In what ways, and how deeply was German Society divided in the early Twentieth Century?

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In what ways, and how deeply was German Society divided in the early Twentieth Century?

The ‘Prussification’ of Germany by 1920 brought about a huge economic and industrial expansion. In trend with this vast economic growth the German population shot from 41 to 65 million by 1910. Notably by 1914 around 60% of the population resided in the inner-city, driven there in search of industrial work and by the end of the First World War, Germany’s urban based workforce was second only to that of the United States of America. This period of frenzied economic and population growth created chasms within German Society, with severe consequences for class and religious ties.

Significantly by 1920 there were imposing class divisions within German Society, notably revolving around gap between the ostentatious conservative elites, whose stronghold was centred in the East Elbian provinces of Prussia and the German working class. The upper class echelons of the German industrial society centred mainly around the landowning aristocracy of the ‘Junkers’ and the steel and coal barons of the industrial area of the Ruhr, however also including the officer core of the Prussian Army. These so called elites were, in the main, small social groups who exerted the most power in Germany due to their position of wealth and influence. Typically they were hard, ruthless and domineering men, who on the whole believed that the rest of the German population and in particular the working class were no more than industrial soldiers, whose duty it was to serve the ‘Fatherland’ and more promiscuously to work tirelessly and unwaveringly for the good of the aristocrats of Germany. Notably this brought about huge social divisions as the conservative elites appeared to suggest that the working class were ‘a class apart’, whilst at the same time alienating themselves from the toils of an everyday German, which resulted in widespread hostility. Appreciably the direct discrepancies between the upper classes and the German working class are highlighted on four main fronts, housing, education, political parties and the way of life. As the German population swiftly soared, the drive towards the inner-city was vastly accentuated by the rapidity of the industrialisation of Germany. By 1918 over 40% of the population was made up by the working class, although internally comprising of various diverse positions, and it was evident that the sudden surge had created a German state where the working class appeared to constitute a different population from that of the rest of Germany, where a separatist regime appeared almost present; whilst the working population lived in cramped, disease ridden ‘workers’ barracks’ the landed aristocracy of the conservative elites enjoyed their large estates in the Elbian provinces. Furthermore by 1918 it was also clear that the German education system had also become a two tier matter, in a state where social mobility was in decline the range of opportunities for the working class were becoming stemmed. The highly reclusive ‘Gymnasium’ had ensured that by 1918 less than 0.3% of the working population ever had the luxury of entering higher education, whilst the offspring of the far wealthier elites were virtually guaranteed such positions. Moreover the establishment in 1871 of the ‘German Social Democratic Party’ and the rise of it had ensured that the working class became politically opinionated and were also provided with an umbrella for life. Significantly, connotations with Marxist ideology emanated from the SDP and this in particular concerned the conservative elites, horrified by the image of revolutionary principles. The gradual formations of Trade Unions ensured that the working class were able to support themselves and effectively removed any commitments of the aristocracy, who believed that the working class were simply unpatriotic and disloyal. Moreover the two classes also appeared to drift apart as it became clear that each respective group would severe its ties with the other and instead create whole new societies and ways of life for each individual class, leading to the formations of ‘SDP amateur dramatics’, ‘SDP sports clubs’, ‘SDP libraries’ with respective groups for the upper class and, by 1925 the inward looking attitude of the working class culminated in the ‘Workers’ Olympics’, suggestive of the fact that the working class believed themselves to be completely different from the rest of the population.

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The division within society in relation to social classes appears much greater than it is apparent on face value; both classes bitterly despised each other. By 1871 the working class had already become envious of the upper classes who, whilst were extremely rich and powerful, were more importantly viewed as the arbitrators of the ill treatment and exploitation which had made the lives of the working class become intolerable. The gap, however widened greatly in the 1980’s when Otto Von Bismarck, the German Chancellor, tried to champion the destruction of the Socialist movement, to which the working class had great ...

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