In other words, Biz had no love for German liberals. "Biz was never a liberal in thought, though sometimes in action; and he did not accept the 'night-watchman' theory of the state which was common to all liberals. He held that the state could lead in economic affairs, just as he had tried to take the initiative in foreign policy and not wait upon events." By uniting Germany in 1871, Biz won the gratitude of German liberals who tended to be nationalistic. Despite winning their hearts however, Biz never intended to satisfy the liberals' desire to pull the Germans and the non-Germans of Austria into the empire (the so-called "Grosse Deutschland" idea). Of course neither he nor the Wilhelm I wished to see the liberals secure parliamentary sovereignty. This is true because he had to balance the call of German liberals for political and economic freedoms against the desire of the Kaiser, the army (dominated by Prussian landowners), and the Prussian landowners (the Junkers), to resist the liberals and maintain their dominant position in politics and economics. .
The German Imperial Constitution of 1871, created by Biz, was an attempt to strike that balance between the conservative Kaiser and the liberal parliament (Reichstag). In fact, the constitution was only balanced "on paper." It was "a dictatorship in the hands of the King of Prussia, hastily put together to serve Biz's own ends." The parliament maintained-as it had in the Prussian constitution-the power to refuse the government's budget. While the Reichstag gained the power to pass, amend, or reject bills, it could not initiate legislation. The power of initiating legislation rested with the chancellor. Legislation also required the consent of the Bundesrat, the federal council of deputies from the various German states, which was, however, dominated by conservative Prussian Junkers. Executive power was vested in the emperor, or Kaiser, (who was of course, the king of Prussia) who was assisted by a chancellor responsible only to him.
