\Kul*tur"kampf`\, n. [G., fr. kultur, cultur,
culture + kampf fight.] (Ger. Hist.)
Lit., culture war; -- a name, originating with Virchow (1821
-- 1902), given to a struggle between the the Roman Catholic
Church and the German government, chiefly over the latter's
efforts to control educational and ecclesiastical
appointments in the interest of the political policy of
centralization. The struggle began with the passage by the
Prussian Diet in May, 1873, of the so-called
{May laws}, or
{Falk laws}, aiming at the regulation of the clergy.
   Opposition eventually compelled the government to change
   its policy, and from 1880 to 1887 laws virtually
   nullifying the May laws were enacted.