Pauperismusin Germany during theVormärz

Abstract

EDUCATED and sensitive observers in Germany between 1815 and 1848 were noticeably disquieted by the problem of mass poverty, which they, in stressing its peculiarities to their own time, labelled Pauperismus. Yet until recently the historiography ofthe period has tended to treat the subject only peripherally, while the few scholars who have investigated it have come to diverse, sometimes uncertain, conclusions. Pauperismus and the broader problems ofthe eco? nomic, social, and political history of the lower classes in the Vormarz constitute one of those frontiers of German history that is just beginning to attract intensive scholarly exploration. This review will outline some ofthe major recent approaches to the phenomenon and critically evaluate them in the light ofthe book of sources recently compiled by Carl Jantke and Dietrich Hilger. The discussion will focus on two crucial issues: the magnitude of poverty in the Vormarz and its causes. In addi? tion, an attempt will be made to point out what these sources suggest about the relationships between Pauperismus and developments in eco? nomic and class structure. From the late nineteenth century to the 1930's many writers, impressed with the social question of their own industrialized society, tended to see in the distress of the Vormarz only the early stages of proletarianization and modern class conflict produced by technological advance and the growth of large-scale capitalist industry. Gustav Schmoller and Franz Mehring are eminent contrasting examples of this approach. Strong elements of it are discernible in Paul Mombert's well-