Centre Party Germany - Refounding and post-war history

The German Centre Party (Deutsche Zentrumspartei or merely Zentrum), often called the Catholic Centre Party, was a Catholic political party in Germany during the Kaiserreich and the Weimar Republic. The party dissolved itself on July 6, 1933, shortly before the conclusion of a Concordat between the Holy See and Germany. After World War II, the party was refounded, but could not rise again to its former importance, as most of its members joined the new CDU party. However, the Centre party still exists to thi ...

Including:

• Centre Party Germany - Origins of Political Catholicism
• Centre Party Germany - Catholic groups in the Prussian Diet
• Centre Party Germany - The Soest programme and the founding of the Centre party
• Centre Party Germany - Kulturkampf
• Centre Party Germany - Out of the tower!
• Centre Party Germany - In War and Revolution
• Centre Party Germany - In the Weimar Republic
• Centre Party Germany - The Brüning administration
• Centre Party Germany - Between coup d'etat and authoritarian democracy
• Centre Party Germany - The Hitler government and new elections
• Centre Party Germany - The Enabling Act
• Centre Party Germany - The end of the Centre Party
• Centre Party Germany - Refounding and post-war history
• Centre Party Germany - External link

Read more here: » Centre Party Germany: Encyclopedia - Centre Party Germany

After the war, the Centre party was refounded, but it was confronted with emergence the Christian Democratic Union, a new party formed as a Christian party comprising both Catholics and Protestants. As many former Centre party politicians, e.g. Konrad Adenauer, joined the CDU and also Cardinal Frings of Cologne endorsed the new party, the Centre lost their position as the party of the Catholic population. For some time however, the party managed to hold on to regional strongholds in North Rhine-Westphalia. In 1945 the Centre's Rudolf ...

See also:

Centre Party Germany, Centre Party Germany - Origins of Political Catholicism, Centre Party Germany - Catholic groups in the Prussian Diet, Centre Party Germany - The Soest programme and the founding of the Centre party, Centre Party Germany - Kulturkampf, Centre Party Germany - Out of the tower!, Centre Party Germany - In War and Revolution, Centre Party Germany - In the Weimar Republic, Centre Party Germany - The Brüning administration, Centre Party Germany - Between coup d'etat and authoritarian democracy, Centre Party Germany - The Hitler government and new elections, Centre Party Germany - The Enabling Act, Centre Party Germany - The end of the Centre Party, Centre Party Germany - Refounding and post-war history, Centre Party Germany - External link

Read more here: » Centre Party Germany: Encyclopedia II - Centre Party Germany - Refounding and post-war history

Following Brüning's resignation, the Centre Party entered the opposition. Though they also opposed the National Socialists, their energies were directed mainly against the renegade Papen, whom they – not without cause – accused of lusting for dictatorship. Also some Centre politicians were soothed by Hitler's strategy of legality into downplaying the Nazi threat. This hampered their ability of being a bulwark of the republic against the rising National Socialists. In regard to the government, the Centre Party rejected a "temporal ...

See also:

Centre Party Germany, Centre Party Germany - Origins of Political Catholicism, Centre Party Germany - Catholic groups in the Prussian Diet, Centre Party Germany - The Soest programme and the founding of the Centre party, Centre Party Germany - Kulturkampf, Centre Party Germany - Out of the tower!, Centre Party Germany - In War and Revolution, Centre Party Germany - In the Weimar Republic, Centre Party Germany - The Brüning administration, Centre Party Germany - Between coup d'etat and authoritarian democracy, Centre Party Germany - The Hitler government and new elections, Centre Party Germany - The Enabling Act, Centre Party Germany - The end of the Centre Party, Centre Party Germany - Refounding and post-war history, Centre Party Germany - External link

Read more here: » Centre Party Germany: Encyclopedia II - Centre Party Germany - Between coup d'etat and authoritarian democracy

Meanwhile Papen had formed an intrigue to oust his successor. He conferred with Hugenberg and industrial magnates and bankers and after a feverish night, in which the outcome was unclear to all participants, In the morning of 30 January, Hitler was appointed Chancellor with Papen as Vice-Chancellor and Hugenberg as minister for economics. Though seeing their adversaries Papen and Hugenberg join forces with Hitler, the Centre Party still did not give up building a broad coalition government. Since the new administration was still lacki ...

