Unit 5 - Heimler History Notes

Note: These are not mine! I don’t know where I got them.

The Enlightenment

Definition: An intellectual movement that applied new ways of understanding (rationalism/empiricist approaches) to the natural world and human relationships

1. Rationalism: reason > emotion/external authority is the most reliable source of true knowledge

2. Empiricism: true knowledge is gained through the sense (mainly through rigorous experimentation

   • These ways of thinking developed during the Scientific Revolution in the 16th/17th centuries in Europe -> scientists tossed religious authority away and used reason to see how the world really worked 

   • They experienced scientific breakthroughs + understood the complexities of the Cosmos, the internal workings of the human body, etc. 

3. The Enlightenment is an extension of the same scientific/rationalistic thinking BUT enlightenment philosophers applied those methods to the study of human society
   note: Crucial components to the Enlightenment: questioning and reexamination of the role of religion in public life -> Problem with Christianity from philosophers: it was a revealed religion (words by god couldn’t be questioned) 

   • Significant shift of authority: from the scientific revolution from outside a person to inside a person

4. NEW BELIEF SYSTEMS 

1. Deism (popular among enlightenment thinkers) -> believed that a God created everything and then left everything until it runs out

2. Atheism (rejection of religious belief/divine beings)

• NEW ENLIGHTENMENT IDEAS
  (Political Ideas)

1. Individualism: most basic element of society was the individual human and not collective groups

2. Natural Rights: humans are born with certain rights that cannot be infringed upon by govts/entities 

   1. (John Locke - agreed that human beings were born with natural rights aka life, liberty, and property -> rights given by God meaning rights cannot be taken away by a monarch) 

3. Social contract: societies given natural rights must have govts of their own will to protect their natural rights -> IF that govt becomes a tyrannical turd then the people have the right to overthrow the govt
   EFFECTS OF ENLIGHTENMENT IDEAS

1. Major Revolutions: American, French, Haitian, Latin American 

   1. Enlightenment emphasis on the rejection of established traditions and new ideas about how political power ought to work played a role in these revolutions -> revolutions created the conditions for the intensification of nationalism

   2. Nationalism: sense of commonality among people based on shared language, religion, social customs, and linked with a desire for territory

2. Expansion of suffrage (right to vote) 

   1. EX: 1776 - White males with land could only vote -> early 1800s - all white males could vote -> 1870 - black males can vote!

   2. One reason for this expansion: Liberty and equality were revered in America as part of the cultural heritage beginning with the Declaration of Independence

3. Abolition of slavery: enlightenment thinkers criticized slavery -> Britain abolished slavery in 1807 (britain was the wealthiest nation + gained wealth during the Industrial revolution by means of paid labor -> made economic sense) 

   1. Enslaved people contributed with the Great Jamaica Revolt -> played a role in Britain’s decision to abolish slavery

4. End of Serfdom: the transition from agricultural economies to industrial economies, serfs became irrelevant -> peasants revolts persuaded state leaders to end serfdom

5. Calls of Women’s Suffrage (didn’t have voting rights) 

   1. Feminist movements demanded equality of all life 

      1. EX: Olympe De Gouges created the Declaration of the rights of women and the female citizen -> criticized the French Constitution for sidlining women in the birth of post-revolutionary France

      2. In America -> women gathered at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848 to call for a constitutional amendment that recognized women’s right to vote

Nationalism and Revolution

• Causes of Revolution

  • #1 Nationalism: states attempted to use nationalistic feelings to their advantage to foster a sense of unity among their people (nationalistic themes, public rituals, military service)

    • EX: Russian leaders required the russian language to be spoken to create a sense of unity

  • #2 Political Dissent: discontent with monarchist and imperial rule

    • EX: Safavid Empire tried to impose new taxes → militaristic nomadic groups rebelled → weakened the Safavids (early 18th century, outside invaders ended the Safavids)

    • EX: Wahhabi movement → to reform the corrupted form of islam endemic in the Ottoman Empire → contributed to the long decline of the Ottomans

  • #3 New Ways of Thinking: development of new ideologies and systems of govt

    • Popular Sovereignty: power to govern was in the hands of the people

    • Democracy: people have the right to vote/influence the policies of the govt

    • Liberalism: emphasized the protection of civil rights, representative govt, the protection of private property, and economic freedom

• The Atlantic Revolutions

  • American Revolution (1776)

    • STORY: British established the 13 colonies in America, since they were far from Britain they developed a culture/govt without interference from Britain → After the 7 year war, Britain had war debts and got the colonies to help them pay for war with new taxes

      • With new taxes, curtailment of freedoms, and adoption of enlightenment principles (shown in the Declaration of Independence) this Revolution began.

