Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/690

53O General History of Europe condition of workingmen, although in recent years it has perfected many plans for social insurance. The slowness with which it has taken up these ideas is due mainly to the fact that the peasants and the richer classes can combine to control a majority of votes in the parliament, and as they derive little benefit from such laws and have to pay most of the taxes, they are inclined to refuse to make the necessary appropriations. 948. The Syndicats, or Trade-unions. The result of this is that the working classes in the cities ceased to hope for very much help by way of new laws passed to promote their interests. Al- though they continued to send Socialists to represent them in parliament, they relied rather upon trade-unions. These are called syndicats by the French, and the more determined of these unions proposed to win their way by strikes until they could force the capitalists to meet their demands. Such a method of attack upon employers is known as "syndicalism," or "direct action." In spite of recurring troubles of this kind, France nevertheless prospered, especially in the period just before the World War. It also entered upon a policy of expansion in Africa and Asia, which involved it in trouble with Germany, as we shall see later. QUESTIONS I. How did the North German Federation grow into the German Empire ? What were the powers of the kaiser ? Contrast the position of the Bundesrat with that of the United States Senate. Describe the Reichstag. What important reforms did the federal system bring to Germany? Why did socialism appear in Germany at about the period of unification? What was Bismarck's "State socialism"? Describe the growth of Germany since unification. Describe German commercial methods. How are Germans taught to view the State ? II. How did the present French Republic originate ? What events in Paris in 1870 suggest the Reign of Terror ? What is the nature of the present French constitution? What parties existed in France after 1871 ? Review the main changes in the form of the French government since the assembling of the Estates General in 1789. Why was the Church against the Republic? What did the Church lose when the Concordat was ended ? What are the ideas of the syndicalists ?