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The Social Outlook of Prussian Conservatism

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 August 2009

William O. Shanahan
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Extract

Prussian Conservatism was not an ideology comparable to those which have breathed into every crevice of twentieth century totalitarian states. It was not really an ideology at all, if that term is understood to mean a system of thought enforced by the state so as to give every human act a political meaning. The Prussian conservatives, conditioned by an aristocratic disdain for a political rationale, were unable to agree on a uniform principle of political conduct. Shades of meaning, based largely on the balance struck between religion and political realism, persisted in coloring the conservative temperament. Yet by the fourth decade of the nineteenth century, Prussian conservatism had become a coherent body of thought distinct from liberalism, democracy, or socialism. Its historical importance became assured, when, at Bismarck's hands, Prussian conservatism entered wholeheartedly into the making of what the liberal historian, Erich Eyck, has called “German constitutionalism,” that is a system of politics respectful of authority, but equally disdainful of democracy and absolutism, in which the practical conduct of government may be guided by moral principles in an irrational world.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Review of Politics , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , April 1953 , pp. 209 - 252
Copyright
Copyright © University of Notre Dame 1953

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References

1 This study forms a portion of a forthcoming book, The Social Ethic of German Protestantism, to be published by the University of Notre Dame Press for the Committee on International Relations.

2 Eyck, Erich, Bismarck, (Erlenbach-Zurich, 1941), I, 109.Google Scholar

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5 Cf. Meinecke, Friedrich, “Bismarcks Eintritt in den christlich-germanischen Kreis,” Preussen und Deutschland im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert (Munich and Berlin, 1918), pp. 296–97, 336Google Scholar which shows that Bismarck accepted the religious-political ideas of the “Christian-German” circle, if only to make them principles of private conscience. Ranke's influence is dealt with in Meinecke, Friedrich, “Ranke und Bismarck,” Weltbürgertum und Nationalstaat (7th ed.; Munich and Berlin, 1928), pp. 287Google Scholar ff. Also see Michniewicz, Bernhard, Stahl und Bismarck (University of Berlin diss., 1913).Google Scholar

6 Otto von Bismarck became its greatest exponent, although the development of his realism proceeded irregularly. Some aspects of it antedated the March revolution since Bismarck had been associated with the unfulfilled program of July 5, 1847 for establishing a conservative newspaper without either pietistic or orthodox affiliations. Cf. von Petersdorff, H., “Ein Programm Bismarcks zur Gründung einer konservativen Zeitung,” Forschungen zur Brandenburgischen und Preussischen Geschichte, XVII (1904), 581, 583Google Scholar. The conservative counterrevolution in 1848 and the establishment of the Kreuzzeitung momentarily diverted Bismarck from this realistic conservatism. He even made his debut in foreign relations with an address to the second chamber on Dec. 3, 1850 defending the settlement with Austria, which he described as the representative and heir of an ancient German sovereignty. Bismarck. Die Gesammelte Werke (3rd ed.; Berlin, 1924–1932), X, 109Google Scholar. Subsequently, his actual diplomatic experience combined with the exigencies of the Crimean War to restore a realistic viewpoint.

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9 Kottwitz, a Silesian nobleman who removed to Berlin in 1807, became one of the chief instigators of the North German Awakening. Through his influence, which extended to members of the court circle, the old Pietism, based on conventicles, joined the new orthodoxy with its singular affinity for the church and for political power. Providing employment to the poor was one of Kottwitz' major social interests. See his Ueber Armenwesen (Berlin, 1809).Google Scholar

10 Schleiermacher had helped to plan the paper. Its intent became reactionary only when Hengstenberg decided to fight out the issues raised in the strife over the rational theology of Professors Wegscheider and Gesenius at Halle in 1830. The July Revolution immediately deepened the paper's reactionary tone. Cf. Bonwetsch, Nathanael, “Die Anfänge der ‘Evangelischen Kirchenzeitung.’ Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des religioesen und kirchlichen Lebens im 19. Jahrhundert,” Geschichtliche Studien. Albert Hauck zum 70. Geburtstag (Leipzig, 1916), pp. 287, 293.Google Scholar

11 From this time the influence of Stahl upon the Prussian conservatives gradually increased. His publication of Das monarchische Princip (Heidelberg, 1845)Google Scholar marked the transition point in Prussian conservative thought from the private law ideals of Haller to the public law conceptions at the base of Stahl's jurisprudence. A wholehearted acceptance of Stahl by the conservatives was long impeded by their personal reservations about him. See note 59. Friedrich von Schelling's appointment to the University of Berlin had more to do with Frederick William IV's vanity, his wish to assemble all the learned Germans in Berlin. See Lenz, Max, Geschichte der koeniglichen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitāt zu Berlin (Halle a S., 1910–1918), II, part 2, pp. 10–11, 19–20, 42.Google Scholar

12 In addition to the old biography by von Petersdorff, Hermann, Koenig Friedrich Wilhelm der Vierte (Stuttgart, 1900)Google Scholar, there is a more recent study by Lewalter, Ernst, Friedrich Wilhelm IV. Das Schicksal eines Geistes (Berlin, 1938)Google Scholar. Neither is wholly satisfactory.

