() was a pejorative term used for groups which were in political opposition to the system of the

German Reich German ''Reich'' (, from ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty entirely from a continuing unitary German ''Volk'' ("na ...

during the tenure of

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 ...

chancellor of Germany The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, is the head of the federal Cabinet of Germany, government of Germany. The chancellor is the chief executive of the Federal Government of Germany, ...

and during the

Nazi regime Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...

. Under Bismarck, the term was mainly employed against

Catholics The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

and

Social Democrats Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...

to justify their political suppression. The Nazis added the

Jewish people Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

to this list of enemies and violently pursued their destruction for being "non-German".

Imperial Germany

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 ...

was founded in 1871 after the defeat of France in the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

, with France, as a result, being perceived as the main foreign enemy of the new ''Reich''. The external enemy of France was contrasted with the internal ''Reichsfeinde'': Any societal or political forces that did not want to conform to the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

nation-state. Besides Catholics and the

Labour movement The labour movement is the collective organisation of working people to further their shared political and economic interests. It consists of the trade union or labour union movement, as well as political parties of labour. It can be considere ...

, this also included national minorities such as the

Danes Danes (, ), or Danish people, are an ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural. History Early history Denmark ...

, the

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

, the Alsace-Lorrainians (who voted for minority protest parties until 1890 in '' Reichstag'' elections), and adherents of the Guelph Party, who opposed the 1867 Prussian annexation of

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

. Quickly, this was also extended to the

German Jews The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321 CE, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish commu ...

. All of these groups were stigmatised as "un-German", they were accused of being unreliable and of undermining (and thereby weakening) national unity. A large part of the population of the empire was thus pushed out of imperial affairs; in the 1881 German federal election, the parties marked as ''Reichsfeinde'' by Bismarck achieved, according to American historian

Otto Pflanze Otto Paul Pflanze (April 1, 1918 – March 3, 2007) was an American historian. He was one of the leading historians of 19th century German history. He is perhaps best known for his three-volume biography of the German statesman Otto von Bismarck. ...

, a

two-thirds majority A supermajority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority rules in a democracy can help to prevent a majority from eroding fund ...

. Central targets of Bismarck's persecution constituted

political Catholicism The Catholic Church and politics concerns the interplay of Catholicism with religious, and later secular, politics. The Catholic Church's views and teachings have evolved over its history and have at times been significant political influences ...

and the Centre Party on one side, and the Labour movement on the other, with the latter unifying in 1875 through the merger of the

General German Workers' Association The General German Workers' Association (, ADAV) was a German political party founded on 23 May 1863 in Leipzig, Kingdom of Saxony by Ferdinand Lassalle. It was the first organized mass working-class party in history. The organization existed ...

(ADAV) and the

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP), forming the

Socialist Workers' Party of Germany The Socialist Workers' Party of Germany (, SAPD) was a centrist Marxist political party in Germany. It was formed as a left-wing party with around 20,000 members which split off from the SPD in the autumn of 1931. In 1931, the remnants of the ...

(SAP). The Catholic population of the empire was accused of not being primarily loyal the newly founded state, but rather to the pope. The Social Democrats were accused of being

internationalists Internationalists may refer to: * Internationalism (politics) Internationalism is a political principle that advocates greater political or economic cooperation among State (polity), states and nations. It is associated with other political mov ...

, since

Karl Marx Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...

wrote in the ''

Communist Manifesto ''The Communist Manifesto'' (), originally the ''Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (), is a political pamphlet written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, commissioned by the Communist League and originally published in London in 1848. The t ...

'' in 1848: "The working men have no fatherland." They were thusly called "''vaterlandslose Gesellen''", meaning "fellows without a fatherland". The leading Social Democrats

August Bebel Ferdinand August Bebel (; 22 February 1840 – 13 August 1913) was a German socialist activist and politician. He was one of the principal founders of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). Bebel, a woodworker by trade, co-founded the Sa ...

and

Wilhelm Liebknecht Wilhelm Martin Philipp Christian Ludwig Liebknecht (; 29 March 1826 – 7 August 1900) was a German socialist activist and politician. He was one of the principal founders of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).custodia honesta'' (''Festungshaft'') for opposing the German annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, which was viewed as

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its d ...

