer the Sacraments, permitted the foundation of institutes dedicated to the care of souls, charitable activities, teaching, and contemplative life. After more than fifteen years of the *Kulturkampf* the following laws remained in force: the law against the Jesuits, the law on school inspection, and the suppression of articles 15, 16, and 18 of the Constitution. Even these laws were losing their force, and Catholic life began to flourish again after such devastation.