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History of Germany Since 1848 Exams

Exam #1

How could World War I be considered a result of the clash of a modern industrial society with an established traditional power structure?

The clash between industrial society and the traditional power structure has a long history leading up to World War I. This clash resulted in a host of domestic problems and subsequent solutions. This created a constant cycle resulting in each solution introducing a new set of problems. In the end these continuous problems and solutions led to the unresolved original issue of the clash between industrial society and the traditional power structure which led into World War I.

Industrial growth versus agrarian political power proved to be a huge problem during the time period leading to World War I. During this period, Germany was experiencing a great increase in capitalist industrialization. Industrial capitalism overpowered agriculture in economic importance. However, the industrial sector of society failed to attain political power over the established agrarian elite. This fact was overseen by the Kaiser. The Kaiser had constitutional power over the armed forces and the right to dissolve representative assemblies forcing new elections. This proves that the industrial leaders failed to achieve any power over the parliament. To make matters worse, the Kaiser and agrarian elite were allied in political domination. The majority of political power was maintained through those who were involved in large-scale agriculture. The growth of industry in the German national economy was considered a threat by the agrarian elite. Therefore, the agrarian elite used their political influence to ensure the continuance of their political power over industry by enacting helpful legislation. The industrial sector was now beginning to seek a political position. The industrialist sought to more budgetary power, legislative power, and a non-allied set of representatives in relation to the armed forces and foreign policy. These demands were not generally accepted. Instead, a deal between the power elite and the industrialists was formed. The industrialists were to withdrawal their demands for an increase in political power and the agrarian elite in alliance with the monarchy would secure the industrialists economic position. This relieved the concern over the system of governance for industrialists because it was favorable to their endeavors.

The deal between the industrialists, agrarian elite, and the monarchy proved to be problematic. The problem was that the continued growth of industry created a parallel growth of the industrial proletariat. The proletariat’s supported parties, namely Social Democrats, which were concerned with current social and political conditions. In turn, this would increase the difficulty of the acquiring of parliamentary seats by the agrarian elite. This would affect their ability to maintain their promise to the industrialists to secure their economic position. To thwart this situation a solution needed to be conceptualized. The first idea for a solution consisted of the monarchy invoking its power to dissolve the representative institutions, stop the proletariat movement, and establish military rule under the Kaiser. The second possible solution was to instill a fear of Social Democrats. Instilling a fear of Social Democrats proved to be the preferred choice.

The choice to implement anti-Socialist agenda proved to contain its own problems. At this time, the policy of anti-Socialism and tariffs to keep together agrarian, industrialist, and monarchical interest did not prove to be strong enough. The anti-Socialist agenda was meant to help the monarchy maintain power. The implementation of tariffs to increase foreign product prices in an effort help local markets was meant to maintain the strength of agriculture and industry. This idea failed to gain the support of the entire membership of the interested parties and maintain the alliance between the agrarian elite and industrialist. This alliance between the agrarian elite and industrialists began to fade as the German economy began to rise. The industrialists wanted to take advantage of this prosperity. They wanted the tariffs to be lifted in an effort to reach positive trade agreements with other countries for the purposes of export. This action threatened the agrarian elite because it would also lift agricultural tariffs. This created a rift between the agrarian elite and industrialists alliance. This rift, in turn, threatened the whole system of domination between the agrarian elite, industrialists, and monarchy.

The monarchy needed a solution that would gain the support of everyone to thwart the potential toppling of the entire power structure. The solution was a military build-up. However, this would get the attention of other countries on the European continent, especially Russia and France. Due to the recent alliance of Russia and France an army build-up would be problematic. In addition, to build-up the army, Germany would have to integrate non-noble officers. This would create a disturbance in the army rather than a successful build-up of this military branch. In the end, it was decided to leave the army alone. The replacement solution was to build-up the navy. This solution was the answer to the original problem of securing the traditional power structure without the additional civil problems.

