360 



GERMANY. 



ber of Wilhelm, Duke of Brunswick, the last 

 of the German line of Guelphs, created a diffi- 

 culty as to the succession. The next heir to the 

 throne was Ernst August, Duke of Cumber- 

 land, the lawful successor also of his father 

 the late King George of Hanover, dethroned 

 in consequence of the war of 1866. On the 

 death of George V, in 1878, his son issued a 

 manifesto saying that, while bearing for the 

 present the titles of Duke of Cumberland and 

 Duke of Brunswick, he did not waive his 

 claims to the throne of Hanover. By continu- 

 ing this attitude he made it impossible for the 

 Prussian Crown to recognize his right to the 

 throne of the duchy, nor was he acceptable to 

 the people of Brunswick, who are loyal to the 

 empire and do not wish to see their land be- 

 come the center of the Guelph movement. 

 Negotiations were begun in 1883, with the ob- 

 ject of bringing about a reconciliation between 

 the Duke of Cumberland and the Emperor 

 William, but the Duke refused to make the 

 desired formal abdication of his claim to the 

 Hanoverian throne. On the death of the 

 Duke of Brunswick, Ernst August issued a 

 manifesto, October 18, claiming the homage of 

 the Brunsvvickers and assuming the govern- 

 ment of the duchy, which he promised to gov- 

 ern in accordance with the imperial and pro- 

 vincial constitutions. The Emperor refused to 

 receive the bearer of the Duke's manifesto. The 

 Prussian general at Brunswick, immediately 

 after the Duke's death, issued a proclamation 

 saying that he took command of all the forces 

 in the name of the Emperor. The Duke's es- 

 tates in Silesia were taken possession of by 

 the Prussian Government. The Council of Re- 

 gency referred the Duke of Cumberland's mani- 

 festo to the Bundesrath, without counter-sign- 

 ing it as he requested. On November 4, a 

 circular to the sovereigns and free cities of the 

 empire contained an able presentation of his 

 legal claims to the succession, and argued that 

 the Emperor had no constitutional power to 

 determine questions of succession. The Fed- 

 eral Council had already resolved not to admit 

 his claims. The Prussian Government did 

 not act on the theory that had been advanced, 

 which would transfer the rights of inheritance 

 inhering in the Hanoverian crown to Prussia. 

 The Emperor proposed that the delegates of 

 the Council of Regents should represent Bruns- 

 wick in the Bundesrath. 



The Foston of the Liberal Factions. In the 

 spring the Secessionists, who left the National 

 Liberal party on account of Bismarck's policy 

 of protection and state socialism, united with 

 the Progressists to form a single regular Opposi- 

 tion party. 



The General Ejjctlan. The election for mem- 

 bers of the Reichstag took place October 28. 

 Prince Bismarck hoped to secure a parliament- 

 ary majority, independent of the wavering sup- 

 port of the Center, which enabled him to carry 

 through the protectionist policy in 1879, but 

 lias been refused or only partially given to 



his later schemes. The result-of the election 

 showed that his economic policy had gained 

 in popularity, though the Clericals still held 

 the balance of power. The German Liberals, 

 who expected to improve their position by the 

 coalition of the two factions composing the 

 party, suffered from their attitude of pure ne- 

 gation, while the Free Conservatives and the 

 National Liberals, the parties that support 

 the Chancellor's views the most faithfully, 

 each gained a number of seats, and the Ger- 

 man Conservatives, who also vote with the 

 Government in the main, made remarkable 

 gains. The National Liberals were expected, 

 as the result of a convention held at Heidel- 

 berg in the spring, to unite formally with the 

 Conservatives into a Middle party, which would 

 have the Chancellor's policy for its platform 

 and constitute a " Bismarck party sans phrase." 

 This alliance did not take place. The Ultra- 

 montanes, Clericals, "Blacks," or Center party, 

 retained their hold on the Catholic constituen- 

 cies, and returned in about the same strength 

 as in the last Reichstag. The Poles and Al- 

 sace-Lorrainers sent their distinctive partisans, 

 although the hostility to the empire has abated 

 in Alsace-Lorraine since the introduction of 

 protectionism, and the deputies of the Reichs- 

 land are more moderate in their sentiments 

 than formerly. The Danes and Guelphs, classed 

 together as " Savages " or Independents, retain 

 their representation, the latter polling more 

 votes than before. The most significant feat- 

 ure in the election was the remarkable gains 

 of the Social Democrats, who doubled their 

 number of representatives. The Socialist vote 

 in 1871 was 123,975; in 1874, 351,592; in 

 1877, 493,288. In 1877, immediately after the 

 passing of the anti-Socialist law, while the 

 party suffered from the depressing effect of 

 the Hodel and Nobiling attempts, it declined 

 to 437,158. In 1881, the effect of three years' 

 stringent application of the repressive law was 

 to reduce their voting strength to 311,961 bal- 

 lots. Although their public meetings were 

 forbidden, they themselves expelled from their 

 places of residence in large numbers, many of 

 their orators and journalists driven into exile, 

 their newspapers and pamphlets declared con- 

 traband and suppressed, and their societies 

 broken up, they were still able to keep up 

 their organization. The result of seven years' 

 rigorous enforcement of the Socialist law has 

 been the increase of the Socialist vote to about 

 550,000 in 1884. Their main object in enter- 

 ing the Reichstag after the enactment of the 

 law was to address their constituents with a 

 freedom that would subject them to criminal 

 prosecution' if used out-of-doors. Bebel alone 

 was listened to in the Reichstag for his able 

 and lucid presentations of the condition of the 

 working-class. In the present Reichstag the 

 Social Democrats have a representation that 

 is numerically sufficient to enable them, under 

 the rules of the House, to table motions and 

 command the ear of the Reichstag whenever 





