Why did Germany, which has been divided into 33 small countries for a long time, become the second largest country in the world in just over 20 years?

1862 10 Bismarck's first act as prime minister was to declare war on the other 33 states and four free cities of the German Confederation: "At present, the major political problems in Prussia cannot be solved by empty talk and majority voting, but by iron and blood. Germany unified the world, not by Prussian liberalism, but by its military campaign to lay the country. "

Bismarck's reputation was not obvious at that time. In the eyes of old powers such as Britain and France, his speech seemed a bit arrogant, and other countries under the German Confederation could not help but want to teach Bismarck a lesson.

But Bismarck slapped those who wanted to see his jokes with his actions: it only took Bismarck about eight years to turn his brave words into reality.

For those who can cash in the blown cowhide in this way, we have a very appropriate adjective-awesome.

The rise of modern Germany, in a sense, is indeed a legendary story. Before 187 1, Germany was not a unified country, but was in a state of disintegration. Germany at that time was just a geographical term and was looked down upon by many European countries.

Bismarck's strong rise ended hundreds of years of division in Germany and achieved national unity. Another achievement of Bismarck is to turn Germany, which was not top-notch, into the second largest industrial power in the world in just over 20 years.

Since the unification of 187 1 Germany, Germany's national strength has been developing rapidly. At the turn of the 20th century (19), that is, just over 20 years after the reunification of Germany, Germany has risen to become a new generation of industrial powers, even surpassing the two old industrial powers in Europe-Britain and France. (At the beginning of the 20th century, Germany's industrial output value accounted for 20% of the world's, while Britain's was 17%. At this time, Germany's industrial strength is second only to the United States, ranking second in the world. The speed of Germany can be said to be amazing. Japan, which was undergoing the Meiji Restoration at that time, took Germany as one of the key learning objects.

Of course, Rome was not built in a day. Similarly, behind any legend, there must be a reason. The rise of Germany is no exception. The author believes that in the course of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, it is necessary to take history as a mirror and learn from the rise of other countries in modern history. In this paper, the author will analyze it from many angles: What caused Germany to rise as a generation of industrial powers in just over 20 years?

1, Silesia region.

Historically, Silesia was originally controlled by the Habsburg dynasty in Austria. In 65438+1940s, Prussia and Austria broke out, and Prussia seized most of Silesia from Austria. Austria is deeply concerned about this.

Thus, in 1756 (that is, during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty in China), Austria joined forces with Russia and France to wage war against Prussia again. Prussia allied itself with Britain against France, Russia and Austria, which was the famous "Seven Years' War" (some western historians called it "World War 0"). The seven-year war lasted until 1763, and finally ended with the victory of the Anglo-Prussian alliance. Prussia owns the land it won before.

One hundred years later, Prussia completed the unification of Germany and established the German Empire. Therefore, most of Silesia will continue to be ruled by a unified Germany. Silesia is rich in resources, with a large number of mineral resources, such as copper, iron and zinc. After industrial revolution in europe began, Silesia became one of the famous industrial zones in Europe. Germany's control over this area will naturally contribute to Germany's industrial development.

2. Rhine Industrial Zone.

After the Napoleonic Wars, Britain, Russia, Poland and Austria held the Vienna Conference (1814-1815) to discuss the post-war situation in Europe. Prussia hopes to extend its influence to the Rhine valley.

Therefore, Prussia actively sought Russian help and agreed to cede Warsaw, which originally belonged to Poland, to Russia in exchange for Russian support for the Rhine region.

With the support of Russia, Prussia's demands were met at the Vienna Conference. Prussia's sphere of influence extended to the Rhine region. Later, Prussia discovered many coal resources in the Rhine region. As we all know, coal is an important resource for industrial development. Ruhr-gebiet, a famous local city, has developed rapidly.

3. alsace-lorraine Industrial Zone.

Or industrial resources. After the Franco-Prussian War, France ceded alsace-lorraine, which is rich in coal and iron resources, to Germany. (The last lesson, a middle school Chinese text, comes from this historical background. )

Since then, the Germans have acquired the alsace-lorraine area. (In addition, France paid Germany a huge indemnity of up to 5 billion francs. This is also of great benefit to Germany's industrial development.