18 Cf. Schaper, Ewald, Die geistespolitischen Voraussetzungen der Kirchenpolitik Friedrich Wilhelms IV. von Preussen (Stuttgart, 1938), p. 51Google Scholar. This work summarizes most of the recent literature on the monarch, but Ranke's celebrated study should not be neglected, despite the criticism in Kaufmann, Georg, “Ranke und die Beurteilung Friedrich Wilhelms IV,” Historische Zeitschrift, LXXXVIII (1902), 436–73.Google Scholar

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15 To a limited degree, the early phases of Prussian conservatism stood for the reunion of the confessions in that irenic church so greatly desired by the romantics. Cf. Hannay, Eberhard, Die Gedanke der Wiedervereinigung der Konfessionen in den Anfängen der konservativen Bewegung (Düsseldorf, 1936), pp. 21–29.Google Scholar

16 The standard biography is Hassel, Paul, Joseph Maria von Radowitz. I. 1797–1848 (Berlin, 1913)Google Scholar, a study completed posthumously by Meinecke, Friedrich's Radowitz und die Deutsche Nation (Berlin, 1913).Google Scholar

17 An elder brother, Wilhelm, died in 1834. On Leopold's early relations to Frederick William, see von Gerlach, Leopold, Denkwürdigkeiten aus dem Leben Leopold von Gerlachs (Berlin, 1891–1892), I, 51Google Scholar. These memoirs, together with those of his brother, afford an intimate picture of Prussian conservative habits of thought. On Ludwig von Gerlach's relations to the “Christian-German” circle, see his Aufzeichnungen aus seinem Leben und Wirken 1795–1877 (Jacob von Gerlach, ed.; Schwerin i. M., 1903), I, 159Google Scholarpassim. Not until Jan. 11, 1832 did Ludwig have his first private conversation with the crown prince. On Ludwig von Gerlach's world view, see Schoeps, Hans Joachim, Das andere Preussen (Stuttgart, 1952), pp. 13–115Google Scholar, a work dedicated to the proof that the “other Prussia” was a constitutional and a Christian state.

18 Many of Haller's contemporaries observed that his theories explained the state in natural terms without wholly avoiding the natural law theorists' involvement with the social contract. Instead of one contract valid for everyone, Haller's system preferred numerous private contracts, a consequence which provoke Jean Pierre Frédéric Ancillon, the crown prince's tutor, to remark that Haller had merely minted the bullion into small coins. Cf. Meinecke, Friedrich, “Haller und der Kreis Friedrich Wilhelms IV,” Weltbürgertum und Nationalstaat, pp. 226–27, particularly the long footnote.Google Scholar

19 von Haller, Carl Ludwig, Restauration der Staats-Wissenschaft (2nd ed.; Winterthur, 1820), III, 16–53Google Scholar. From Haller's title has come the historical usage, “The Restoration.”

20 Haller's views drew upon the benevolent spirit of the patriarchal republic in Bern, which treated the peasants fairly and did not plague either subjects or citizens “with too much government.” Haller actually represented a viewpoint older than romantic conservatism since he grasped neither the concept of a cultural nation nor a national state. Cf. Meinecke, , “Haller und der Kreis Friedrich Wilhelms IV,” pp. 224–36Google Scholar. Also consult Sonntag, Wilhelm H., Die Staatsauffassung Ludwig von Hollers. Ihre metaphysische Grundlegung und ihre politische Formung (Jena, 1929).Google Scholar

21 A useful introduction to romantic political theory is Baxa, Jakob's Einführung in die romantische Staatswissenschaft (2nd ed.; Jena, 1931)Google Scholar; on Müller's economic teaching see ibid., pp. 174–84, 190–200. The opposition of Müller, Marwitz, and Kleist to a rational lawgiving in agriculture is dealt with in Lenz, Friedrich, Die romantische Nationaloekonomie im Kampfe mit der rationellen Landwirtschaft (Univ. of Berlin diss., 1912), pp. 19–30, 36–46.Google Scholar

22 The significant portions of this remonstrance may be found in Mommsen, Wilhelm, ed., Deutsche Parteiprogramme. Eine Auswahl vom Vormärz bis zur Gegenwart (Munich, 1951), pp. 9–12Google Scholar. Marwitz, who had signed the document, later remarked in his memoirs (cf. ibid., p. 9) that Stein had begun “to revolutionize Prussia,” to kindle a war of propertyless men against the propertied, of industry against agriculture, of the mobile against the fixed, of crass materialism against God-given principles; further, Stein had encouraged egotism and suppressed altruism, pursued the advantage of the moment against the preponderance of the past, elevated individuals over the family, encouraged speculators and suppressed tradesmen and agrarians, opposed the history of the nation with decisions reached in bureaus, and set talent and knowledge against virtue and character. Marwitz rhetorical outburst might have been emblazoned on the shield of Prussian conservativism to serve as its device until the end of the German Empire.

