Strengthening Germany

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Strengthening Germany

• Bellwork 3
• Do noah and roys ownership of this boat entitle
  them two to membership in the second street yacht
  club

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• In January 1871, They had just defeated Napoleon
  III in the Franco Prussian War and had chosen
  Louis XIV palace to proclaim the new German
  empire.
• French domination of Europe, dating from the age
  of Louis XIV, had ended. Germany, headed by
  William I and his chancellor, Otto von Bismarck,
  was the new power in Europe.

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The German Industrial Giant

• By the late 1800s, German chemical and electrical
  industries set the standard worldwide. German
  shipping was second only to Britains among the
  European powers.
• Economic progress- Germanys spectacular growth
  was due in part to ample iron and coal resources,
  the basic ingredients for industrial development.
  The educated work force also helped the economy.
• During the 1850s and 1860s, Germans had founded
  large companies and built many railroads.
  1871-1914, the business tycoon August Thyssen
  built a small steel factory of 70 workers into a
  giant empire with 50,000 employees.

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Science, Government, and Industry

• German industrialists were the first to see the
  value of applied science in developing new
  products such as synthetic chemicals and dyes.
• After 1871, German government issued a single
  currency for Germany, reorganized the banking
  system and coordinated railroads built by the
  various German states.

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The Iron Chancellor

• Bismarck pursued several foreign policy goals. He
  sought to keep France weak and isolated while
  building strong links with Austria and Russia.
• The Iron Chancellor, as he was called, sought to
  erase local loyalties and crush all opposition to
  the imperial state. He targeted two groups, the
  Catholic Church and the socialists. In his view,
  both posed a threat to the new German state.

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Campaign against the Church

• Bismarck launched the kulturkampf, or battle for
  civilization. His goal was to make Catholics put
  loyalty to the state above allegiance to the
  Church. The chancellor had laws 1 state the
  right to supervise Catholic education, 2 closed
  some religious orders, expelled the Jesuits from
  Prussia, and made it compulsory for couples to be
  married by civil authority.
• Bismarcks moves against the catholic Church
  backfired . The faithful rallied behind the
  Church, and the Catholic Center party gained
  strength in the Reichstag. A realist, Bismarck
  saw his mistake and made peace with the Church.

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Campaign against the Socialists

• By the late 1870s, German Marxistsw had organized
  the social Democratic party, which called for a
  true parliamentary democracy and laws to improve
  conditions for the working class. Bismarck feared
  that socialists would undermine the loyalty of
  German workers and turn them toward revolution.
• So, he had laws. 1 Shut down their newspapers,
  and 2 banned their meetings. Once again, it
  backfired, unifying workers in support of the
  socialist cause.
• Bismarck set out to woo workers away form
  socialism by sponsoring laws to protect them.
  1890s Germans had health and accident insurance
  as will as old age insurance to provide
  retirement benefits. Thus, under Bismarck,
  Germany was a pioneer in social reform.

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• His plan was only partly successful. Although
  workers benefited from his measures, they did not
  abandon socialism.
• Later, Germany and other European nations would
  build on Bismarcks social policies, greatly
  increasing governments role in providing for the
  needs of its citizens.

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A Confident New Kaiser

• 1888, William II succeeded his grandfather as
  Kaiser.
• Confident of his abilities and wished to put his
  own stamp on Germany. 1890, he shocked Europe by
  asking the dominating Bismarck to resign. There
  is only one master in the Reich, and that is I,
  he said.
• William II seriously believed in his divine right
  to rule. Like his grandfather, William II
  lavished funds on the German military machine,
  already the most powerful in Europe. He also
  launched and ambitious campaign to expand the
  German navy and win an overseas empire to rival
  those of Britain and France.