, in 1872. Bismarck declared in a speech in the

Prussian House of Lords The Prussian House of Lords () in Berlin was the upper house of the Landtag of Prussia (), the parliament of Prussia from 1850 to 1918. Together with the lower house, the House of Representatives (), it formed the Prussian bicameral legislature ...

on 24 April 1873, that the state was "threatened in its very foundation" and thus "forced to self-defence", as two parties were "undertaking their activities against national development in an international manner":

Kulturkampf

The first "internal battlefield" of this conflict was 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 ...

''. It constituted a confrontation between 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

secular Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin , or or ), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. The origins of secularity can be traced to the Bible itself. The concept was fleshed out through Christian hi ...

state, which was observable in several European countries in the 19th century. The church claimed a monopoly on truth in its battle against rationalisation, secularisation and other aspects of

modernisation Modernization theory or modernisation theory holds that as societies become more economically modernized, wealthier and more educated, their political institutions become increasingly liberal democratic and rationalist. The "classical" theories ...

: The

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I, was the 20th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church, held three centuries after the preceding Council of Trent which was adjourned in 156 ...

in 1870 had declared the doctrine of

Papal infallibility Papal infallibility is a Dogma in the Catholic Church, dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Saint Peter, Peter, the Pope when he speaks is preserved from the possibility of error on doctrine "in ...

, according to which the pope, as long as he spoke ''

ex cathedra Papal infallibility is a Dogma in the Catholic Church, dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Saint Peter, Peter, the Pope when he speaks is preserved from the possibility of error on doctrine "in ...

'', was infallible. Liberals strongly protested this declaration. Bismarck was particularly worried that Catholic priests would support the Polish national movement in the Prussian provinces of Posen and

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (; ; ) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and from 1878 to 1919. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1773, formed from Royal Prussia of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonweal ...

. The Prussian and later the ''Reich'' governments passed a series of laws and decrees, starting in 1872, which placed schools under state supervision and introduced

civil marriage A civil marriage is a marriage performed, recorded, and recognized by a government official. Such a marriage may be performed by a religious body and recognized by the state, or it may be entirely secular. History Countries maintaining a popul ...

. Furthermore, political messages by priests "from the pulpit" were forbidden ('' Kanzelparagraf''), evictions of priests from the country were made possible, and the

Jesuit Order The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 by ...

was banned. The ''Kulturkampf'' started in the summer of 1871 with a media campaign initiated by Bismarck in different newspapers, starting with the ''

Kreuzzeitung The ''Kreuzzeitung'' was a national daily newspaper published between 1848 and 1939 in the Kingdom of Prussia and then during the German Empire, the Weimar Republic and into the first part of the Third Reich. The paper was a voice of the conservat ...

''. A Catholic priest complained that Catholics had to read daily about being "an enemy of the fatherland, a Roman 'Römling'', pejorativeand an idiot, and that his clergy was the scum of humanity." Bismarck first accused the Catholics of being ''Reichsfeinde'' on 30 January 1872 in a debate in the

Prussian House of Representatives The Prussian House of Representatives () was the lower chamber of the Landtag of Prussia (), the parliament of Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia from 1850 to 1918. Together with the upper house, the Prussian House of Lords, House of Lords (), it formed ...

about the introduction of state supervision over the schooling system: Here, he first attacked the Centre Party directly. He accused the party of "mobilising against the state", since it also took in Protestants that "had nothing in common with the party, except being hostile to the German Empire and Prussia". The party had "found acceptance and respect from all parties, be they national or revolutionary, that were hostile to the state." The Centre Party newspaper ''Germania'' expressed solidarity with the clerical newspapers of

Southern Germany Southern Germany (, ) is a region of Germany that includes the areas in which Upper German dialects are spoken, which includes the stem duchies of Bavaria and Swabia in present-day Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg, and the southern portion of Hesse ...

