RAILROADS, Assignment #1

[2] Ludwig Rail Line

In the middle of winter, on December 31, 1835, the first German railway line opened. It was funded by an economist named Friedrich List and several industrialists from Rhineland. List was a liberal, as were a growing middle class population that favored innovative transportation that could benefit the German people and not just the rich upper classes. The line was only 3.7 miles long, stretching from Nuremberg to Fürth. Germany, along with Austria and Russia, were far behind some of the western European countries as far as railroad development (Lalor). Schulze affirms that, at the time, “Belgium had 12.5 miles of railroad, France 88 miles, and Great Britain 340 miles. However, by the 1848 revolution, railway tracks would cover over 3,000 miles within the German state (Schulze 130). A couple reasons for the exploding expansion were that there was competition with France for eastern trade as well as both offensive and defensive military strategies that utilized the railroad systems (Lalor).

The government would eventually take over the expansion of rail lines based upon the example put forth by private railroad companies.

Friedrich List urged Germans and the government to develop the rail system throughout the country, proclaiming:

[1] Friedrich List

It is a means to the improvement of the culture of the nation, as it facilitates the distribution and promotes the rapidity of distribution of all literary products, and the results of the arts and sciences. It brings talent, knowledge and skill of every kind readily to market, and increases the means of education and instruction of each individual and of each class and age. It promotes the spirit of the nation, as it has a tendency to destroy the Philistine spirit arising from isolation and provincial prejudice and vanity. It binds nations by ligaments, and promotes an interchange of food and of commodities, thus making it feel to be a unit (Lalor).

And indeed, the railway system helped Germany’s industrial revolution to unfold while drawing the German peoples ever closer to a unified German nation. The revolution of 1848-1849 allowed many circumstances to fall in place that would promote industrialism. Germany’s sense of unification increased and there was less risk and concern over potential political upheaval. This stability gave entrepreneurs peace of mind and reason to establish new businesses and expand. Additionally, capital was readily available for such endeavors since many new banks were opened, stock companies were founded, and “capital investment within the German Customs Union increased more than three-fold” (Schulze, 130-131). Much of this capital went into railroad construction. The state of pauperism that plagued Germany before was gone with the rise of factories and commerce. As the railroads grew, more jobs were created and the factories produced more goods which in turn created more demand for locomotives and railroad cars. Many industries grew at this time because they were dependent upon one another and all felt the positive effects of increased business.

The railroads played a key role by allowing people and goods to travel farther, faster, and more often. It helped to unify the Customs Union, turning it into a single market, “in which supply, demand, and prices were subject to the same competitive pressures everywhere” (Schulze 130).  

[3] The Inception of the World's Railroads

However, although the contribution of the railroad system to the new economic boom was great, the rail system would not have had such an impact without the support of other factors such as the political stability, societal approval, and the capital investment brought about by the conditions created by the railroad companies themselves. But once the economy took off and the previously impoverished Germans began to find jobs on the railroads or in factories, the country was able to accomplish the next steps in modernization and unification. The effects of industrialization would eventually lead to a mass migration into Germany and Germany identity would again be called into question, however at this juncture Germany was becoming more and more significant as compared to its European neighbors.

Works Cited

Lalor, John J. "Railways." Library of Economics and Liberty. New York: Maynard, Merrill, and Co. , 2004. Web. 29 Sep 2011. <http://www.econlib.org/library/YPDBooks/Lalor/llCy888.html>.

Schulze, Hagen. Germany: A New History. München: Harvard College, 1998.

Images

[1]        http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/sub_image.cfm?image_id=277

[2]        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Friedrich_List_%28timbre_RFA%29.jpg

[3]        http://www.library.hbs.edu/hc/railroads/french-german-railroads.html