The build-up of the navy served more than one purpose. It was a means of securing Germany’s international future and securing the traditional power structure. The Kaiser believed that the international community was constantly in a state of flux. His main concern was the position of Germany in the possibility of a new international hierarchy. The navy was a way to secure a high position in that new hierarchy for Germany. The idea was to build a fleet that could rival the most powerful of opposition navies. The build-up of the navy created a path towards secured international position through a strategy predicated on the reaction of other countries. For this part of the plan, the build-up of the German navy was to serve the purpose of making other countries want to avoid war with Germany. By creating a military able to withstand any other military in the world, Germany would be free to secure international markets. Germany believed that other countries would allow them a place in colonization if they created a strong enough power capable of international reach. Germany’s new power would deter other countries from excluding them in international expansionism. The build-up of the navy would also secure the traditional power structure. The distraction of the navy would allow an opportunity to dominate the world market through industrialism. This was a way of making the industrialists happy by providing a military industrial complex that would create a lot of business. This would re-establish the traditional position of industrialists. The Kaiser would retain control over the navy. This re-established the traditional role of the monarchy. The re-introduction of high agricultural tariffs made the agrarian elite happy. This re-established their traditional position. The naval build-up became a path to world power without changing domestic order. This is to say that the agrarian elite, industrialists, and monarchy reaped the benefits. Now that these institutional connections were revitalized only one problem remained. This was the problem of the social proletariat support of Social Democrats. This seemed to be an issue that could not be solved by the traditional power structure as evidenced by the election of 1912. This continued clash between industrial society and the traditional power structure led into World War I.

The clash between industrial society and the traditional power structure has a long history leading up to World War I. This clash began with the parallel growth of the industrial proletariat and industry. This alliance between the agrarian elite, industrialists, and the monarchy led the industrial proletariat to support Social Democrats. This became a problem for the monarchy. The solution was to institute a fear of Social Democrats. This resulted in the suffering of the relationship between the agrarian elite and the industrialists. The solution to fix the problems of the monarchy, agrarian elite, and the industrialists was to support a military build-up. In particular, a naval build-up was supported to increase international power and secure the traditional power structure. This solution would bring negative attention from the international community. All of these issues started with the clash of industrial society and the traditional power structure. Each clash resulted in a solution that introduced a new set of problems. In the end these continuous problems and solutions led to the unresolved original issue of the clash between society and the power structure and into World War I.

Final Exam

Question: We have seen that the socio-economic divisions of the Empire caused much turmoil and eventually contributed to the beginning of World War I. To what extent did similar divisions continue to plague the Weimar Republic? Did they contribute to the appearance of the Third Reich? If such divisions existed, to what extent did the Nazis overcome them? Or did they simply add new divisions?

The German Empire was a time of control by the power elite.  Industrialization proved to be a source of change for the lower class.  However, division between the classes endured as the power elite refused to relinquish any of its power.  As lower class aligned political parties gained power the Weimar Republic came into being.  The Weimar period continued to be politically divided as was the Empire.  This political divide created economic crisis and led to the rise of the Nazi regime.  During the Nazi regime new divisions that were heavily concentrated between the government and the people became apparent.  The German Empire and the Weimar Republic were plagued with divisions between the classes and their representative political parties.  These divisions gave opportunity to the Nazi regime leading to their rise to power.  However, the Nazi regime simply added new divisions.  These divisions shifted from the classes and their representative political parties to a division between the people and the government.

