Introduction - The creation of the Second Reich

• Who were the Reichsrat

  Made up of 1 prince as a representative for each of the 26 German states, they could veto legislation passed by the Reichstag
• Who were the Reichstag

  Elected by universal male suffrage (voting age 25) & the Kaiser could summon or dismiss the group
• Role of the Chancellor/Ministers

  Appointed by the Kaiser and proposed legislation to the Reichstag
• What did people want from the second reich

  Unification of all German states
• What did Industrialisation do to the Second Reich

  • Created a powerful economy
  • Industrialisation created a wealthy middle class and discontented working class
  • Industrialists saw future prosperity in the Kaiser’s rule 
  • Workers formed trade unions and voted for the SPD 
  • This conflict lead to a divided nation and a crisis in politics
• What were the values of the Second Reich

  • Nationalism 
  • Unification of a Greater Germany
  • Democratic 
  • Powerful economy (industrialisation)
  • Social Darwinism
• What is Social Darwinism

  • Survival of the fittest 
  • ‘Biological need for war’ to kill the weak
  • Humanitarianism (helping the weak) is going against evolution 
  • Genocide against Namibia tribes because of their race, committed experiments and eugenics on them
  • Hitler was obsessed with social Darwinism and the ‘Aryan’ race
• German views of the War

  • Initial support to Kaiser (Germany was a victim of Allied encirclement)
  • Hindenburg and Ludendorff influenced military decisions of the Kaiser 
  • German support for war declined in later years through depressions and strikes 
  • 1917, Kiel Mutiny (refusal of suicide mission)
  • 1918, 400,000 Berliners go on strike
• Positives of the political structure in the early 20th century

  • Proportional representation
  • Written constitution
  • Men over 25 & working class could vote 
  • Reichstag could deliberate laws
• Negatives of the political structure in the early 20th century

  • Kaiser chose ministers and the chancellor (non-democratic)
  • Women could not vote 
  • Kaiser had power over the Reichstag
• What was society like in the early 20th century

  • Emerging stronger socialist movement 
  • Increasingly divided nation 
  • Dominated by the conservative elite (nationalism)
  • Anti-catholic and anti-socialist
  • Social Darwinian and Racist