Chapter 4: Economic developments

Question 1

;

What percentage of the GNP was agriculture by 1914?

Answer 1

25%

Question 2

What percentage of the GNP was industry by 1914?

Answer 2

45%

Question 3

What happened to industrial production between 1890 and 1914?

Answer 3

it tripled - Germany stood alongside Britain and the USA as a leading industrial nation

Question 4

What happened to German coal output between 1871 and 1910?

Answer 4

37.7 million tonnes to 222.2 million tonnes

significant increase but still below Britain

Question 5

How did German steel production compare to Britain by 1910?

Answer 5

Germany = 13.10 million tonnes
Britain = 6.48 million tonnes

Question 6

How much did the German population increase by between 1871 and 1910?
What was the impact of this?

Answer 6

1871 = 50 million
1914 = 68 million
- provided a market and labour force for the expanding economy - younger generations are more willing to adopt new skills

Question 7

What sort of raw materials were available in Germany?
Why was this important?

Answer 7

• Coal in the Ruhr and Saar - by 1914 Germany mined a quarter of the worlds coal
• Iron ore in Ruhr and Alsace Lorraine
• used for manufacturing and to fuel industry

Question 8

What was the state of education in Germany ?
Give some key examples

Answer 8

• elementary education was the best in the world - higher education had an increased focus on technical skills
• 1870 - **more sciences graduates from Munich university that from all the english universities combined **

Question 9

What was the state of the German banking system - how did it contribute to economic development?

Answer 9

• free from state control - allowed them to invest in industrial research and trade
• banks had a policy of long term lending for industrial firms - lower interest rates - allows firms to invest and allows economic progress

Question 10

What are Cartels and how much do they increase by between 1875 and 1910?
What was the Cartel in control of German steel?

Answer 10

groups of producers in similar trades or processes - help to cut costs for manufacturers and control prices of products
**1975 = 8 cartels
1910 = 600 cartels **
* 1904 Steel union - controlled 30 steelworks including Krupps

Question 11

What were the impacts of the governments introduction of tariffs?

Answer 11

initially introduced in 1879 (By Bismark) in response to the alliance of steel and Rye - lowered by Caprivi but raised again by Bulow
* helped farmers
* kept food prices high for workers

Question 12

How much did electricity production increase by between 1901 and 1915?
Who were the leading companies ?

Answer 12

150%
led by Siemens and AEG
- Germany controlled over half of the world trade in electricals by 1913

Question 13

Which company was responsible for producing the worlds first mass produced car?

Answer 13

Daimler-Benz

Question 14

What proportion of the worlds dyes were produced by Germany?

Answer 14

3/4 - aided by plentiful supplies of coal and potash

Question 15

How many acres of land were cultivated between 1880 and 1900?
Why was this?

Answer 15

4 million acres
- to meet the needs of the growing population

Question 16

By how much did the proportion of people employed in agriculture drop by?
Why was this

Answer 16

50% in 1871 and 35% in 1907
-peasants were moving to towns - caused a lot of rural debt and many landowners had to sell their land

Question 17

What type of creditor nation was Germany?

What is a creditor nation?

Answer 17

third largest

lend more money than they borrow - tends to be a sign of wealth

Question 18

How did the German shipping fleet compare to other nations?

Answer 18

3x greater than france and second only to britain

Question 19

What was the trade gap in Germany over this period?

Answer 19

imports = 10.8 billion
exports = 10.2 billion
(somewhat helped by invisible earnings but not much)