See also:

Centre Party Germany, Centre Party Germany - Origins of Political Catholicism, Centre Party Germany - Catholic groups in the Prussian Diet, Centre Party Germany - The Soest programme and the founding of the Centre party, Centre Party Germany - Kulturkampf, Centre Party Germany - Out of the tower!, Centre Party Germany - In War and Revolution, Centre Party Germany - In the Weimar Republic, Centre Party Germany - The Brüning administration, Centre Party Germany - Between coup d'etat and authoritarian democracy, Centre Party Germany - The Hitler government and new elections, Centre Party Germany - The Enabling Act, Centre Party Germany - The end of the Centre Party, Centre Party Germany - Refounding and post-war history, Centre Party Germany - External link

Read more here: » Centre Party Germany: Encyclopedia II - Centre Party Germany - The Hitler government and new elections

The government confronted the newly elected Reichstag with the Enabling Act that would have vested the government with legislative powers for a period of four years. Though such a bill was not unprecedented, this act was different since it allowed for deviations from the constitution. As the bill required a two-thirds majority in order to pass, the government needed the support of other parties. The Centre Party, whose vote turned out to be decisive, was split on the issue of the Enabling Act. Chairman Kaas advocated supporting the bi ...

See also:

Centre Party Germany, Centre Party Germany - Origins of Political Catholicism, Centre Party Germany - Catholic groups in the Prussian Diet, Centre Party Germany - The Soest programme and the founding of the Centre party, Centre Party Germany - Kulturkampf, Centre Party Germany - Out of the tower!, Centre Party Germany - In War and Revolution, Centre Party Germany - In the Weimar Republic, Centre Party Germany - The Brüning administration, Centre Party Germany - Between coup d'etat and authoritarian democracy, Centre Party Germany - The Hitler government and new elections, Centre Party Germany - The Enabling Act, Centre Party Germany - The end of the Centre Party, Centre Party Germany - Refounding and post-war history, Centre Party Germany - External link

Read more here: » Centre Party Germany: Encyclopedia II - Centre Party Germany - The Enabling Act

With the passing of the Enabling Act the Centre Party had in fact acquiesced in its own demise, as it had played the part Hitler had assigned to it and was no longer needed. As promised during the negotiations, a working committee chaired by Hitler and Kaas and supposed to inform about further legislative measures, met three times (31 March, 2 and 7 April) without any major impact. At that time, the Centre Party was weakened by massive defections by party members, often to the NSDAP. Loyal party members, in particular civil servants, ...

See also:

Centre Party Germany, Centre Party Germany - Origins of Political Catholicism, Centre Party Germany - Catholic groups in the Prussian Diet, Centre Party Germany - The Soest programme and the founding of the Centre party, Centre Party Germany - Kulturkampf, Centre Party Germany - Out of the tower!, Centre Party Germany - In War and Revolution, Centre Party Germany - In the Weimar Republic, Centre Party Germany - The Brüning administration, Centre Party Germany - Between coup d'etat and authoritarian democracy, Centre Party Germany - The Hitler government and new elections, Centre Party Germany - The Enabling Act, Centre Party Germany - The end of the Centre Party, Centre Party Germany - Refounding and post-war history, Centre Party Germany - External link

Read more here: » Centre Party Germany: Encyclopedia II - Centre Party Germany - The end of the Centre Party

Growing anti-Catholic sentiment and policies, including plans for dissolving all monasteries in Prussia, made it clear that 'group' reorganization was urgently needed in order to protect Catholic minority rights, enshrined in the 1850 constitution, and to bring them over to the emerging nation state. In June 1870 Peter Reichersberger called on Catholics to unite and, in October, priests, representatives of Catholic federations and Catholic gentry met at Soest and drew up an election programme. The main points were: Preser ...

See also:

Centre Party Germany, Centre Party Germany - Origins of Political Catholicism, Centre Party Germany - Catholic groups in the Prussian Diet, Centre Party Germany - The Soest programme and the founding of the Centre party, Centre Party Germany - Kulturkampf, Centre Party Germany - Out of the tower!, Centre Party Germany - In War and Revolution, Centre Party Germany - In the Weimar Republic, Centre Party Germany - The Brüning administration, Centre Party Germany - Between coup d'etat and authoritarian democracy, Centre Party Germany - The Hitler government and new elections, Centre Party Germany - The Enabling Act, Centre Party Germany - The end of the Centre Party, Centre Party Germany - Refounding and post-war history, Centre Party Germany - External link

Read more here: » Centre Party Germany: Encyclopedia II - Centre Party Germany - The Soest programme and the founding of the Centre party

In 1930 the Grand Coalition fell apart and the Centre's Heinrich Brüning, from the moderate conservative wing of the party, was appointed chancellor. Brüning was confronted with economic crises exacerbated by the Great Depression and had to tackle the difficult tasks of consolidating both budget and currency when faced with rising unemployment, and of also negotiating changes to the reparation payments. His course of strict budget discipline, with severe cuts in public expenditure, and tax increases made him extremely unpopular amon ...