The German Empire beginning in 1871 was a continuation of the Prussian dominated territory until its end in 1919.  Within the Empire the power elite retained control.  The main source of friction occurred with industrialization.  Industrialization was a force for change.  It facilitated the creation of classes which was seen as a threat by the power elite.  During this time the proletariat was demanding a true parliamentary government.  What they received was a weak parliament and a constitution that ensured that the German Empire would be an extension of Prussia.  In matters regarding the Empire, Prussia ruled.  The crucial evidence showing this relationship can be found in the position of the chancellor (Otto von Bismarck).  The chancellor was not held accountable to the parliament.  The parliament did not have the power to pass a vote of no confidence to dismiss the chancellor.  The chancellor held his position purely at the discretion of the Emperor.  In an attempt to make the constitution appear democratic, Bismarck made an unintended mistake.  This mistake was the implementation of universal manhood suffrage and secret ballots.  When the industrial revolution came in full force Germany was quickly transformed into the economic powerhouse of the region.  With this industrial growth came population growth.  The population growth was mainly centered within the lower class.  The mixture of industrialization, population growth, manhood suffrage, and secret ballots created a new enemy for Bismarck.  This new enemy was the political parties that the Proletariat was supporting, the Center Party and the Social Democrats (SPD).  The Center party was steeped in Catholicism; an ideal that ran against the grain of Bismarck’s Protestant Prussian master.  The SPD, on the other hand, ran contrary to the upper classes.  With the improvements in the proletariat that came with industrialization a socio-economic struggle endured through this period of German history.  The struggle was ingrained in the lower class striving for part of the power and the middle/upper class’ unwillingness to share any of that power.  This was an era of unions, radicals, political shifts, and class/party coalitions.

In the city of Weimar in 1919 a national assembly was held.  During the national assembly in Weimar a new constitution was formed.  This was the reason for naming this era the Weimar Republic (1919 – 1933).  During this constitutional era, the two top Social Democrat leaders assumed the two top governmental positions.  The purpose of the national assembly was to form a new government.  During this formation a number of concerns from the previous era were addressed.  The Reichstag remained the same, but more powerful.  The increased power came in the form of proportional representation and universal suffrage.  At the polls, people voted for parties in which the percentage of votes equaled the percentage of representation.  The cabinet was appointed by the president, but had to answer to the Reichstag.  The most important member of the cabinet was the chancellor.  The president’s powers were mainly ceremonial.  However, under article forty-eighty of the constitution he had special emergency powers.  These powers allowed the president to decree emergency laws without prior debate.  The idea of the welfare state and many rights of labor were written into the constitution.  Another order of business for the national assembly was the creation of the Versailles Treaty.  This included exchanges in land, restriction of the German military, and reparations from Germany.  Due to all of these impositions, the treaty did hurt the republic to a certain extent.  The main divide that occurred during this period came in the form of anti-bolshevism (communism).  There was an effort within Center Party politics to demonize communism.  Radicals formed against communism for the purpose of fighting.  One such group was the Free Corps.  The Free Corps were ex-military turned mercenary.  They operated without ideals.  Their basic plan was to dispel communism and then go after the government itself.  The Kapp Putsch was the extent of their success in which power was usurped for a few days.  During this time the national government fled and called for a general strike.  After this ordeal the government banned the Free Corps.  However, the strike crippled the German economy.  This brought about hyperinflation.  Hyperinflation is an economic situation where too much money is chasing to few goods.  The proper way to solve this situation would have been to introduce taxes and restrict credit, but the government did not take these measures.  Hyperinflation was seen as a moral breakdown.  The government was blamed for this and eventually the socialist government was out.  During the next election periods the liberal parties we losing votes and those votes were being gained by the NSDAP (Nazi Party).  This weakened the Weimar coalition which would lead to the rise of Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party.  The Weimar Republic was an era of diplomatic humiliation, domestic turmoil, and economic crisis.

