1. Transportation, the Second IR, and Industrial Society

2. Railroads
While mostly steam powered until the 20th century, railroads grew massively in
Europe, Russia, and the US
Most were built to connect major industrial sites (coal, timber, iron mines, etc.)
large-scale industrial cities (London, Liverpool, Manchester, etc.) and financial
cities (London, NYC, Berlin, etc.)
In the West, railroad expansion was almost completely
built by private companies and investors (Union Pacific Railway)
In Russia and Japan, the expansion of railroads was funded
more heavily by the government (Trans-Siberian Railroad)

3. British Railways

4. Trans-Siberian Railway – 1891-1916

5. Transcontinental Railways 1863-1880s

6. Canals Additionally, steam engines were used to power steam
boats that could carry passengers and cargo more efficiently
Like railroads and electric lines, large-scale private investment was used
To navigate, canals were constructed to make more direct and efficient
routes, as well as wide, deep, and stable channels for the boats
Large-scale canals made it possible to connect major
industrial centers with trade and raw materials (Erie Canal, US)
Additionally, made for more efficient and quicker trade routes,
such as the Suez Canal built in Egypt by the British

7. Suez Canal – 1860s

8. Erie Canal – 1820s

10. Second Industrial Revolution (1870-1914)
While Britain was the primary initiator of the coal-based
(First) IR, Germany would be the initiator of the Second IR
After 1870, technology and machinery improved dramatically
Germans (and others) harnessed and developed new chemicals such as
petroleum (gas), better steel, and more efficient machinery
Tech: better guns, cars, drills, telegraphs/phones, and railways
All of these new products, factories, and concepts would
also spread from Western Europe to the U.S., Russia, and Japan

11. New Materials and Tech
With high investment opportunity, companies were able to rapidly
expand new methods of communication and transportation
The Bessemer Process for mass producing steel, and sealing of copper wire
processes enabled railroads and communication lines to spread across the West
Early telegraphs (1850s and onward) and telephone systems
were in place in Europe and the US by the end of the 19th century
By 1902, all Western countries were
connected by telegraph or telephone

12. Middle Class
The term ‘middle class’ was first used in the 18th century to describe a
new level to the social classes in between the nobles and peasants
While not of noble birth, this class was growing
massively in political and economic power
These were mostly factory owners, plantation/mine
owners, bankers, and merchants (upper middle class)
While they held great economic power, they were looked
down upon by the quickly-weakening land-owning noble classes
The 18th and 19th centuries would be defined by a struggle for power
between the old elites (land-owning nobles) and the new elites (middle class)

13. Working Class
With the advent of the middle class, and manufacturing life, many of the
former peasants were forced to find money through manual labor
Whether this meant staying on agricultural land (now enclosed), or
working in factories, these were the poorest and most exploited class
These were mostly poor, unskilled laborers who suffered low wages,
long hours, dangerous work, and awful living conditions in 19th-century cities
While they were increasingly urban and manufacturing based,
they were certainly still the peasant class (urban peasants)
Stopping strikes caused the working class to form their own identity vs. the middle and gov

14. Family Changes ( )
These new classes transformed European society by
bringing cultural change, as well as calls for reform
In the middle class, family life changed dramatically from the past: men were
often gone at work, while women were left home to raise the children ‘properly’
To have a working wife meant you were ‘low class’ and the husband was a ‘failure’
In the working class, families were also impacted by the new
factory life: specialized labor meant separated families
Many of these working class families were forced to live in small, dirty
Neighborhoods, usually is single-room tenement housing