The Free Conservative Party (german: Freikonservative Partei, FKP) was a

liberal-conservative Liberal conservatism is a political ideology combining conservative policies with liberal stances, especially on economic issues but also on social and ethical matters, representing a brand of political conservatism strongly influenced by libe ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

and the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

which emerged from the Prussian Conservative Party in the

Prussian Landtag The Landtag of Prussia (german: Preußischer Landtag) was the representative assembly of the Kingdom of Prussia implemented in 1849, a bicameral legislature consisting of the upper House of Lords (''Herrenhaus'') and the lower House of Represent ...

in 1866. In the federal elections to the Reichstag parliament from 1871, it ran as the German Reich Party (german: Deutsche Reichspartei, DRP). DRP was classified as

centrist Centrism is a political outlook or position involving acceptance or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy while opposing political changes that would result in a significant shift of society strongly to the l ...

centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the Right-wing politics, right of the Left–right politics, political spectrum, but are closer to the Centrism, centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure a ...

by political standards at the time, and it also put forward the slogan " conservative progress". The Free Conservative Association achieved party status in 1867, comprising German nobles and East Elbian

Junker Junker ( da, Junker, german: Junker, nl, Jonkheer, en, Yunker, no, Junker, sv, Junker ka, იუნკერი (Iunkeri)) is a noble honorific, derived from Middle High German ''Juncherre'', meaning "young nobleman"Duden; Meaning of Junke ...

s (land owners) like Duke Victor of Ratibor and

Karl Rudolf Friedenthal Karl Rudolf Friedenthal (15 September 1827 – 7 March 1890) was a Prussian statesman. Friedenthal was born in Breslau (Wrocław), Prussian Silesia, as a nephew of Markus Bär Friedenthal, the author, and later became a convert to Chris ...

industrialists A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

and government officials like

Johann Viktor Bredt Johann Viktor Bredt (2 March 1879 – 1 December 1940) was a German jurist and politician. He served as Minister of Justice of the Weimar Republic in 1930/1. Biography Bredt was born in Barmen on 2 March 1879 as the only son of Viktor Richard Bre ...

Hermann von Hatzfeldt Prince Hermann von Hatzfeldt, Duke of Trachenburg (4 February 1848, Trachenberg – 14 January 1933) was a German nobleman, member of the House of Hatzfeld, civil servant and politician. He represented the Deutsche Reichspartei in the Reichsta ...

Hermann von Dechend Hermann Friedrich Alexander Dechend, in 1865 ennobled as von Dechend (2 April 1814 – 30 April 1890), was a senior Prussian civil servant and politician who served as the first President of the Reichsbank. Biography Dechend was born in Marienw ...

, Prince Karl Max von Lichnowsky or General

Hans Hartwig von Beseler Hans Hartwig von Beseler (27 April 1850 – 20 December 1921) was a German colonel general. Biography Beseler was born in Greifswald, Pomerania. His father Georg Beseler, was a law professor at the University of Greifswald. He entered the ...

and scholars like

Hans Delbrück Hans Gottlieb Leopold Delbrück (; 11 November 1848 – 14 July 1929) was a German historian. Delbrück was one of the first modern military historians, basing his method of research on the critical examination of ancient sources, using auxiliary ...

and

Otto Hoetzsch Otto Hoetzsch (14 February 1876 – 27 August 1946), was a German academic and politician. Son of a plumber, he studied history, economics and history of art in Leipzig, starting in 1895. In 1899 he obtained a PhD, worked for several newspapers and ...

. It was distinguished from the

German Conservative Party The German Conservative Party (german: Deutschkonservative Partei, DkP) was a right-wing political party of the German Empire founded in 1876. It largely represented the wealthy landowning elite Prussian Junkers. The party was a response to Ge ...

established in 1876 by its unqualified support of

German unification The unification of Germany (, ) was the process of building the modern German nation state with federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without multinational Austria), which commenced on 18 August 1866 with adoption of t ...

and was seen as the political party which beside the National Liberals was closest in views to those of

Chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

Otto von Bismarck Otto, Prince of Bismarck, Count of Bismarck-Schönhausen, Duke of Lauenburg (, ; 1 April 1815 – 30 July 1898), born Otto Eduard Leopold von Bismarck, was a conservative German statesman and diplomat. From his origins in the upper class of J ...

, including his

Anti-Socialist Laws The Anti-Socialist Laws or Socialist Laws (german: Sozialistengesetze; officially , approximately "Law against the public danger of Social Democratic endeavours") were a series of acts of the parliament of the German Empire, the first of which was ...

and ''

Kulturkampf (, 'culture struggle') was the conflict that took place from 1872 to 1878 between the Catholic Church led by Pope Pius IX and the government of Prussia led by Otto von Bismarck. The main issues were clerical control of education and ecclesiastic ...

'' policies. The party was generally dominated by

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

industrialist A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

s and while it opposed

political liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for co ...

it also tended to support

free trade Free trade is a trade policy that does not restrict imports or exports. It can also be understood as the free market idea applied to international trade. In government, free trade is predominantly advocated by political parties that hold econo ...

and the development of industry. Upon the accession of Emperor

Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor (german: Kaiser) and King of Prussia, reigning from 15 June 1888 until his abdication on 9 November 1918. Despite strengthening the German Empir ...

in 1888, the party backed his

naval A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

policies and the formation of the

German colonial empire The German colonial empire (german: Deutsches Kolonialreich) constituted the overseas colonies, dependencies and territories of the German Empire. Unified in the early 1870s, the chancellor of this time period was Otto von Bismarck. Short-li ...

, approaching towards the

German nationalist German nationalism () is an ideological notion that promotes the unity of Germans and German-speakers into one unified nation state. German nationalism also emphasizes and takes pride in the patriotism and national identity of Germans as one nat ...

Pan-German League pressure group while

s like Adolf Grabowsky did not prevail. The party disbanded in November 1918 following the end of the Hohenzollern monarchy and the

German Revolution German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

. Several members had supported the formation of the

German Fatherland Party The German Fatherland Party (german: Deutsche Vaterlandspartei, abbreviated as DVLP) was a short-lived far-right political party active in the German Empire during the last phase of World War I. It rejected the '' Burgfriedenspolitik'' or "party ...

in 1917, now most of its constituency turned to the newly established

German National People's Party The German National People's Party (german: Deutschnationale Volkspartei, DNVP) was a national-conservative party in Germany during the Weimar Republic. Before the rise of the Nazi Party, it was the major conservative and nationalist party in Wei ...

while some also joined the

national liberal National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism). A seri ...

German People's Party The German People's Party (German: , or DVP) was a liberal party during the Weimar Republic that was the successor to the National Liberal Party of the German Empire. A right-liberal, or conservative-liberal political party, it represented politi ...

References

{{Authority control 1866 establishments in Prussia Centre-right parties in Europe Centrist parties in Germany Christian political parties in Germany Conservative parties in Germany Defunct political parties in Germany German nationalist political parties Liberal conservative parties in Germany National conservative parties Political parties established in 1866 Political parties of the German Empire Political parties disestablished in 1918 Protestant political parties

See also

References