, which Bismarck denounced as "the anti-German French press", as "the old press of the

Confederation of the Rhine The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine or Rhine Confederation, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austrian Empire, Austria ...

in Catholic clothing". The Liberal press agreed on many of these statements and joined in denouncing the Catholic press. The weekly newspaper ''Das Neue Reich'' applauded the banning of the Jesuits in 1875: According to them, it was "high time to intervene against these parasites, just as one would against Grape phylloxera,

Colorado beetle The Colorado potato beetle (''Leptinotarsa decemlineata''; also known as the Colorado beetle, the ten-striped spearman, the ten-lined potato beetle, and the potato bug) is a beetle known for being a major pest of potato crops. It is about lo ...

s and other ''Reichsfeinde''." In the mid-1870s, all Catholic bishops in Germany were either in exile or under arrest, but the power of political Catholicism remained unbroken: In the

1874 German federal election Events January * January 1 – New York City annexes The Bronx. * January 2 – Ignacio María González becomes head of state of the Dominican Republic for the first time. * January 3 – Third Carlist War: Battle of Caspe &n ...

, the Centre Party doubled its votes relative to the

1871 German federal election A federal election for the first Reichstag of the German Empire was held on 3 March 1871, 45 days after the founding of the Empire. The voting took place under the legal authority of the short-lived Constitution of the German Confederation. W ...

. From 1880 onwards, Bismarck was supported by the party, leading to the laws passed during the ''Kulturkampf'' being rescinded or made less severe. The conflict ended fully in 1886/1887 with several "peace laws". However, the cultural split between the Protestant majority and the Catholic minority remained. The historian

Heinrich August Winkler Heinrich August Winkler (born 19 December 1938 in Königsberg) is a German historian. With his mother he joined the westward flight in 1944, after which he grew up in southern Germany, attending a Gymnasium in Ulm. He then studied history, po ...

summarised: "They were ..no longer marked as ''Reichsfeinde'', but they could have held no illusions about the fact that prejudice survived much longer than paragraphs."

Anti-Socialist Laws

Towards the end of the 1870s, Bismarck started attacks against the Social Democrats, whom he distrusted due to their open demand of

proletarian revolution A proletarian revolution or proletariat revolution is a social revolution in which the working class attempts to overthrow the bourgeoisie and change the previous political system. Proletarian revolutions are generally advocated by socialist ...

: After several attempts failed to limit the

freedom of speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The rights, right to freedom of expression has been r ...

of the "red ''Reichsfeinde''" through new press laws and the introduction of the criminal offense of "incitement of class hatred" in 1874 and 1875, two assassination attempts on

Wilhelm I Wilhelm I (Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 1861 and German Emperor from 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the first head of state of a united Germany. ...

in 1878 gave a pretext for a snap election and the passage of the (Anti-)Socialist Laws. All Social Democratic,

Socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

and

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

organisations, assemblies and publications were banned, agitators were liable to be deported, and "endangered districts" could be placed under a

state of siege ''State of Siege'' () is a 1972 French–Italian–West German political thriller film directed by Costa-Gavras starring Yves Montand and Renato Salvatori. The story is based on an actual incident in 1970, when U.S. official Dan Mitrione was k ...

. A total of 330 Social Democratic associations were banned, around a 1000 pamphlets seized, and a total of 1500 years of jail time meted out. Only the Social Democratic deputies in the ''Reichstag'' were left mostly unharmed and could continue to be elected, as they enjoyed the privilege of

parliamentary immunity Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which politicians or other political leaders are granted full immunity from legal prosecution, both civil prosecution and criminal prosecution, in the course of the exe ...

. Bismarck justified these measures as "self-defence". The official aim was to "save society from murderers and arsonists, from the experience of the

Paris Commune The Paris Commune (, ) was a French revolutionary government that seized power in Paris on 18 March 1871 and controlled parts of the city until 28 May 1871. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard (France), Nation ...

