Kulturkampf

[Sarah]

Lit., culture war; -- a name, originating with Virchow (1821 --1902), given to a struggle between the the Roman Catholic Church andthe German government, chiefly over the latter's efforts to controleducational and ecclesiastical appointments in the interest of thepolitical policy of centralization. The struggle began with thepassage by the Prussian Diet in May, 1873, of the so-called May laws,or Falk laws, aiming at the regulation of the clergy. Oppositioneventually compelled the government to change its policy, and from1880 to 1887 laws virtually nullifying the May laws were enacted.