“Kulturkampf” as the confrontation of the catholic church and the imperial government of Germany in the 70s of the XIX century

The article is devoted to the analysis of the origins and content of the “kulturkampf” policy initiated by the German Reich Chancellor in the 1870s. The “Struggle for Culture” played a decisive role not only in the formation of the Center party as one of the most influential political parties of the Reichstag in the second half of the 19th century, but also in the history of Germany as a whole. The political orientation of the first German Reich Chancellor towards the strong secular state controlling and limiting church structures was initially in favor of the empire united in 1871 and in line with the trends of the times. But the Reich Chancellor’s harsh, restrictive laws led to police arbitrariness and infringement on the Catholic population of the German Empire. The author identifies the main reasons that led to the persecution and repression of the Catholic minority of the German Empire. The problems of the unification of the German Empire, particularism, federalism, ultramontanism and confessional conflicts are considered in close connection with the topic under study. The research is based on the works of Russian and German researchers and on the legislative acts of Prussia and the German Empire. In addition, the materials of parliamentary debates presented in the verbatim records of the Reichstag and extracts from the memoirs of contemporaries of the event were used.