." In fact, August Bebel had described that uprising as a "prelude battle" in 1871, which would cause an eruption of the entire European proletariat. The Centre Party agreed with Bismarck's anti-Socialist tendencies, but was reserved about the law, as its subject matter appeared to them as too ill-defined. The ''Reichstag'' deputy

Peter Reichensperger Peter Reichensperger (b. at Koblenz, 28 May 1810 - d. at Berlin, 31 December 1892) was a German jurist and parliamentarian for Centre Party. Life He studied at Bonn and Heidelberg and was successively counsellor at Coblenz (1843), of the cour ...

compared it to the

Carlsbad Decrees The Carlsbad Decrees () were a set of reactionary restrictions introduced in the states of the German Confederation by resolution of the Bundesversammlung on 20 September 1819 after a conference held in the spa town of Carlsbad, Austrian Empire. ...

on 16 September 1878: Three days later, the Reichstag passed the law with a large majority. However, this aim of Bismarck also did not achieve its goal: The Social Democrats founded front organisations such as singing clubs and relief funds, Social Democratic literature was printed in Switzerland and then smuggled into Germany, the electoral gains of the SAP increased steadily after

1884 Events January * January 4 – The Fabian Society is founded in London to promote gradualist social progress. * January 5 – Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera '' Princess Ida'', a satire on feminism, premières at the Savoy The ...

, and in

1890 Events January * January 1 – The Kingdom of Italy establishes Eritrea as its colony in the Horn of Africa. * January 2 – Alice Sanger becomes the first female staffer in the White House. * January 11 – 1890 British Ultimatum: The Uni ...

, the party became the largest by number of votes, achieving 19.7% of the popular vote. After Bismarck's dismissal, the Anti-Socialist Laws were no longer extended. Bismarck's hatred for the SPD remained: In 1893, he explained to an American journalist: "They are the rats of this country and should be eradicated." The severity of the discrimination against the Social Democrats throughout the whole imperial period was anecdotally described by historian Walter Mühlhausen: In 1913, the then-chancellor

Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg Theobald Theodor Friedrich Alfred von Bethmann Hollweg (29 November 1856 – 1 January 1921) was a German politician who was chancellor of the German Empire, imperial chancellor of the German Empire from 1909 to 1917. He oversaw the German entry ...

held a short conversation with August Bebel, who was then on his death bed. The SPD chairman subsequently realised that this was "the first time, that a member of the government has spoken to imoutside of official negotiations."

Poles

The

living in the empire were also labelled as ''Reichsfeinde''. This occurred in relation to the ''Kulturkampf'', which, according to

Norman Davies Ivor Norman Richard Davies (born 8 June 1939) is a British and Polish historian, known for his publications on the history of Europe, Poland and the United Kingdom. He has a special interest in Central and Eastern Europe and is UNESCO Profes ...

, turned "every Polish Catholic instantly into a potential rebel." Those Poles who inhabited the Western territories of post-partition Poland were, after 1871, no longer citizens of a multi-ethnic Prussia, but of a German nation-state. Bismarck was distrustful towards them: In August 1871, he named the aims of his policies as "fighting against the Ultramontanist party, especially in the Polish territories." He believed that

religious education In secular usage, religious education is the teaching of a particular religion (although in the United Kingdom the term ''religious instruction'' would refer to the teaching of a particular religion, with ''religious education'' referring to t ...

by Catholic priests in those regions would lead to a rise of Polish nationalism, intending to abolish it altogether. In 1872, the Prussian Minister of Culture

Adalbert Falk Paul Ludwig Adalbert Falk (10 August 18277 July 1900) was a German politician. Falk was born in Metschkau (Mieczków), Silesia. In 1847, he entered the Prussian state service, and in 1853, he became public prosecutor at Lyck (now Ełk). In 1 ...

decreed that at all post-primary schools, religion as a subject had to be conducted in the German language. This had both an anti-Catholic and an anti-Polish intent. Discrimination continued until the end of the empire: After 1886, tens of thousands of Poles with unclear, or with Russian or Austrian citizenship, were

deported Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its Sovereignty, sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or ...