23 Adam Müller's chief work was Die Elemente der Staatskunst (Berlin, 1809, 3 vols.; 2nd ed.; Leipzig, 1922, 2 vols.)Google Scholar. Friedrich von Gentz' (1764–1832) translation of Burke, Edmund's Reflections on the Revolution in FranceGoogle Scholar, published in Berlin in 1793, stimulated thinking about conservatism in Germany. Gentz shared Burke's antipathy for the revolution, but remained a rationalist, a “child of the eighteenth century.” Cf. Sweet, Paul R., Friedrich von Gentz. Defender of the Old Order (Madison, Wis., 1941), pp. 20–23.Google Scholar

24 Cf. Meinecke, Friedrich, “Adam Müller in den Jahren 1808–1813,” Weltbürgertum und Nationalstaat, p. 149Google Scholar. For an estimate of the effects of corporativism on German political life see Bowen, Ralph H., German Theories of the Corporative State (New York and London, 1947), pp. 69–74.Google Scholar

25 See Ramlow, Gerhard, Ludwig von der Marwitz und die Anfänge konservativer Politik und Staatsanschauung in Preussen (Berlin, 1930)Google Scholar, “Die preussischen Stände,” pp. 39–51Google Scholar. Whether Marwitz got the altständisch idea of the state from Müller is disputed. Ramlow holds that Müller succeeded only in clarifying Marwitz' ideas. Ibid., pp. 75–77.

26 This limitation thwarted the possibility of a Christian social reform movement advancing under conservative auspices. It also conspired to limit the potentialities inherent in Johann Hinrich Wichern's (1808–1881) Inner Mission, an ideal first systematically described by the Hamburg clergyman in 1844. Cf. Wichern, J. H., Notstände der protestantischen Kirche und die Jnnere Mission (Horn bei Hamburg, 1844)Google Scholar, a work reprinted in the Gesammelte Schriften (Hamburg, 1901–1908), III, 45–130Google Scholar. Through the Inner Mission, Wichern proposed to combine evangelizing with Christian education and social work to reestablish the Christian and corporative bonds at first of the German nation, and then of Christendom. After 1848 Prussian conservatism took command of the Inner Mission as a means of restoring a Christian monarchy in Prussia. Consult Gerhardt, Martin, Ein Jahrhundert Innere Mission (Gütersloh, 1948), I, 131 ff.Google Scholar

27 For want of an objective economic learning the Prussian conservatives were long handicapped in their dealing with the adherents of the classical economy. Eventually the conservatives obtained from Jean Charles Léonard de Sismondi (1773–1842), the conservative economist and historian of Geneva, whose Nouveaux principes d'économie politique (Paris, 1819, 2 vols.)Google Scholar helped to found an ethical economics in opposition to one based on the rule of the market, the technical assistance required by their world view. Sismondi's enmity for industrialism had a marked effect on both Stahl and Bismarck. Sismondi was the friend of Adam Müller and of Friedrich von Schlegel, whom he had met in the course of frequenting Mme. de Stael's salon at Coppet. On Sismondi's “new principles” as an alternative to liberal economics, see Amonn, Alfred, Simonde de Sismondi als Nationaloekonom (Bern, 1945–1949), II, 13–24, 228 ff. and pp. 394–95.Google Scholar

28 The name derived from the meeting place, the Schlossfreiheit bei dem Wirte Mai. Karl von Voss-Buch, Graf Cajus Stolberg, and Friedrich von Bülow were other members. See Wiegand, Friedrich, “Der Verein der Maikäfer in Berlin,” Deutsche Rundschau, CLX (1914), 279–91Google Scholar; also see von Keyserling, Leonie, Studien zu den Entwicklungsjahren der Brüder Gerlach (Heidelberg, 1910), pp. 62–76.Google Scholar

29 Haller's conquest of the Gerlachs and their circle is made clear in ibid., pp. 106–07, 110. Stahl's influence over Ludwig von Gerlach developed slowly; Leopold never actually renounced Haller. Ludwig von Gerlach first met Stahl in 1842; they had no close relations before the General Synod of 1846. For Ludwig's taste there were always too many doctrinaire and too many liberal elements in Stahl's jurisprudence. On relations between Stahl and Ludwig von Gerlach, see Schoeps, , op. cit., pp. 94–100Google Scholar. It was paradoxical that after ca. 1845–1846 the most talented theorist of Prussian conservatism should have been a Jewish convert to Christianity, a middle class man of south German origin. Despite these antecedents, most Prussian conservatives by 1848–1849 had conceded Stahl's preeminence as a political thinker, as a parliamentarian, and as a political journalist. Stahl was also unmatched in oratory, a talent especially well-served by his ready wit. For a philosopher, Stahl also wrote with astonishing clarity. The biography begun by Masur, Gerhard, Friedrich Julius Stahl. Geschichte seines Lebens. Aufstieg und Entfaltung 1802–1840 (Berlin, 1930)Google Scholar, is both thorough and profound. Kaufmann, Erich's Studien zur Staatslehre des monarchischen Prinzipes (Leipzig, 1906)Google Scholar, sets forth the irrational basis of Stahl's political philosophy. For a well-written introductory account, see Drucker, Peter, Friedrich Julius Stahl. Konsernative Staatslehre und geschichtliche Entwicklung (Tübingen, 1933)Google Scholar The latest study, entirely juristic in character, is Volz, Otto, Christentum und Positivismus. Die Grundlagen der Rechts und Staatsauffassung Friedrich Julius Stahls (Tübingen, 1951).Google Scholar

