Chapter 1- Kaiser wilhelm

• what is a chancellor ?

  head of government
• what is the budesrat ?

  a council made up of representatives from each state
• what is the reichstag ?

  • parliament elected by over 25 men
  • both debated & voted on laws drawn up by the Kaiser
• who is the Kaiser ?

  • somebody who could ignore government advice and make his own decisions
  • made all military & foreign policy decisions
• who was Kaiser Wilhelm the second ?

  • spent his youth in the army
  • keen to maintain a powerful army & build up a large navy
  • wanted Germany to be a global power
  • was from prussia
  • militrism was important in Prussia
• what was industrialisation ?

  • late 1800's Germany began to industrialise
  • by 1913 they were producing as much coal as britain
  • were producing more iron and steel than britain
• describe the growth of socialism

  • many workers were unhappy with working conditions and wages
  • workers joined trade unions and organised strikes
  • by 1914 over three million workers had joined trade unions
• who were the social democratic party and what did they believe ?

  • a new political party that was popular among workers
  • believed in socialism (power and wealth should be shared equally)
  • some socialists wanted to rebel against the kaisers rule
• when were the naval laws introduced ?

  1898-1912
• what were these naval laws ?

  • huge amounts of money was spent on the navy
  • Kaiser wanted a large navy to help him take over other countries
  • taxes were increased and money was borrowed to pay for this