Germany Before WW1

• When was Germany formed?

  1871
• The Reichstag

  • Kaiser - head of armed forces, controls foreign policy, appoint chancellor
  • Armed Forces - military officers often advised Kaiser on military
  • Chancellor and ministers - draw up new laws that Reichstag vote on
  • Reichstag - German parliament, 397 members
  • Bundesrat - representatives form all 26 states
• Rapid Industrialisation

  • urbanisation, 60% lived in cities
  • growth of working classes
  • 1914, produced 2/3 of Europe's steel
• Threat of Socialists

  • wanted public reform to fix working conditions
  • by 1912, SPD largest party in Reichstag
• Trade Unions and Strikes

  • put pressure on the government
  • 700,000 workers involved in 3000 strikes