ABSTRACT
The economic and political development of the modern world was initiated in England and France during the eighteenth century. Economic similarities are not so pronounced, since Germany preceded Japan by several decades both in the development of science and technology and in the rapid industrialization of her economy. Economic development after 1870 was not nearly so precipitous in Germany as in Japan, but Germany's oligarchic rule was not nearly so undisputed as that of the Meiji bureaucrats who derived considerable strength from the cumulative legacies of Tokugawa rule, even though these did not include as much economic advance. In Germany as in other Western European countries this development was ridden with conflicts, since the established ruling groups resisted not only the extension of citizenship but all political reforms jeopardizing their own position. The preceding discussion emphasizes distinguishing characteristics of the Japanese development, exemplified by comparisons with Prussia and Germany.
