Germany Strengthens

Ch.7 Section 2

• In the aftermath ofunification, the Germanempire emerged as theindustrial giant of theEuropean continent.German chemical andelectrical industrieswere setting thestandard worldwide.Among the Europeanpowers, Germanyshipping was onlysecond to Britain’s.

• Like Britain, severalfactors madeindustrializationpossible in Germany.Germany’s growth wasdue in part to ampleiron and coal resources,the basic ingredients forindustrial development.A disciplined andeducated workforcealso helped theeconomy.

• The German middle classand educatedprofessionals helped tocreate a productive andefficient society thatprided itself on a sense ofresponsibility anddeference to authority.Germany’s populationgrew from 41 million in1871 to 67 million in1914. This provided ahuge home market alongwith a large supply ofindustrial workers.

• The new nation alsobenefited from earlierprogress. During the1850s and 1860s,Germans had foundedlarge companies andbuilt many railroads.The house of Kruppboomed after 1871,becoming an enormousindustrial complex thatproduced steel andweapons for a worldmarket.

• Between 1871 and 1914,the business tycoonAugust Thyssen built asmall steel factory or 70workers into a giantempire with 50,000employees. Optics wasanother importantindustry. Germanindustrialist and inventorCarl Zeiss built acompany that becameknown for it telescopes,microscopes, and otheroptical equipment.

• German industrialistswere first to see thevalue of applied sciencein developing newproducts such assynthetic chemicals anddyes. Industrialists aswell and the governmentsupported research anddevelopment in theuniversities and hiredtrained scientists to solvetechnological problemsin the factories.

• The German governmentalso promoted economicdevelopment. After 1871,it issued a single currencyfor Germany, reorganizedthe banking system, andcoordinated railroads builtin the different states.When a worldwidedepression hit in the late1800s, Germany raisedtariffs to protect homeindustries from foreigncompetition. The leadersof the new German empirewere determined tomaintain economicstrength as well as militarypower.

• As the new chancellor of theGerman empire, Bismarckpursued several foreign-policygoals. He wanted to keepFrance weak and isolatedwhile building strong linkswith Austria and Russia. Herespected British naval powerbut did not seek to completein this arena. Bismarck oncesaid that “water rats do notfight with land rats”. Later hewould take a more aggressivestand against Britain and thetwo nations competed foroverseas colonies.

• On a domestic front,Bismarck applied thesame ruthless methodshe had used to achieveunification. The IronChancellor, as he wascalled, sought to eraseloyalties and crushopposition to the imperialstate. He targeted twogroups—the CatholicChurch and the Socialists.In his view, both posed athreat to the new Germanstate.

• After unification about 1/3of the German population.Bismarck was a Lutherandistrusted Catholics—especially the clergy–whose first loyalty, hebelieved, was to the popeinstead of to Germany.

• In response to the Catholicthreat, Bismarck launchedthe Kulturkampf, or “battlefor civilization” whichlasted from 1871 to 1878.His goal was to makeCatholics put loyalty to thestate above allegiance tothe Church.

• The chancellor had lawspassed that gave the state theright to supervise Catholiceducation and approved theappointment of priests. Otherlaws closed some religiousorder, expelled the Jesuitsfrom Prussia and made itcompulsory for couples to bemarried by civil authority.

• Bismarck moved against thechurch backfired. A newCatholic Center party gainedstrength in the Reichstag. Arealist, Bismarck saw hismistake and worked to makepeace with the church.

• Bismarck also saw theSocialists as a threat tothe new German empire.By the late 1870s,German Marxists hadorganized the SocialDemocratic party, whichcalled for parliamentarydemocracy and laws toimprove conditions forthe working class.Bismarck feared thatsocialists wouldundermine the loyalty ofGerman workers and turnthem toward revolution.

• Following a failedassassination plot againstthe Kaiser, Bismarck hadlaws passed that dissolvedsocialist groups, shut downtheir newspapers, andbanned their meetings.This backfired and theworkers unified in supportof the socialists cause.

• Bismarck the changedcourse. He set out to wooworkers away from thesocialists by sponsoringlaws to protect them.

• By the 1890s, Germanshad health and accidentinsurance as well as old-age insurance toprovide retirementbenefits. Bismarckpioneered socialreforms. Its system ofeconomic safeguardbecame the model forother European nations.

• Although Bismarck’s planbenefited the workers, they didnot abandon socialism. In fact,the Social Democratic partycontinued to grow in strength.By 1912 it held more seats inthe Reichstag than any otherparty. Yet Bismarck’s programshowed that conditions forworkers could improve withoutthe upheaval of revolution.Later, Germany and otherEuropean nations would buildon Bismarck’s social policies,greatly increasing government’srole in providing for the needsof its citizens.

• In 1899 William IIsucceeded hisgrandfather as Kaiser.The new emperor wassupremely confident inhis abilities and wishedto put his own stamp onGermany. In 1890, heshocked Europe bydemanding thatBismarck resign. “Thereis only one master inthe Reich,” he said “andthis is I”

• William II believed that hisright to rule came from God.Not surprisingly he resistedefforts to introducedemocratic reforms. At thesame time, however hisgovernment provided servicessuch as cheap transportationand electricity. An excellentsystem of public schools,which had flourished underBismarck, taught studentsobedience to the emperoralong with reading, writing,and mathematics.

• Like his grandfather,William II lavished fundson the German militarymachine, already themost powerful in Europe.He also launched anambitious campaign toexpand the German navyand win an overseasempire to rival those ofBritain and France.William’s nationalism andaggressive military stancehelped increase tensionson the eve of World WarI.