1. Mass Society in an Age of Progress

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. Main Goal: advance the cause of the proletariat (working class)
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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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)

14. Middle-Class Child-rearing
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

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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
Increased Consumption

18. More Leisure & Spending
Cafes & taverns
Department stores grew
Dance halls, concerts, & plays drew thousands of people each week
Amusement parks
Mass tourism
Thomas Cook

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. Russia Alexander II Alexander III
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