Primary Source Document: Unemployment In German trade unions from 1913 - 1918

This table reveals how before the First World War, there was very little unemployment among trade union members in Germany, and although this generally decreased during the war, by 1918, the levels of unemployment were extremely low in Germany.

However, historians must be aware that this table shows only those members of trade unions in Germany, and not the whole working population.

Source: Bessel, R., Germany After the First World War. Clarnedon Press, Oxford. 1993. P. 11.