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31 Bismarck. Die gesammelten Werke. Erinnerung und Gedanke. Kritisehe Neuausgabe auf Grund des gesamten schriftlichen Nachlasses (Gerhard Ritter and Rudolf Stadelmann, eds.; 2nd ed.; Berlin, 1932), XV, 351.Google Scholar

32 A reformist approach to social issues, which sought to deal with particular disorders, remained undeveloped in Prussian conservatism before the mid-fifties. Radowitz' efforts in this direction had miscarried. A conservative reformism developed in Prussia mainly at the hands of Hermann Wagener (1815–1889), the first editor of the Kreuzzeitung, who subsequently became identified with the Berliner Revue (1855–1873)Google Scholar, a conservative organ standing broadly for agrarian politics and the reform of the industrial system. Cf. Hahn, Adalbert, Die Berliner Revue. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der konservativen Partei zwischen 1855 und 1875 (Berlin, 1934)Google Scholar. Also consuit Wagener, Hermann, Erlebtes. Meine Memoiren aus der Zeit von 1848 bis 1866 und von 1873 bis jetzt (Berlin, 1884).Google Scholar

33 Rohden, Peter R., “Deutscher und franzoesischer Konservatismus,” Die Dioskuren, III (1924), 123.Google Scholar

34 Cf. Mannheim, Karl, “Das konservative Denken,” Archiv für Sozialwissenschaft und Sozialpolitik, LVII (1927), 129, 132.Google Scholar

35 von Martin, Alfred, “Weltanschaulichen Motive im altkonservativen Denken,” Deutscher Staat und Deutsche Parteien (Wentzcke, Paul, ed.; Munich and Berlin, 1922), pp. 342–43Google Scholar. For Stahl's characteristic views about property in the social and juridical system, see Die Philosophie des Rechts. Rechts und Staatslehre auf der Grundlage christlicher Weltanschauung (3rd ed.; Heidelberg, 1854–1856), II, part 1, pp. xvii, 76–77, 374–76, 499–508Google Scholar; part 2, pp. 146, 181–82.

36 Mannheim, , “Das konservative Denken,” pp. 84, 86, 89, 102, 470–71.Google Scholar

37 An idea embodied in Stahl, Friedrich Julius's Der Protestantismus als politisches Prinzip. Vorträge auf Veranstaltung des evangelischen Vereins für kirchliche Zwecke zu Berlin in März 1853 gehalten (Berlin, 1853)Google Scholar. The variety of intellectual elements that entered into Prussian conservatism is made clear in Neumann, Sigmund, Die Stufen des preussischen Konservatismus (Berlin, 1930), pp. 68–84Google Scholar. An older account by Stillich, Oscar, Die politischen Parteien in Deutschland. I. Die Konservativen (Leipzig, 1908)Google Scholar, has merit, although it is organized topically to point up the shortcomings of the existing conservative parties. For a very useful survey, also see Schüddekopf, Otto-Ernst, Die deutsche Innenpolitik im letzten Jahrhundert und der konservative Gedanke (Brunswick, 1951), pp. 9–20.Google Scholar

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39 Consult von Martin, Alfred, “Der preussische Altkonservatismus und der politische Katholizismus in ihren gegenseitigen Beziehungen,” Deutsche Vierteljahrsschrift, VII (1929), 489–514Google Scholar. Catholic participation was anticipated even on Hengstenberg's Evangelischen Kirchen-Zeitung. But suspicion could not be avoided entirely, thus Hengstenberg warned Ludwig von Gerlach against the Catholic leadership in the Berliner politische Wochenblatt. von Gerlach, Ludwig, Aufzeichnungen, I, 199Google Scholar. The scope of Hengstenberg's alarm is also depicted in Bachmann, and Schmalenbach, , op. cit., II, 299–301.Google Scholar

40 After 1837–1838 Catholic political opinion tended to seek its own journalistic outlets, although the Catholic Allgemeine Oderzeitung, founded in Breslau in 1846, not only supported political conservatism but the evangelical orthodox party as well. Melchior von Diepenbroek (1798–1853), Archbishop of Breslau from 1845 and the spiritual leader of German Catholics before 1848, never escaped from the conservative world view. Cf. Martin, , “Der preussische Altkonservatismus,” pp. 489–91, 497–99, 509.Google Scholar

41 See the biography of Ludwig von Gerlach's writings in Schoeps, , op.cit., pp. 346–54Google Scholar. The same author's Die Ehre Preussens (Stuttgart, 1951)Google Scholar also deals sympathetically with conservative constitutionalism in Prussia.

