The short-sightedness and party feuds of the newly-formed Reichstag--the old hereditary failings of our nation--prevented any colonial policy on broad lines.

The intense love of peace, which the nation and Government felt, made us fall behind in the race with other countries.
In the most recent partition of the earth, that of Africa, victorious Germany came off badly.

France, her defeated opponent, was able to found the second largest colonial Empire in the world; England appropriated the most important portions; even small and neutral Belgium claimed a comparatively large and valuable share; Germany was forced to be content with some modest strips of territory.

In addition to, and in connection with, the political changes, new views and new forces have come forward.
Under the influence of the constitutional ideas of Frederick the Great, and the crop of new ideas borne by the French Revolution, the conception of the State has completely changed since the turn of the century.

The patrimonial state of the Middle Ages was the hereditary possession of the Sovereign.