Germany and Japan
Industrialization of Germany and Japan
Germany and Japan were part of the second wave of modernizing nations. They did not start industrializing until the second half of the nineteenth century. It was nearly a century after the French revolution and the beginning of British industrialization. They did have an advantage in being the second wave, for one they could learn from the technologies and techniques that were used in Europe before them and implement these systems into their own industries. Germany and Japan did not take into account the unknown problems and costs that comes with modernization. Suddenly large amounts of capital and investment were needed to undertake modernization and this led to the development of a central banking system. Modern countries were also expected to sustain high military expenditures and nationalism rose to levels it had never seen before. The Darwinian concept of “struggle for survival” became a metaphor for foreign relation. Despite the odds Germany and Japan did complete their new nation states in less than fifty years, half the time it took Britain, France or the United States. Through these struggles I am wondering did industrialization help Germany and Japan become strong unified states or did it cause more problems than it solved? I shall examine documents and dive into this topic further. Conditions had grown more suitable for industrialization to happen in Germany by the 1830’s. Settled political conditions after the Napoleonic wars had led to population increase and higher consumer demand. This also gave the industries a larger work force. In addition to this Germany had large coal reserves and had the logistics to move this energy around. Germany saw an improved network of rails, canals and roads. This allowed them to move their goods to large urban centres more easily. In 1840, only 400 miles of rail were in existence in the German territories, but his number soared from 3,500 miles in 1850 and more than
Germany and Japan were part of the second wave of modernizing nations. They did not start industrializing until the second half of the nineteenth century. It was nearly a century after the French revolution and the beginning of British industrialization. They did have an advantage in being the second wave, for one they could learn from the technologies and techniques that were used in Europe before them and implement these systems into their own industries. Germany and Japan did not take into account the unknown problems and costs that comes with modernization. Suddenly large amounts of capital and investment were needed to undertake modernization and this led to the development of a central banking system. Modern countries were also expected to sustain high military expenditures and nationalism rose to levels it had never seen before. The Darwinian concept of “struggle for survival” became a metaphor for foreign relation. Despite the odds Germany and Japan did complete their new nation states in less than fifty years, half the time it took Britain, France or the United States. Through these struggles I am wondering did industrialization help Germany and Japan become strong unified states or did it cause more problems than it solved? I shall examine documents and dive into this topic further. Conditions had grown more suitable for industrialization to happen in Germany by the 1830’s. Settled political conditions after the Napoleonic wars had led to population increase and higher consumer demand. This also gave the industries a larger work force. In addition to this Germany had large coal reserves and had the logistics to move this energy around. Germany saw an improved network of rails, canals and roads. This allowed them to move their goods to large urban centres more easily. In 1840, only 400 miles of rail were in existence in the German territories, but his number soared from 3,500 miles in 1850 and more than