Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Kulturkampf \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.

May laws \May laws\
   1. See {Kulturkampf}, above.

   2. In Russia, severe oppressive laws against Jews, which have
      given occasion for great persecution; -- so called because
      they received the assent of the czar in May, 1882, and
      because likened to the Prussian May laws (see
      {Kulturkampf}).