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Issues with the 1871 economic development of Germany
How important were economic factors in the creation of a united Germany in the period 1862 to 1871
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The Reasons for the Growth of Prussia’s Influence in Germany by 1862
In 1815 there was no such thing as a German State or Nation. In the
geographical area known as Germany the most powerful state was Austria
which was the biggest factor in the increase of Prussia’s influence by
1862. Prussia was the second most powerful state but she was far
behind Austria politically and economically. In 1815 the Austrian
foreign minister Metternich made a big mistake by giving Prussia the
area of Westphalia and the Rhineland. Prussia was also given parts of
Silesia. In trying to make Prussia more ‘German’ Metternich had
effectively signed Austria's death warrant. The Rhineland was full of
iron ore, coal and other valuable raw materials that had not yet been
discovered.
In 1818 Prussia passed a tariff law which did four things, firstly
they abolished most internal Prussian customs and allowed most raw
materials duty free into Prussia. The tariff law also allowed only
ten- percent tariffs on manufactured goods and it passed a weight duty
on goods travelling through Prussia. These laws effectively made
Prussia a tariff free zone and therefore increased trade greatly. This
was a huge boost to the Prussian economy and it was extremely
significant that Austria didn’t really take notice and follow Prussia
into reducing tariffs. During the 1820’s the Prussian economy became
bigger and stronger. What was really important for Prussia to do was
to build good relations with her neighbours who, in particular, could
be very important to her success. Crucially, Prussia did do this. To
cement these relationships with her neighbours the Prussian free trade
zone became a Prussian customs union.
When Napoleon had invaded Prussia he had begun a massive road building
program so that his forces could easily be transported to countries
such as Russia, whom he wanted to invade and defeat. After Napoleon
had been defeated Prussia continued this infrastructure building
program and went to great lengths to improve transport. By 1845 the
three main rivers in the area were connected and this also gave trade
action to prove to the rest of the world that Germany was more powerful than all. In
Before Frederick took charge Prussia was not a country. It was broken into separate territories. France and England had become very powerful in the 1600's and Prussia felt endangered. Frederick's father Frederick the I was the elector of Prussia. When Frederick came to power his goal was to make Prussia a country. He believed that good government was rational but also authoritarian. Frederick was the first modern organizer. He put most of the country's wealth intro the military. He believed that the key to a country's wealth was through its military. 80% of Prussia's income went to the military. Prussia selected people for the military through the draft. Eventually Frederick died and left the kingdom to his son. Frederick the great was left with a 72,000 person military. This was a great deal of people for such a little country. Prussia only had 2,000,000 people.
Imperial expansion in 1860-1914 is often referred to as new imperialism, considering the first flush of territorial acquisitions that occurred in 15th &16th century. This expansion is deepening of the process of colonisation by Europeans in Africa and Asia, Japan in East Asia, and the United States in Central America and Asia. It was an aggressive extension of overseas territories, a ' White Man's Burden', establishing half a century of political and economic domination. This essay attempts to outline the sources and responses of this process.
In the 1800s Germany was not one single German nation, instead it was made up of 2 dozen German-speaking kingdoms. The reason for nationalists wanting to unite these Kingdoms was so that they could form a greater Germany (19th century anti-Semitism). Nationalists wanted Germany to be a nation that would go up against the economic and military power of Britain, France and Russia (19th century anti-Semitism). However, it was not an easy task to unite the Kingdom.
A strong government can create opportunities to flourish in prosperity and their economy will boom which creates finality in their country. West Germany had stayed a capitalist country and then decided to reach out and expand until it was a welfare state. Like I said having a strong government made West Germany flourish in prosperity and their economy started to boom this made their hardships form World War 2 a distant memory to them. The United States took it upon them to aid West Germany to try to stop communism ideals from spreading there. The government provided health care, pensions, and support for college kids. On the other hand East Germany did not prosper from any of this sequence because they followed communism they were stagnated
Prussia rose to power in the late 1600s. Prussia’s ruling family, the Hohenzollerns, also had ambitions. Those ambitions threatened to upset central Europe’s delicate balance of power. The Hohenzollerns built their state from a number of small holdings, beginning with the German cities of Brandenburg and Prussia. In 1640, a 20-year-old Hohenzollern named Frederick William inherited the title of elector of Brandenburg. Frederick William decided that having a strong army was the only way to ensure safety, after seeing the destruction of the Thirty Years’ War. To protect their lands, the Great Elector and his descendants moved toward absolute monarchy.
The Weakness of the Weimar Republic and Hitler's Rise to Power The question directly relates to the idea that the political power of a country can be taken over by ambitious people in different ways. From our knowledge we know there is three ways this can be done…by take over by force, also known as a 'coup d'etat', in a more democratic and just way or by a political deal. In the 1920's and the 1930's Hitler led a right wing political party and was seen by many as a dictator. He wanted to overthrow and control the German government and he tried all three of these ways in an attempt to do so, some methods were more successful than others.
Germany was already on its way to unification in the early 1800s. The Congress of Vienna in 1815 had set up the German Confederation, with both Prussia and Austria-Hungary lacking the power to impose their rule over the area (Greusel 71). Austria-Hungary was generally seen as the more dominant of the German states. The capital of the German Confederation was Frankfurt, in the Austrian state of Hesse-Kassel (Headlam 87). Two solutions were considered to this duality: "Großdeutsche" and "Kleindeutsche." The Großdeutsche approach suggested a unification of all Ger...
Coal and Iron and the Unification of Germany in 1871 In 1862, Bismarck said that ‘the great questions of the day will be settled by blood and iron.’ Although there is undoubtedly some degree of accuracy in this statement, the most important reason for the unification of Germany, which ended ‘the great questions of the day,’ was ‘coal and iron.’ This is a quote from British economist John Maynard Keynes, who argued that the industrial and economic preparation before the wars, which united Germany, were more important. This is because the economic strength created by the rapid industrialisation enabled the creation of a powerful Prussia.
2. What were weaknesses of the Weimar Republic? How did different political groups seek to remedy these weaknesses?
Fulbrook, Mary. A Concise History of Germany. 2nd ed. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2004. Print.
...and Germany seemed to have much more control over its people at the time then Russia did. That could have been a deciding factor in how its people reacted during that time.
Germany's Strong Economic Growth After 1871 In January of 1871 Wilhelm of Prussia was proclaimed Emperor of Germany. The many German states had been unified with Prussiaat their head, the second Reich began. This unification of Germany and the 'iron chancellor' Otto Von Bismarck then lead Germany through a period of huge economic growth. In the space of 50 years Germany grew from a feudal simplicity to the great power which terrorised Europe throughout the First World War.
The Congress of Vienna in 1814-15 created the so-called German Confederation under Austrian and Prussian hegemony, but this unit disappointed the dreams of nationalists. The rivalry of Austria and Prussia paralyzed it in a way comparable to the effects of Soviet-American dualism on the United Nations during the Cold War. Almost everywhere, the old rulers repressed the nationalist movement after 1815. The German princes realized that nationalism required ...
Prior to unification in 1871 the territory that would become Germany was comprised of thirty-nine independent states and city states joined together in a loose German Confederation. The most powerful among these states was Prussia, both geographically the largest state and that with the largest population. The influential politicians and policies that came out of Prussia were instrumental in the gradual formation of a united Germany. Beginning with the rise of Napoleon, the nineteenth century was a time of incredible change which dramatically altered the political balance of Europe. In order to understand the factors that culminated in official German unification on January 18, 1871, it is necessary to examine the preceding decades.