, even if their families had lived at their homes for generations. The Prussian Settler Commission, founded in 1886, was intended to increase the number of Germans in the provinces of

and Posen, in 1907, the ''Reichstag'' passed a law that allowed for the expropriation of Polish landowners, and in 1901, the language dispute escalated into a school strike at Wreschen. The measures enacted by the Prussian government violated the 1850 Prussian constitution, which guaranteed the legal equality of all citizens in Article 4. Germanisation was not a success. According to

Hans-Ulrich Wehler Hans-Ulrich Wehler (September 11, 1931 – July 5, 2014) was a German left-liberal historian known for his role in promoting social history through the "Bielefeld School", and for his critical studies of 19th-century Germany. Life Wehler was bor ...

, however, the measures made the German citizenry feel familiar with the fact that there could be "second-class citizens".

An "Association of ''Reichsfeinde''"

After turning towards a more conservative political base in 1878, Bismarck counted the left-leaning Liberals of the

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 ...

(DFP) as ''Reichsfeinde'', since, while supporting the ''Kulturkampf'' laws, they were opposed to the Anti-Socialist Laws. In his eyes, they were "crypto-

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

" and

nihilists Nihilism () encompasses various views that reject certain aspects of existence. There have been different nihilist positions, including the views that life is meaningless, that moral values are baseless, and that knowledge is impossible. Thes ...

, and had a limited view beyond their desire for progress. Since many

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

voted for the left-leaning Liberals, this polemic also had an antisemitic aspect. From the 1880s on, Bismarck described a cooperation between all ''Reichsfeinde'': In 1881, he accused the Centre Party politician

Ludwig Windthorst Baron Ludwig von Windthorst (17 January 181214 March 1891) was a German politician and leader of the Catholic Centre Party and the most notable opponent of Chancellor Otto von Bismarck during the Prussian-led unification of Germany and the '' ...

of also supporting the Social Democrats, the Guelph Party as well as the Polish and Alsatian minority parties. He further explained that the harsh measures against Catholicism had been necessary as it was connected to the Polish population "with national-revolutionary aims, in a chemical bond, so to say." In 1885 he predicted that the Jesuits would eventually start leading the Social Democrats. Later on, he expanded the circle of alleged ''Reichsfeinde'' and concoted a

conspiracy theory A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

in relation to an affair pertaining to the

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

politician Friedrich Heinrich Geffcken: In a press statement on 3 October 1888, he accused Geffcken of being a

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

particularist, who belonged to an "association of ''Reichsfeinde''" in union with the Catholics, Social Democrats, left-leaning Liberals and the national minorities. He explained: "The task these people have made for themselves is the destruction of all that exists presently. They are directing their ambitions against the Protestant Prussian empire." Geffcken, he alleged, had supported the occupation of German territory by French troops: "All ''Reichsfreunde'' riends of the ''Reich''would have to stand together against these people." Bismarck himself did not believe that the threat he imagined in his conspiracy theory existed: For instance, he did not believe that the Social Democrats could actually pose a revolutionary threat to his government, mainly because of their

utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...

n aims. He even believed that they would be "better" than the Liberals of the DFP. After Bismarck's dismissal, the polemics against the Catholic and Social Democrat ''Reichsfeinde'' lessened. A more formal end to the persecution marked

Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as th ...

's speech in the ''Reichstag'' on 4 August 1914, at the start of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, in which he declared that he no longer saw parties, but "only Germans". This was understood as an offer to former ''Reichsfeinde'' to more strongly participate in political decision-making.

