Editing History of Germany (section)

====Railways====
{{Main|History of rail transport in Germany}}
[[File:Friedrich List und die erste grosse Eisenbahn 2.jpg|thumb|[[Friedrich List]]'s concept for a German railway net from 1833]]
The initial stage of economic development came with the railroad revolution in the 1840s, which opened up new markets for local products, created a pool of middle managers, increased the demand for engineers, architects and skilled machinists and stimulated investments in coal and iron. Political disunity among three dozen states and a pervasive conservatism made it difficult to build railways in the 1830s. However, by the 1840s, trunk lines did link the major cities; each German state was responsible for the lines within its own borders. Economist [[Friedrich List]] summed up the advantages to be derived from the development of the railway system in 1841:
* 1. As a means of national defence, it facilitates the concentration, distribution and direction of the army.
* 2. It is a means for the improvement of the culture of the nation. It brings talent, knowledge and skill of every kind readily to market.
* 3. It secures the community against dearth and famine, and against excessive fluctuation in the prices of the necessities of life.
* 4. 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. The iron rails become a nerve system, which, on the one hand, strengthen public opinion, and, on the other hand, strengthen the power of the state for police and governmental purposes.{{Sfn|Nipperdey|1996|p=165}}

Lacking a technological base at first, engineering and hardware was imported from Britain. In many cities, the new railway shops were the centres of technological awareness and training, so that by 1850, Germany was self-sufficient in meeting the demands of railroad construction, and the railways were a major impetus for the growth of the new steel industry. Observers found that even as late as 1890, their engineering was inferior to Britain. However, German unification in 1870 stimulated consolidation, nationalisation into state-owned companies, and further rapid growth. Unlike the situation in France, the goal was the support of industrialisation. Eventually numerous lines criss-crossed the Ruhr area and other industrial centers and provided good connections to the major ports of Hamburg and Bremen. By 1880, 9,400 locomotives pulled 43,000 passengers and 30,000 tons of freight a day.<ref name="Mitchell2006">{{Cite book |first=Allan |last=Mitchell |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mZ6pkm-WgWMC |title=The Great Train Race: Railways and the Franco-German Rivalry, 1815–1914 |publisher=Berghahn Books |date=2006 |isbn=978-1-8454-5136-3}}</ref>