ittspartei, or
Radical party, in consequence of the elections of 1893. A second was
the rise of the Government's prolonged contest with the Agrarians. The
Agrarian group, of which indeed one hears as early as 1876, comprised
principally the grain-growing landholders of northern and eastern
Germany. By treaties concluded in 1892-1894 with Austria-Hungary,
Italy, Belgium, Russia, and other nations, German import duties on
grain were considerably reduced in return for advantages given to
German manufacturers. Low duties meant cheap foodstuffs, and in the
negotiation of these treaties the Government found itself supported
with enthusiasm not only by the Centre, but also by the Social
Democrats and the surviving Radicals. The Conservatives were divided.
Those of Agrarian sympathies (especially the Prussian landholders)
allied themselves with the forces of opposition. But the remainder
gave the Government some measure of support. And from this
last-mentioned fact arose a final political development of large
significance during the Caprivi period, namely, the creation of that
_bloc_, or affiliation, of Centre and Conservatives (popularly
referred to as the "blue-black" _bloc_) upon which the Government was
destined regularly to rely through upwards of a decade and a half.
During the chancellorship of Prince Chlodwig Hohenlohe-Schillingsfuerst
(1894-1900) the struggle with the Agrarians was continued and the
preponderance of the _bloc_ became an established fact. Finally,
should be mentioned the rapidly accelerating growth of the Social
Democracy. In 1893 the popular party cast a total of 1,876,738 votes
and elected forty-four representatives. In 1896 its vote was 2,007,076
and the number of members elected was fifty-seven. In 1903 its vote
rose to the enormous proportions of 3,008,000 (24 per cent of the
total, and larger than that of any other single party), and the quota
in the Reichstag was increased to seventy-nine.

*250. The Elections of 1903 and 1907.*--At the elections of 1903 the
_bloc_ suffered numerically a loss of strength. The Centre obtained
102 seats, the Conservatives 53, and the Free Conservatives, or "Party
of the Empire," 22--an aggregate of only 177. By deft management,
however, Chancellor von Buelow (1900-1908) contrived to play off
through several years the opposing forces, and so to preserve, for all
practical purposes, the working efficiency of the Government
coalition. The elections of January, 1907,