Towards the 21(st) century - German industry in transition

The beginning of the 20th century was marked by a strong belief in material progress, which has, however, been accompanied by a despair of civilizatio n and a feeling that the end of the world is near at hand. Now that capital ism has taken over and globalization is increasing at the end of the centur y, the idea of progress appears to be regaining ground. This is shown by th e bold large scale mergers as well as the boom on the stock exchange and th e careers of young internet billionaires. But again, these developments are accompanied by doubt, fear and pessimism. When the 20th century began, the European national states were determined by their will to political and ec onomical expansion, their participation in world economics and world politi cs. At the end of the century the national states are losing their importan ce and, for the first time, the European states are finding their joint pol itical and economical role in the world. In the beginning this I century wa s labelled with the industrial age and now, at the end, there is talk of th e age of service I and knowledge. The century began with exploitation of wo rkers, poverty, malnutrition and catastrophic housing conditions : in the i ndustrial countries. It is coming to a close as a century of the man in the street with plenty of leisure time, good social security and a standard of living for the; I masses, which seemed utopian a hundred years ago.