The Liberal Union () was a short-lived
liberal party
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a Hospitality, 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 oft ...
in the
German Empire
The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...
. 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 German Progress Party
The German Progress Party (, 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 Bismarck.
History
Upon the failed R ...
to form the
German Free-minded Party
The German Free-minded Party (, 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 Union, an 1880 split-off of the ...
(, 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 (; born ''Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck''; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898) was a German statesman and diplomat who oversaw the unification of Germany and served as ...
's
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
government.
[.] Most importantly, they supported
free trade
Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold Economic liberalism, economically liberal positions, while economic nationalist politica ...
whereas National Liberal leaders
Rudolf von Bennigsen and
Johann von Miquel sustained Bismarck's prohibitive
tariff
A tariff or import tax is a duty (tax), duty imposed by a national Government, government, customs territory, or supranational union on imports of goods and is paid by the importer. Exceptionally, an export tax may be levied on exports of goods ...
s strategy (''Schutzzollpolitik''). Other contentious points included the
Anti-Socialist Laws
The Anti-Socialist Laws or Socialist Laws (; 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 was passed on 19 October 187 ...
(''Sozialistengesetze''),
[.] the ''
Kulturkampf
In the history of Germany, the ''Kulturkampf'' (Cultural Struggle) was the seven-year political conflict (1871–1878) between the Catholic Church in Germany led by Pope Pius IX and the Kingdom of Prussia led by chancellor Otto von Bismarck. Th ...
'' against the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
and the septennial military budget (''Septennat'').
Eduard Lasker
Eduard Lasker (born Jizchak Lasker) (14 October 18295 January 1884) was a German politician and jurist. Inspired by the French Revolution, he became a spokesman for liberalism and the leader of the left wing of the National Liberal party, whi ...
led the Secession.
Other notable members included
Ludwig Bamberger,
Berlin
Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, 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 responsibilitie ...
Max von Forckenbeck,
historian and future Nobel laureate
Theodor Mommsen
Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; ; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th ce ...
,
,
Theodor Barth,
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 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 Old Liberals in the Prussian Landtag and the German Reichstag.
Career
Son of a combat medic, Richter attended the ...
, the leader of the left liberal
German Progress Party
The German Progress Party (, 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 Bismarck.
History
Upon the failed R ...
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.
See also
*
Contributions to liberal theory
Individual contributors to classical liberalism and political liberalism are associated with philosophers of the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment. Liberalism as a specifically named ideology begins in the late 18th century as a movement toward ...
*
Liberal democracy
Liberal democracy, also called Western-style democracy, or substantive democracy, is a form of government that combines the organization of a democracy with ideas of liberalism, liberal political philosophy. Common elements within a liberal dem ...
*
Liberalism
Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality, the right to private property, and equality before the law. ...
*
Liberalism in Germany
This article aims to give a historical outline of liberalism in Germany (). The liberalism, liberal political party, parties dealt with in the timeline below are, largely, those which received sufficient support at one time or another to have bee ...
*
Liberalism worldwide
*
List of liberal parties
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