AP Euro: Unit 13.2 - Second Industrial Revolution

Life in Industrial Europe

• women in the workforce :
  • unions won shorter workdays , better conditions , age restrictions , etc . in the first industrial revolution
  • women working was controversial :
  • men believed women need to be at home in order to tend to family , bear children , and it was easier to control women when they had no money
  • women wanted new opportunities out of home  ( they were outspoken about this ) which led to the development of trades for women
  • some women found white collar jobs
  • some women took marginal work :
  • 'sweating' / sweatshops - poorly paid outsourced tailor work
  • many women who went to cities turned to prostitution :
  • they preyed upon
  • prostitution was regulated by govt
  • prostitutes who passed diseases were imprisoned ( men weren't penalized )
  • women were not allowed to get jobs in heavy manufacturing so they had to find jobs available in other industries ( ex : secretaries , clerks , typists , nurses , teachers , etc . )
  • these types of jobs represented freedom from social constraints
  • job options were limited but they were opportunities to escape from lower class work
• organizing the working classes :
  • new parties and labor unions in the late 1800s embraced Marxism and socialism
  • the strongest and most influential socialist party was the German Social Democratic Party ( GSDP ) :
  • the GSDP won seats in Reichstag ( the German parliament ) and attempted to pass legislations to improve the condition of the working class ( not working conditions )
• socialist parties unite :
  • the GSDP organized into a loose association with Second International ( another socialist group ) which coordinated actions
  • the GSDP and Second International organized international labor day where socialists around Europe would strike and hold labor demonstrations in order to disrupt the capitalist system
  • cooperation with all socialists was difficult because revisionism and nationalism divided them
• revisionism :
  • socialists divided into 2 groups - pure Marxists and revisionists ( aka evolutionary socialists )
  • pure Marxists believed in the class struggle between rich and poor , and that a violent overthrow would correct the system
  • revisionists believed Marx got some stuff wrong ( because the middle class was growing , the working-class gained new rights , there was a higher standard of living , etc . ) so Marxists should form political parties in order to attempt change from within the system
• nationalism :
  • nationalism hurt the efforts of the Second International because people saw themselves as a member of a nation first and socialists second
  • loyalty to a nation outweighed loyalty to a party because European countries had complicated and hostile relationships
• anarchism :
  • in less democratic and industrialized nations , anarchist movements formed
  • at first , anarchist movements were peaceful but then became violent
  • in anarchism , people are good but the state and society corrupt them so they should abolish state and social institutions
• violent anarchism :
  • anarchists used assassination as the primary instrument of terror
  • despite high profile assassinations , no govts collapsed