1. Imperial Germany and its Discontents Chapter 1

2.  Compare the two maps to see how Europe changed between 1850 and 1871. Europe in the mid to late 1800s

3.   Prussian wars with Denmark (1864), Austria (1866) (Habsburgs) and France (1870-71).  German unification - 1871 What caused these changes?

4.   Union of 25 states  Four kingdoms (Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony and Württemberg)  Six grand duchies  Five duchies  Seven principalities  Three free cities (Hamburg, Bremen, Lübeck)  However, it was not an equal division of power. Prussia forced the other states to join the Prussian- led empire, and had most of the power. German unification

5.   Prussia had two-thirds of the population  The Kings of Prussia (members of the Hohenzollern dynasty), became German Kaisers  Berlin (Prussia’s capital city) became the capital city of Germany  The Junkers, the Prussian landed aristocracy, were the most powerful group in Imperial Germany  This led to resentment. Many smaller (less powerful) states wanted to regain pre-1871 independence and separate from Prussia Prussian dominance

6.  DemocraticUndemocratic -All men over the age of 25 could vote -Secret ballot -New laws had to be approved by the Reichstag -The Reichstag could accept or reject the budget -The Reichstag had limited power over government – the Kaiser could appoint and fire ministers -The Kaiser had complete control over foreign relations -The Kaiser had total control of the army -The Kaiser could dissolve the Reichstag at any time Was Imperial Germany democratic?

7.   Between 1871 and 1914, the German economy was the fastest growing in Europe  Industrial production grew at twice of France’s  Industrial production grew at three times the rate of Britain’s  By 1914 – industrial production had overtaken Britain Economic Growth

8.  Look at these pictures and imagine what life was like for working class Germans between 1871 and 1914 http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/denkmal/denkmale_in_berlin/en/weltkulturerbe/siedlungen/hintergrund.shtml Working Class

9.   http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_imglist.cfm?sub_id=97&section_id=11

10.   Bad living conditions  Low wages  Harsh discipline in factories  Housing was bad (‘rental barracks’ in Berlin) Working Class

11.   Social Political Democrats  Formed in 1875 (Socialist Workers Party of Germany)  By 1914 it was the biggest and best organised socialist party in Europe  More seats in the Reichstag than any other party  Very popular among the working classes because offered more than just politics – Way of life, not just a political party  Trade unions, newspapers, cultural organisations, sports clubs SPD

12.   Prussia was overwhelmingly protestant  Bavaria (quite large), Rhineland and Silesia (important industrial areas) were more catholic  Protestants feared catholics in case they were closer Allies to the pope than Germany  Kulturkampf (‘cultural struggle’)  1870s – German gorvernment introduced measures to undermine the political influence of the Catholic church (ended in late 1870s) Protestants and Catholics

13.   Second-class citizens to some degree  Low proportion of Catholics in university  Few top civil servants were Catholics  Almost no Catholics in high levels of business and finance  Catholics were not enthusiastic supporters of political system in Germany Catholics in Germany 1870s - 1914