"Rural Governance in the Process of German Modernization" is a historical monograph that systematically studies rural governance and rural development issues in the process of German modernization since the 19th century. It focuses on the German countryside and studies rural governance in the process of modernization in stages. From the early modern period, to the first industrial revolution and the early stages of urbanization, to the German Empire, the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich, and finally to the Federal Republic of Germany, this book sorts out the history of Germany's modernization and the role of rural governance in it from these four stages. At the same time, combined with a large amount of data and legal provisions, it explores how Germany, under the impact of industrialization and urbanization, can get rid of the rural development crisis, achieve modern development of the countryside while adhering to rural traditions, and reshape the vitality and charm of the countryside. This book also has certain reference significance for China's rural governance and rural area development, which is in the period of modernization transformation.
"Rural Governance in the Process of German Modernization", written by Xing Laishun, Yue Wei and Qian Lingyan, published by Guangxi Normal University Press
>>Selected readings from the text:
The development of the German textile and transportation industry during the first industrial revolution
In the mid-1830s, Germany's first industrial revolution began and unfolded rapidly. The main manifestations are: new technologies and new machines are widely adopted; the transportation industry marked by railway construction has experienced unprecedented development; industrial output has increased at an extremely rapid rate; industrial fixed capital investment has increased rapidly; the commercial and banking industries have rapidly modernized; and the industrial population has increased rapidly. Judging from the process of the first industrial revolution, it was in the starting stage in the mid-1830s, entered the upsurge stage in the 1940s and 1950s, weakened in the 1960s, and then ended with a small climax in the early 1970s.
Germany's first industrial revolution also started in the textile industry like Britain and France. Before 1815, most of the population engaged in non-agricultural production in Germany was concentrated in the textile industry. The textile industry mainly existed in the form of cottage industry and manual workshop production. In the 1830s, with the adoption of new technologies and mechanization, this problem was gradually solved, and the textile industry developed rapidly in Germany. It should be pointed out that the mechanization of the German textile industry involves linen textiles and wool textiles, but the fastest growing is the cotton textile industry, and the mechanization of the linen textile industry has progressed slowly. In 1837, there were only five mechanical linen mills in Germany. During the same period, the linen textile industry in Britain and Belgium had been extensively mechanized. By the mid-19th century, Germany's linen textile industry still basically maintained a manual and household production form. In the field of wool textile industry, until the beginning of the 19th century, Germany's wool textile industry was still a handicraft industry, and there was no large-scale wool textile factory like the UK. Prussia and Saxony were the centers of the German woolen textile industry. It was only after the 1830s that the wool textile industry developed rapidly. Judging from the degree of mechanization, it was 30% in 1835 and reached 50% in 1850.
As mentioned earlier, in the field of German textile industry, the development of cotton textile industry is the most eye-catching. At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, "nothing in the whole field of industry and commerce was more interesting and more outstanding than the young cotton textile industry." In 1800, there were more than 2,000 "Jenny machines" in Saxony. After the establishment of the German Customs Union, the mechanical cotton spinning industry in southwestern Germany such as Baden and Württemberg also developed rapidly. At that time, the prospects of the cotton textile industry were very promising, and people were investing in this field. Therefore, mechanization developed quite easily and production increased significantly. The number of yarn spindles in Germany increased from 580,000 in 1835 to 2.35 million in 1865; during the same period, cotton yarn production increased from 3,786 tons to 37,128 tons. In the cotton weaving industry, the number and productivity of cotton looms increased significantly in the 1830s. In 1800, there were 35,000 cotton looms in Germany, which increased to 150,000 in 1846, but there were very few mechanical looms. In 1846, the number of hand looms and machine looms were 116,000 and 2,600 respectively, and in 1861 they were 264,000 and 23,000 respectively. In other words, the number of hand looms was always much higher than the number of machine looms during the first industrial revolution. Despite the slow progress of mechanization, the cotton textile industry developed greatly, with cotton cloth production increasing from 3,600 tons in 1815 to 14,237 tons in 1835 and 41,294 tons in 1865.
However, overall, although the German textile industry developed rapidly during the first industrial revolution, it was never close to the powerful British textile industry. The production level of the German cotton textile industry in 1835 was only equivalent to the production level of Britain in 1788.
A notable feature of Germany's first industrial revolution was that railway construction became the locomotive of the industrial revolution. Before the first industrial revolution, land transportation in Germany was extremely backward, relying mainly on traditional methods such as horseback riding and postal carriages. In the 1830s, it took a day and a half from Berlin to Leipzig, four days from Berlin to Breslau, and a week from Berlin to Königsberg. During the journey, the postal carriage may capsize or be robbed, and there are many dangers. Therefore, before going on a long journey, people often go to church and make a will to prepare for unexpected events. What's more interesting is that sometimes mail carriages and wagons would deliberately move slowly when passing through a certain area so that innkeepers could make more money from passing passengers. Bulk goods need to be transported in caravans drawn by 4 to 8 horses, and the freight is quite expensive. In 1834, the Saxon consul in the United States bought 17.5 thalers of books in New York and shipped them to Saxony via Le Havre, France. The freight cost exceeded 265 thalers.
