Mass Society & Democracy1845 CE – 1914 CE

Second Industrial RevolutionThe first Industrial Revolution gave rise to

textiles, railroads, iron, and coal. • The Second Industrial Revolution gave rise to steel, chemicals,

electricity and petroleum.

• Steel was the first major change in industry between 1870 and 1914. New methods of shaping steel made it useful in building lighter, smaller, and faster machines, engines, railways, ships, and weapons.

• Electricity was a new form of energy that proved to be of great value; it could be easily converted to other forms of energy, like heat or light, and moved easily through space because of wires. By 1910, hydroelectric power stations were providing homes and factories to be tied to a single, common source of power.

• Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell were both inventors that used electricity to power their inventions – the light bulb and the telephone

Travel Revolution

Streetcars and Subways were developed as electricity became a reliable energy source.

This eventually led to the development of the internal-combustion engine, which is still used in cars and airplanes.

New PatternsIndustrial production grew at a rapid pace because of greatly increased sales of manufactured goods.

Europeans could afford to buy more products for several reasons:

• Wages for workers increased

• Prices for goods decreased because of reduced transportation costs

Some nations did not benefit from the Second Industrial Revolution; Europe was divided into two economic zones:

• Great Britain, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Germany, and western Austro-Hungarian Empire, and Northern Italy made up the advanced industrialized core

• Southern Italy, Austria-Hungary, Spain, Portugal, the Balkan Kingdoms and Russia made up a little-industrialized area that provided food and raw materials to the rest of Europe

A World Economy

The Second Industrial Revolution, combined with the growth of transportation, fostered a true world economy. European capital was invested abroad to develop manufacturing and markets for European goods.

Europe dominated the world economy by the beginning of the 20th century.

Organizing the Working Classes

The desire to improve the working and living conditions of the working classes led many industrial workers to form socialist political parties and trade unions.

The theory these parties and unions were built on were based on earlier theories by Karl Marx.

Karl Marx wrote The Communist Manifesto in 1848 (with Friedrich Engels). In it, they proposed a new social system, called communism.

Marx believed that all of world history was a series of “class struggles” between the oppressors – or those who owned the means of production, like money, or land, and thus controlled the government and society. This group was called the bourgeoisie, or the middle class oppressors.

The other end of society were called the proletariat, or the working class – the oppressed, in Marx’s view.

Marx predicted the struggle between the two groups would lead to open revolution where the proletariat would violently overthrow the bourgeoisie and then form a dictatorship (government in which a person or group has the absolute power) to organize the means of production. Marx believed this revolution would eventually lead to a classless society, in which everyone is equal and the state would wither away.

Working-class leaders used Marx’s ideas to develop political parties. Most important was the German Social Democratic Party (SPD), which emerged in 1875. The SPD advocated revolution while competing in elections for the German parliament, where they believed their members could improve working-class lives. It eventually became the largest political party in Germany.

Karl Marx, continued

Trade UnionsOne problem with socialist political parties were the Marxist parties sometimes were divided over their goals. Pure Marxists thought there would need to be violent revolution to achieve their goals. Another group, called revisionists, rejected the revolutionary approach and argued that workers must continue to organize and work with other parties to gain reforms. They believed as workers gained the right to vote, they could make reforms within the system.

Another force working for change were trade unions. Unions were organized group of workers. In Great Britain, unions won the right to strike (stop work to pressure an employer) in the 1870s. Soon after, workers in factories organized into unions so they could use strikes to achieve reforms.

By 1900 there were 2 million workers in British trade unions. By 1914, there were almost 4 million. By 1914, they had made considerable progress in changing working conditions for the working class.

New Urban EnvironmentsBy the end of the 19th century, the new industrial world led to the emergence of a mass society in which the concerns of the majority of the population – the lower classes – were central. More people lived in cities; in the 1850s, urban dwellers made up about 40% of the English population; between 1800 and 1900, London grew from 960,000 to 6.5 million.

Urban populations grew as a result of migration from rural areas to cities. The fast growth rate led to problems like disease and poor living conditions for the working poor.

Reformers tried to implement laws and regulations to help the working poor. Things like clean water, building inspections, and providing health services eased some of the problems for the working classes.

