ABSTRACT
The country had "arrived" as a great power, but in many ways Wilhelminian Germany was a society divided against itself. Historians have called Wilhelminian Germany's basic problem "asymmetrical modernization" and written enough books and articles to fill a small library discussing and debating various aspects of the concept. Wilhelminian Germany, then, was a time of contradiction, conflict, innovation, and rapid change. Many Germans recognized that between 1890 and 1914 their society was at a crossroads, but most Germans also wanted it both ways: modernization and traditionalism. The dominant themes in Wilhelminian economic life were an accelerated pace of industrialization and a period of sustained prosperity. The strains and stresses of modernization characterized the era's cultural and social life as well. Wilhelminian Germany exhibited two distinct, although overlapping, states of mind. Prodded by the energetic young Center Party delegate Matthias Erzberger, parliament voted to hold hearings on abuses in Germany's colonial administration before appropriating the funds.