Interpretations

There are different explanations and interpretations for why Bismarck persecuted the ''Reichsfeinde''.

analysed Bismarck's attacks as a form of "negative integration", a method of ruling in which the "in-group" is contrasted with the "out-group", with the latter having to appear threatening without actually threatening the system as a whole. Bismarck applied this to the pro-state majority as an "in-group" and the ''Reichsfeinde'' as the threatening "out-group". He conjured up the threat of these minorities to keep his coalition of ''Reichsfreunde'' intact. Through this, Bismarck was able to keep up a "

Bonapartist Bonapartism () is the political ideology supervening from Napoleon Bonaparte and his followers and successors. The term was used in the narrow sense to refer to people who hoped to restore the House of Bonaparte and its style of government. In ...

semi-dictatorship" with himself at the helm. He intended to force the internal homogeneity of the young German nation-state by presenting himself as the "saviour" from "sinister

Ultramontanism Ultramontanism is a clerical political conception within the Catholic Church that places strong emphasis on the prerogatives and powers of the Pope. It contrasts with Gallicanism, the belief that popular civil authority—often represented b ...

and Socialist revolutionaries", positioning himself as a charismatic ruler. Yet, on the other hand, Wehler argues that the discrimination against the ''Reichsfeinde'' hurt national unity: "In all, it appeared as though the dogmatically Protestant '' Bildungsbürger'' or other

bourgeois The bourgeoisie ( , ) are a class of business owners, merchants and wealthy people, in general, which emerged in the Late Middle Ages, originally as a "middle class" between the peasantry and Aristocracy (class), aristocracy. They are tradition ...

who was attacking Ultramontanists and Social Democrats was the only acceptable type of nationally thinking German."Hans-Ulrich Wehler: ''Nationalismus. Geschichte, Formen, Folgen''. C.H. Beck, München 2001, ISBN 3-406-44769-4, S. 78. The

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

Szilvia Odenwald-Varga argues that the constant conjuring of alleged interior and exterior threats to the ''Reich'' served the "integration of the state collective": In changing coalitions, Bismarck attempted to work, at points, with the

Conservatives 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 civilizati ...

, then again with the Liberals, in the 1860s even attempting to work with the socialist

Ferdinand Lassalle Ferdinand Johann Gottlieb Lassalle (born Lassal; 11 April 1825 – 31 August 1864) was a German jurist, philosopher, socialist, and political activist. Remembered as an initiator of the German labour movement, he developed the theory of state s ...

of the ADAV. According to Odenwald-Varga, he fought the ''Reichsfeinde'' and then attempted to, at least partially, win them over for his policies. The historian Dieter Langewiesche opines that the main aim here was the formation of a

national identity National identity is a person's identity or sense of belonging to one or more states or one or more nations. It is the sense of "a nation as a cohesive whole, as represented by distinctive traditions, culture, and language". National identity ...

: Through the persecution and discrimination of enemies, a self-image of the Germans was created. That integrative force of

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

resulting from these measures was soon strong enough to deconstruct many domestic differences.Dieter Langewiesche: ''Nation, Nationalismus, Nationalstaat. In Deutschland und Europa''. C.H. Beck, München 2000, ISBN 3-406-45939-0, S. 53. According to American historian

, the repressive tactics applied against the Ultramontanist Catholics and the Social Democrats with the aim of building a national consensus proved counter-productive: Bismarck overestimated the binding force of

dynastic A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. Historians ...

loyalty and German patriotism. On the flip side, he underestimated the extent of alienation that those whom he attacked felt, and that the moral force of the religious and social ideals of the persecutees, as well as their will to resist, as strengthened through the persecutions. The sharp words that Bismarck regularly used, Pflanze argues, show a form of "

narcissistic Narcissism is a self-centered personality style characterized as having an excessive preoccupation with oneself and one's own needs, often at the expense of others. Narcissism, named after the Greek mythological figure ''Narcissus'', has evolv ...

anger":

Antisemitism

The discrimination against Catholics and Social Democrats as ''Reichsfeinde'' decreased after 1890. Ethnically defined groups, mainly the

, continued to be stigmatised as such. An author of the Catholic ''Germania'' newspaper opined during the Berlin antisemitism controversy in 1879, that "no one had more fervently and outrageously used the terms of ''Reichsfeind'' and ''Staatsfeind'' than many Jews." Those were, according to that same article: "In their spiritual traits and the character of their customs still a separate race .. the assimilation of which has not yet succeeded, and perhaps might never succeed." The developing

