Реферат: By 1914 Imperial Germany Was In A

Was this situation critical? Probably not ? had the

conservatives given limited power to the SPD likelihood is problem would have

disappeared ? advice to Kaiser (?either a coup by the Kaiser or a victorious

war.?) too drastic. –

Other problems: –

Government funding ? true funding had been scarce even in

Bismarck?s era, hence tariff laws ? situation worsened by naval spending under

Hohenlohe, BÜlow, and Bethmann-Hollweg and loss of tariff income under Caprivi and

Hohenlohe.? Policies were feasible

provided direct taxation was introduced.??

–

Solution was direct taxation ? problem realised but not solved

between 1890-1914.? Added to crisis! –

Naval spending ? policy introduced supposedly to ?stimulate

trade and industry? push stock market prices up, save many assets and bring

about a consolidation of the economy.? (Prince Otto zu Salm, President of the

navy league, 1901) The real motives are questionable ? the building of the navy

achieved little except an increase in govt. expenditure.? Motivation perhaps a multiplicity of

interests ? ?It would be very interesting to learn the connections which exist

between the fleet fanatics and the manufacturers of the fleet. Conclusion: –

The state of crisis was induced by the lack of ability among

those in charge of the country to make important difficult decisions. –

Problems were: –

Kaiser intent to holding onto power, unwilling to give any up –

Overestimation of SPD strength. –

Reality that conservatives still held control and moderate

reform could have sorted the problems. –

Govt. funding could have been increased by direct taxation or

debt avoided by not reducing tariffs or reducing naval spending. –