AP Euro: Unit 13.3 - Second Industrial Revolution

Emergence of the Mass Society

• new mass society: 
  • both industrial revolutions changed society and led to the emergence of a mass society
  • changes included population and population density changes, new industrial production methods, reorganization of social classes, improvements to the urban environment, new patterns of social structures, surfacing gender issues, the emergence of mass education, and the emergence of mass leisure
• population and population density changes:
  • European population doubled 1850-1910 because of advances in medical technology, improved conditions in cities, and new health regulations
  • mass movements from the countryside to cities
  • increased immigration to industrialized nations
    • some caused by nationalistic conditions and oppressive regimes
• transformation of urban environment:
  • living conditions were horrible so sanitary reforms were passed:
    • building inspectors
    • mandatory drainage systems and running water
    • new water systems (water from reservoirs and dams)
    • new waste disposal systems
    • new public spaces replaced condemned and obsolete buildings
    • new public transportation systems allowed suburbs to rise
• new societal structure:
  • distinct classes emerged
  • much more social mobility
  • wealth was generated by industry (no longer by owning land and people)
  • new industrial elite:
    • plutocrats - upper and entrepreneur middle class intermarried and the middle class was allowed in institutions originally only for nobles
  • middle class:
    • upper - entrepreneurs, married to rich business owners
    • white collar - working professionals
    • small shopkeepers, manufacturers, business owners
  • lower class:
    • 80% of Europe's population
    • different groups:
      • skilled laborers
      • semi-skilled laborers
      • unskilled laborers
    • had a better life than ever before
    • actually had money
• family and gender issues:
  • most women (excluding lower class) stayed home
  • men were wage earners
  • birth rates dropped because people wanted fewer children (contraceptives, abortion, abandonment, family planning)
  • mothers had more time for child upbringing
  • children now entitled to a childhood
• child upbringing:
  • environment kids grow up in shapes them
  • development of new toys, boy scouts, dolls for girls, and playgrounds
• mass education:
  • sons in upper/middle classes were sent to boarding school until they were 16
  • sports were used to 'toughen' boys
  • leisure activities centered around national and military concerns and character building
  • Germany was the only country to have state run schools for primary education at the beginning of the 1800s --> by the end of the 1800s, most European countries offered it to all children
  • rural families had a hard time sending kids to schools because they needed them to work on farms
  • factors for motivation to educate the entire population:
    • machines in the second industrial revolution demanded skilled labor
    • expansion of voting rights called for the need for an educated population
    • instilling discipline improved military recruits
  • boys and girls were taught separately:
    • boys education had heavy emphasis on math and science
    • girls learned domestic skills
• mass leisure:
  • new work patterns imposed by factories of the industrial revolution impacted daily lives
  • leisure - what people did when not working
  • time saving devices let people stop working after their job
  • people now had hours after work, weekends, and vacation time
  • more free time created new pastimes:
    • read newspapers
    • amusement parks
    • mall/department stores
    • attend sport games
    • music/dance halls
    • tourism (enabled by new transportation)
    • join sports
    • beach
• further European divides:
  • western Europe had liberal democratic reforms/included democracy in govts (France, Spain, England)
  • eastern Europe followed the old order with mostly authoritarian regimes with monarchies and conservative social groups (Russia, Germany, Austria)
• reforms in England:
  • Victorian Era - the Queen's power slowly transferred to parliament
  • Reform Act of 1871 - voting rights to all men who paid taxes or rent
  • redistribution act - eliminated boroughs and replaced them with districts of similar populations with representatives
  • payments to members of parliament - opened parliament as an option for a job for the lower class
  • Ireland clamoring for its own parliament but not complete independence (home rule)
• 3rd republic in France:
  • monarchists win the majority of seats in the National Assembly
  • radical Republicans form an independent government (the Commune)
  • fighting breaks out and the working class defends the Commune --> govt troops kill and exile supporters of the Commune
  • monarchists couldn't pick a king --> set up a republic --> lasts 65 years
• Spain:
  • new constitution
  • political parties - liberals and conservatives
  • both tried to expand their power base by appealing to Gen 1898 (young intellectuals)
  • socialist and anarchist movements were crushed
• Germany: 
  • viewed itself as protector of monarchy/aristocracy
  • Bismarck crushed democratic movements
  • Kulturkampf was abandoned for an attack on socialism 
  • Bismarck was dismissed before Germany could create a navy 
• Austria-Hungary:
  • destabilizing factors:
    • many nationalities
    • Austrians wanted German as the official language but others don't
    • Hungarians were brutal to minorities
  • stabilizing factors:
    • emperor Francis J kept personal feelings from interfering with politics (hates Hungarians)(realpolitik)
    • most people are Catholic
• Russia:
  • bitter about the death of Tsar Alexander II
  • Alexander III and his son undid all reforms and expanded the powers of the secret police (designed to keep order among the unhappy population)
  • recipe for revolution