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

in Germany understood the German Empire as a '' Volksnation'', a racial unit, to which Jews could never belong. Furthermore, similarly to how Bismarck labelled Social Democrats and Catholics, they were accused of having conflicting loyalties, be it to being the

Chosen People Throughout history, various groups of people have considered themselves to be the chosen people of a deity, for a particular purpose. The phenomenon of "chosen people" is well known among the Israelites and Jews, where the term () refers to the ...

or to "international capital", that was allegedly Jewish-dominated. Jewish industrialists and politicians like

Walther Rathenau Walther Rathenau (; 29 September 1867 – 24 June 1922) was a German industrialist, writer and politician who served as foreign minister of Germany from February 1922 until his assassination in June 1922. Rathenau was one of Germany's leading ...

complained in 1911, that, until proven otherwise, most Germans would believe in the loyalty of all national minorities, however regarding the Jews: "They are accused, without any evidence, as anti-Nationalist", and having to justify themselves: Several antisemites used Bismarckian discourse to postulate a "trias of ''Reichsfeinde''", consisting of Social Democrats, Catholics and Jews. The nationalist

Pan-German League The Pan-German League () was a Pan-German nationalist organization which was officially founded in 1891, a year after the Zanzibar Treaty was signed. Primarily dedicated to the German question of the time, it held positions on German imperia ...

continuously warned of an alleged fundamental threat through the internal ''Reichsfeinde'' (Social Democrats, Jews, Catholics and representatives of the national minorities) as well as external threats (Great Britain, France, Russia). The Pan-Germans usually claimed Bismarck as their reference point. In reality, Bismarck had never described the Jews as ''Reichsfeinde''. The publicist Otto Glagau attempted to retroactively brand them as such in his pamphlet ''Des Reiches Noth und der neue Culturkampf'' ("The Hardships of the Empire and the New ''Kulturkampf''") in 1879: Protestants and Catholics should make peace and fight against the Jews as the "real ''Reichsfeinde''". After Bismarck was dismissed, antisemitic publisher Max Brewer criticised Wilhelm II and the new chancellor

Leo von Caprivi Georg Leo Graf von Caprivi de Caprara de Montecuccoli (English language, English: ''Count George Leo of Caprivi, Caprara, and Montecuccoli''; born Georg Leo von Caprivi; 24 February 1831 – 6 February 1899) was a German general and statesman. He ...

as, according to Brewer, they "played right into the hands" of the domestic ''Reichsfeinde'', particularly the Jews. The antisemites were strongly opposed by the public, their parties at most received 350.000 votes in imperial elections. Silently, however, the antisemitic exclusionary thinking crept into conservative and liberal circles, without it being publicly expressed.

Weimar Republic

After the defeat of Germany in

and the

German Revolution of 1918–1919 German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

in 1918, the former ''Reichsfeinde'' became the essential supporting parties of the

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

. SPD, Centre Party and left-leaning liberal DDP formed the

Weimar Coalition The Weimar Coalition () is the name given to the coalition government formed by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), the German Democratic Party (DDP) and the Catholic Centre Party (Z), who together had a large majority of the delegates ...

of parties loyal to the

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

. This made them a target for hostilities, often with antisemitic undertones. The ''Reichsfeinde'' were made responsible for the defeat in the war in the

Stab-in-the-back myth The stab-in-the-back myth (, , ) was an antisemitic and anti-communist conspiracy theory that was widely believed and promulgated in Germany after 1918. It maintained that the Imperial German Army did not lose World War I on the battlefield, b ...

by the far-right anti-Republican parties. Aside from this, the explicit term ''Reichsfeinde'' only played a role towards the end of the republic, as president

Paul von Hindenburg Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German military and political leader who led the Imperial German Army during the First World War and later became President of Germany (1919� ...

