The Building of European Supremacy Chapter 24

Reforms Continued in Britain In 2 nd half of C19 th process of political reform begun with First (Great) Reform Bill of 1832 was given further impetus. 1867, Second Reform Bill passed by parliament. Not only granted right to vote to middle classes, but also to better-off working classes. By 1850’s many workers began to move out of absolute poverty & gained greater social respectability; & as their social status improved pressures to give them the vote did so too. The Second Reform Bill increased size of electorate from c. 1.5 million to 2.5 million, many of newly enfranchised now being from the working classes. Interestingly, Second Reform Bill championed by conservative leader Disraeli. Realizing that it was only a matter of time before pressures forced the government to grant the right to vote to the voters, PM Disraeli took lead on the issue so as to win political sympathy of workers.

Reforms Continued in Britain (2) Further impt. reforms followed incl. Education Act (1870): Here for first time government accepted responsibility for establishing & running primary schools (before this the role had been played in only a limited way by religious organizations) The ‘Ballot Act’ of 1872 allowed for voting by secret ballot; Public Health Act of 1872 recognized state’s duty to interfere, even on private property, if conditions of work were unhealthy; the Artisans Dwelling Act of 1875 made state directly involved in housing members of working class

Society and Politics to World War I Establishment of the foundations of much of Western civilization. The interrelated growth of population, capitalism, production, and cities led to a new European landscape. Another round of intense industrial development. Electricity, mass-produced steel, and petrochemicals created new industries. Cities gained population, and many were reconstructed. A new social consciousness emerged and was coupled directly with the middle class. Women had more job opportunities( but low-skill, low-wage positions). Married middle-class women rarely worked outside the home. Workers lobbied to enjoy a higher standard of living and higher social standing. Socialism had managed to become a permanent part of the Western heritage.

Population Trends and Migration Europeans have made up approximately 20 percent of the world's population around Soon thereafter, birth and death rates stabilized or declined in developed regions, but continued to increase elsewhere. In the second half of the 19th century, Europeans emigrated in huge numbers. Many went to the Americas, Australia, and South Africa. At mid-century, most of them came from Great Britain, Germany, and Scandinavia; after 1885, more came from southern and eastern Europe.

Motivations for people to move No legal blocks remained for migration. This was as a result of emancipation of peasants. Increased access to transportation( railways, steamships and better roads). Offers of cheap land and better wages plus economic development in Europe, North America, Latin America and Australia.

The Second Industrial Revolution The Second Industrial Revolution was dominated by Germany. There occurred the emergence of new industries such as steel, chemicals, electricity, and oil. (England had dominated the First Industrial Revolution associated with textiles, steam engines, and iron.) At the turn of the century, the emergence of an industrial Germany was the most significant aspect of political and economic life in Europe. The steel industry, using the Bessemer process (first inexpensive industrial process for the mass-production of steel) produced over 32 million tons of steel by The chemical industry depended on scientific research, and Germany was the first country to attempt to facilitate the flow of information between research and industry. Electrical energy was widely applied, and the automobile had been invented (though it was more a novelty than a widely used transportation device). Economic advance slowed in the final quarter of the century, though the standard of living in most industrial nations continued to grow slowly. Unemployment and poverty contributed to the appeal of trade unions and socialist political parties. Consumer goods were an important aspect of the urban lifestyle.

The Middle Classes in Ascendancy The middle classes set the values and goals for most of society between the middle of the 19th century and World War I. In reaction to the 1848 revolutions, the middle classes put aside revolution in favour of preserving their status and possessions. The middle classes diversified: a few families gained wealth exceeding that of the aristocracy; small entrepreneurs and professionals earned enough to purchase private homes (and the goods to fill them), education for their children, and vacations; secretaries, retail workers, and low-level bureaucrats made up the white-collar workers (the petite bourgeoisie), who were close to the working class but deliberately adopted middle-class behaviors and consumption patterns. Tensions existed between these middle class groups.

Major Socioeconomic Developments of 2 nd Half of C19 th Rapid Population Growth (Improvements in healthcare, agriculture etc.) Greater Mobility & Increased Emigration (Railways, steamships, emancipation of serfs etc.) Second Industrial Revolution (Rapid improvements in production & use of steel, chemicals, electricity & oil, (rather than textiles & steam), & Britain no longer always leading the way Ascendancy of Middle Classes (growing in numbers & prosperity, middle classes increasingly satisfied with their lot, became defenders of status quo)

Labor, Socialism, and Politics(I) With industrial expansion, the size of the urban proletariat grew, and it included more factory wage earners and unskilled workers. New institutions and ideologies – trade unions, democratic political parties, and socialism chief among them – had replaced riots as the mechanisms workers used to express their will. Unions grew as they became legalized in the second half of the century, but most workers were still not unionized. Broader-based political systems everywhere except Russia brought with them organized mass political parties. The working class was the largest single group within the mass electorates, and working class voters gravitated towards socialist parties. Most European socialist parties failed to account for the appeal of nationalism to the working class. Socialist parties divided on whether change would come through reform or revolution. Marx publicly endorsed reform (though in his private writings he criticized reformist strategies), and his ideas were spread by the influential First International ( ).

Labor, Socialism, and Politics(II) In Great Britain, trade unionism was allied with the Liberal Party and then the Labour Party. The Fabian Society was Britain's most significant socialist group, and it was gradualist and non-Marxist. In France, socialist parties quarrelled among themselves, while labor unions favoured strikes over political participation. The German Social Democratic Party, founded in 1875, kept Marxist socialism alive through the turn of the century. In Russia, with its small working class and lack of representative institutions, socialism was almost by definition revolutionary. In 1903, Lenin forced a split in the Russian Social Democratic Party over whether the party should strive for mass membership (the "Menshevik" position) or be limited to elite professional revolutionaries (Lenin's "Bolshevik" position). In 1905, Lenin wrote that the proletariat and the peasantry should unite in revolution in Russia. Lenin's formula for revolution would prove successful, but not until 1917.

REFORM vs. REVOLUTION (1) As pace / spread of industrialization increased, size of urban proletariat also expanded, & by latter half of C19 th, workers increasingly became more politically active & began to organize more coherently within Trade Unions, to participate more actively in political parties, & to defend / employ ideology of socialism. Marxism, rather than the ‘Utopian Socialism’ of earlier times was having an ever-greater impact.

REFORM vs. REVOLUTION (2) By end of century, with broad based electoral systems being established throughout much Europe (Russia remaining a key exception), many workers now had right to vote, (1) harder for politicians to ignore their demands; (2) opportunity to use established electoral & governmental processes to try & achieve goals. Major debate within European socialist parties incr. centered around choice between revolution or reform through democratic processes & institutions. KARL MARX

References Kagan, Donald, et. al. The Western Heritage, Brief Edition, Pearson Education age_8/11/2876/ cw/index.html