Latest / The History of Germany: Kingdoms, War, and Rebuilding Europe — Fexingo History / Germany 1890s: How Industrial Might Forged a Nation
Transcript
- Lucas: So, we've talked about the political unification of Germany under Bismarck, and the wars that made it possible. But what often gets overlooked is the economic revolution that was happening alongside it — the industrial explosion that turned Germany from a patchwork of agrarian states into the industrial powerhouse of Europe. Luna: Right, we've touched on things like the Zollverein customs union, but I'd love to dig deeper into what actually happened in factories and cities. Lucas: Exactly. So let's start in the Ruhr Valley — the Ruhrgebiet. Before the 19th century, it was mostly farmland and small towns. But underneath it lay one of the largest coal deposits in Europe. By the 1850s, coal mining exploded. In 1850, the Ruhr produced about 2 million tons of coal. By 1900, that number was over 60 million tons. It was the engine of German industry. Lucas: And with coal came steel. The Krupp family in Essen became synonymous with German industrial might. Alfred Krupp, known as the Cannon King, built a steelworks that by the 1870s was the largest in Europe. He produced artillery for the Prussian army, but also railway tracks, locomotives, and giant forgings. Luna: I've heard the name Krupp before — they were a dynasty, right? Lucas: Absolutely. Alfred Krupp took over his father's small forge in 1826, when he was just 14. He turned it into an industrial empire. By the time he died in 1887, the Krupp works employed over 20,000 people. They had their own hospitals, housing estates, and even a company store system. It was a paternalistic model — Krupp saw himself as a father to his workers, but he also fiercely opposed unions. Lucas: But the Ruhr wasn't just Krupp. There was the Bochumer Verein, Gutehoffnungshütte, and dozens of other firms. And beyond steel, Germany was leading in two other areas: chemicals and electricity. The chemical giant BASF was founded in 1865 in Mannheim, and later moved to Ludwigshafen. They pioneered synthetic dyes and fertilizers. Then there was AGFA, Bayer, and Hoechst — the big three of the German chemical industry. Luna: And electricity — that's where Siemens comes in, right? Lucas: Exactly. Werner von Siemens invented the electric telegraph in 1847 and founded Siemens & Halske. By the 1880s, they were building electric railways and lighting systems. Then there was Emil Rathenau, who founded AEG, the German General Electric Company. Together, these firms electrified Germany. By 1900, Germany had over 50% of the world's electrical engineering market. Lucas: And let's not forget the automotive industry. Carl Benz patented the first automobile in 1886, and Gottlieb Daimler built his own engine the same year. Daimler's company later merged with Benz's to form Mercedes-Benz. So Germany was at the forefront of the automobile revolution too. Luna: This explains why Germany overtook Britain by the 1890s in industrial output. But what about the people — the workers? Lucas: That's the crucial part. Industrialization created a new working class — millions of people moving from the countryside to cities like Berlin, Essen, and Dortmund. Living conditions were often terrible: cramped tenements, long hours, dangerous factories. Child labor was common. In response, workers began to organize. The Social Democratic Party, the SPD, was founded in 1875, and it quickly became the largest socialist party in the world. Lucas: Bismarck saw the SPD as a threat. In 1878, he passed the Anti-Socialist Laws, which banned socialist meetings and publications. But he also tried to win workers over with state socialism: old-age pensions, accident insurance, and health insurance — the first welfare state in the world. It was a strategy of carrots and sticks. Luna: So he was trying to undercut the appeal of socialism by offering some benefits? Lucas: Exactly. And it worked to some extent — the SPD was suppressed but kept growing underground. By 1890, when the laws expired, the SPD had over a million voters. Bismarck's welfare programs became the foundation of the modern German social state. Lucas: Beyond politics, industrialization transformed German society. A new middle class emerged: engineers, managers, civil servants. Cities grew rapidly — Berlin's population went from about 400,000 in 1850 to over 2 million by 1900. The infrastructure expanded: railways, telegraphs, sewage systems, gas lighting. Germany built a dense railway network, which further spurred industrial growth. Luna: So it was a virtuous cycle — railways helped industry, and industry helped railways. Lucas: Precisely. And it all fed into a sense of national pride. Germany was no longer the land of poets and thinkers — it was a land of engineers and industrialists. The 1890s saw a burst of technological optimism. Germans called it the Gründerzeit, the founding era, though that term more strictly applies to the 1870s. But the momentum continued right up to World War I. Lucas: Yet this rapid growth also created tensions. The gap between rich and poor widened. The industrial barons like Krupp and Siemens wielded enormous political influence. And Germany's industrial might fueled an arms race with Britain, especially in naval construction. That's a story for another episode, but it's important to see how economics and politics intertwined. Luna: So when we think about Germany entering the 20th century, it wasn't just a military power — it was an economic superpower. Lucas: Exactly. And that economic superpower status shaped everything that followed — the war, the interwar crises, and even the postwar recovery. The foundations of modern Germany were laid in those coal mines and steel mills. Luna: Thanks, Lucas. That really filled in a gap for me. Lucas: Glad to help. Next time, we'll look at how this industrial might translated into global ambitions and colonial conflicts.