Kulturkampf

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Kulturkampf \Kul*tur"kampf`\, n. [G., fr. kultur, cultur,
     culture + kampf fight.] (Ger. Hist.)
     Lit., culture war; -- a name, originating with Virchow (1821
     - 1902), given to a struggle between the Roman Catholic
     Church and the German government, chiefly over the latter's
     efforts to control educational and ecclesiastical


     appointments in the interest of the political policy of
     centralization. The struggle began with the passage by the
     Prussian Diet in May, 1873, of the so-called
  
     {May laws}, or
  
     {Falk laws}, aiming at the regulation of the clergy.
        Opposition eventually compelled the government to change
        its policy, and from 1880 to 1887 laws virtually
        nullifying the May laws were enacted.
        [Webster 1913 Suppl.] Kumish