As mentioned earlier, before the reunification of Germany, there were many states in Germany. After the Napoleonic Wars, there were still more than 30 states in Germany. German states are not unified in currency types and units of measurement, and checkpoints are set up to collect tariffs, which is not conducive to the formation of a unified domestic market. This greatly hindered the development of German capitalist industrialization. Imagine: when you go to other provinces and cities, you have to go to the bank to change money. Trouble? Obviously, this is not good for economic development. )

Since 1930s, under the leadership of Prussia, most German states have formed the German Customs Union. The German Customs Union abolished tariffs internally, implemented a unified currency, unit of measurement, etc., unified business rules, eliminated trade barriers between them, and implemented unified tariffs externally. The establishment of German customs union and the unification of German domestic market are important events in German history. After the German unification war, with the completion of the great cause of national reunification, Germany's currency, business rules and measurement units finally achieved a comprehensive reunification. This has effectively promoted the formation of a unified domestic market in Germany and the development of capitalist industrialization.

In addition, the German government also attaches great importance to issues related to railway construction. After the reunification of Germany, the railway mileage in Germany increased at a double rate. On the eve of World War I, the total mileage of German railways has exceeded 60,000 kilometers. As a result, Germany became the country with the highest railway network density in Europe at that time. In addition to railway construction, inland river shipping and other transportation industries in Germany. The developed transportation industry is one of the achievements of industrialization, but it has strengthened domestic economic exchanges and other activities, promoted the development of other industrial sectors, and in turn further strengthened the unification of the domestic market, thus promoting the development of industrialization.

As mentioned earlier, the German Customs Union has implemented a unified tariff policy. The unified tariff protected the development of German national industry. After the reunification of Germany, the German government imposed high tariffs on industrial products from Britain (the world hegemon after the first industrial revolution) and other countries. In this way, high prices weakened the competitiveness of British products in the German market and promoted the development of German domestic industry during this period.

Under normal circumstances, our generation should have experienced nine-year compulsory education. In fact, the compulsory education system was first born in Prussia. /kloc-At the beginning of the 8th century, the Prussian government issued a decree stipulating that parents must enroll their children in education, such as reading and mathematics, or they will be punished. /kloc-In the first half of the 9th century, the Prussian government issued a decree to cancel the tuition fees for primary schools, which further promoted the popularization of education. By the middle of19th century, Germany's literacy rate had been among the highest in Europe.

/kloc-At the beginning of the 9th century, the University of Berlin (now Humboldt University) in Prussia was established. Berlin University is a modern university in the true sense. It advocates academic freedom and teaching and scientific research for the first time, and has made great contributions to the cultivation of talents in Germany.

After the reunification of Germany, the German government further improved the education system. Germany's education system has trained a large number of high-quality talents for Germany, which is an important boost to German industrial development.

The chief designer once pointed out that science and technology are the primary productive forces. The German government attaches great importance to the development of science and technology and has issued policies to actively encourage it. Everyone must have heard of Siemens and Mercedes-Benz, two famous German brands (1937 Mr. Rabe, who saved countless China civilians, is one of Siemens), both of which were born in Germany during the industrial revolution. Internal combustion engine is an important product of the second industrial revolution, which was invented by Werner von Siemens (founder of Siemens). In addition, the German government sent delegations to study foreign advanced science and technology for many times and hired foreign technical talents. All these are beneficial to the industrial development of Germany.

After the reunification of Germany, Germany and France became sworn enemies because of the Franco-Prussian War. In order to isolate France, Germany actively created a good international environment and maintained good relations with other countries during the reign of Bismarck, the bloody prime minister. 1873, Germany wooed Russia and Austro-Hungarian Empire to form the san huang Union.

However, because both Russia and Austria intend to expand their power in the Balkans of southern Europe, the contradiction between the two countries has gradually intensified. 1878 after the Berlin conference, Russia and Austria finally turned against each other because of the Balkan issue. Facing the break of two allies, Germany chose Austria-Hungary as its ally. German-Russian relations have gradually turned cold. But at the same time, Bismarck still tried to maintain relations with Russia and signed a reinsurance treaty, which eased the relationship between Germany and Russia to some extent.

Bismarck also paid attention to maintaining German-British relations. In order not to stimulate Britain, Germany was cautious in dealing with overseas colonies during this period to avoid conflicts with Britain.

Generally speaking, during Bismarck's reign, Germany maintained good relations with most European countries (Germany and Austria were allies, and Germany's relations with Russia and Britain were temporarily stable. ), its international environment is still relatively good. The favorable international environment during this period also created favorable conditions for German industrial development.

Of course, the situation in China today is not exactly the same as that in Germany at that time. But there is no doubt that there must be a lot to learn from the history of the rise of Germany.

Thank you for reading. I wish my friends good health, family harmony, all wishes come true and all the best. Friends who think the article is good, remember to praise it, pay attention to it and bring you good articles every day.