Kaiser Wilhelm and the difficulties of ruling Germany

Model answer

X should be that the battle fleet was doubled to 38 battleships. The Kaiser and Tirpitz wanted this because they hoped a large fleet in the North Sea would be such a threat to Britain's Royal Navy that Britain would not dare to risk a war with Germany, so Germany could become a world power.

Model answer

The interpretations differ about both the motives and the value of the social reforms. Interpretation A presents them as generous and sincere: 'no country in the world has done more for its workers', with insurance protecting millions against sickness, accidents and old age, a ban on Sunday work from 1891 and the Insurance Code of 1911. A says these show 'the care of the Kaiser and his government' for every German.

Interpretation B argues that the reforms were 'designed as much to weaken socialism as to help workers'. Instead of A's generous protection, B says benefits were small, the pension began only at seventy and workers paid much of the cost themselves. B also points out that the government tried at the same time to imprison people who pressured others to strike, which suggests repression rather than care. Finally, B judges the reforms a failure, because the Social Democrats' vote kept rising until they became the largest party in 1912.

Model answer

The social reforms improved working conditions. The Workers' Protection Act of 1891, part of Caprivi's 'New Course', banned work on Sundays, stopped children under 13 working in factories and limited women's working day to 11 hours. Industrial courts, set up in 1890, gave workers a way to settle disputes with employers over pay and conditions without striking.

The reforms also gave workers more security against hardship. They already had insurance for sickness, accidents and old age from Bismarck's laws of the 1880s, and these were extended: accident insurance covered more workers from 1900, sickness benefit was paid for up to 26 weeks from 1903, and the Imperial Insurance Code of 1911 extended sickness insurance to farm workers and servants and added pensions for widows and orphans. A family whose breadwinner was injured or ill was less likely to fall into complete poverty.

However, the effects were limited. Benefits were small, workers paid a large share of the cost out of their wages, and the old-age pension did not begin until 70. At the same time the government tried to repress the labour movement, for example with the Penitentiary Bill of 1899, which would have imprisoned people who pressured others to strike, although the Reichstag threw it out.

Politically, the reforms did not change how most workers voted. The government hoped they would win workers away from socialism, but workers continued to join trade unions and vote for the SPD, which won about a third of all votes in 1912. So the reforms made workers' lives somewhat safer and more secure, but they did not satisfy their demands for higher wages, better housing and political equality.

Model answer

One reason for the social reforms was to weaken support for socialism. Bismarck had introduced insurance for sickness, accidents and old age in the 1880s partly to draw workers away from the socialists, and the young Kaiser continued this approach. In 1890, as the Anti-Socialist Law came to an end, he issued the February Decrees on workers' protection and hosted an international conference on the subject in Berlin, hoping to be seen as a 'social emperor'. Caprivi's 'New Course' followed, including the Workers' Protection Act of 1891. The political motive is shown by what happened next: when the SPD kept growing, the Kaiser turned to repression instead, backing the Subversion Bill of 1894-95 and the Penitentiary Bill of 1899.

The other reason was to deal with the problems caused by industrialisation. Millions of Germans now worked in factories and mines, where long hours, child labour and accidents were common. A huge Ruhr miners' strike in 1889 had shown how serious workers' grievances were. The Workers' Protection Act of 1891 tackled these problems directly by banning Sunday work, stopping children under 13 working in factories and limiting women's working day to 11 hours, and industrial courts were set up in 1890 to settle disputes. Later reforms extended accident insurance in 1900 and sickness benefit in 1903, and the Imperial Insurance Code of 1911 covered farm workers and servants and added pensions for widows and orphans. A growing industrial and military power also needed healthy workers and recruits, and the Catholic Centre Party and some officials genuinely believed in social reform.

Weakening socialism was the more important reason. The timing of the reforms - at the moment the Anti-Socialist Law ended - and the Kaiser's rapid switch to repression when workers kept voting SPD show that the government's main concern was political: it wanted loyal subjects rather than socialists. The problems of industrialisation were real, and they explain what the reforms dealt with, but the government acted on them mainly because those problems were feeding the SPD. In that sense the two reasons overlapped: industrial conditions created the grievances, and the fear that socialism would exploit them was what drove the Kaiser's governments to act. The reforms failed in this aim, since the SPD reached about 35% of the vote in 1912.