Germany 1890-1918

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Prussian Militarism

During the early 19th century, Prussia was the only German state that could match the power and influence of the Austrian empire. Austria was opposed to the idea of German unification, as they saw it as a threat to their own empire.

Throughout the 19th century, Prussia developed into the most militarised state in Europe. Then, Otto Von Bismarck the Prussian Chancellor took on the role of uniting all German states under Prussian rule.

Unification occurred after 1866

Bismarck wanted to build up Prussia's army

He needed money to do this; the Prussian parliament refused to allow money to be raised for Bismarck's military reforms

Bismarck ignored the Reichstag and collected the money for army reforms through general taxation

Bismarck protected German unification from outside influence through participating in wars and signing treaties

Bismarck's contribution to unification:

He made sure that army reforms took place

He isolated other countries by making them appear like aggressors

He made Prussia to be the defender of the German state structure and rights

Aggressive Prussian militarism had been regarded as the product of Bismarck's policies and old Prussian tradition, that represented both the Junker (members of the landed nobility in Prussia) class and big industrialists of the time. Wilhelm II took over the German state after forcing him to resign.

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Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859-1941)

Kaiser Wilhelm II ruled Germany from 1888-1918, until his death in the Netherlands in 1941. Wilhelm played an important role in the development of the German state.

He was determined to expand Germany’s power

He set out to improve the country’s economy

He wanted to create a naval force that could rival that of the British Royal Navy

In 1890 Wilhelm forced the chancellor, Bismarck, to resign and he took control of Germany’s foreign and domestic policies

In 1918 rumours spread that Germany was planning to surrender to the Allies and questions arose regarding Wilhelm's hold on power

9 November 1918 - German chancellor, von Baden, preempted Wilhelm’s abdication and proclaimed publicly that Wilhelm had surrendered his powers.

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Politics, Economy and Society

Politics:

With the downfall of Bismarck, Germany was pursuing rapid social and economic modernisation, while avoiding any reforms of the authoritarian political system

Kaiser Wilhelm II led a highly militaristic regime in Germany

Political organisations, such as the Navy League and Farmers League, were all authoritarian in their politics and aggressive in expansionist foreign policy

Prussia's Junker, military and bureaucratic elites stood in firm opposition to any democratisation of the electoral system

Reform to democracy came about under the Reich after World War One

Some historians argue Wilhelm II was driven to pursue an aggressive foreign policy in order to gain support from agrarian and middles classes in order that these classes might oppose the Social Democrats

Socialism:

By 1890, the Social democrats were growing in numbers received more seats than any other party

With each election going into the 20th century, the Social democrats grew in numbers

The Socialist's were the strongest party in 1912; able to win some improvements in living conditions for working-class Germans

Rise in membership from 384,327 in 1905/06 to 1,085,905 in 1913/14

1913 - Social democrat parliamentarians' votes helped to bring in new tax laws affecting the wealthy, which were necessary due to the increase in military spending

Economy and society:

Speed of industrial maturity after 1890 was substantial

1895-1907 - there was a doubling of the number of workers in machine building

There was also a huge drop in the number of people emigrating from Germany

The application of intensive agricultural techniques led to the value of farm products doubling and a sharp decline in the rural population

40% of Germans lived in rural areas in 1910

The German working class grew rapidly in the late 19th century and early 20th century

Total union membership reached 3.7 million in 1912; 2.5 million were associated with socialist unions

German factories were also larger and more modern than those of Britain and France; these were in the industrial regions of Berlin and the Ruhr valley

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The Naval Laws

These were five separate laws passed by the German Empire in 1898, 1900, 1906, 1908 and 1912.

The aim was to have a navy capable of competing with the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom

The First Naval Law, introduced in 1897, outlined the composition of fleet by vessels and number of shops to be constructed by 1904

It authorised a fixed number of battleships that could not be altered by parliamentary vote

The law passed in 1898 was opposed by the Conservative Party and Social Democratic Party, who were against spending vast amounts of money on naval warfare

In the lead up to World War One, more funding was pumped into the German army

In 1911, the Navy budget had been 54% of the army budget

These naval laws prepared Germany for war, while producing mass amounts of employment