Throwing Prussian Information at you:

First of all, I would like to thank my bad luck, because I wrote this post 3 times and the 3 times I wrote it, it did´t save my progress. And second of all, I would also like to thank our history professor for making us work like crazy to get this massive blog post done in time, without further ado, let us begin throwing Prussia information at you:

Prussia´s governmental system was based on Otto von Bismarck’s constitution of 1867, which was basically gave the chancellor and the prime minister most of the power related to decision-making. People were represented by the Reichstag house, which consisted of 397 members and the 25 states were represented by the Bundesrat house. Legislative proposals were first submitted to the Bundesrat house and then, if they were accepted, they were sent to the Reichstag house. The Reichstag house election was restricted by a three-class system that allowed only a few men belonging to a small 15% of the richest people to choose delegates.

Germany from 1871 to 1918. (2016). Encyclopaedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://global.britannica.com/place/Germany/Germany-from-1871-to-1918

In terms of the politics and economics imposed by Prussia... well, let´s remember that when Germany was separated, Prussia and Austria fought for the power of the new unified nation. Prussia looked like it was going to lose, however, it slowly raised from the ashes and striked against Austria.

One pretty cool strategy by Otto Von Bismarck was what he called "realpolitik", he once forged a french letter, so when the French found out about it, they attacked, this was Bismarck´s plan all along, because when the French declared war against Prussia, every state joined in to defend themselves, this made the people unite.

(n.d.). Europe (1848-1871). Spark Notes. Retrieved from

http://www.sparknotes.com/history/european/1871/section4.rhtml

Frederick II ruled Prussia for many years, he fought a lot of wars against Austria and lead them to a lot of conquered countries. Prussia used to rule Neuenburg from 1707 to 1848. Today is actually known as Canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.

The Kingdom of Prussia also acquired areas from countries with a Catholic majority: the Kingdom of Poland and the Austrian Empire. Prussia was not powerfully or militaristic advanced, their early modern history was shaped by the Teutonic Knights that carried the spirit and traditions of the great military religious orders of the middle ages.

Some of the main reasons that made Europeans expand their empires were economic, exploratory, cultural, political, and religious. By controlling a weaker nation they could take and decide what to do with their natural resources which became really important after the Industrial Revolution to produce goods, and it also meant cheap labor. They also wanted to explore new and unknown territory, for medical purposes or for the sense of adventure. Some nations believed that their beliefs were superior to others and wanted to spread them, they introduced their traditions and cultural values as well as religion, like Christianity but the people were forced to convert in most of the cases. One of the major reasons of why europeans wanted to expand their territories was nationalism, they had to compete with others for supremacy, the more territory they owned the more power and prestige they had.

Cleary, V. Motives for Imperialism.webs.bcp Retrieved from http://webs.bcp.org/sites/vcleary/modernworldhistorytextbook/imperialism/section_2/motives.html

Now let´s look at the differences between imperialism and modern-day capitalism:

Imperialism and capitalism, different stages in german history. Imperialism occurred in the late 1800´s, and it consisted on extending a country’s power and influence through colonization, use of military force or other means. Now days, Germany is a capitalist country, capitalism is an economical system based on private property, where the elements of production are owned and managed privately with very limited control from the government. Now, how are these related? Well, Germany may not be invading or colonizing other countries now, but it has become a big influence in Europe, so somehow it still has power over other countries, not as direct, but it does. Besides, according to Vladimir Lenin, imperialism and capitalism are actually very related, since capitalist economies need expansion in aspects like investments or materials sources and it is this need for expansion that motivates imperialist actions.

An example of the relation between Imperialism and today's capitalism would be the Great Powers of Europe, that included the Kingdom of Prussia (later the German Empire), the British Empire, and the Russian Empire between others. Now-days they are not empires, but they are still some of Europe's most powerful countries.

Chakraborty, P. (January 11, 2016). Difference Between Capitalism And Imperialism. Difference Between. Retrieved from http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/politics/ideology-politics/difference-between-capitalism-and-imperialism/

Thanks for opening your brain and letting this information sink in. If you have 1 minute to spare, watch a quick video I made about imperialism!:

P.S: (Ich bin müde)

#OLD