Authoritarian Rule Was More of a Distinguishing Feature in Germany in the Years 1900-1914 Than Parliamentary Democracy

Authoritarian rule or Authoritarianism is a form of government in which the leader or a small group of elites, is an absolute dictator and is not restricted by the constitution. The leader has every control over policy making be it social, political, economic or military. On the other hand parliamentary democracy is where a body of citizens/people elect a group of representatives to represent them and make laws. The features which make Authoritarian rule a distinguishing feature are divisions among the growing mass political movements, Sammlungspolitick, the treatment of the Socialists, the weakness of the constitution and the powers which Wilhelm gained from this, the Kaisers ‘Personal rule’, and the effect of the Prussia on the authoritarian rule feature and also the Zabern Affair in 1913 actually highlighted how much of a feature it was throughout this period. All this contributed to Authoritarian rule becoming a huge feature between 1900-1914. However, parliamentary democracy was not a huge feature at the beginning of the years shown but later on through the period became a considerable feature. The creation of mass political elites and pressure groups such as the Mittestand League and Association which were set up to represent small minorities showed that democracy was a growing feature. Also the Budgetary Crisis in 1906 showed a huge gain of power and the Daily Telegraph Affair in 1908 showed a growing amount of power for the Reichstag. On the whole I think authoritarian rule was a more distinguishing feature purely because the number of features which back it up out number that of parliamentary democracy but also Authoritarian rule was a much more gripping idea throughout as it dominated the majority of the period 1900-1914.

One main reason why Authoritarian rule was much more of a distinguishing feature throughout these years was the fact that there was a huge amount of disunity between the political parties in the Reichstag. Parties in the Reichstag whether they be Left, Right or Centre, all appeared in the Reichstag because they only acted on their own interests and they were very suspicious about each other indeed. The national interest of was rarely discussed and it was usually sacrificed to niche issues and due to this collaboration between all parties was very difficult. As was seen in 1912, the Social Democratic Party (SPD) performed very well indeed in terms of electoral results but often found themselves ostracised by other political parties due to items such as trust items. Many historians blame this upon the more revolutionary reformists in the party. Also the Conservatives, whilst not a big party were backed by the middle classes and more considerably the Junkers, from Prussia who were very fearful of what the SPD would achieve if they would come to power. These trust issues among parties and mainly with the SPD mad it almost impossible for a strong popular coalition to be formed within the Reichstag so there was