What is "may laws"

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 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).

Temporary regulations regarding the Jews (also known as May Laws) were proposed by minister of internal affairs Nikolai Ignatyev and enacted on 15 May (3 May O.S.), 1882, by the Emperor Alexander III of Russia. Originally, regulations of May 1882 were intended only as temporary measures until the revision of the laws concerning the Jews, but remained in effect for more than thirty years.