42 See Ritter, Emil, Radowitz. Ein katholischer Staatsmann in Preussen (Cologne, 1948), pp. 37–40Google Scholar. “Clubs like those in Berlin” had been organized in Cassel during the spring of 1831, August Vilmar wrote to his brother Wilhelm. A loose connection obtained at first between the Hessian reactionaries and those in Prussia. It was weakened in 1841 when Wilhelm Vilmar fell out with Hengstenberg. Thereafter an anti-Prussian policy prevailed, but the same mixture of positive Christianity and authoritarian politics informed the restoration in Electoral Hesse. Maurer, Wilhelm, Aufklärung, Idealismus und Restauration. Studien zur Kirchen und Geistesgeschichte in besonderer Beziehung auf Kurhessen 1780–1850 (Giessen, 1930), II, 228, 245.Google Scholar

43 Cf. Berliner politische Wochenblatt, 1832, No. 13Google Scholar; 1834, No. 22. The antipathy of the Berliner politische Wochenblatt toward Stahl was very marked. He was declared “a wolf in sheep's clothing,” a man who had disguised Leviathan in a courtly and up to date garb. See the references in Meinecke, , “Haller und der Kreis Friedrich Wilhelms IV.,” p. 244.Google Scholar

44 Georg Phillips (1804–1872) was one of the founders, with Guido Goerres and Karl Ernst Jarcke, of the Historisch-politische Blätter (1838)Google Scholar, a periodical intended to perpetuate the Catholic and Grossdeutsch viewpoint of Joseph Goerres.

45 Cf. Berliner politische Wochenblatt, 1832, Nos. 20, 25. 29Google Scholar; 1833, No 26; 1834, Nos. 22, 23; 1836, No. 1; 1837, Nos. 19, 23, 38; 1841, No. 7.

46 von Gerlach, Ludwig, Aufzeichnungen, I, 203.Google Scholar

47 Berliner politische Wochenblatt, 1833Google Scholar, Nos. 27, 38, cited in Goetting, Hildegard, Die sozialpolitische Idee in den konservativen Kreisen der vormärzlichen Zeit (University of Berlin diss., 1920), pp. 26–32.Google Scholar

48 Although von Radowitz, Joseph Maria' Gespräche aus der Gegenwart über Stoat und Kirche (2nd ed.; Stuttgart, 1846)Google Scholar dealt with social issues aphoristically, this work made the author's reformist views widely known. There can be little doubt that Radowitz was one of the “feudal socialists” derided by Marx and Engels in the Communist Manifesto. See Baxa, Jacob, “Die wirtschaftlichen Ansichten von Joseph Maria v. Radowitz,” Jahrbücher für Nationaloekonomie und Statistik, CXXXIX (1933), 203–06Google Scholar; Früh, Walter, Radowitz als Sozialpolitiker. Seine Gesellschafts und Wirtschaftsauffassung unter besondere Berücksichtigung der sozialen Frage (Berlin, 1937), pp. 23–29, 31.Google Scholar

49 Elsewhere in Germany the cooperation between Protestants and Catholics in the Christian-social movement remained unaffected. In what is considered the first German speech on social politics (the term itself was coined by Rodbertus in 1851), made before the Baden Parliament on April 25, 1837 by the Catholic, Franz Josef Ritter von Buss (1803–1878), interconfessional measures for attaining social tranquility were proposed.

50 Consult Varrentrap, C., “Rankes Historisch-politische Zeitschrift und das Berliner politische Wochenblatt,” Historische Zeitschrift, IC (1907), 109 ff.Google Scholar

51 Ibid., p. 56. The advantage of explaining official policies to the educated classes had been made clear by Metternich's great publicist, Friedrich von Gentz, whom Ranke had met in Vienna in 1827.

52 This stage of Ranke's career is treated in Von Laue, Theodore H., Leopold von Ranke. The Formative Years (Princeton, N. J., 1950)Google Scholar; it also includes translations of Ranke's essays, “A Dialogue on Politics,” and “The Great Powers,” which are germane to his understanding of foreign relations.

53 Varrentrap, , op. cit., pp. 85–90.Google Scholar

54 This is the thesis developed in Lütgert, Wilhelm's Die Religion des deutschen Idealismus und ihr Ende (3rd ed.; Gütersloh, 1929–1930), III, 153 ff.Google Scholar; on the criticism of the nobility from within Awakened circles, see ibid., III, 363. German historians are by no means agreed in their interpretation of German Idealism in the national history. For a recent statement, see Holborn, Hajo, “Der Deutsche Idealismus in sozialgeschichtlicher Beleuchtung,” Historische Zeitschrift, CLXXII (1952), 359–84Google Scholar

55 Consult Neher, Walter, Arnold Ruge als Politiker und politischer Schriftsteller (Heidelberg, 1933), pp. 43–48Google Scholar; and Mayer, Gustav, “Die Junghegelianer und der preussische Staat,” Historische Zeitschrift, CXXI (1920), 421–22, 423–24Google Scholar. Theodor Echtermeyer, with Ruge the co-founder of the Hallischen Jahrbücher, left the editor's chair in 1841.

