German Unification essays

German Unification essays The German unification and industrialization in 1871 has multiple effects on todays Germany. These effects brought quite difference from Great Britain, another vital power in European Union along with Germany. The major effects are: 1) Germanys marble-cake federalism that differs from Great Britains strong one centralized government, 2) its multi-party political system while British frequently has single-party government, 3) its unresolved issue of collective identity where Britain has fundamental idea of its identity, and 4) its governments active involvement in industrialization. In the fourth effect, British Government does not guide the market unless in cases of crisis. Thus, Germany has taken and continues to take a very different path from Great Britain to be one of the major powers in the world. One of the major influences of the late German unification in 1871 was the establishment of federalism. Due to its unification with Prussia and many states with different background, it was inevitable for the state to completely be unified as one central government with one identity. This led to todays marble-cake federalism in Germany, respecting regional diversity. Todays Germany has a strong sense of state tradition. Compared to Great Britain with centralized policies that apply to every part of the nation, sixteen Lander, or state governments, each has considerable powers independent from the federal government in Germany. Lander mainly uses this independency to develop its own regional industrial policy for economic growth. Land government encourages banks for investment and loan and private firm cooperation in order to stimulate its economic growth. It also invests on strong vocational education in order to provide the skills to produce high-quality products. Naturally, this system concludes that each German state has the authority to shape and prosper its own state, rather than one ...