germany was not a country before 1870, but made up of states from which prussia was the biggest
the king of prussia became the first german emperor (the kaiser)
bundesrat
representatives from each german state
wilhelm II became kaiser and wanted to make germany as powerful as
britain
the process of industrialisation developed germany's factories, mines and workshops. by 1913, germany was producing more iron and steel and as much coal as britian
workers were unhappy with low wages and poor working conditions so they joined trade unions and organised strikes
this led to 1 in 3 germans voting for the Social Democratic party in the early 1900s
policy of weltpolitik
introduced to expand germanys empire
navylaws were introduced between 1898 and 1912 to grow and modernise the german navy
how did the navy laws affect germanys finances?
taxes had to be raised and huge sums of money were borrowed to grow the navy, sending germany into debt