    • France helped America and won the war → USA was born in 1783 (victory provided a template for other nations for a successful overthrow of oppressive power)

  • French Revolution (1789)

    • French soldiers came back from war with new ideas and were sus of their King → Louis the 16th attempted to tighten his control to pay his own debts, the people rebelled and established a republic

      • Developed the Declaration of the rights of man and citizen

  • Haitian Revolution (1791): Haiti was the colonial property of France (most prosperous colony)

    • Enslaved blacks heard about the French Revolution + under the leadership of Toussaint Louverture → enslaved Haitians revolted → defeated the french + established the 2nd republic/the first black govt

  • Latin American Revolutions

    • Creole Revolution: creoles weren’t too happy abt the Peninsulares getting most of the power → 1808: Napoleon’s invasion of Spain + deposition of the Portuguese Monarch created an unstable political situation

      • Simon Bolivar appealed to colonial subjects across racial lines with enlightenment ideas (summarized in his letter from Jamaica) → after a series of wars Latin American colonies won its independence and formed Republican govts

• Other Nationalist Movements
  note: nationalist movements resulted in calls for a higher degree in self-rule + national unification, not revolution

  • #1 Propaganda Movement (Philippines): Spanish colony → spanish controlled education + wealthy creoles/mestizos got high education.

    • Europe brought enlightenment ideas and Filipino students brought them home → spanish authorities knew where that thinking could lead → spanish wanted to suppress

      • Philippine Revolution broke out

  • Unification of Italy & Germany (were made up of fragmented states)

    • military leaders inspired their people to unify together under a single govt (diplomacy + military tactics = unified these regions)

Industrial Revolution: BEGAN

Definition: Process where states transitioned from agrarian economies to industrial economies (goods made by hand → goods made by machine)

note: this changed the world’s balance of political power, reordered societies, and made industrial nations rich

• Why Britain came First

  • #1 Proximity to waterways: had access to river/canals → enabled efficient and rapid transportation of goods to markets

  • #2 Distribution of coal and iron: Development of coal power increased efficiency in the production of iron (built bridges, machines, railroads → rapid industrialization)

  • #3 Access to Foreign Resources: Due to their establishment of maritime empires, they had access to raw materials that weren’t available in Britain

  • #4 Improved Agricultural Productivity: had plenty of food → experienced an agricultural revolution

    • Crop Rotation: fertility of the soil maintained

    • Seed Drill: seeds could be planted more efficiently → less waste + greater harvests

    • Columbian Exchange: introduced potatoes → better diets/health (increased life span spiked population)

  • #5 Rapid Urbanization: rural to urban migration

    • with new tech, ppl didn’t need to work in the fields → industrial cities grew + provided ppl jobs

  • #6 Legal Protection of Private Property

    • Britain passed laws that protected entrepreneurs → entrepreneurs felt safe to risk investment to start new businesses (contributed to rapid industrialization)

  • #7 Accumulation of Capital

    • Amount of wealth gained through the atlantic slave trade, Britain had many ppl who had extra capital (Capitalists) → with extra money they invested in the industrial businesses

• Factory System

  • Concentrated production in a single location + powered by moving water due to the Water Frame

    • In textile factories this was connected to the Spinning Jenny (operated looms that created textiles quickly)

  • Since these machines didn’t require skill, specialization of labor occurred → with machines making goods, workers were easily replaceable since their jobs didn’t require much skill

Industrial Revolution: SPREAD + TECHNOLOGIES

THE SPREAD

• The Effect of Steam power

  • Steam Engine: machine that converted fossil fuel into mechanical energy → meant that factories can be created + industrial revolution increased rapidly

    • Steamships: goods can be transported further/faster

• Shifting World Economics

  • Places who had many or all of Britain’s factors spread quickly + places who had few or none spread slowly

    • EX: Places in eastern/southern Europe lacked coal deposits, land-locked + hindered by powerful groups (nobility, didn’t want their power to be challenged)

