Mass Society in an Age of Progress 1850-1914. Second Industrial Revolution Last ½ of 19 th century Four major aspects – Steel production – Oil – Electricity.

Mass Society in an Age of Progress

1850-1914

Second Industrial Revolution

• Last ½ of 19th century• Four major aspects

– Steel production– Oil– Electricity– Chemicals

• Created growing demand for experts with specialized knowledge

• By 1890’s Germany became most powerful industrial economy in Europe

• Continued to attract huge numbers of workers to cities

New Products & Inventions

• Electricity– Light bulb: Thomas Edison– Telephone: Alexander

Graham Bell 1876– Gramophone: Edison 1877– Motion Picture: Lumiere 1895– Radio: Guglielmo Marconi

1901• Internal Combustion Engine

(Gottlieb Daimler )– Mass production: Henry Ford– Zeppelin Airship 1900– Wright Brothers 1903

Women’s Roles

• “Right to work”• Ideal of domesticity• New job opportunities

– Department store clerks, stenographers, secretaries, waitresses, nurses (white collar)

– Domestic servants• By 1900 over ½ of working women were

domestic servants

• After 1850 the work of most wives was increasingly distinct & separate from their husbands– Husbands became primary wage earners– Wife dominated the home domain

• Middle-class women began to organize & resist their 2nd class status to husbands

Socialist Movements

• Main Goal: advance the cause of the proletariat (working class)– Saw nationalism as a tool of

the rulers– Opposed to war

• Marxism led the negative response to industrialization– First International: 1864– Growth after 1871 was

phenomenal

Industrialization & the Marxist Response

• Developed by Karl Marx & Friederich Engles

• The Communist Manifesto (1848)– Considered the “Bible” of

Communism– The economic interpretation of

history– Class struggle– Theory of Surplus Value– Socialism was inevitable– Violent revolution– “dictatorship of the proletariat”– Classless society

Revisionism• As workers gained the right to

vote & participate in gov’t, their attention focused more on elections that revolutions– Unions accepted & focused on

bread-&-butter issues• Collective bargaining officially

recognized as desirable by unions

• Eduard Bernstein: Evolutionary Socialism (1899)– Argued Marx’s predictions of ever-

greater poverty for workers & ever-greater wealth in fewer hands had been proved false

Eduard Bernstein

Impact of Socialism

• Impact on politics became profound• Germany: Social Democratic Party

(S.P.D.)– Marxist in philosophy– Bismarck forced to institute sweeping

reforms to minimize threat from left– By 1912, the S.P.D. was the largest party in

the Reichstag• France: socialists gained seats in

Chamber of Deputies• England

– Fabian Society– Independent Labor Party– Foundations for social welfare state

created in decade prior to WWI – meant to guarantee each citizen a decent standard of living

Anarchy• Spun off from the mainstream

socialist movement• Sought to destroy the

centralized state• Mikhail Bakunin

– Russian nobleman, became the most influential anarchist

• Strongest in Spain & Italy• Political assassinations by

anarchists shook the political world between 1881 & 1901– Deaths of 6 national leaders– Alexander II of Russia 1881– King Umberto I of Italy 1900– President William McKinley 1901

19th Century Society

• Increased standard of living by the 2nd half of 19th century– Still huge gap between wealthy & working

class– Became “golden age of the middle class”

• Industrial & urban development made society more diverse & less unified

• Diversity within middle class/bourgeoisie (15% of population)– Upper middle-class: bankers, ind. leaders, top

gov’t officials– Diversified middle class: small businessmen,

professionals, merchants, doctors, lawyers– Lower middle class (petite bourgeoisie): small

merchants, shopkeepers, teachers, clerks, master craftsmen• Grew from 7% to 20% of population by 1900• Women worked as store clerks, stenographers,

secretaries, nurses

Characteristics of the middle class

• Emphasized individual liberty & respectability based on economic success

• Families emphasized frugality & planning for the future

• Gained political influence through increased landownership (tied to voting rights)

