Mass Society in an Age of Progress (1871-1894)

Mass Society and La Belle Epoque What do these terms mean?

Second Industrial Revolution: 1871-1914 Comparisons with the First I- Rev First Industrial Rev: textiles, railroads, iron and coal Second Industrial Rev: steel, chemicals, electricity and petroleum. Late 1800s=material prosperity Scientific and technological advances=belief that our problems would be solved.

Large Trends: Increasing wages Decreasing prices (due to mass production) Mass marketing (department stores) Movements away from free-market capitalism: Protective tariffs Cartels and large factories--what were the arguments for these? New farming practices (chemicals and specialization depending on the country)

Steel=32 million tons in 1913 (125,000 in 1860) Chemicals Alkaline used in textiles, soap, and paper Germany dominated the chemical industry, as well.

New Economic Zones North and west versus south and east

Electricity Generators Power plants Light bulb (don’t foget Joseph Swan!)- 1878 Telephone (1876) “Mr. Watson, come here: I want to see you.” Radio (1901) Streetcars/subways

petroleum automobile airplane

First flight Dec. 17, 1903 (don’t tell this to Alberto Santos-Dumont, or all of Brazil for that matter). First passenger airplane flight 1914 or earlier? Depends on who you want to believe.

Organizing the Working Class Three choices for reform 1. Marxist Socialism/Communism Leaders-- German Social Democratic Party (SPD) led by Wilhelm Lieknecht and August Bebel Second International--1889--loose association of various national socialist groups 2. Evolutionary Socialism Leader--Eduard Bernstein 3. Anarchism Leader--Michael Bakunin How was nationalism a divider in all of this?

Late-19th Century Political Trends General idea: Mass politics Western Europe: Reform greatest in Great Britain, followed by France. Reform in Spain and Italy was limited Central and Eastern Europe: Much more authoritarian.

Reform in Great Britain Increased voter participation with the Reform Act of 1884 Equal representation followed the Redistribution Act of 1885 Payment for MPs in the H of C, What did Charles Parnell and the Irish Land League want? Gladstone could not solve the vexing Irish problem: home rule or complete independence?

France: The Third Republic 1. 1870--France had two main parties, Republicans and Monarchists. The Monarchist won the election of 1870 and dominated the National Assembly. 2. Republicans revolted on March 26, 1871 and formed an independent gov’t in Paris, the Commune 3. The National Assembly attacked the commune, which was supported by working class men and women. It was civil war 4. After 20,000 deaths (mostly defenders of the commune) the National Assembly triumphed.

5. By 1875, the Third Republic was established: Bicameral National Assembly and a President. 6. By 1879, Republicans had strengthened the lower house (Chamber of Deputies) by instituting ministerial responsibility. 7. Many monarchists, Bonapartists, and church officials opposed the Third Repub (almost overthrown by Boulanger in 1889), but it stayed in place until WWII.

Spain: Limited Reform 1875 Constitution under Alfonso XII: Two political groups, surprisingly called… Liberals and Conservatives. Limited suffrage. Reform called for by the Generation of 1898, even an anarchist/socialist uprising in Barcelona in 1909--Setmana Tragica (July 25-August 2, 1909) was violently put down. Reform limited by the power of the Catholic Church and the landed elite.

Germany 1. Kaiser had much power: appointed chancellor and other ministers, controlled army and foreign policy. 2. Reichstag (lower house in parliament) had little authority. 3. Bismarck and liberals failed to weaken the Catholic Church in their kulturkampf. 4. 1878 Bismarck began his attack of Socialists. why? 5. Set up a social security system (benefits, pensions, et.c) Why? 6. William II sacked Bismarck in 1890 after the latter wanted to resume a repressive stance toward the socialists.

Austria-Hungary 1. Emperor Franz Josef controlled the PM and other ministers. 2. Plagued by the nationalities problem. 3. Empire held together by force of Franz Josef, Catholic loyalty, and the large imperial bureaucracy. 4. Landed elite controlled Hungary’s parliament. Ethnic minorities were accorded few rights.

Russia 1. Alexander III (1881- 1894) and Nicholas II (1894-1917) persecuted those who supported reform. 2. Zemstvos lost much power. 2. Russification of the empire furthered ethnic tensions.

Essay Questions To what extent did the emergence and development of socialist parties and trade unions meet the needs of the working classes between 1871 and the end of the century? Compare the ideas of Karl Marx, Michael Bakunin and Eduard Bernstein. How did the roles of women change during the second half of the nineteenth century? Explain the reasons for public education in the age of Mass Society.