4 Economic Developments Flashcards
Define indemnity
Fine payable following wartime defeat
Define recession
Period of temporary economic decline with a fall in trade and industrial activity
What is provided easy credit for industrial growth in 1871?
The prompt payment of the French indemnity and the inflationary effect of current reform in 1871
What happened to the number of ironworks and machine-manufacturing companies in the years 1871 to 75 compare to the last 70 years
Both time periods produced the same number of companies
What was the annual rate of economic growth?
Until 1873, 5%
When was the Great Depression? What was it?
Between 1873 and 1896 there was a world trade recession
How did the great depression affects Germany?
The effects were not immediately apparent. Earlier investment in the railway buildings kept the Economy reasonably buoyant.
Falling demand from 1876 resulted in slower growth
Growth returned to it steady upward trajectory after 1894
What is the economy like in the final years of the 19th century?
Huge expansion of German industry, emerge stronger in 1895 then 1873
How much of the industry’s GNP represented agriculture vs industry up until the 1880s and by 1914?
1880s
Agricultural was 35 to 40%
Industry was 30 to 35%
By 1914
Agricultural was 25%
Industry was 45%
What was the annual growth rate of the industrial sector?
c4.5%
What happened to industrial production between 1890 and 1914?
Industrial production tripled
By 1914 Germany stood alongside Britain and the USA as one of the worlds leading industrial destinations
What was the output of coal and steel in 1871?
Coal was 29.4 million tons
Steel was 0.2 million tons
What was the output of coal and steel in 1890?
Coal was 109.3 million tons
Steel was 2.2 million tons
What was the output of coal and steel in 1913?
Coal was 191.5 million tons
Steel was 17.9 million tons
How many kilometres was the German railway line in 1871?
21,471 km
How many kilometres was the German railway line in 1890?
42,869 km
How many kilometres was the German railway line in 1913?
63,000 km
Name seven reasons for economic growth in Germany between 1871 and 1914
- Growth in population
- Availability of raw materials
- Geographical advantages
- Highly developed education system
- Banking system
- Development of businesses and organisations
- Supportive government
How did the growing population increase the growth rate of the economy?
Labourforce for the expanding economy was provided for both markets
Younger generations were more mobile and willing to adapt to the need for new skills
How did the availability of war materials increase the growth rate of the economy?
The Ruhr was abundant in coal and iron ore
Alsance-Lorraine was abundant in iron ore and potash, used in industrial processes
How did the geographical advantages increase the growth rate of the economy?
Road flat plain which was used for railways.
Navigable rivers in the Rhine
How did the highly developed education system increase the growth rate of the economy?
Higher education was made provisions for the development of technical skills necessary to industrial development
How did the banking system increase the growth rate of the economy?
They invested heavily into industrial research, trade, economic development. Close bank business relationships formed
1872, 49 new banks in Prussia.
How did the development in businesses and organisations increase the growth rate of the economy?
Because it was easier to establish joint-stock companies, cartels in Germany went from 8 by 1875, to 70 by 1887, to 300 by 1900, to 600 by 1911
The 5 biggest dyestuff companies were responsible for 90% of total output. Nearly every important industry had a cartel in it
Steel Union formed in 1904, made of 30 large steelworks, including Krupps by 1911
How did the supportive government increase the growth rate of the economy?
Bismarck’s 1979 tariffs
Caprivi trade treaties and measures
Define joint-stock companies
Companies that are owned jointly by the shareholders who invest capital in them
Define cartels
Associations of producers in similar trades or processes
What was Germany’s first industrial revolution based on? What is this collection commonly known as?
Old industries
Textiles, coal, iron, steel and railways
What is the second stage of the industrial revolution?
c1890, New industries that use more advanced technology
Electrics, chemicals, machinery and the motorcar industry
Germany is merchant marine compare to the USA and Britain
German merchant marine 3 times that of the USA, 1/4 of the size of British merchant Navy
What happened to Germany is chemical industry?
By the early 20th century Germany was producing more than 3/4 of the worlds chemical dyes
Sulfuric acid stats
In 1878 only 1 million tons of sulphuric acid were being produced in the whole world, by 1917 Germany was producing 1,402,000 tons
Ammonia stats
Ammonia production rose from 84,000 tonnes to 287,000 tonnes between 1897 and 1907
Electrical industry facts
The electrical industry grew most quickly in the Rhine area
Siemens lead the way for production of things like Dynamos
The production of electrical energy increased by 150% between 1901 and 1915
By 1913 Germany controlled half the worlds trade in electrics
Machinery industry facts
1889, Loewe rebuilt his Berlin factory using American idea of mass production.
Advances in the motor industry were being made by Diesel, Benz and Mercedes
What was Kaiser Willhelm II’s involvement in industrial development?
Industrial development from 1890 was driven by the Kaiser and his desire for the prestige and glory of Weltpolitik, included developing Germany’s military resources
Agriculture stats
35% of the population was still employed in the agriculture sector in 1907
By the early 20th century Germany was producing 40 million tons of potatoes per year
Disadvantages of agriculture succeeding
Had to be heavily protected by tariffs, grew substantially from the beginning of 1879, lowered by Caprivi in 1890s, rose on the below in 1902
What 3 challenge did the farmers face?
- ‘Synthetic’ foods, like margarine
- New processes, like beer making less dependent on hops
- Refrigeration
What are five reasons evidence for decline in agriculture?
- Agricultural prices fell over all, despite Protection
- Series of bad harvests in the late 1870s, lead to cheap grain imported from USA
- Increasing number of Landowners ran into financial difficulties, forced to sell or mortgage
- Agriculture abandoned for industrial towns
- GNP for agriculture fell
What are five reasons evidence against decline in agriculture?
- Tariffs after 1879 created and further opportunities to grow in domestic market
- Forming machinery and chemical fertilisers became cheaper
- More than 4 million acres of land were bought under cultivation between 1880 and 1900
- Cultivators of rootcrops did well
- Cultivation of land became more organised, employed large numbers of cheap seasonal workers
Trade and Wealth facts
By 1913, Germany was one of the major trading and exporting nations of the world
Volume of exports and imports had grown fourfold between 1880 and 1913
1890, £200 million worth of imports and £153 million worth of exports
1913, £526 million worth of imports and £495 million worth of exports
Where did German export go?
60% of exports went to Britain, France and Russia.
The remainder went to Latin America, South Africa and the Ottoman empire.
Free Trade v protection 1871-1890
Bismarck supported free trade in 1870s
Slow growth, drinking agricultural protection demand and manufacturing demand resulted in tariffs be introduced. Also in response to ‘alliance of steel and rye’.
Free Trade v protection Caprivi
Despite Conservative And agrarian league opposition, or previously agreed to lower agricultural tires in return for a reduction on Russian, Austrian and Romanian tariffs on imported industrial goods.
After Caprivi’s dismissal high tariffs were imposed again
When was the agrarian league set up?
1893
When was the industrialists league established
1895
When was the Imperial league established?
1904
