ABSTRACT
The peace policy after 1871 was not founded on love of peace but rather on Otto v. Bismarck’s power in Europe. He subordinated home politics to this position of power, weakened parliament as a result of a controversy concerning the military budget, played the political parties out against each other, subdued the will to war of the military caste and limited industry to peace production. The citizens represented by the Reichstag lost every right of interference with military preparations. These became entirely dependent on the love of peace of the personality in charge of the government. With the foundation of the new Reich, commerce and industry had made a swift and unparalleled advance. Bismarck’s successes in external politics inspired the business world with extraordinary optimism; the different milliard francs which France had to pay in reparations was seeking profitable investment.