56 Lutgert, , op. cit., III, 361Google Scholar. The effect of the “Young Hegelian” agitation on a critical intelligence is described in Rosenberg, Hans, Rudolf Haym tind die Anfänge des klassischen Liberalismus (Munich and Berlin, 1933), pp. 20–25, 34–39.Google Scholar

57 The relation between German liberalism and religion deserves closer study. Some aspects of it are treated in Rosenberg, Hans, “Theologischer Rationalismus und Vormärzlicher Vulgärliberalismus,” Historische Zeitschrift, CXLI (1930), 497–541Google Scholar; and in Nigg, Walter, Geschichte des religioesen Liberalismus (Zurich and Leipzig, 1937), particularly pp. 206 ff.Google Scholar

58 See Neundoerfer, Karl, Der ältere deutsche Liberalismus und die Forderung der Trennung von Staat und Kirche (Mainz, 1909), pp. 22Google Scholar ff. Rotteck, writing in the Staats-Lexikon, declared that the church, no matter what eminence or holiness it might claim for itself, had no other legal rights than those pertaining to public corporations. Staats-Lexikon oder Encyklopädie der Staatswissenschaften (Carl von Rotteck and Carl Welcker, eds.; Altona, 1834–1843), IX, 281Google Scholar. Welcker, in an article on constitutionalism, insisted that the state must be free to embody transcendental moral principles without danger of collision with other interests. Ibid., XV, 81.

59 Although an anti-liberal political philosophy oriented toward religion was at hand in Stahl's Philosophie des Rechts, which had begun to appear in 1830, the Prussian conservatives fell back upon the older romantic theorists because of their personal reservations about Stahl. The revolution of 1848, which, despite the victory of the counterrevolutionary forces, transformed Prussia into a constitutional monarchy, gave Stahl's constitutionalism the scope it needed. Until then Stahl's Jewish origin barred his wholehearted acceptance. Leopold von Gerlach thought that Stahl was a conservative only because he had associated with his brother, Ludwig. Leo thought the whole trouble with Stahl was his Bavarian background. Bismarck did not hesitate, before 1848, to scorn him “as a Jew.” Hermann Wagener maintained that Stahl lacked experience with the kind of life that nourished conservatism. Cf. Michniewicz, , op. cit., pp. 15, 26, 82, 115, 127.Google Scholar

60 David Friedrich Strauss chose a paradoxical political role, preferring to stand with the reactionaries in the estates of Württemberg. The choice of conservative politics by philosophical radicals has not been rare: David Hume was a Tory. In Germany, Hegel, who is often considered the philosopher of authoritarianism, was first claimed by the liberals. Yet, until 1848 Hegel's philosophy gave rise mainly to theological dispute. Although Hegel undoubtedly misconstrued the daemonic attributes of political power, most English-speaking commentators have exaggerated the Hegelian elements in Germany's recent political aberrations. On this issue see Schnabel, Franz, Deutsche Geschichte im Neuniehnten Jahrhundert. Erfahrungswissenschaften und Technik (2nd ed.; Freiburg i. Br., 1947–1951), III, 26, 29.Google Scholar

61 Marwitz' affection for Frederick the Great bespoke the enormous debt owed him by the Prussian aristocracy. Their military preferment had great political consequences: primus in armis primusque in consiliis. Frederician principles also meant realism in foreign affairs. Marwitz had therefore opposed any system, whether originating in the “cabinet” or in the Holy Alliance, that diminished Prussia's self-sufficiency as a great power. All these elements eventually became part of the Prussian conservative tradition. Cf. Ramlow, , op. cit., pp. 60–61, 101, 104Google Scholar. Marwitz' idealization of Frederick the Great's aristocratic officers' corps is made evident in Friedrich August Ludwig von der Marwitz. Ein märkischer Edelmann im Zeitalter der Befreiungskriege (Meusel, Friedrich, ed.; Berlin, 1908), I, 512.Google Scholar

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64 Feuerbach, Ludwig's Das Wesen des Christentums (Leipzig, 1841)Google Scholar introduced an anthropocentric positivism to German philosophy. Feuerbach, writing about Pierre Bayle in 1838, had been the first to use the expression: “Religion is the opium of the people.” But it remained for Marx and Engels to exploit its propagandistic value. Cf. Schaper, Ewald, “Religion ist Opium für das Volk,” Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte, LIX (1940), 426–27.Google Scholar

65 Meinecke, Friedrich, Preussen und Deutschland im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert (Munich and Berlin, 1918), p. 309.Google Scholar

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68 A satisfactory German translation of the Wealth of Nations in 1794 assured its popular influence. The Baron vom Stein and most of the men associated with him were ardent followers of Adam Smith. Cf. Roscher, Wilhelm, “Ueber die Ein—und Durchführung des Adam Smith'schen Systems in Deutschland,” Berichte über die Verhandlungen der koeniglich sächsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, I (1867), 5–6, 21Google Scholar. From the forties an active propaganda for the classical economy, especially free trade, was organized in Germany by Prince-Smith, John (1809–1874)Google Scholar. Cf. Mayer, Georg, Die Freihandelslehre in Deutschland. Ein Beitrag zur Gesellschaftslehre des wirtschaftlichen Liberalismus (Jena, 1927), pp. 50 ff.Google Scholar

69 Petersdorff, , op. cit., p. 109Google Scholar dwells respectfully on Frederick William IV's preoccupation with Gottesgnaden.

