1. The Working Class
Reform, Marx and Unions

2. Across Europe – The Second Industrial Revolution
Transition was a challenge for the workers of the Industrial Revolution in countries across Europe.
While England is the “birthplace” of the revolutions both Belgium and France experienced these changes as well.
This Second Industrial Revolution was when steel, chemicals, electricity, and petroleum were the keys to making economies even more productive.
France was more slowly and less thoroughly industrialized than either Britain or Belgium. While Britain was establishing its industrial leadership, France was immersed in its Revolution, and the uncertain political situation discouraged large investments in industrial innovations.
By 1848 France had become an industrial power, but, despite great growth under the Second Empire, it remained behind Britain.
The second Industrial Revolution happened at the end of the 1800s

3. Germany – a growing superpower
Germany was another country that, for example, despite vast resources of coal and iron, did not begin its industrial expansion until after national unity was achieved in 1870.
Once begun, Germany’s industrial production grew so rapidly that by the turn of the century that nation was out producing Britain in steel and had become the world leader in the chemical industries. 
The rise of U.S. industrial power in the 19th and 20th centuries also far outstripped European efforts. And Japan too joined the Industrial Revolution with striking success.

4. Reformers
Many citizens of these countries believed that capitalism was heartless and brutal and demanded a new kind of society.
Some moderate reformers looked to work within the system for gradual changes. Trade unions were often the method used to achieve these practical goals.
Other reformers wanted drastic changes. They looked to abolish capitalism and create a socialist system by supporting socialist parties.

5. Image Analysis
What is the central message of the poster? How does this poster create this message?
Terms to know:
Proletariat: workers or working-class people, regarded collectively.
Bourgeoisie: the middle class, the oppressors.
The poster proclaims “Proletarians of the World, Unite!”
The joining of hands among people of different ethnicities creates a message of solidarity and comradery.

6. Excerpt from the Communist Manifesto
"... We have seen above that the first step in the revolution by the working class is to raise the proletariat to the position of the ruling class…
"The proletariat will use its political supremacy to wrest, by degree, all capital from the bourgeoisie, to centralize all instruments of production in the hands of the state, i.e., of the proletariat organized as the ruling class; and to increase the total productive forces as rapidly as possible...“
“The proletariat have nothing to lose but their chains. They have the world to win.”
The Communist Manifesto ends with the call to unity “Workers of All Countries, Unite!”
What is the goal of the revolution that Marx and Engels discuss in the above excerpt?

7. Karl Marx ( )
Karl Marx was a German philosopher, economist, political theorist, sociologist, journalist and revolutionary socialist.
He also had an incredible beard.
He believed that all of world history was a “history of class struggles” and that there were always the oppressors and the oppressed.

8. Mark believed he saw society as being split between two distinct classes who struggled against each other: the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.
He predicted that the struggle between these groups would finally lead to an open revolution. He predicted the proletariat would violently overthrow the bourgeoisie and form a dictatorship.
This victory would lead to a classless society where the state itself would wither away.

9. Socialist Parties
In time, working-class leaders formed socialist parties based on Marx’s ideas.
Most important was the German Social Democratic Party(SPD), which emerged in The party were fairly successful as they worked inside German parliament to improve conditions of the working class.
Despite its popularity and success the SPD were unable to make wide sweeping changes due to German constitutional “red tape”.
The German govt attempted to destroy the SPD but they only grew in popularity and earned 4 million votes in the 1912 elections, which made them the largest single party in Germany.
The SPD is set to again come in second in the German election on September 24. Germany's Social Democrats are one of the world's oldest democratic parties.
During the rise of Hitler all 94 SPD parliamentarians voted against Hitler's "Enabling Act of 1933," a law that replaced democracy in Germany in favor of Hitler's despotism.
"One can take away our freedom and livelihoods - but not our honor," spoke then-SPD Chairman Otto Wels in the Berlin Reichstag.

10. Pure vs Revisionists
While socialist parties emerged all across Europe many of these Marxists were divided on their goals.
Pure Marxists believed that goals could only be reached by a violent revolution.
Revisionist Marxists rejected violence and insisted that working within the system to achieve reforms was the only path to success.

11. Question
What do some workers do now when they are displeased with their employers?

12. Trade Unions
Another force working for the evolutionary socialism movement was the trade, or labour, unions.
Workers organized themselves into a union which worked to be recognized by its employers and looked to improve working conditions.
The right to strike was a part of the union movement and looked to put pressure on the employers to meet demands by stopping work.

13. Unions
In the 1870s unions in Great Britain won the right to strike and by 1914 Britain had nearly 4 million workers in British Trade Unions. Other countries across Europe had varying degrees of success in helping workers achieve a better life through the labour union movement.

14. Forces of Change
Use pages 626 – 629 to learn about liberalism, nationalism, and the Revolutions of 1848, which set the stage for National Unification and a growing divide between European powers.
Question:
Why didn’t Great Britain experience a similar revolution that other European countries were experiencing?
During this time period Britain’s monarchy had lost much of its power and decision making was accomplished through parliamentary reforms and voting. Britain was already a fairly stable country with a reliable government and economy. It’s liberal status made revolution unnecessary.
Revolution did not arise in England in 1848 because the English political system had been more flexible and more willing to change.  Revolution tends to occur in countries where governments are intransigent in the face of demands for change.
Basically, there's been a Millenia long, slow abrogation of royal powers starting with the Magna Carta, sped by the English Civil War and Glorious Revolution, and the evolution of the monarchy (in part, I believe to avoid the fate of most absolute monarchs in Europe post enlightenment). This dwindling of power is still ongoing.
Sources: Texts- Dicey's Law of the Convention, O'Hood, Phillip and Jackson Constitutional Law.