Skip to main content Skip to Search Box

Definition: Kulturkampf from The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide

German word for a policy introduced by Chancellor Bismarck in Germany in 1873 that isolated the Catholic interest and attempted to reduce its power in order to create a political coalition of liberals and agrarian conservatives. The alienation of such a large section of the German population as the Catholics could not be sustained, and the policy was abandoned after 1876 to be replaced by an anti-socialist policy.


Kulturkampf

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
(kʊltōr'kämpf´´) [Ger.,=conflict of cultures], the conflict between the German government under Bismarck and the Roman Catholic Church. The promulgation (1870) of the dogma of the infallibility of the pope in matters of faith and morals within the church sparked the conflict; it implied that the pope was the defender of the church against incursions by states. The German bishops and most lay Catholics supported this dogma. Bismarck, who was anxious to strengthen the central power of the new German Empire, feared the strongly organized church, which found its political voice in the Catholic Center party (organized 1870). The Center party received additional support from particularists in Bavaria and from other disaffected minorities such as the suppressed Poles in Prussia and the Guelph party of Hanover , which refused to recognize Hanover's annexation (1866) by Prussia. In his opposition to the church, Bismarck found himself in alliance with the liberals, the traditional opponents of…
117 results

Full text Article Kulturkampf

From Encyclopedia of World Religions: Encyclopedia of Catholicism
ca. 1871–1887 The Kulturkampf was an intense campaign of anti-Catholic anticlericalism initiated by German chancellor Otto Von Bismarck (1815–98) as part of his drive to unify Germany and build a strong central and secular government. Several developments fed Bismarck's fears. In 1870, a Catholic…
| 399 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Kulturkampf

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
(kʊltōr'kämpf´´) [Ger.,=conflict of cultures], the conflict between the German government under Bismarck and the Roman Catholic Church. The promulgation (1870) of the dogma of the infallibility of the pope in matters of faith and morals within the church sparked the conflict; it implied that the…
| 411 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Kulturkampf

From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Bitter struggle by Otto von Bismarck to subject the Roman Catholic church to state controls. Bismarck, a staunch Protestant, doubted the loyalty of Catholics in his new German Empire and became concerned by the Vatican Council’s 1870 proclamation on papal infallibility. In 1872 the state dissolved…
| 139 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Kulturkampf

From The American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language
| 86 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Kulturkampf

From The Macquarie Dictionary
| 42 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Kulturkampf

From Palgrave Macmillan Dictionary of Political Thought
| 88 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Kulturkampf

From Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary
| 37 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Kulturkampf

From Collins English Dictionary
| 39 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Kulturkampf

From The Hutchinson Unabridged Encyclopedia with Atlas and Weather Guide
| 70 words
Key concepts:

Full text Article Kulturkampf

From Chambers Dictionary of World History
| 70 words
Key concepts:
Mind Map

Stack overflow
More Library Resources