Modernization Theory in Germany

Modernization theory follows the idea that the only way for developing nations to industrialize is to follow what western countries like Germany did. Germany was one of the first big industrialized nations, and the way they became so powerful was because of this. Let's first focus on the aspects of the modernization theory first, which has 5 stages to follow. The first stage is that your young, developing society needs to have strong agricultural ties so in the future you can feed masses. Germany had this and was then able to move onto the second stage and also improve their food output. The second stage is when societies start to create infrastructure and have talented inventors or scientists working to come up with new ideas. Germany began doing this early on, but they really started to revolutionize their infrastructure when they developed their railroad system. This gave them a big advantage in moving large amounts of people around, one time this was useful for them was during wars. The third stage is when industrialization really comes into play. With industrialization comes bigger cities and fewer people living in rural areas. This is why it is important to have a strong agricultural start so once you get to this stage, your nations food supply can stay stable. The fourth stage focuses on diversifying the economy, so basically having many different areas that you can produce and profit from. Germany, being in the North European Plain where there are plenty of resources, has an advantage because they have many natural resources they can profit from, making their economy very diverse. All of this eventually leads to the final stage, which is a high mass consumption society. This is very product and consumer based, meaning that their economy will truly start to flourish. We see this in Germany as they are a very rich country, that is very consumer based. Modernization theory argues that if you follow the steps that Germany took to become a developed nation, you will also achieve what they did. I am not so sure how much I agree with this, but it is a very idealistic theory.

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