See also:

Centre Party Germany, Centre Party Germany - Origins of Political Catholicism, Centre Party Germany - Catholic groups in the Prussian Diet, Centre Party Germany - The Soest programme and the founding of the Centre party, Centre Party Germany - Kulturkampf, Centre Party Germany - Out of the tower!, Centre Party Germany - In War and Revolution, Centre Party Germany - In the Weimar Republic, Centre Party Germany - The Brüning administration, Centre Party Germany - Between coup d'etat and authoritarian democracy, Centre Party Germany - The Hitler government and new elections, Centre Party Germany - The Enabling Act, Centre Party Germany - The end of the Centre Party, Centre Party Germany - Refounding and post-war history, Centre Party Germany - External link

Read more here: » Centre Party Germany: Encyclopedia II - Centre Party Germany - The Brüning administration

In the age of nationalism, Protestant Germans, whether Conservative like Otto von Bismarck) or Liberal, accused the Centre of Ultramontanism or having a greater loyality towards the Pope than to their own nation. After the First Vatican Council, Bismarck launched the Kulturkampf, or "cultural struggle" against the Catholic Church, but this neither crippled the Church permanently nor did it hurt the Centre party, which gained greater support from the Catholic population. Following Bismarck's 1878 turn from free trade to protectionism a ...

See also:

Centre Party Germany, Centre Party Germany - Origins of Political Catholicism, Centre Party Germany - Catholic groups in the Prussian Diet, Centre Party Germany - The Soest programme and the founding of the Centre party, Centre Party Germany - Kulturkampf, Centre Party Germany - Out of the tower!, Centre Party Germany - In War and Revolution, Centre Party Germany - In the Weimar Republic, Centre Party Germany - The Brüning administration, Centre Party Germany - Between coup d'etat and authoritarian democracy, Centre Party Germany - The Hitler government and new elections, Centre Party Germany - The Enabling Act, Centre Party Germany - The end of the Centre Party, Centre Party Germany - Refounding and post-war history, Centre Party Germany - External link

Read more here: » Centre Party Germany: Encyclopedia II - Centre Party Germany - Kulturkampf

Growing anti-Catholic sentiment and policies, including plans for dissolving all monasteries in Prussia, made it clear that 'group' reorganization was urgently needed in order to protect Catholic minority rights, enshrined in the 1850 constitution, and to bring them over to the emerging nation state. In June 1870 Peter Reichersberger called on Catholics to unite and, in October, priests, representatives of Catholic federations and Catholic gentry met at Soest and drew up a election programme. The main points were: Preserv ...

See also:

Centre Party Germany, Centre Party Germany - Origins of Political Catholicism, Centre Party Germany - Catholic groups in the Prussian Diet, Centre Party Germany - The Soest programme and the founding of the Centre party, Centre Party Germany - Kulturkampf, Centre Party Germany - Out of the tower!, Centre Party Germany - In War and Revolution, Centre Party Germany - In the Weimar Republic, Centre Party Germany - The Brüning administration, Centre Party Germany - Between coup d'etat and authoritarian democracy, Centre Party Germany - The Hitler government and new elections, Centre Party Germany - The Enabling Act, Centre Party Germany - The end of the Centre Party, Centre Party Germany - Refounding and post-war history, Centre Party Germany - External link

Read more here: » Centre Party Germany: Encyclopedia II - Centre Party Germany - The Soest programme and the founding of the Centre party

The Kulturkampf had re-inforced the Catholic character of the Centre Party, but even during it Ludwig Windthorst had defended the party against Bismarck's accusation of being a "denominational party" in describing the Centre as "a political party with a comprehensive political programme and open to anyone, who accepts it." However, only a few Protestants took up this offer and the Centre remained -by the composition ...

