Germany's industrial revolution was later than that of Britain, France and the United States, mainly because of Germany's long-term political division, the reprinting of serfdom, and the continuous war since16th century, which led to the backwardness of the domestic economy. It was not until the 1930s of 19 that we really embarked on the road of industrial revolution. But in the first 20 years, the German industrial revolution progressed slowly. 1848 after the revolution, Germany's industrial revolution flourished. By the end of 1960s, the factory system had occupied a dominant position in advanced industrial areas. 187 1 After the Franco-Prussian War, the country was unified and obtained a lot of land, resources and reparations from France. All these have greatly enhanced Germany's political and economic strength and further accelerated the process of the industrial revolution. By the end of 1970s, the German industrial revolution was completed.

The long-term political division prevented Germany from developing overseas colonies, and the funds needed for the industrial revolution mainly came from domestic plunder, mainly asking farmers for ransom during the serfdom reform. According to statistics, Juncker, east of the Elbe River alone, plundered farmers' ransom of 654.38 billion marks. Noble landlords not only used ransom to gradually transform the original feudal manor into a Yongke bourgeois farm, but also invested in industry. Except for a few rich peasants, the vast majority of peasants who were redeemed from feudal obligations went bankrupt, providing free labor for the industrial revolution. Germany has also set up investment banks and joint-stock companies to guide the flow of funds to the industrial sector. Germany's backward industry and rich industrial profits also attract Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium and other countries to invest in Germany.

The division of the country made the market problem faced by the German industrial revolution particularly acute, and the establishment of the customs union eased this problem. Later, Sino-German and South German customs unions were established one after another. 1834, these customs unions together formed the German Customs Union. The liberation of serfs also expanded the domestic market.

In the German industrial revolution, the traffic revolution centered on railway construction was in a leading position. 65438+In the mid-1930s, the industrial revolution had just begun, and the first railway in Germany, the Fult-Nuremberg Railway, was completed and opened to traffic. Since the 1940s, the railway construction industry has developed rapidly, surpassing France and Britain by 1872. Germany has also made great efforts to build roads, open canals, build ports and develop inland river shipping and maritime transportation.

The development of transportation industry has led to changes in other industrial sectors, which has prompted the focus of German industrial development to shift from light industry to heavy industry earlier. This is also closely related to the political situation and militaristic tradition in Germany at that time. Prussia is vigorously promoting the "iron and blood policy". The government ordered a large number of military materials, encouraged arms production and stimulated the development of heavy industry. Due to the early shift of industrial focus, Germany quickly established a solid industrial foundation, ensuring the timely and sufficient supply of materials and equipment needed for technological transformation in other industries, thus promoting the all-round development of the industrial revolution, which became a remarkable feature of the German industrial revolution.

The active intervention of state power is another prominent feature of the German industrial revolution. German state governments give full play to the role of state power to intervene in the economy and vigorously promote the industrial revolution. Its main measures are: implementing high tariff policy; Set up state-owned enterprises, subsidize private enterprises, send officials to study abroad and learn advanced experience; Recruit foreign engineers and technicians, organize scientific research groups, and introduce foreign new technologies and scientific research achievements in time.

The most far-reaching influence of state intervention on the industrial revolution lies in actively promoting educational reform and vigorously promoting the development and research of new technologies. In the early days of the industrial revolution, Germany vigorously developed education. 1825 Prussia implements a compulsory education system. By the 1960s, universal education was basically achieved. The state government has also set up various secondary specialized technical schools and tutorial schools for employees. Ordinary middle schools have added natural science courses, and colleges and universities have implemented the policy of combining education, scientific research and production, and combining basic research with applied research. These reforms have achieved great success, the national scientific and cultural level has generally improved, a large number of outstanding talents like Siemens have been trained and a series of major inventions have been made. By the end of the industrial revolution in the late 1970s, Germany not only eliminated the gap with Britain in production technology, but also surpassed Britain in emerging industries such as electricity and chemistry, leading the world. Because of this, Germany's industrial revolution can be completed in a relatively short period of time, and it has made far greater achievements than Britain and France.