... 1.2 million men between 1875 and 1888, the praetorian air of the army was gone, and the officer corps had to be maintained at an artificially low level because the need to keep democracy out of the army was paramount and only aristocrats were viewed as having adequate incentive to maintain the commissioned posts with the required line. There was a massive shortage of officers as 56 Prussian regiments in 1902 received no applicants for commissions, and the middle-classed officers were restricted in number not only by middle classed liberalism, but also by the snobbery of the selections procedure. The social issues referred to by Kehr were the fall of the aristocracy and the rise of socialism. The 1880s and 1890s were a time of great trauma for the aristocracy and monarchy. Political parties had come into existence as a powerful medium for middle classed beliefs and the labour movements were ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now