70 The Prussian industrial ordinances of Feb. 17, 1845 tried to combine an increase of mercantile freedom with efforts to preserve the autonomy and corporate privileges of the guilds. Cf. Handwoerterbuch der Staatswissenschaften (4th ed.; Jena, 1923–1928), IV, 1009.Google Scholar

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72 Cf. Evangelischen Kirchen-Zeitung, 1831, Nos. 31, 82; 1841, Nos. 91, 92.Google Scholar

73 Cf. Hermelink, Heinrich, Das Christentum in der Menschheitsgeschichte. Revolution und Restauration 1789–1835 (Tübingen and Stuttgart, 1951), I, 411–23Google Scholar (“Thron und Altar in der Theologie der Erweckung”).

74 This judgment is expressed in Die Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart (2nd ed.; Tübingen, 1927–1932), V, 1149–50.Google Scholar

75 August Vilmar, whose high church Lutheranism reestablished the sacramental mediation of the church, had a particular affection for the Augustana. Cf. Maurer, , op. cit., II, 246.Google Scholar

76 In a technical sense “repristination” may be inappropriate, since Hengstenberg's theology admitted rational and speculative elements which were alien to the Normaltheologie.

77 On the Lutheran economic ethics of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, see Elert, Werner, Morphologie des Luthertums. Soziallehren und Sozialwirkungen des Luthertums (Munich, 1931–1932), 466–92Google Scholar. Karl Holl's discussion of Lutheran economic ethics clears away the barriers of the Lutheran scholasticism to develop the potentialities in Luther's social outlook. Cf. Holl, Karl, Gesammelte Aufsätze zur Kirchengeschichte. Luther (6th ed.; Tübingen, 1932), I, 450–67, 499–502, 508 ff.Google Scholar

78 A liberal theologian's criticism of the reactionary tendencies was voiced in Hundeshagen, Karl B.'s Der deutsche Protestantismus, seine Vergangenheit und seine heutigen Lebensfragen (Frankfort on the Main, 1847), pp. 130Google Scholarpassim, and pp. 157 ff. Hundeshagen blamed “Pietism,” a term which had come to signify “orthodoxy,” for all that he considered disgraceful in contemporary German Protestantism. Ibid., p. 262.

79 von Altenstein, Karl Freiherr (1770–1840)Google Scholar, who had preceded Eichhorn as Minister of Cults, favored the rational and opposed the reactionary theologians. Although dedicated to academic freedom, Altenstein's intransigeant handling of church affairs (his concept of the state derived from Fichte and Hegel) caused much of the bitterness attending ecclesiastical dispute during Frederick William III's reign. Altenstein's views about church and state, and the spirit of his administration, are made known in Foerster, Erich, Die Entstehung der Preussischen Landeskirche unter der Regierung Koenig Friedrich Wilhelms des Dritten (Tübingen, 1905–1907), I, 129–31; II, 284, 518–23.Google Scholar

80 Mayer, , “Die Junghegelianer und der preussische Staat,” pp. 429–30, 433Google Scholar; also Speier, Hans, “From Hegel to Marx: The Left Hegelians, Feuerbach and ‘True Socialism,’” Social Order and the Risks of War. Papers in Political Sociology (New York, 1952), p. 147.Google Scholar

81 Cf. Martin, , “Weltanschauliche Motive in altkonservativen Denken,” p. 345.Google Scholar

82 A flood of books depicting the life circumstances of the lower classes in the starkest and most realistic terms reached the German public during the forties. One of the best known, Dies Buck gehoert dem Koenig (1844)Google Scholar, was written by Goethe's erstwhile friend, Bettina von Arnim. An account written from a conservative standpoint, Dohna, H. Graf zu's Die freien Arbeiter im preussischen Staate (Leipzig, 1847)Google Scholar, attributed poverty to sensual excesses. See the bibliography of contemporary publications in Mombert, P., “Aus der Literatur über die soziale Frage und die Arbeiterbewegung in der ersten Hälfte des 19. Jahrhunderts,” Archiv für die Geschichte des Sozialismus und der Arbeiterbewegung, IX (1921), 224–36.Google Scholar

83 Cf. Fliegende Blätter als offener Brief aus dem Rauhen Haus zu Horn bei Hamburg, 1845, pp. 23 ff.Google Scholar; 1846, pp. 145 ff. In 1857 Wichern showed his sympathy for the “Christian-German” statecraft by entering the Prussian civil bureaucracy to arrange a reform of the prison administration. His Inner Mission had previously been accommodated to the ideals of Prussian conservatism.