    • The world in the 18th-19th century was being divided into industrialized nations (Britain, France, US → claimed a growing portion of the world’s global manufacturing output)

    • AND non-industrialized nations (previous powerhouses of the world saw their share of production for the world decline)

      • EX of non-industrialized nations: decline of textile production in India + Egypt → with the rise of cheaper produced textiles in Britain they shared a decline

        • Another EX: Decline of ship building in India and Southeast Asia → with britain’s colonial takeover, the ship building sector was controlled by Britain who forced manufacturers to build ships for the Royal Navy

• Industrialized Nations Compared

  • France: Once Napoleon was gone, they adopted industrial tech BUT their industrialization was slow

    • Why? - France lacked the coal/iron deposits

    • (Napoleon laid the foundations for French industrialization by building the Quenton Canal: major waterway connecting with the iron/coal fields)

    • Soon, the govt sponsored the construction of railroads (1830s: textile factories were built → created cotton industry for France + revived their silk industry_

    • Compared the Britain, France was slow at industrializing but were spared some of the social upheavals

  • United States: (once they dealt w/ the civil war, they industrialized fast + became a major player on the global economic stage)

    • Massive territory, political stability, rapid population growth → US economy grew + led to a high standard of living for its workers than their counterparts

  • Russia: (The Tsar adopted many industrial tech: Railroads + steam engine technologies)

    • Trans-Siberian Railroad (Moscow-Pacific Oc.): Increased trade with eastern states (china) + created an interdependent market throughout Russia

      • However, with brutal conditions in workplaces led to worker uprisings → Russian Revolution of 1905

      • Unlike the US where industrialization was driven from below by workers → Russia’s industrialization was state-driven affair in response to their lacking development compared to Western Europe

  • Japan (many asian states declined in power as Western states became more powerful)

    • Japan didn’t want to submit to Western powers → created defensive industrialization Meiji Restoration: borrowed heavily from Western tech/education + became an industrial power and eventually known as the most powerful state in the region

THE TECHNOLOGIES

note: First Industrial revolution (1750-1830, Great Britain), 2nd Industrial revolution (1870-1914, USA + Russia + Japan + Europe)

• Fuels and Engines

  • Coal (1st Revolution: main engine of the first revolution was the Steam Engine (James Watt)

    • Effect of Steam Engine: machines didn’t have to be powered by water anymore + factories can be built anywhere → rapid spread of factory system

      • Powered Locomotives (transported goods to markets quick) + Steamships (increased speed) → developed coaling stations for ships to refuel

      • With the Suez canal (1869), the distance from Europe-Asia shortened → more steamships + rapid expansion of trade

  • Oil (2nd Revolution): internal combustion engine developed to harness the energy of gasoline → eventually power the automobile

• NOTE: These fuels increased the amount of energy available to humans → caused air pollution

• 2nd Industrial Revolution Technology

  • Steel: the Bessemer Process made iron more stronger and versatile + became cheaper to produce → preferred building material to build bridges, railroads + ships

  • Chemical Engineering: Made synthetic dyes for textiles (cheaper than organic dyes) + Vulcanization made RUBBER more durable

    • Rubber: used in factories as belts for machines + later used as tires for automobiles

  • Electricity (Thomas Edison): electric subways/streetcars developed and provided transit in major cities

  • Telegraph (Samuel Morris, 1840s): Able to send communication across wires to distant places with electrical signals (Morse Code) → 1870s: telegraph wire connected Britain + USA → developed the economies

• Effects of New Technology

  • Development of interior regions: with the expansion of railroads/development of the telegraph → new settlements were developed in places that were more difficult to reach

  • Increase in trade and migration: Global trade multiplied → states became closely interlined into a global economy

    • with new tech Europe’s people migrated from rural to Urban areas for jobs + with famine and political instability people migrated to the USA, Australia + South Africa

Industrial Revolution: Governments’ Role + Economic Developments

GOVERNMENTS ROLE

• Egyptian (Ottoman) Industrialization

  • CONTEXT: states that adopted industrialization, the transformation of their economics + global balance of power was shifted in their favor → since some states didn’t want to be crushed, they promoted their own state sponsored + more limited attempts at industrialization

  • Ottoman Empire was declining due to internal corruption + conflicts → had little wealth to invest in industrialization

  • Under the leadership of Muhammad Ali, Egypt took steps toward Industrialization