Urban Example: Frankfurt, Germany

In Frankfurt, Germany, the working class lived in filthy conditions. The city of Frankfurt began a public campaign to develop a new sewer system so the working poor could have clean water and the city would have less disease. Programs like this helped the working poor live in better conditions.

Social Structure of Mass Society

Wealthy Elites make up 5% of population.

Middle class is 15% of population

Working class & poor are 80% of

population.

Social Structures in Mass Society

The wealthy elite controlled up to 40% of the wealth during the Second Industrial Revolution (compare that to their control of 99% of the wealth today). The wealthy elite included landed aristocrats, bankers, industrialists, and merchants.

The middle classes were made up of educated lawyers, doctors, scientists, and businessmen. Beneath this group were the lower middle class, made up of small shopkeepers, traders, and prosperous farmers or peasants.

The largest group, the working class, was nearly 80% of Europe’s population. Many were landholding peasants, farm laborers, sharecroppers, skilled and unskilled laborers, and some artisans. Urban workers experienced improvement in their lives after 1870. Reforms created better living conditions in cities, and this, combined with wage increases and a decline in costs made lives easier for workers.

Experiences of WomenIn 1800, women were defined mainly by family and household roles. In the 19th century, new job opportunities created a high demand for low paid white-collar workers. This, coupled with a shortage of male workers, led many employers to hire women.

Traditional views of the sexes were strengthened during the Industrial Revolution; men were the chief wage earners and women were left with the care of the family.

In the middle and upper classes, family was the central institution, with women running homes and men working. The working class experience was different, however, as many working-class women worked outside the home in factories, offices, or in other households as domestic servants.

Movement for Women’s RightsFeminism, or the movement for women’s rights, grew in the 19th century. In the 1830s, a number of women in the United States and Europe argued for the right of women to divorce and own property. These early efforts were not successful. The fight for property rights was only the beginning of the movement.

In the late 1800s, women began to demand access to universities and occupations dominated by men. By the 1850s, women were demanding equal political rights, as well, including the right to vote. Women would protest and perform publicity stunts for recognition.

Before World War I, demands for women’s rights were heard throughout Europe and the United States. Before 1914, however, women only had the right to vote in Finland and Norway and a few American states. It would take the end of World War I and the dramatic changes it wrought to force male-dominated governments to give in on the basic issue of rights for women.

Universal EducationUniversal education was a product of the mass society of the late 19th and early 20th century. Between 1870 and 1914, most Western governments set up state-financed primary schools. Boys and girls between 6 and 12 were required to attend these schools; states took the responsibility of training teachers.

Why make a huge commitment to education? During the Industrial Revolution, unskilled labor was enough to meet factory needs. During the Second Industrial Revolution, skilled workers were needed.

Another motive for education was political. Giving more people the right to vote created a need for educated voters. Primary schools were also used to instill patriotism and nationalism.

The most immediate result of compulsory education was an increase in the literacy rate, or the ability to read. This created opportunities for newspapers and books to be available to everyone.

Compulsory education also created more opportunities for women to work outside the home. Demands for teachers, mostly women, increased with the increased educational opportunities.

National States and DemocracyBy the end of the 19th century, progress was made in establishing constitutions and representative governments throughout the major European states.

In 1875, France created the Third Republic, and gained a republican constitution. The new government had a president and a two-house legislature. The government was led by the prime minister, who was elected by the legislature.

Italy was a united national state by 1870, but was divided along class lines. The government was corrupt and unable to deal with many of the country’s problems.

In Germany, the constitution of the new imperial Germany begun by Otto von Bismarck in 1871 provided for a two-house legislature. The lower house was elected based on universal male suffrage. The emperor controlled the armed forces, foreign policy and the government bureaucracy. Bismarck worked to keep Germany from becoming a democracy. By the reign of William II, who was emperor from 1888 to 1918, Germany had the strongest military in Europe.

Austria-Hungary enacted a constitution in 1867, but the emperor ignored it. Austria remained troubled by conflict throughout the region.

Russia was led by a czar who had absolute power. With industrialization, however, came demands for representation in government. On January 22, 1905, a massive procession of workers demonstrated in front of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg and sent a petition of grievances to the czar. Troops opened fire on the peaceful demonstration, killing hundreds. This Bloody Sunday, caused workers throughout Russia to call strikes. Eventually the czar was forced to create the Duma, a legislative body.