The Nazi regime (1933 – 1945) brought about a new era of division through a deeply flawed leadership structure.  The Nazi regime took power under the guise of uniting nationalism and socialism.  The success of the Nazi regime can be credited to grass roots politics.  Hitler was able to reach the people.  By representing a concept that meant something to the German people the Nazi regime was able to leverage their way into power.  In addition, the Nazi party appeared to be a solution to the economic crisis.  The Nazi’s were a populist party about the people taking control.  This gave a sense of unity and reform.  The Nazi party depended on image to carry their popularity.  That image was the key to capturing independent voters who believed the Nazi party offered them the most benefit.  The major flaw of this era was the passing of the Enabling Act.  The Enabling Act gave all of the power to the chancellor.  This was a situation in which all legislation could be decreed through the executive.  This idea went completely against the Weimar constitution where all of the power was in the Reichstag.  The passing of the Enabling Act paved the way for radical change.  However, this change was not necessarily the key to uniting Germans.  In fact, this brought about many divisions within Germany.  Once the Enabling Act was passed the Nazification of the civil service, Nazification of state governments, and the elimination of other political party’s took place.  Everything that could act as a center of opposition to the Nazi party was either Nazified or eliminated.  The Nazi regime was now in complete control.  The only minor source of opposition existed in the Nazi army (SA).  The division was the SA support for revolutionary ideas while the Nazi party was shifting to an electoral party.  Hitler’s solution to this problem was a blood purge of the SA leadership.  The claim that he put a stop to a revolution was the justification for this blood purge.  In 1934 president Hindenburg died after which the office of the president and the chancellor was merged.  At this point Hitler becomes the Führer.  This represents the moment that Hitler had achieved complete power.  The Nazi party was completely unorganized.  Low and middle level Nazi leadership were responsible for a number of atrocious ideas.  The problem was that upper level leadership supported these ideas.  The people were divided with the regime on many actions.  One example was the Nazi advocating the boycott of Jewish owned stores.  This boycott was unsuccessful as it only lasted for one day.  The domestic reason for the failing of the boycott was that this was not important to the German people so they did not go along with it.  This shows the beginnings of the division between the people and the government.  The Nazi’s were able to keep the people happy economically so this division did not become disastrous.  Hitler’s build-up of the military had great economic success.  The motive was not for economic reasons, but it still proved to be successful.  The lower classes were happy because unemployment virtually disappeared.  The upper classes were happy because their industrial businesses thrived.  Then the Nuremberg laws went into effect.  The Nuremberg laws defined Jewish people by the extent of their lineage.  Based on the extent of lineage Jewish people were restricted and even denied citizenship.  This was difficult on the Jewish people because the majority of them were fully assimilated and considered themselves to be German.  On the other hand, the Jewish people believed that segregation may protect them from the SA violence they had endured.  This period marks the defined division between the Jewish people and the government.  Also, the German people were still not completely in line with these Nazi ideals.  This division increased as a period of radicalization loomed large.  During this time large scale attacks on the Jews occurred.  Some of these attacks included the Crystal Night incident which aimed at damaging Jewish property.  The division between the government and the people widened.  There was much outcry from the German people.  This was considered an embarrassment.  The people just wanted a normal life.  These divisions led Germany into a dark time of their history including war and holocaust.  The Nazi regime was an era of atrocious governmental actions and embarrassed German people who lacked the power to change things.  This era contained deep divisions between the government, the German people, and the Jewish people.

The German Empire and the Weimar Republic were plagued with divisions between the classes and their representative political parties.  These divisions gave opportunity to the Nazi regime leading to their rise to power.  However, the Nazi regime simply added new divisions.  These divisions shifted from the classes and their representative political parties to a division between the people and the government.  The main division in the German Empire was intensified through industrialization.  This was an era of unions, radicals, political shifts, and class/party coalitions.  As the Social Democrats became more powerful the Weimar Republic came into being.  The Weimar Republic continued to be plagued with political divisions.  The Weimar Republic was an era of diplomatic humiliation, domestic turmoil, and economic crisis.  The class and political divisions during these two eras contained a host of domestic problems.  The people were screaming for change.  This outcry fueled the rise of the Nazi regime.  The atrocities of the Nazi regime only added new divisions.  Since there was no more political opposition due to Nazification, the new divisions were between the people and the government itself.