    • Tanzimat Reforms

      • Industrial projects (textile/weapons factories built)

      • Agriculture (govt purchased crops to be sold on world market)

      • Tariffs (taxes on imported goods + protected development of Egyptian economy)

  • HOWEVER Britain didn’t like the growing power of Egypt since crossing Egypt was the quickest way to access trade networks in Asia

    • SO when Egypt vs Ottomans war happened, Britain intervened and forced Egypt to remove tariffs/barriers to trade → British goods flooded Egypt and Egypt couldn’t continue their industrial project

• Japan Industrializes

• Factors that made Japan want to isolate

  • Western powers: dominated other asian states like china (western powers overwhelmed china → forced them into a series of unequal treaties that made China submissive to western economic interests)

  • Matthew Perry: Came to japan with a fleet of ships stacked with guns, demanded that Japan open trade w/ the USA

    • Japan initiated a defensive measure against western domination facilitated by a Japanese civil war in 1868 → overthrew the shogunate + reestablishes of an emperor by Samurai who feared western intrusion → continued Japanese Isolationism → MEIJI RESTORATION

  • Meiji Restoration

    • Culture: japan sent emissaries to major industrial powers to learn about them then implemented it into their own state

    • Government: established a constitution that provided for an elected parliament (borrowed from germany)

    • Infrastructure: state funded building of railroads, national banking system + development of industrial factories (textiles/munitions)

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS

• Slow death of Mercantilism

  • Replaced by free market economics that was market driven

    • Influence on this transition: The Wealth of Nations (Adam Smith) - criticized mercantilism, said it benefitted elite members of society. He argued with more Laissez-Faire policies (get the govt out of the economy, let ppl make their own economic decisions) + argued that if free market was applied then wealth would be more evenly distributed

      • Suppliers + Consumers would react to each other based on the laws of supply and demand (“The Invisible Hand”)

    • After 1815, western govts abandoned some of their state regulations on trade → increased trade and wealth

  • Free market Critics → became the economic system that industrial nations adopted

    • Jeremy Bentham: argued the cure for the suffering of the working class/society was not free market but govt legislation

    • Friedrich list: rejected global free market principles was a “trick” that British made to put other economies under their own domination

      • his work led to the development of Zollverein: customs union that reduced trade barriers between German states + put tariffs on imported goods

• Transnational Corporations → relied on developed practices in banking and finance
  Definition: company established and controlled in one country, but also establishes large operations in many other countries

  • Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (1865, Britain): controlled Hong Kong to organize and control British imperial ventures → keep all wealth generated by selling opium to China

  • Unilever Corporation: Joint company established by the British/Dutch that manufactured household goods (soap) + opened factories while sourcing raw materials in Colonial Holdings

• New Financial Practices

  • Stock Markets: to finance the buildings of businesses they raised funds by selling stocks(small portions of ownership in corporation), ppl could buy these stocks and when the company profited so did the stockholders

  • Limited LIability: way of organizing a business that protected the financial investment of its owners (Joint Stock Companies 2.0), owners could take risks by investing their money into a corporate venture BUT (enjoyed a certain amt of financial protection, they lose the amt of money they invested)

• Effects of Industrial Capitalism → all western industrialized nations were rich in the 1900 > 1800

  • Rising standard of living → access to goods that people enjoyed + with the rapid enrichment of industrialized societies → middle class grew

  • Manufacturing technology → made production of goods efficient + cheaper + more ppl had access to them

  • Mechanized farming → abundant harvesters that increased the variety and abundance of food available → longer lifespans

Reactions to Industrial Revolution + The Society

REACTIONS TO INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

• Call for reform (Effects of the working class)

  • note: Workers worked long hours with little pay -> called for reforms

    • Political Reform: Conservatives and liberals in Britain/France incorporated social reforms into their platforms because people who wanted reforms were voting 

    • Social Reform: working class people organized themselves into social societies providing insurance for sickness/social events

    • Educational Reform (1870-1914: European govts passed compulsory education laws to get young children into school): High paying jobs became more technical/specialized + compulsory education prepares children for these kinds of jobs

    • Urban Reforms (urban areas became nasty bc of the growing population): Govts passed laws and invested in sanitation infrastructure like sewers 

• Rise of Labor Unions

Definition (labor union): a collective of workers who join together in order to protect their own interests. 

