Economic and Political History: From Elegant Agriculture to the Weimar Republic
Elegant Agriculture and Economic Growth
Elegant Agriculture
From an economic perspective, it was a subsistence farming system based on a triennial crop rotation with fallow periods. The yields were very low and intended for self-consumption. The crops were part of an economy that could be periodically stricken by subsistence crises. The land was held by the nobility and clergy, who possessed large estates passed down from generation to generation.
Economic Growth
The 19th century was relatively peaceful internationally. After the Thirty Years’ War, the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) ushered in a period of international equilibrium. The population increased considerably between 1650 and 1800, with Europe’s population growing from 100 to 200 million inhabitants. This demographic growth was due to the absence of major epidemics, the introduction of new crops, and an improved economic situation. The increase in population led to a higher demand for all types of products, which in turn increased production. The funded monarchies established manufacturing facilities and protected commercial companies. Colonial trade experienced spectacular growth.
The Causes and Organization of Colonialism
The Causes of Colonialism
From an economic point of view, European countries needed to sell their surplus production and buy raw materials at the best possible price. Demographically, the population growth in 19th-century Europe resulted in excess population, leading to difficulties in finding work and social tensions. Politically, Europe’s borders had stabilized by the late 19th century, and territorial expansion had to focus on extra-European regions. Ideologically, conservative nationalism defended the superiority of some nations and their right to impose themselves on other peoples.
The Colonial Organization
Colonies were organized to be controlled and administered by the metropole. We can distinguish three types of colonization:
- Exploitation Colonies: The colonies where the metropole focused primarily on economic exploitation. They had no self-government, and Europeans exerted political occupation. Settlers appropriated the land. These colonies were dominated by white settlers and large European companies, utilizing indigenous labor at very low wages. Moreover, these colonies were prevented from trading with other countries, as the metropole held exclusive exploitation rights.
- Settlement Colonies: These colonies received a white population that migrated to establish permanent settlements. These colonies had a special status within the metropole, granted some autonomy in internal government. Within the British Empire, they were called dominions.
- Protectorates: These were territories that, after European occupation, maintained their state organization, indigenous government, and administrative apparatus. The metropole imposed a parallel government that dominated the local government and reserved the functions of defense and foreign policy. Britain imposed a protectorate in Egypt, where it participated in the construction of the Suez Canal (1869), a passage between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, allowing access to India without circumnavigating Africa.
World War I and the Treaty of Versailles
Africa’s War Movement
The German armies attacked France, entering through Belgium and Luxembourg, hoping to defeat it quickly and then focus all their efforts on the Russian Front. Initially, these tactics seemed to work, but the French and English armies reorganized and stopped the German advance in the Battle of the Marne (September 6-13, 1914).
Trench Warfare
After the initial movements, the armies on the Western Front became immobilized. The French dug trenches from Switzerland to the North Sea, and a grueling phase of the war began, where gaining even an inch of enemy territory meant tens of thousands of deaths. It became necessary to seek new allies who could contribute troops to the war. In 1915, Italy intervened on the side of the Allies, while Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, with neither side seeming to gain a decisive advantage. In 1916, the Germans launched an offensive to break the French front in the Battle of Verdun. However, the French and their allies resisted for four months. The result was one million Allied and 800,000 German deaths.
The Treaty of Versailles
The most important treaty for peace with Germany was signed at Versailles. The victors imposed harsh conditions, declaring Germany solely responsible for the outbreak of the conflict and obliging it to pay heavy war reparations. Germany’s army and navy were almost completely dismantled, and it was forbidden to rearm. Alsace and Lorraine were returned to France; Schleswig to Denmark; and two cantons to Belgium. The western part of Poznan and West Prussia were given to Poland.
The New Deal and the Weimar Republic
The Anti-Crisis “New Deal”
In 1932, one of the worst years of the Great Depression, Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt won the election, proposing a new program to promote economic recovery and lift the country out of the crisis. This was the so-called New Deal, which advocated state intervention to revive the economy.
Social and Economic Reforms
: the new deal proposed a number d economic measures: assistance to companies in distress, creation of public enterprises and destruction of agricultural stocksclusters. established state control over banks, forcing them to provide low-interest loans. These economic reforms were accompanied by a reform package sociales.para combat unemployment, estadoimpulso realizing a large public works plan. to increase the purchasing capacity d employees, is conducive to a policy of apollo agricolas.todas these medidasprovocaron prices relaunch the economy estadounidense.en d 1934, productivity reached the 1929 level and national income started to pick up after d 4 years of decline despite these improvements cont. crisis is not exceeded until the outbreak of the 2nd war mundial.LA D WEIMAR REPUBLIC: in 1918, about to finish the 1st d mndial war, Kaiser Wilhelm abdicated d 2nd charge and was declared a republic with its capital at Weimar and settled on a constitution had k dmogratica.alemania take military defeat and accept the harsh d paz.muchos Germans considered humiliating treaty Years d d versalles.ls postwar Germany were pa d poverty and economic crisis par. their 1st years was threatened by revolutionary movements and x intntos coup d d d state of extreme right hand unit.