To begin, the facts of population growth rate and the number of children need to be examined. In Germany, between the years of 1852 and 1910, the population went from thirty-six million to about sixty-five million people. However, the average number of children fell about two percent [Doc A]. In France there is a similar trend but on a lesser scale. Between the years of 1851 and 1913 the population increased from thirty-five million to forty million people. Again the average number of children decreased about two percent [Doc A]. Part of the reason for the decline of children at the time would have been increased industrialization and better medicine.

The opposition to the change, the advancement, came from conservative religious leaders and politicians. Religion plays a major role in influencing the thoughts of the people. From a Catholic stand point it is a sin to use birth control because one would be prohibiting God’s will and his creations from existing. It is also Catholic ideas that promote the tradition of women being the mother of many children and that certain traditions should not be changed. The final ploy used by the Catholics is that the lack of tradition and family values or morals is a cause for depression. Obviously erroneous to most people; no depression could stem from sex without worrying about having children to provide for [Doc E]. The Catholics are biased though because they are not really worried about the people but about God’s will and changing times always seem to hurt the church. Some narrow minded socialist also believed that curbing birth rates was a bad idea. However, he bases his theories on the Malthusian theory of birth control and economics. Henriette Fuerth, the leading proponent of the idea, felt that the limiting birth rate, under Thomas Malthus, would urge only the property less in abstinence. To him, fewer children would mean less of a working class representation [Doc C]. Fuerth is biased in that he is only trying to promote a political a

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