• Prior to this, labor unions were illegal so all the power was in the hands of capitalists and factory owners -> workers became mad

• Labor unions were eventually used all over the world where they bargained for higher wages, limited working hours, improved working conditions

  • Some union turned into political parties that sought to enact reforms on behalf of the working classes in the highest levels of govt

    • EX: German social democratic party -> advocated for marxist reform in germany (aimed to transform the capitalist system of private ownership of the means of production to social ownership of the means of production 

- Ideological reactions: Marxism

• Karl Marx: believed that capitalism was unstable by nature bc it created a class division in industrial societies (upper class having leisure time while the working class kept them wealthy -> would lead to violent revolution of the lower class vs upper class -> classless society) 

• Mark and Friedreich Engels published these ideas in the Communist Manifesto (approach was called Scientific Socialism); Marx argued that the societal changes from the industrial revolution had violently worsened the division between two groups of marxist classification (Bourgeoisie + Proletariat) 

• Bourgeoise: owned the means of production + Proletariat: exploited by the bourgeoisie (rose up to overthrow the bourgeoisie, marked the end of class struggle) 

• China attempts industrialization

  • Qing China (late 18th century): China snubbed British traders -> trade deficit that Britain sought to remedy by importing illegal OPIUM that had negative effects on chinese population

    • Chinese authorities cracked down on illegal trade -> OPIUM WARS 

    • In short, British easily defeated the Chinese forces since they were less modernized -> British forced chinese to sign unequal treaties that opened many trading ports against their will

      • With the defeat and by the end of the century, more industrialized nations took advantage of china’s weakness -> carved it up into various spheres of influence in which they had exclusive trading rights

    • 1860s-1870s: China response -> Self-strengthening movement: series of reforms to take steps toward industrialization while revitalizing chinese culture (full benefits were hindered by chinese conservatives who resisted the developments bc the reforms threatened the power of the landowning class -> turned into a half-hearted program of modernization (put to test in the Sino-Japanese War) 

      • China was defeated and the self-strengthening movement was a failure

• Ottoman industrialization

  • (mid 19th century): Ottomans were known as the sick man of Europe owing to its continued territorial loss to industrial countries + inability to raise tax revenue (like china, the ottomans become subservient to powerful industrial nations bc they weren’t industrialized -> ottomans decided on a defensive industrialization) 

    • Tanzimat Reforms: built textile factories, implemented western style law codes/courts, expansive education systems (all were more divorced from the islamic character of the empire) 

      • The reforms led to a new group seeking widespread political change called the Young Ottomans: desired a european style parliament + a constitutional govt that would limit the power of absolutist sultans -> 1878: sultan accepted a constitution/a parliament 

      • Ottoman reforms were more powerful than China’s BUT not enough that the empire couldn’t fall apart by the 20th century 

THE SOCIETY

• New social classes

  • Industrial working class (workers/miners): rural people who would move to urban areas to look for work -> prior to the industrial revolution most workers possess a skill that their work required

    • EX: farmers were taught how to plow fields and tend to livestock, NOW they did unskilled work since the machines did everything 

    • BENEFITS: wages were higher than the rural places they came from

    • COSTS: dangerous conditions, crowded living conditions in tenements, spread of disease, lots of work

  • Middle class (benefitted the most, includes white collar workers like factory owners/managers, lawyers, doctors, and teachers): Could afford products that improved their life and some in the UPPER middle class could buy their way into aristocracy

  • Industrialists: at the top of the social hierarchy, gained wealth by owning industrial corporations that led them to become powerful than the traditional aristocracy 

• Women and industrialization

  • Working class women: worked jobs in factories since their husbands wages were not sufficient to sustain a family (if they were married) 

  • Middle class women: they did not work bc the husbands earned the money (homemakers -> create a good environment for the husband and children) 

• Challenges in industrialization

note: Rapid pace of industrialization meant that industrial cities grew too quick for their infrastructure to keep up

• Industrial problems

  • Pollution: coal smoke from factories created a toxic fog + water polluted too

  • Housing shortages: More ppl in cities than there were places for them to live in tenements (some families lived in apartments together, sanitation was non-existent) -> created a rapid spread of disease (typhoid and cholera), killed many in the working class

  • Increased crime: poor/working class ppl were in urban areas -> rise in thefts to survive + violent crime, associated with higher levels of alcohol consumption