ABSTRACT
The new Germany was now the most powerful nation on the European continent. With a population of just over 40 million, it had moved ahead of France, and France’s population growth had virtually ceased, whereas Germany was still experiencing the nineteenth-century population explosion. The new Germany was in many ways an ingenious construction. The middle classes, largely excluded from political power, could invest in Germany’s speedily growing economy and some of their very talented citizens could climb to influential positions in either army or public service. The Federation of the Australian states in 1901 brought an increasing trade-union influence to bear upon domestic policies and it was believed that Germans worked harder for lower wages than Australians. The last German Consul in Brisbane before World War One also played an active role in warning the German government about the activities of ‘emigration agents’.
