German Industries and labor conditions in the 18th and 19th century:

German industry in the 18th and 19th century had suffered from Germany's unique disarray of states. Before the 1800's, German was mostly a rural farming and a few urban trade cities, this paired with Germany's lack of a central government (or goal) made technological advances in industry difficult due to the non-existence of a technological common ground. This was later cured around the 1830's when British engineers and equipment was imported to train competent engineers and build infrastructure. Starting in the mid-1800s, nationalistic movements started the process of unification in Germany the Franco-Prussian war sealed the movement in 1870 as the second Reich. When Germany unitized into a single country, trade tariffs were diminished so Germany could begin their industrial revolution to catch up with the modernized world.