The Liberal Union (german: Liberale Vereinigung) was a short-lived liberal

party A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature ...

in the German Empire. It originated in 1880 as a breakaway from the National Liberal Party and so was also called the Secession.. It merged with the

left liberal Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberali ...

German Progress Party The German Progress Party (german: Deutsche Fortschrittspartei, DFP) was the first modern political party in Germany, founded by liberal members of the Prussian House of Representatives () in 1861 in opposition to Minister President Otto von Bis ...

to form the

German Free-minded Party The German Free-minded Party (german: Deutsche Freisinnige Partei, DFP) or German Radical Party was a short-lived liberal party in the German Empire, founded on 5 March 1884 as a result of the merger of the German Progress Party and the Liberal ...

(german: Deutsche Freisinnige Partei, DFP) in 1884. The leftist faction of the National Liberal Party expressed discontent with the party leadership's support for

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of ...

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

government.. Most importantly, they supported

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold ...

whereas National Liberal leaders

Rudolf von Bennigsen Karl Wilhelm Rudolf von Bennigsen (10 July 1824, Lüneburg – 7 August 1902, Bennigsen near Springe) was a German politician descended from an old Hanoverian family. Biography Bennigsen was born at Lüneburg on 10 July 1824. He was desce ...

and

Johann von Miquel Johannes von Miquel (19 February 1828 – 8 September 1901) was a German statesman. Biography Born Johannes Franz Miquel at Neuenhaus, Kingdom of Hanover on 19 February 1828 as a descendant from a French family that had emigrated during the F ...

sustained Bismarck's prohibitive

tariff A tariff is a tax imposed by the government of a country or by a supranational union on imports or exports of goods. Besides being a source of revenue for the government, import duties can also be a form of regulation of foreign trade and p ...

s strategy (''Schutzzollpolitik''). Other contentious points included the

Anti-Socialist Laws The Anti-Socialist Laws or Socialist Laws (german: Sozialistengesetze; officially , approximately "Law against the public danger of Social Democratic endeavours") were a series of acts of the parliament of the German Empire, the first of which wa ...

(''Sozialistengesetze''),. the ''

Kulturkampf (, 'culture struggle') was the conflict that took place from 1872 to 1878 between the Catholic Church led by Pope Pius IX and the government of Prussia led by Otto von Bismarck. The main issues were clerical control of education and ecclesiasti ...

'' against the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and the septennial military budget (''Septennat''). Eduard Lasker led the Secession. Other notable members included Ludwig Bamberger,

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...

Max von Forckenbeck Maximilian (Max) Franz August von Forckenbeck (23 October 1821 – 26 May 1892) was a German lawyer and liberal politician who served as Mayor of Berlin from 1878 until his death. His is considered one of the most important mayors of the city bec ...

, historian and future Nobel laureate

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classics, classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19 ...

, Friedrich Kapp,

Theodor Barth Theodor Barth (16 July 1849, Duderstadt – 3 June 1909, Baden-Baden) was a German liberal politician and publicist. He was a member of the Reichstag between 1881 and 1884, between 1885 and 1898, and between 1901 and 1903. Career Barth star ...

, Heinrich Edwin Rickert and Georg von Siemens. The Liberal Union was a notables' party ('), having its electorate mainly amongst the North and East German upper classes, wholesale merchants and intellectuals. The organisational structure was rather loose. Nevertheless, the new grouping was initially successful, gaining 46 seats of the Reichstag in the 1881 federal election—as many as the preceding National liberals. Ultimately, the Secessionists planned to merge all German liberals into a single whole liberal party, hence the name Liberal Union, with liberal and parliamentary monarchist positions, modelled after the

British Liberal Party The Liberal Party was one of the two Major party, major List of political parties in the United Kingdom, political parties in the United Kingdom, along with the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party, in the 19th and early 20th centuries. ...

and ideally to govern under a future Emperor Frederick III.. However, the National Liberals made clear they would not leave the majority loyal to Bismarck, therefore Secessionist representative Franz von Stauffenberg negotiated with

Eugen Richter Eugen Richter (30 July 183810 March 1906) was a German politician and journalist in Imperial Germany. He was one of the leading advocates of liberalism in the Prussian Landtag and the German Reichstag. Career Son of a combat medic, Richter atten ...

, the leader of the left liberal

in early 1884. As early as in March 1884, both parties' legislators formed a joint parliamentary group with together 100 seats. Timely to the federal election in October, the German Free-minded Party was formed. Subsequently, the parliamentary representation diminished to only 64 members of the Reichstag.

References

{{Authority control Germany 1880 Defunct political parties in Germany Political parties established in 1880 Political parties disestablished in 1884 Liberal parties in Germany Political parties of the German Empire 1880 establishments in Germany

See also

References