Introduction Germany encountered major impediments to industrialization in the early 19 th century due to lack of adequate financial capital and poor transport and communication. The Napoleonic wars left the country in a poor economic state, making it hard for the government to support industrialization. Inflation rate was high in the country such that to start an industry; investors required having a lot of money. Despite the barriers, Germany, through the help of the banks managed to promote industrialization (Lee 346-351). In the end, Germany overtook majority of the countries that were already industrialized. Banks offered financial support to the industries and supported them until they became fully established, which did not happen in other countries like Russia where the government promoted industrialization and economic growth at the times of military pressure only. In addition, Germany came up with cartelization policies, which helped the industrial enterprises pool their resources together, thus curbing unhealthy competition. Cartelization helped the steel industry to increase its output, therefore growing in size. This paper will focus on the main challenges to industrialization that Germany faced after the Napoleonic wars. Moreover, the paper will discuss how Germany managed to surmount these challenges. Chief barriers to economic growth Among the European states, Germany encountered significant barriers to economic growth and industrialization after the Napoleonic wars. This aspect underlines the reasons why Germany was among the last states to witness substantial industrialization after the war. Among some of the chief barriers to economic growth and industrialization in Germany after the Napoleonic wars included, breakdown of trade between the states in Germany, interruption of communication between the German states and Germany with other European states, and high rate of inflation in Germany. During the Napoleonic war, Germany was split into numerous states. Majority of these states were not in agreement with one another (Kindleberger 185-193). Therefore, no significant trade went on between the states. With every state relying on itself, it was hard for the country to experience an economic growth. One of the strategies that Napoleon applied during the wars was to cut any close ties between states or countries. For instance, he aimed at establishing an impediment between Britain and mainland Europe. He initiated similar impediments between the states in Germany as a way of making them weak. For instance, he made sure that there were impediments between Prussia and Austria, which were the two major states (Kindleberger 201-234). Eventually, after the Napoleonic wars, it was hard for these states to unite and forge common economic growth policies. Each state strived to gain control of the country, therefore, becoming hard for the country to witness significant industrial growth. Another barrier to industrialization in Germany after the Napoleonic wars was the lack of adequate experts and financial resources to help the country set up industries. The Napoleonic wars had negative impacts on the country’s system of education. Hence, m