Государственный социализм в Германской империи: Политика Бисмарка

Set of welfare programmes implemented in the German Empire
the social welfare legislation implemented by Chancellor Otto von Bismarck in the German Empire in the late 19th century

State Socialism (Staatssozialismus) was a set of social programs implemented in the German Empire that were initiated by Otto von Bismarck in 1883 as remedial measures to appease the working class and detract support for socialism and the Social Democratic Party of Germany following earlier attempts to achieve the same objective through Bismarck's Anti Socialist Laws. As a term, it was coined by Bismarck's liberal opposition to these social welfare policies, but it was later accepted by Bismarck. This did not prevent the Social Democrats from becoming the biggest party in the Reichstag by 1912. According to historian Jonathan Steinberg, "[a]ll told, Bismarck's system was a massive success—except in one respect. His goal to keep the Social Democratic Party out of power utterly failed. The vote for the Social Democratic Party went up and by 1912 they were the biggest party in the Reichstag". In spite of its name, State Socialism was a conservative ideology which supported the aristocracy, the church and the monarchy while maintaining harmony with capitalists and workers, in opposition to both liberalism and socialism. Hence, its supporters called themselves the Conservative Party while its opponents called themselves the National Liberal Party and the Socialist Workers' Party. Historian Alexander Nove argued that social ownership through government can only occur if the government is socially controlled which was not the case where an emperor rules by the will of God as in Germany since the Emperor was not the public. Nove's definition of social ownership, a common characteristic that accomunates types of socialism, refers to "the major part of means of production", but this remained in private hands under State Socialism. In "Why I Am Not a Conservative", Friedrich Hayek explained that "[t]here are, however, two economic and philosophical estimates of society with which State Socialism may be brought into broad contrast", namely liberalism and socialism. According to journalist William Harbutt Dawson, an acknowledged expert on German politics and society, "[t]he great disagreement between Socialism and State Socialism is that the former would entirely subvert the State, while the latter accepts its political form as it is. Socialism would abolish the existing order altogether, while State Socialism would use the State for the accomplishment of great economic and social purposes, especially restoring to it the function, which Frederick the Great held to be the principal business of the State, of 'holding the balance [ ] between classes and parties". When a reference was made to his friendship with Ferdinand Lassalle, a democratic and state oriented reformist socialist, Bismarck stated that he was a more practical socialist than the Social Democrats.

During the industrial revolution in Germany more and more people became workers in the factories. They moved to the big industrial centers providing workforce in industrialisations key branches such as fuel generating coal mines, textile industry and steel and railway factories. The changes can be characterised by a transition from small scale production in manufactures to a lots of goods providing large scale industry. Many workers where farmers running subsistence farming before. Working in factories made them dependent on their salaries and goods they could get in shops instead of producing them on their own. Fast growing cities such as Berlin, Vienna, London, Paris, could not provide healthy housing for the workers, as described by Friedrich Engels in "the housing question". Families living in a single room and cellar apartments causing health issues due to a lack of rest can be seen as a cause of growing poverty. To describe worsening conditions the German term of "schlafgänger" became common, describing workers renting a shared bed for a few hours of the day. Child labour was common since there were no schools but a lot of children and poverty. Families did not know about contraception and children's rights were unprotected. The working class was suffering from alcoholism. Due to low wages poverty was very common even though the employed were working 12 16 hrs a day, accidents occurred often, tuberculosis was common. Reacting to these conditions, parties, unions and communities like the ADAV General German Workers' Association were found. The workers started strikes and formed parties such as the Social Democratic Party of Germany which is ruling Germany nowadays. Riots and demonstrations occurred. Marx and Engels wrote the communist manifesto analysing the problems and trying to solve them. Social democratic, socialist, communist and anarchist movements grew in power. Conservatives were scared.

According to William Harbutt Dawson, despite being labeled socialist by his opponents, Bismarck's social legislation sought to preserve the existing economic order and state in Germany. This was in stark contrast to socialists, who sought to subvert the power of the existing state and eventually replace the capitalist order with a socialist economy. The Prussian welfare state was developed by the German academic Sozialpolitiker (Social Policy Supporter) group, intellectually associated with the historical school of economics. At the time, the historical school of economics influenced social democracy in the United Kingdom and progressivism in the United States as well as the current post World War II German economy (the social market economy) which is a continuation of similar policies.

The first bill that had success was the Health Insurance bill which was passed in 1883. The program was considered the least important from Bismarck's point of view and the least politically troublesome. The program was established to provide health insurance for the largest segment of the German workers. The health service was established on a local basis, with the cost divided between employers and the employed. The employers contributed one third, the workers the rest. The contributions were made to "sickness funds" which employees could draw from when they needed medical care. The minimum payments for medical treatment and sick pay for up to 13 weeks were legally fixed. The individual local health bureaus were administered by a committee elected by the members of each bureau and this move had the unintended effect of establishing a majority representation for the workers on account of their large financial contribution. This worked to the advantage of the Social Democrats, who through heavy worker membership achieved their first small foothold in public administration.

The law further tightened regulations on child labor to prevent exploitation of children.