The Second Industrial Revolution more or less coincided with the lifespan of the German Empire. From 1871 to 1914, the new nation adopted a fairly democratic constitution, saw massive population growth, and experienced extraordinary economic development. Along the way, they created innovative new goods and services, as well as worker protections unseen anywhere else in the world.

It was largely thanks to the leadership of the Iron Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck. But after his fall from high politics, the empire redirected its gains toward militarization. And by 1918, that program would prove to be the empire’s doom.

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