PLSC 27600 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Aristocracy, Bourgeoisie, Proletariat
Document Summary
Class 5b feb 4 domestic causes of wwi. Profoundly disliked by germany b/c blamed germany for wwi. After mid 1800s aristocracy+bourgeoisie vs. proletariat: (marriage of iron and rye, aristocracy runs the state, bourgeoisie runs the economy. It"s hard to deal with the proletariat as carrot and stick has failed, so instead you should cause a foreign policy crisis so that people rally around the flag (stoke nationalism/play the patriotism card). They picked britain as the target but then lost control. Makes mortal enemies of britain and russia and leads to triple alliance. Russia produces huge amount of wheat and rye and sell it much cheaper. So industrialists want continued good relations, but *landed* aristocracy want high tariffs so they can dominate the market. Ends in self-encirclement when german alienates both britain and russia: fritz fischer. German aims in the first world war. Argued that germany caused wwi and the second and third reich form a sort of seamless reign.