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

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