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Revision as of 06:00, 21 April 2005 by John K (talk | contribs) (revert Flamekeeper's massive changes to the article (see talk))(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)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.
Founded in 1870 to protect Catholic minority rights in the new Germany, the party gained strength in the 1870s in reaction against Bismarck's Kulturkampf, or "cultural struggle" against the Catholic Church. In addition to supporting Church interests, the Centre Party generally supported representative government and minority rights. The party was notable for the mixture of class interests it represented, ranging from Catholic workers to aristocrats.
After the end of the Kulturkampf, the Centre Party made its peace with the government and frequently formed a part of the coalitions which gave the various German governments a majority in the Reichstag. Although the party supported the government upon the outbreak of World War I, many of the leaders of its 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 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 participating in every Weimar government between 1919 and 1932, despite the defection of its Bavarian wing in 1919 to form the Bavarian People's Party. Its electorate also proved less susceptible to the allure of Nazism than most other bourgeois parties, largely due to its strong ties to the Church.
The Centre Party entered the opposition following the dismissal of its leader, Heinrich Brüning, as Chancellor in 1932. However it proved crucial in the Nazi takeover, with most of its delegates voting for Hitler's Enabling Act in March of 1933 and by alliance of purpose with the discredited Conservatives , lifted Hitler's 41 % voting strength to the necessary two thirds required to legally institute dictatorship . The vote was cast en bloc by its leader Monsignor Ludwig Kaas in the Mar 23 Act .
Kaas reported to Rome thereafter returning for a private meeting with Hitler on Apr 2 . In Rome he had been deputed by his lifelong friend and associate Cardinal Pacelli, later Pope Pius XII to draft the terms of the future Concordat . Kaas relinquished the leadership of the Centre Party on Apr 6 and continued negotiations between the Nazis and Rome . The Centre Party dissolved itself on 5 July. Kaas left to take up a position as lifelong Keeper of the Fabric of St Peter's on 6 July. The Nazi Party accepted the Concordat on Jul 14 .
The Centre Party was refounded following World War II, but soon the majority of its members merged with other confessional parties to form the Christian Democratic Union.
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