84 Volksblatt für Stadt und Land, 1846Google Scholar, Nos. 2, 32, 34, 87; 1847, Nos. 9, 18, 22, 56. Also see Goetting, , op. cit., pp. 48–49Google Scholar. The Volksblatt für Stadt und Land under a new editor, Franz von Florencourt, took an active part in the conservative counterrevolution in 1848.

85 Evangelischen Kirchen-Zeitung, 1844, No. 93.Google Scholar

86 von Stein, Lorenz's Der Socialismus und Communismus des heutigen Frankreichs (Leipzig, 1842)Google Scholar was the first scholarly book to appear in Germany on this subject. Stein clearly distinguished between state and society; the limitations enforced by the Germanic emphasis upon the former were deplored, while the usefulness of the latter, as a concept embracing the sum of individuals and their “civilization,” was extolled. By definition, he pointed out, the estates belonged to the realm of society rather than to the state. Ibid., pp. 32–33.

87 Leo's social analysis, on the basis of his reporting during the fifties and sixties, is judged more favorably in Schoeps, , op. cit., pp. 155–57Google Scholar; but also see Mahling, Friedrich, “Kirchliche Stimmen zur Arbeiterbewegung von 1839–1862,” Neue Kirchliche Zeitschrift, XXXIII (1922), 115–21.Google Scholar

88 August Vilmar (1800–1868), a theologian, educator, and statesman, affirmed an anti-Prussian conservatism which sought to unite social discipline, Lutheran grace, and political authority. See Wollenweber, Martha, Theologie und Politik bei A. F. C. Vilmar (Munich, 1930), particularly pp. 182 ff.Google Scholar

89 Vilmar, A. F. C., “Ueber den Communismus,” Schulreden über Fragen der Zeit (Marburg, 1846), pp. 133–45.Google Scholar

90 Huber, V. A., Ueber die Elemente, die Moeglichkeit oder Notwendigkeit einer konservativen Partei in Deutschland (Marburg, 1841)Google Scholar; and his Die Opposition. Ein Nachtrag zu der konservativen Partei (Halle, 1842).Google Scholar

91 On Huber's role at Berlin, see Lenz, , Geschichte der koeniglichen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Berlin, II, part 2, pp. 58, 64, 71.Google Scholar

92 Huber formally announced his withdrawal from the Conservative Party, as well as his break with liberalism, in the pamphlet, Bruch mit Revolution und Ritterschaft (Berlin, 1852).Google Scholar

93 Paulsen, Ingwer, Victor Aimé Huber als Sozialpolitiker. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte Christlich-konservativer Gesellschafts und Wirtschafts-Auffassung (Leipzig, 1931), pp. 48–50Google Scholar. Also Huber, V. A., “Manchester: Das Proletariat,” Janus, 1845, p. 641 and pp. 646 ff.Google Scholar

94 Henry Ashworth (1794–1880), an associate of Bright and Cobden, and a founder of the Anti-Corn Law League, typified Huber's friendliness with the liberals before 1848.

95 Paulsen, , op. cit., pp. 50–52, 54, 75–77Google Scholar. Huber's review of Engels, Friedrich' Die Lage der arbeitenden Klassen in England (1845)Google Scholar denounced communism and denied Engels' belief in an imminent revolution. The Peterloo Riots (1819) had impressed Huber with the folly of a working class revolt. Despite its social ills, Huber looked favorably upon industry, although he warned Germany in an article, “Quid faciamus nos?” that economic competition with England would mean additional hardships for the working class. Janus, 1846, pp. 1 ff.Google Scholar

96 Ludwig von Gerlach's wide travels in the British Isles in 1844 yielded an impression only of well-organized charities and of the religious basis of English law and justice. Industry and railways interested him solely as technical achievements. When he visited Durham, where a coal strike was in progress, Gerlach was satisfied that the proprietor “owned the area” and could do as he wished. Like other conservatives Gerlach had a strongly developed sense of property rights. But he was pleased that striking workers cried out deferentially, “Make way for these Gentlemen,” and that their orators used a Biblical metaphor. England, in Gerlach's judgment, was “sound.” Aufzeichnungen, I, 354–80.Google Scholar

97 Janus, 1846, pp. 193 ff.Google Scholar Huber was associated with other burghers in the liberal Verein für das Wohl der arbeitenden Klassen, formed in Berlin after the industrial exposition of 1844, which investigated pensions, housing, savings banks, nursery schools, and related social measures. In this society, rather than among the conservatives, Huber made the most converts to his cooperative schemes. Cf. Goetting, , op. cit., pp. 57–63.Google Scholar

98 Erich Jordan has shown that the counterrevolution in 1848 was complicated in Prussia by friction between an agrarian-minded and an idealistic group of conservatives. Cf. Jordan, Erich, Die Entstehung der konservativen Partei und die preussischen Agrarverhältnisse von 1848 (Munich and Leipzig, 1914), pp. 259 ff.Google Scholar

99 Stahl, Friedrich Julius, Die gegenwärtigen Parteien in Staat und Kirche (Berlin, 1863), p. 11.Google Scholar