International RivalriesOtto von Bismarck recognized that Germany’s strong industry and military upset the balance of power established by the Congress of Vienna in 1815.

Fearing the France intended to create an anti-German alliance, Bismarck made a defensive alliance with Austria-Hungary in 1879. Italy joined the alliance in 1882.

The united powers of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy were aligned against France, while Bismarck also negotiated a separate treaty with Russia and tried to remain on good terms with Great Britain.

In 1890, Emperor William II fired Bismarck and took control of Germany’s foreign policy. He dropped the treaty with Russia and enacted policies that eventually led to Great Britain aligning itself with France and Russia.

Europe was now divided into the two opposing camps that would eventually lead to world war.

Crisis in the Balkans

The Balkan provinces were finally free of the Ottoman empire by the end of the 19th century. By 1878, Greece, Serbia, Romania, and Montenegro were independent states.

In 1908, Austria-Hungary took the drastic step of annexing Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serbia was outraged, as they were hoping to create a Serbian kingdom.

The Russians backed the Serbs and prepared for war. Germany threatened Russia, who backed down.

The Balkans were awash in ill-will and divided alliances prior to World War I.

Toward the Modern ConsciousnessScience was one of the chief pillars supporting the optimistic view of the world that many Westerners shared in the 19 th century.

Science, which was based on fact and reason, offered a certainty of belief in the orderliness of nature. Many believed that by applying already known scientific laws, humans could arrive at a complete understanding of the physical world. Many scientists were working on new discoveries, especially in physics and medicine.

Marie Curie discovered radium, an element that gave off energy (radiation). Albert Einstein provided a new view of the universe with his theory of relativity, which stated that space and time are not absolute but relative to the observer.

Sigmund Freud proposed a series of theories that raised questions about the human mind. He believed human behavior was strongly determined by past experiences. He argued that painful and unsettling experiences were repressed, or hidden from a person’s consciousness. He developed psychoanalysis – a way for therapists to probe deeply into a patient’s memory.

Darwin & Racism

By the late 19th and early 20th century, Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution was sometimes applied (inappropriately) to human society by nationalists and racists. Known as Social Darwinism, proponents argued that social progress came from the “struggle for survival” that advanced the strong and forced the weak into decline.

Extreme nationalists used the same argument in favor of “national greatness.” The German general Freidrich von Bernhardi argued that “war is a biological necessity of the first importance.” to remove the weak. Social Darwinism was seen at its most extreme in Germany, where nationalism and racism found prominence. Houston Stewart Chamberlin believed that modern-day Germans were the only pure successors of the Aryans, who were portrayed as the original creators of Western Culture.

Social Darwinism eventually led to hostility and discrimination against different parts of society, but especially of the Jewish peoples.

Anti-Semitism & Zionism

Anti-semitism – hostility toward and discrimination against Jews – was not new to European civilization. Jews had experienced discrimination since the Middle Ages (remember they were blamed for the plague?).

In the 19th century Jews were increasingly granted legal equality in many European countries, after centuries of unequal status. Jews were becoming assimilated with the cultures around them.

However, in Germany and Austria-Hungary, new parties arose in the 1880s and 1890s that used anti-semitism to win votes of people that felt threatened by the changing economic times.

Eastern Europe had the worst anti-semitism, as Russian Jews were forced to live in certain regions, were persecuted, and had pogroms – organized massacres – that were widespread.

ZionismHundreds of thousands of Jews decided to emigrate to escape the persecution. Many went to the United States. Around 25,000 moved to Palestine, which became home for a Jewish nationalist movement called Zionism.

Palestine was the ancient home of Israel, their ancient homeland and home of their dreams.

Settlement in Palestine was difficult because it was still part of the Ottoman Empire, which was opposed to Jewish immigration.

Culture of Modernity Between 1870 and 1914, many writers and artists rebelled against traditional literary and artistic styles. The changes they produced are called modernism.

Literature was revolutionized by symbolists, who believed objective knowledge of the world was impossible. They believed the external world was a collection of symbols.

In painting, impressionism was a movement that began in France. Artists rejected traditional styles in favor of symbolism and examining light and dark, and other contrasts in the world.

Architecture was revolutionized and functionalism became the dominant movement. Functionalism was the idea that buildings should be functional, or useful.