Second Reich 1900-14

There were many political parties due to introduction of universal male suffrage.

Conservative Parties - Conservatives and Free Conservatives; Represented upper class who supported Bismark and protectionism.

Liberal Parties - National Liberals: Represented middle class who supported Bismarcks attack on the Catholic Church.

Liberal Progressives; Represented middle class and wanted development of the parliamentary government.

Centre Party; Represented Catholic Church and lower middle class. Opposed attack on Catholic Church and were anti-Prussian.

Social Democratic Party (SPD); Represented working class, Marxists voted for non cooperation. Reforms belived in cooperation to achive social reform.

Industries due to the industrial revolution were mianly heavy; cotton, coal and iron. The growth in these areas competed with Britain.

Steel

• Steel was now manufactored from phosphoric ores in Alsace Lorraine which Britain was slow to take advantage of.
• Germany could produce 300,000,0 tons whereas Britain was ten times less than this.
• Growth in steel enabled the development of railways and armaments; improving the military and transport services.

Chemicals

• German chemical industry was stimulated from explosives and dyes for textile manufactores. It lead its research above Britian and USA.
• Germany exported to Birtain chemical dyes, pharmaceuticals and film roles.

Other Industries

• Diesel and petrol engines were refined along with electical companies.
• Ridgid airships were developed.
• By W1 Germany had overtaken half of the worlds electrical businesses.

Urbanisation

• People moved from rural areas to urban areas to follow the increase in works in the growing/modernising towns and cities.
• There was overcrowding, poor sanitary and lack of clean water, however the number of baby death decreaed by half due to better medical care.
• Wages increased and people could now travel to work easily.
• Homeless centres were set up and levels of unemployment only increased due to the incease in unskilled workers coming to the cities from farms.
• The number of lower middle class increased to 3.3 million by 1907.

Agricultural Stregnths

• Tarriff Law did stop foreign competition from grain imports and increase in domestic population kept prices high.
• Improvements of chemicals allowed fertilisers to be developed along with machinery that compensated for the loss of workforce that moved to the city.

Agricultural Weaknesses

• Refridgerated ships allowed imports of meant from USA to be cheap.
• Estates of farm land were constanlty being sold and bought for drcreasing prices as people moved to the cities.
• As a result German farms were mainly farmed by immigrants that live on the German borders.

Consequences

• There was a locak of political reform that restricted spread of democracy
• Frustrations grew as result of uneven economic growth which resulted in strikes.