• Saw family as the foundation of the social order

• Education & religion were extremely important

Working Class

• 80 % of the population• Less unified & homogenous than

middle classes• Highly skilled workers at the top

(about 15% of population): “labor aristocracy”– Construction bosses, foremen, highly

skilled craftsmen• Semi-skilled workers: carpentry,

bricklaying, successful factory workers

• Unskilled workers & domestic servants (mostly women) were at the bottom– By 1900 half of working women were

domestic servants

Changing Family• Romantic love became the most

important reason for marriage by 1850

• Middle-class females were monitored extremely closely by parents– Chastity paramount– Middle-class boys not monitored nearly

as much• High rate of illegitimacy decreased

after 1850– Rate of premarital sex the same, but

more couples married if pregnancy occurred

• Fidelity emphasized in middle class• Prostitution: middle & upper class

men constituted most of the customers (married late)

Child-rearing• Middle-Class – Lower mortality rates =

parents becoming more emotionally involved in children’s lives

– Married couples decreased the # of children they had

– Increase in books published on child-rearing

– Parents much more intent on improving the economic & social condition of their children

Child-Rearing

• Working-class families– Boys & girls went to work when

they reached adolescence– Kids did not remain

economically dependent on their families (unlike middle-class)

– Young working-class adolescents broke away from the family more easily when emotional ties became oppresive

– In 20th century, middle-class youths would follow this pattern

Education

• State’s role in education increased – Further secularization of society– Emphasized loyalty & service to the state– By 1900 in England, all children 5-12 years old

were required to attend school (education was free)

– In France, the Ferry Laws required children ages 3-13 to attend school (also free)

• Significant increase in literacy– Men had higher rates of literacy– Urbanites more literate than rural– Higher literacy rate in northern & western

Europe• Girls had less access to secondary

education than boys– Education seen as a means of improving

economic & marriage prospects for girls

Increased Consumption

• Increased leisure time & increased money to spend

• Sports attracted spectators & participants– Sports clubs grew– Soccer, rugby, bicycle & automobile

races, track & field– Huge bicycle craze swept Europe– Became organized with rules– Increased numbers of women took part

• Women abandoned more restricted clothing

– Sports culture mirrored the growth of aggressive nationalism• Social Darwinists believed that sports

competition confirmed the superiority of certain racial groups

More Leisure & Spending

• Cafes & taverns• Department stores

grew• Dance halls, concerts, &

plays drew thousands of people each week

• Amusement parks• Mass tourism– Thomas Cook

Age of Mass Politics

• The Paris Commune – Napoleon III’s Second Empire

ends with defeat by Prussia (1870 Franco-Prussian War)

– New National Assembly created

– However, a radical communist gov’t (Paris Commune) took over Paris

– From March-May 1871, the Paris Commune fought a bloody struggle with troops of the National Assembly & lost

3rd French Republic

• Established in 1875• Constitution provided for a republic

– Chamber of Deputies had most power. – President was weak.

• Reforms– Trade unions legalized– Established secular education (public

schools & compulsory education)• Boulanger Crisis– Georges Boulanger gained support of

the military– Plotted a coup – The Republic summoned Boulanger to

trial but he fled to Belgium & committed suicide

– Resulted in greater confidence in the Republic

Eastern Europe: Persistence of Old Order

• Germany– Parliamentary gov’t

• Bicameral legislature established (Reichstag)

– 1871 constitution– Emperor commands the military in

Prussian tradition– Bismarck’s conservatism

• Kulturkampf– Sought to limit the influence of the

Catholic Party

• Social Democratic Party (SPD)– Bismarck instituted sweeping reforms to

minimize the threat from the socialists– Despite better standard of living,

workers did not leave the SPD

Russia • Alexander II– Possibly the greatest czar since

Catherine the Great.– Believed serfdom had kept Russia

from modernizing– 1861: Emancipation Act abolished

serfdom– Assassinated in 1881 by anarchist

radicals who bombed his carriage.• Alexander III– Most reactionary czar (undo

reforms of Alexander II)– “Autocracy, Orthodoxy,

Russification”– Anti-semitism