The impact of structural development of Germany's capitalism on the outbreak of the First World War

The First World War was the by-product of various factors. The historians of the subject naturally, lay emphasis on one of the political, social or economical factors which they economical regarded as the most effective on the outbreak of the War. This article is not an exception to this general rule. It considers Germany's economic al development as the determinant factor in generating worldwide conflict. The structural transformation of the German economy was shaped by the second industrial revolution and surplus capital accumulation. The authors of this article hold the view that the occurrence of the second industrial revolution led Germany's economy to a new phase of the world capitalist system which can be labeled as large financial capitalism. In this way, Germany became the world's second industrial power after the United States. Such an achievement caused economical, and then political competition between global political-economic powers, particularly Germany and Great Britain in the late 1890's. This more than any other factors, can be singled out as the main factor in generating the First World War.