See also:

Centre Party Germany, Centre Party Germany - Origins of Political Catholicism, Centre Party Germany - Catholic groups in the Prussian Diet, Centre Party Germany - The Soest programme and the founding of the Centre party, Centre Party Germany - Kulturkampf, Centre Party Germany - Out of the tower!, Centre Party Germany - In War and Revolution, Centre Party Germany - In the Weimar Republic, Centre Party Germany - The Brüning administration, Centre Party Germany - Between coup d'etat and authoritarian democracy, Centre Party Germany - The Hitler government and new elections, Centre Party Germany - The Enabling Act, Centre Party Germany - The end of the Centre Party, Centre Party Germany - Refounding and post-war history, Centre Party Germany - External link

Read more here: » Centre Party Germany: Encyclopedia II - Centre Party Germany - Out of the tower!

The party supported the government upon the outbreak of World War I, but it also used the debates about war bonds to push for a repeal of the last remnants of anti-Jesuit laws. As the war continued, many of the leaders of the Centre's left wing, particularly Matthias Erzberger, came to support a negotiated settlement, and Erzberger was key in the passage of the Reichstag Peace Resolution of 1917. The same year, the Centre's Georg Count Hertling, formerly Prime Minister of Bavaria, was appointed Chancellor, but he could not overcome the domin ...

See also:

Centre Party Germany, Centre Party Germany - Origins of Political Catholicism, Centre Party Germany - Catholic groups in the Prussian Diet, Centre Party Germany - The Soest programme and the founding of the Centre party, Centre Party Germany - Kulturkampf, Centre Party Germany - Out of the tower!, Centre Party Germany - In War and Revolution, Centre Party Germany - In the Weimar Republic, Centre Party Germany - The Brüning administration, Centre Party Germany - Between coup d'etat and authoritarian democracy, Centre Party Germany - The Hitler government and new elections, Centre Party Germany - The Enabling Act, Centre Party Germany - The end of the Centre Party, Centre Party Germany - Refounding and post-war history, Centre Party Germany - External link

Read more here: » Centre Party Germany: Encyclopedia II - Centre Party Germany - In War and Revolution

The Centre Party, whose pragmatic principles generally left it open to supporting either a monarchical or republican form of government, proved one of the mainstays of the Weimar Republic, continuing the cooperation with SPD and DDP in the Weimar Coalition. This combination however lost its majority in the 1920 elections. The Centre had a share of the odium attached to the so-called "Weimar Establishment," which was blamed, especially on the right, for the "stab in the back" of the German army at the end of the war, as well as for the ...

See also:

Centre Party Germany, Centre Party Germany - Origins of Political Catholicism, Centre Party Germany - Catholic groups in the Prussian Diet, Centre Party Germany - The Soest programme and the founding of the Centre party, Centre Party Germany - Kulturkampf, Centre Party Germany - Out of the tower!, Centre Party Germany - In War and Revolution, Centre Party Germany - In the Weimar Republic, Centre Party Germany - The Brüning administration, Centre Party Germany - Between coup d'etat and authoritarian democracy, Centre Party Germany - The Hitler government and new elections, Centre Party Germany - The Enabling Act, Centre Party Germany - The end of the Centre Party, Centre Party Germany - Refounding and post-war history, Centre Party Germany - External link

Read more here: » Centre Party Germany: Encyclopedia II - Centre Party Germany - In the Weimar Republic

The Centre Party belongs to the political spectrum of Political Catholicism that, emerging in the early 19th century after the turmoil of the Napoleonic wars, had changed the poltical face of Germany. Catholics had found themselves mainly in Protestant states, ones that frequently interfered in internal Church matters. The first major conflict between the Roman Catholic Church and a Protestant state was the "Colonian Church conflict", when the Prussian government interfered in the question of mixed marriages and the religious affiliat ...

See also:

Centre Party Germany, Centre Party Germany - Origins of Political Catholicism, Centre Party Germany - Catholic groups in the Prussian Diet, Centre Party Germany - The Soest programme and the founding of the Centre party, Centre Party Germany - Kulturkampf, Centre Party Germany - Out of the tower!, Centre Party Germany - In War and Revolution, Centre Party Germany - In the Weimar Republic, Centre Party Germany - The Brüning administration, Centre Party Germany - Between coup d'etat and authoritarian democracy, Centre Party Germany - The Hitler government and new elections, Centre Party Germany - The Enabling Act, Centre Party Germany - The end of the Centre Party, Centre Party Germany - Refounding and post-war history, Centre Party Germany - External link

Read more here: » Centre Party Germany: Encyclopedia II - Centre Party Germany - Origins of Political Catholicism