was disgruntled over the fact that chancellor

Heinrich Brüning Heinrich Aloysius Maria Elisabeth Brüning (; 26 November 1885 – 30 March 1970) was a German Centre Party politician and academic, who served as the chancellor of Germany during the Weimar Republic from 1930 to 1932. A political scientis ...

had made Hindenburg's reelection possible only with the votes of the SPD and the Centre Party, the former ''Reichsfeinde'' of Bismarck. Soon after, he dropped Brüning and governed through a series of presidential cabinets. The historian

Konrad Repgen Konrad Repgen (5 May 1923 – 2 April 2017) was a German historian and a professor emeritus (retired) at the University of Bonn. He was revered for his work on contemporary church history.Karl-Joseph Hummel, Michael Kißener (Ed.): ''Die Katholik ...

explained the fact that the Centre Party voted for the

Enabling Act An enabling act is a piece of legislation by which a legislative body grants an entity which depends on it (for authorization or legitimacy) for the delegation of the legislative body's power to take certain actions. For example, enabling act ...

of 24 March 1933 as a late after-effect of the ''Kulturkampf'': "The old stigma of being a ''Reichsfeind'', of being a second-class citizen, had continued to be present in silence. The Catholics no longer wanted to be excluded from the national community, they – finally – wanted to be part thereof."

Nazi Germany

The

used the dual terminology of ''Volks- und Staatsfeinde'', meaning "enemies of the people and state", to mark, discriminate and persecute Communists, Social Democrats, members of the Labour movement, the German resistance overall, politically active priests,

Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

, Jews and the

Romani Romani may refer to: Ethnic groups * Romani people, or Roma, an ethnic group of Indo-Aryan origin ** Romani language, an Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani communities ** Romanichal, Romani subgroup in the United Kingdom * Romanians (Romanian ...

. The term ''Reichsfeinde'' resurfaced with the "Decree of the ''Führer'' and chancellor regarding the usage of confiscated ''Reichsfeinde'' assets" of 29 May 1941, which transferred confiscated properties of opposition and resistance groups that had been seized by the German states and

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

'' Gaue'' to the ''Reich''. The State Secretary in the ''Reich'' Ministry of the Interior, Hans Pfundtner, argued: "Whoever acts as an enemy of the people or the state, does not act against the

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

, but against the people and the ''Reich''." "Enemies of the people and the state" were now synonymously used with ''Reichsfeinde''. Differing from Bismarck, the Nazis used the term ''Reichsfeinde'' not just as a descriptor for perceived or real enemies of their own policies, but as a racial-'' Völkisch'' classification.

Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( , ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a German high-ranking SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust. He held the rank of SS-. Many historians regard Heydrich ...

, head of the Reich Main Security Office (RSHA) decreed before the

German invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

that it was the task of the SS ''

Einsatzgruppen (, ; also 'task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the imp ...

'', which were to follow the ''

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

'' advance, to "combat all anti-German elements and ''Reichsfeinde'' enemy territory behind the fighting army". Before the Balkan campaign, he specified that Jews and communists were to be understood as ''Reichsfeinde''. On 2 July 1940, he noted that, once the

German invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along a ...

had started, the ''Einsatzgruppen'' were to "deal heavy blows against ''Reichsfeinde'' throughout the world in the categories of emigrants, Freemasons, Jews and political-religious enemies, and of the

Second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

and Third Internationale." In verbal orders to the ''Einsatzgruppen'', the term "liquidation" was used, meaning to kill those who the SS got their hands on. The number of people murdered on Soviet territory by the ''Einsatzgruppen'' is estimated to be at least half a million. This is also about the same number of German Jews that were deported to

ghettos A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other ...

and

extermination camp Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe, primarily in occupied Poland, during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocau ...

s and died there. Their assets fell to the ''Reich''.Josephine Ulbricht: ''Das Vermögen der „Reichsfeinde“. Staatliche Finanzverwaltung und Gegnerverfolgung im nationalsozialistischen Deutschland''. Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston 2022, S. 16, 373 u.ö.

Notes

References

{{Reflist German Empire Otto von Bismarck