masters and guildsmen either had to lower their prices to compete, or abandon their old methods and embrace the new technology of mass production. The crisis of the guilds was expressed in the breakdown of the promotion system. In 1816 there were 259,000 masters and 145,000 journeymen and apprentices in Prussia; by 1846 their numbers had increased to 457,000 and 385,000 respectively, signifying the growing difficulty of journeymen and apprentices in obtaining a mastership.
